Copenhagen

  Copenhagen, Denmark
Sunday, June 17, 2007

Today I was up at 9:00 and showered and ready to go by 9:45. I had to check out of my room by 10am, and couldn't check back in until 2pm, when the hostel would have the Contiki room list ready. I went to check e-mail and there was a guy sitting at the computer next to me. He looked like he was between 18 and 35 and might speak English. We started talking and he was David, from Australia, and was doing the Contiki tour as well. David had arrived in Copenhagen that morning, couldn't check into his room and had nothing to do. I mentioned that I had been planning on going downtown, and we made plans to head out together. I had to use the washroom before we took off, and when I came out David introduced me to Kristy, who he'd just met. Kristy was also from Australia, and had arrived the night before. She was also checking out for the 4 hours, so the three of us headed out. I played tour guide for David and Kristy and showed them how to take the train and we ended up on Stroget. All three of us were hungry, so our first stop was an Irish pub for lunch. We got to know each other a bit better over a beer and food (Irish stew, yum!). We were going to wander around, but because of the rain we decided to walk down Stroget to the next pub and have another drink. The rain started to come down harder and I was the only one with an umbrella so when we saw a cafe we happily ducked inside!
 
Before leaving Canada I had met two people on the Contiki message boards, Stacey and Troy. Stacey was getting into Copenhagen today, and we had agreed to meet at 2:30 at the main entrance to the hostel. I told Kristy and David, and let them know that it wouldn't bother me if they didn't want to head back, but as we were all wet and cold, and weren't seeing much of Copenhagen anyways, the three of us headed back to the train station. By this time my umbrella was starting to fall apart. I was using the 10 Euro umbrella I bought in Amsterdam on the way to Egypt, and even though this was only the third time I ever used it, one of the spokes was poking out! Shoddy Dutch workmanship!! By the time we got to the train station it was really coming down, and poor Kristy and David were soaked. We enjoyed the dry ride back to the hostel on the train, and were not looking forward to the walk to the hostel. We got off the train onto the Avedore platform, and I saw Stacey getting off the car next to ours. It was easy to tell whom she was, what with the giant pink suitcase and shorts! I yelled out "Stacey", ran over, and gave her a big hug. The four of us walked back to the hostel, and Stacey was very happy she'd ran into us, because she didn't think she would have ever found the hostel on her own.
 
At the hostel we checked into our rooms and met up in the computer room. David had met his roommate, Rhian, and brought him to the computer room as well. And I will admit that as soon as I saw David walk in with Rhian I was glad he was going to be on our tour! Rhian said there was a TV room in the building across the way, so the five of us headed over to a more comfortable area and our little group grew as we met Reky, Jenn and Tom. For the rest of the afternoon we all hung out in the TV room and chatted. At first I really wasn't sure what to think about Reky. He is American-Asian, from Orange County California, and talks with a loud voice. He seemed a little too American for me at first, but after a couple hours he started to grow on me! Tom was also a unique personality. His first fifteen minutes of conversation consisted of him talking about all the places in the U.S. that he has been too... and how he didn't like any of them! It was hilarious to hear him and Reky talking and although Tom seemed negative, he was a great guy. We were also talking about where everyone was from, and I said I was from the centre of Canada, as most people have never heard of Regina. Reky was trying to figure out where in Canada I lived, so he was asking how far it was in relation to other places. I said it was probably a 30-hour drive from Vancouver, and 40 hours from Toronto, two places I thought people might have heard of. At this Reky burst out laughing and said, "at 40 hours driving most people would just say how long the flight is!!!" Mind you, once I got home I found out it's really only a 30-hour drive to Toronto!
 
At 6:00 we congregated for our Contiki meeting, and met the rest of the group. We found out there would be 28 people for the first part of the tour, and in Helsinki we would pick up another 16 for the rest of the tour. These 16 people were doing the Scandinavia and Russia tour, which was the same as our tour, but also spends a week in Norway. After the meeting we went downstairs, where there was a buffet supper laid out. As we were eating, Stacey and I looked through a book of attractions to find a bar to go to that evening. We found one that was listed as a top microbrewery in Copenhagen, and I knew the rough area it was in, so we chose that one. We went to each of the tables to let them know what we were thinking of for the evening, and if anyone wanted to join us, to meet at the main entrance. Then Stacey and I met Troy! The three of us had exchanged many e-mail and MSN conversations in the months leading up to today, so it was an exciting moment, and a big group hug!

It took forever for everyone to get sorted out, but 45 minutes later there was a large group of people ready to head downtown. We made it to the train station, and then after getting everyone tickets, we were on the train and headed down Stroget. I ended up as navigator, and there were a lot of people questioning my directions as we walked, but eventually we got to Lord Nelson. The bar itself was small, and with the group of us inside was full! We also got a bit of a history lesson here when Tom told us that Lord Nelson was a famous British general that had flattened Copenhagen ages ago. We all had a couple beers, and then I ordered a shot that Janet, a lady I work with, told me was traditionally Danish, Gammel Dansk, aka North Sea Oil (named for the colour and taste of the shot)! The bartender was great and told me all about it. I guess the Danes sip it after supper or shoot it after a traditional fish sandwich at lunch, although they don't drink it on a regular basis. I got a round for Troy, Tom, Stacey and myself, and we decided to shoot it... and WOW! Is it ever strong!!! After another round of beers we headed to another bar as this one was empty (other than us) and very hot. Also, it took quite a while to get a beer, and the guys didn't like that at all!

The bar we went to next was the Irish Rover, where Kristy, David and I had eaten lunch that day. This bar was busier and we had a great time drinking, dancing and getting to know each other. During the night I decided that Reky was my favourite person for the night. Reky is allergic to alcohol, so he doesn't drink, but it doesn't stop him from going out and having a good time, and he just tends to be the level headed person several beers along. Well, after a little while at the Irish Rover I knew that I'd had too much to drink, so I switched to virgin Rye and Cokes. Since Reky wasn't drinking, he was being my sober buddy and helping me steer clear of alcohol. He has this thing with his friends that he'll ask you three times if it's something you really want to do, and if you answer yes all three times you're on your own, otherwise he'll help you out. Well, Troy ordered a round of Tequila, and I didn't want any. Reky asked me three times if I was sure, and I was, so he got Troy to lay off me ... then Stacey asked me if I was sure... and I jumped up and grabbed the shot... when will I learn?!? About half the group left the bar at midnight to catch the last train, with another bunch of people leaving around 1:30am. The last of us, David, Jenn, Rhian and myself grabbed a cab back shortly after. The cab ride was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about our cab driver, who was from Pakistan but had lived in Copenhagen for the past ten yeas. At the hostel there were a couple people still up so we talked for a bit and I was in bed around 2:30.