Where the hell are we??

…because I have no idea. This is the last time I let Fletcher pick a hostel. Check that - when I get to Belgrade I'm living in style. No more of this hostel shit. In Stockholm at least we were in the center of everything – Old Town (“Gamla Stan”) – and we could get anywhere in a city much, much bigger than Copenhagen. Now? I’ll be happy if we aren’t murdered in our sleep, and if poor Rob doesn’t call out of his 15 foot high bunk bed with no railing. If the blog suddenly stops someone contact the Copenhagen police department. I saw ‘Hostel.’ Did we walk all the way to Bratislava? It’s certainly possible. At least the Bates Motel was clean…

I should also mention that I found a Bills fan on the train. Some musician from Rochester happened to be on the train from Stockholm and pointed at my hat. I initially just figured he had confused it with some local soccer logo, but not the case. What are the odds?

Went to Christiana yesterday. Wow. They weren’t kidding when they said this was Denmark’s hippie enclave. What a neat place, though. It actually reminded me of a group of Deadheads who decided to stop traveling once Jerry bit it. A very cool place to visit though, with all the dreadie merchants selling their clothing/food/drugs (not joking, actually). I haven’t seen so much illegal drug paraphernalia sold since the last Greatful Dead concert I was at. Technically it is illegal in all of Denmark to buy or sell drugs (unlike Amsterdam), but that didn’t stop the people I saw. When you walk in there are signs everywhere warning against taking pictures, so I don’t have any photographic evidence of any of this, but it was an experience I’ll never forget. After you leave the merchants, you walk into the “bar” which is a bar that sells beer and tables with women dancing on them and people smoking all sorts of things all over the place. It reminded me of “From Dusk Till Dawn.” We must have stuck out like sore thumbs. The beers were actually the cheapest we’ve gotten (besides 7-11) but we decided collectively to return at night would be an extremely bad idea.

Aside from the hippie commune, Copenhagen is pretty boring actually. And extremely, extremely expensive. To the point that I don’t understand why anybody even comes here. There’s not much to do, and you pay a fortune to do it. Not hating on the country – I just love the fact that everyone bikes everywhere (the cities in the US could stand to learn a thing or two) – but I can’t imagine why anybody visits. Hell, I don’t even know why we visited. Went to Tivoli Gardens today (see pictures). That placed sucked hardcore. It was like a mini-Asian Disney World. 85 DKK down the drain. There was one ride – I shit you not – that you had to pull yourself up on a rope and bounce this carriage you were sitting in. Worst. ride. evar.

So I booked the train to Belgrade (well, to Budapest, but close enough). www.raileurope.com thought they were going to get me for $300+. They thought wrong. I got a ticket to Munich (610 miles from Copenhagen) Tuesday night for 221 DKK (about $42), and then switch to a train to Budapest (425 miles from Munich) for €51 (about $75). The train from Budapest to Belgrade (230 miles) is €15 (about $22). Beat that. I think I’ll spend a night in Budapest after the endless train ride to get there, arrive in Belgrade as the Beerfest celebrations peak. I can’t wait to get to a country I can afford. I might never leave.

What happens after Belgrade? Maybe cut back through Budapest and Vienna, then maybe to Rome? I'd still like to hit Iceland...maybe on the way back??

Copenhagen, you have disappointed me. Drumroll please!

Women: A/A-. Not quite the Nordic beauties of Sweden, but they hold their own.

Food: C+. Too expensive to enjoy, and not all that enjoyable on their own. The pickled/marinated herring is absolutely disgusting. And where is the ice??

Public Transportation: A-. City bikes are technically public transportation since they are free. But they make my Wal-Mart bike look like a Lance Armstrong customized Schwinn. Or something. And you can't find them anywhere. Check with Sweden on how to do it, guys. Didn't take the subway, but the train was quite efficient; heard the subway was too (just like the Tunnelbana).

Nightlife: B-. Supposed to be "crazy" compared to Stockholm...which isn't saying much.

Beaches: B-. Too many stick and shells in the sand. No volleyball. Cold water. Weak sun. But attractive people bring it up a bit. A nice place to bike to. Oh, and you get a good view of the windmills right off the shore which is pretty neat.

Overall: C+. Not all it's cracked up to be...whatever that means. When the DKK follows the path of the ISK I might come back. But probably not.