Day 1 Copenhagen
Up early to get a train to Copenhagen! It's amazing the times some people check into hotels. I went to bed at about 11.30pm and when I got up there were 2 extra people in the room. And one of them left while I was dozing before actually getting up.
Another border crossing another lack of checking papers. It's going to be weird when someone actually does care enough to check my passport again. Oddly when you go Denmark->Sweden they check your passport but not the other way around. Anyone know why?
The train was pretty comfortable though it was absolutely freezing to start. Also delayed 10 minutes! Much better than the one from Russia to Estonia but again the Japanese trains win.
The ride between Stockholm and Copenhagen is absolutely beautiful. Beautiful forests, lakes / tributaries and gorgeous Swedish towns. Plus the pretty cool bridge that crosses the straight between the 2 countries. A really great ride and I'm glad I chose that instead of flying. Probably only an hour longer once you take into account travel time to an airport and security and whatnot.
I arrived in Copenhagen around 3.30pm and my hostel is not far from the station at all. The hostel has been voted top hotel in Denmark a couple of times apparently and I can mostly see why. They are trying to operate a reception-less system by having check-in and everything automated before you arrive or done by computer terminals once you get there.
That system doesn't cater for people being people and so what you've got is a system where probably 95% of people check in without help but there's another 5% that require a staff member to help and so the demand on staff is always huge. Because of course because they are trying to go reception-less they are understaffed. Now I checked in without needing a staff member but housekeeping had not given me any bedding so I had to go down and stand in the line to get sheets and whatnot (which I had to ask for again later because they were so busy they forgot).
It gets dark pretty early here at this time of year! I think it was full dark before 5pm and it's only going to get earlier. Actually that was one of the cool things at the Nordic Museum in Stockholm. They had a pretty cool model of the Earth, Sun and Moon rotations which showed exactly how much sunlight they get in the arctic circle throughout the year.
So I did my usual wander around the city and tried not to get killed by cyclists. These buggers on their bikes go pretty fast around the city and be damned if anyone gets in their way. I am guilty of walking in the bike lane at times and getting some dirty looks from a few cyclists. I probably deserved it.
This is a beautiful city and it seems to have a really relaxed vibe. I like it already!
So I basically walked around for a few hours. I stumbled across a city library and walked into that. Was a pretty cool building. Since Amy is a librarian I'm starting to walk into libraries whenever I see them to send her some pictures. Libraries are often really cool and impressive buildings so I don't often regret my decision to walk in them.
There are also a heap of really cool looking bars and restaurants all around the place.
I ducked into a market at some point to get a few snacks and breakfast things but ended up getting enough food for dinner as well. I had intended to eat out but I didn't.
I did however go check out a pretty cool little craft beer bar not far from the hostel. They had a really nice selection of beers so I nursed a couple of quiet ones, listened to the rock music they had going and people watched for a while. I seem to have lucked out a bit with the weather as well. It's not as cold as Helsinki and Stockholm were.
Back to the hostel and I chilled out downstairs in the common room for a while. This place is pretty huge. They've got 5 floors with maybe 30 rooms on each floor and a bar / restaurant on the ground floor. Given that the common room was pretty full but it mostly seemed like groups of friends or family staying together. I didn't see many solo travellers.
One Latin American guy was going around the common room trying to get any group of girls he found to go out clubbing with him and his friends which was kind of amusing. He wasn't having a lot of luck.
The beds in this dorm aren't great. The mattress is comfortable enough but they are metal framed beds that are pretty flimsy. Whenever one of the 2 people on the bunk move the whole thing sways and every movement gives a squeaking noise. My earplugs have been invaluable!
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