Prague Castle, the Eiffel Tower, and a Food Coma...

After skyping with my girlfriend in the morning and researching more cool things to do in Prague, I set out to explore more parts of the historic city, with the main goal for the day to see Prague Castle, which is the largest castle in the world. Getting around Prague is pretty easy with the metro system, but really, everything is pretty much walkable (by my standards at least. Haha I often jog through the city to save time/stay warm/not have to pay for metro/bus tickets).

The ginormous Prague Castle is situated on top of one of the many hills overlooking the city, and dominates the view wherever you are. Everything is very compact in Prague, with all the main sights located very close to the city center. Refusing to look at my map to get up to the castle, I ended up accidentally walking up the back entrance (the exit really) to the castle. Haha Once at the top I had some great views over the city, then began to walk around looking for the ticket area.

It’s hard to accurately describe the castle, but it didn’t really feel like a castle to me (compared to the ones I saw in Germany). It was more like a giant palace with many buildings around it, open squares, and a giant/beautiful church all in one area. I ended up seeing most of the castle grounds before finding the ticket area, and after debating paying the fee to do a tour of the castle, I decided against it to save time (it was pretty late in the day already), to save money, and honestly, from the looks of the postcards it didn’t seem all that glamorous on the inside (the palace of Versailles has ruined me haha Nothing compares to it)

My next destination was the Eiffel tower. “What?! The Eiffel Tower, in Prague???” Yup. Well, a smaller version of it at least. I’m not really sure why, but Prague decided to build its own, much smaller version of the Eiffel Tower on a hill, that you can still go up if you want for a small fee. I tried to take a shortcut to get there (without using a map of course), and ended up getting lost for 30 min., ending up at a university and the huge soccer arena. I finally made it to the tower, took a couple pictures (note: I left my camera cord in prague so I can’t upload any pics right now. Or take many more for that matter. lame.), and made my way down the hill. The tower was kinda cool, but not really. Just something for tourist junkies I think. The park it next to it was beautiful tho.

My final destination for my mini-day trip was the John Lenin Wall. It’s basically a graffiti wall where people would protest against all sorts of things (nothing to do with the beatles actually, but maybe they protested against lennon’s comment about the beatles being bigger than jesus tho), and I think it was mainly against communist/socialist rule. It was cool, I left my own mark on the wall with a sharpie pen, and made my way back home. Oh, and I tried to go in the US Embassy earlier in the day, but they wouldn’t let me because I didn’t have an emergency. Maybe next country…

When I got back to Adam’s flat (it’s so hard to remember what I did more than 3 days ago and blog about it btw. Haha Drinking almost every night probably doesn’t help the remembering process, but my memory is just bad in general. Just ask my girlfriend. Haha). We chilled for a bit then eventually walked to a bar to have a couple beers. Delicious beers. Each pub, on pretty much every street corner in Prague, usually supports one local brewery and only has their beer on tap. Kinda cool. Adam and I had a great chat and I got to know him much better that night.

One of the random funny moments of the night was when Adam asked me to go to the bar and buy him a cigarette, and I literally interpreted as, “buy me one cigarette from the bartender.” A strange concept to me, to just buy one, but this is Europe, so anything is possible. Well, the bartender brought me a pack of cigarettes, and I told him in very broken English “No, I just want ONE cigarette please.” He looked at me confused, talked to another bartender with a puzzled look on his face, then the other bartender just gave me one of his cigarettes to end the confusion. Haha Thanks! Adam thought this was pretty hilarious and ended up just buying a pack moments later himself. Haha My bad.

When we got home, we had a delicious meal (potato pancakes was this night actually, not the night before, I think), and after finishing our meal, I was left in a food coma like none other. I told Adam I was gonna take a quick nap (around 9:00pm) and asked him to wake me up in 20 min. Well, he woke me up, then I fell back to sleep immediately, and didn’t wake up until 2 in the morning. Haha Oops. Oh well, I probably needed the sleep anyway. Definitely set the record on my trip for most sleep in one night and earliest time to bed in Prague.

Pragueeeee

Time for a new country: The Czech Republic! Woot woot. After spending a solid week in Berlin it was finally time to move on in my travels. The train ride from Berlin to Prague was long (~6 hours I think), but was surprisingly enjoyable. The views were amazing as the train followed a river on the Czech/German border and I had a great chat with 3 random people in my train car for the 2^nd half of the trip. The German grandpa in our group was pointing out castles and sights along the way, the hippy rock climber girl discussed her passion for climbing mountains and skiing down untouched areas (she thinks ski resorts are lame), and the young German architect girl talked about the challenges of working as an architect in Berlin because there are so many architects there, and not enough jobs (she was on her way to Vienna for a job interview). Cool group of people.

When I arrived, my couchsurfing host Adam took me back to his place and quickly brought me up to speed about what Prague was all about. Beer, castles, and a style of architecture I already forgot. Haha Sorry Adam, architecture appreciation isn’t really my thing. Beer and castles were good enough for me tho. J The city has a pretty cool history and was untouched for the most part in WWII, so everything is super well preserved which gives the town its awesome medieval feel, which is why tourists flock to Prague I guess (It’s the 6^th most popular tourist destination In Europe btw. Paris and London are #1 and #2)

Adam was a great host, and definitely made me feel at home right away. Within minutes I he gave me a guidebook and map of Prague, spare keys to his apartment, and some freshly brewed tea. Haha We hung out for a bit at his place and I got to meet his closest friend Sarah (she grew up in New York actually), who quickly/accidentally informed me through a couple of drunken stories between them that Adam was gay (that’s the term Adam used to describe himself. I hope I’m not offending anyone by using that word). Adam was quite open about it, and I think it was a very good experience for me to stay with him for 5 days (I'm a little behind in my blog. I spent the last two night in Budapest, Hungary)

Adam luckily had some time that afternoon to hang out, so we ventured out to explore the city while there was still light (it’s getting dark so early now. Kinda sucks). Adam knew all sorts of stuff about Prague and was an excellent unofficial tour guide. Highlights from our excursion include:

• Hilly streets and big hills are everywhere! It was such a relief to see city with streets that weren't flat! It reminded me of Seattle in a way. Maybe I should just move to Seattle. I keep talking about how cool it is in this blog. Haha
• Bars were literally on every corner (Prague is the #1 country for beer consumption per person in the world. BAM! Germany and Ireland are #2 and #3, but I’m not sure in which order)
• The main square was nice and had a couple massive museums nearby and some statues (pretty typical for every major city I’ve been to)
• Fried cheese sandwiches??? (basically a patty of mozzarella sticks in a bun). So delicious.
• There were a couple medieval gates were just massive. So cool.
• Charles Bridge. This is one of the 2 main landmarks of the city (the castle is the other), and is essentially just a really, really old stone bridge that was the first of its kind and is still in very good condition. It’s only a walking bridge now, and was flooded with tourists every time I saw it. There are cool statues along the bridge, and huge medieval gates on each end which adds to its appeal.
• Old Town Square was nice and showcased some more medieval architecture in the impressive churches on each end of the square. There was a large market in the middle with all sorts of types of food, candies and tourist goodies. It goes on pretty much all day and night.
• The astronomical clock tower in Old Town Square was gorgeous, and attracts tourists to its base every hour, on the hour, as mechanical figurines begin to move about through two small windows inside the stone clock tower for about 30 seconds. It was built in the 16^th century (I think), and was the very first of its kind.
• Adam met up with a friend for a couple hours in the city, while I continued to walk around and explore. I eventually took the metro back to his house and met up with him there.

The rest of the night was fairly tame as I was exhausted from a late night in Berlin the day before. Adam fixed up a nice dinner (potato pancakes!), we had some more tea, talked about him being a Buddhist, and I skyped with Jenny before heading to bed. My first night in Prague was really cool, and I was excited to see more of it the next day.

Observations from KG

• I didn’t know what a UNESCO World Heritage Site was before coming to Europe…
• I’m eager to learn more about European/World history and culture (food, customs, greeting, dances, religions, technology, lifestyle, education, political structure, beer)
• Thrift stores are the way to go in Europe
• I’m kind of a lazy traveler. I usually don’t get my day started til at least 11am (I usually skype with Jenny in the mornings and plan out my day then get moving)
• I feel like I’m one of the few tourists without a freakin huge Nikon camera around their neck
• Every time Jenny calls me on my cell phone I’m either at a bar or walking to a bar. Haha
• I busted out some Xmas tunes on 11/8/11 (oh man, 11/11/11 is coming up! I need to do something cool at 11:11am and pm on that day. Oh, and all my wishes better come true)
• I’m still frustrated by the European time and date system (Ex. 17:30 on 9.11.11 SHOULD BE 5:30pm on 11/9/11)
• I’ve started to think about ending my retirement. I know, sad right??? But as much as I love traveling (and I do), I think I’m ready to go back to work. I’m excited about it actually. I like being challenged in an intellectually stimulating way and having more structure to my days
• Kazuntite seems to be a universal word
• Mercedes garbage trucks exist.
• France has the worst “attention” sound at the train stations. It drove me crazy. “Bah, Bah, Daaa, Dah”
• I didn’t see a mime in Paris! Wtf?!
• Ugg boots are popular in Europe too….. sad.
• Vespas were all over the place in France
• Kebab shops are everywhere. I’ve said this before. But it needs to be said again because I eat Doner Kebabs all the time. Mmmmmm…..
• I think I enjoy hosting couchsurfers more than couchsurfing at other people’s places (I’m a pretty involved host I think, it’s more comfortable/relaxed, and I enjoy being in control of the fun stuff we do)
• People from Great Britain sound hilarious (I can’t understand them half the time, old men from England sound like they’re in a James Bond movie, and the Irish accent is just awesome)
• I hate carrying my wallet in my front pocket, but I’m still paranoid (not really) that someone is going to jack it if it’s in my back pocket
• After hating on guys wearing scarves this entire trip, I finally gave in and wore a scarf for the first time in Prague (I haven’t bought one yet. Just borrowed one from a couchsurfer)
• I’m obsessed with Nutella! I can’t believe I’ve never bought it before.
• Interesting quote I read somewhere: What we think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common
• McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, and KFC are the most popular American fast food companies in Europe (in that order)
• Europeans eat a lot of cheese (it’s made my stomach upset on multiple occasions)
• France had some great wine
• I’m gonna look into graduate school in Europe because it’s quite cheap compared to in America, and could lead to a potential job in Europe which would be cool
• Why are there Casino’s everywhere???
• Doing laundry while traveling sucks! Especially since most people line dry their clothes instead of using a dryer, so I have to do laundry 2 days in advance so my stuff isn’t wet.
• Things always look closer on google maps…
• I’d rather get lost for 20 min. walking around than ask someone for directions (I usually find something interesting this way. Plus, I hate approaching foreigners and speaking English. It just feels weird every time. Then again, boldness pays off… eh.
• I’ve lost so many plastic water bottles on this trip. I have no idea how they keep disappearing.
• I’ve taken so many pictures of people with their iPhone. Come on people! Get a real camera if you’re gonna be traveling around Europe. Jeez!
• In bike friendly cities and countries like Belgium/The Netherlands, it looks like the streets are littered with bikes because there are so many. It’s not very pretty in my eyes.
• I hate that it could take me ~20 minutes to find a place I can use the restroom without buying a meal. Seriously, this makes Europe automatically 10x less cool than America. Oh, and free water doesn’t exist in Europe yet either. Ugh.
• It took me a month into my trip to discover there are lockers at train stations I could use to put my pack in for the day while I walk around. A couple days my shoulders/neck hurt so bad from lugging around my heavy pack. Nice Kyle…
• McDonalds and Starbucks have free internet, which is something hard to come by in Europe I tell you.
• Oh man, people/tourists look so stupid when taking pictures. I swear, they’re taking pictures of every random thing they see, and they don’t seem to follow any sort of picture taking logic from what I can tell. And the way people pose half the time is just embarrassing.
• I hate big touristy cities…. hmmmm
• Prague is cool because it’s one of the few cities I’ve been to so far that isn’t flat. I hate the flatness.
• I haven’t lost anything yet which is pretty sweet (unless you count the plastic water bottles I keep losing)
• I blog/read/sleep/play angry birds on train rides
• I think I’d rather spend 3 months relaxing on a beach in Hawaii or in Thailand than travel around Europe walking around cities all the time. But, while I’m here, I’m gonna make the most of it.
• I heard from a German guy (not gonna say who…) that sometimes he pretends to be American to try to get with German girls. Hahahaha
• I’m spending more money than I had hoped despite not really doing all that much. I should be fine tho.
• Spending money in countries not on the Euro has been kind of fun, because I’m not “really” sure how much things really costs
• The leaves are almost gone on the trees. L I need to head south before it gets any colder/grey too.
• Beer Rankings: Belgium > Czech Republic > Germany > Everywhere else
• The food diversity I’ve had has been one of my favorite parts of the trip so far
• I really, Really, REALLY miss my girlfriend Jenny. I love her so much and being away from her for ~3 months is “The Worst.” Things are going great tho, and it won’t be long before I get to hold her again. J
• A fortune I got (from a fortune cookie): Seen with the eyes of love everything gets a new meaning
• I want to brew beer when I get back to the states (Uncle bob???)
• I want to incorporate more European/Worldwide traditions/customs into my daily life (food, music, education, lifestyle, clothing, beer, decorations, holidays)
• I occasionally think of new business ideas based on what I’ve observed on my travels. Random ideas of mine that probably exist already or just aren’t very good include: 1. iPhone travel app/company that uses GPS to guide people on city walking tours 2. Used bookstore inventory/online system 3. Travel postcard/poster website based on your travel experiences 4. European restaurant in America that specializes in making select ethnic dishes from various countries in Europe 5. Website for cool outdoors things to do in Europe 5. Cell phone company that ships international phones that can be used in Europe to Americans 6. Tourist information App (has the maps and information from all the official Information booths in each city) 7. A digital guidebook that doesn’t suck, and doesn’t focus primarily on museums and expensive hotels (maybe incorporate couchsurfers ideas somehow)

Berlin!

Berlin, much like Munich, is sadly only going to get a Sparknoted (highlights) version of what happened while I was there for a week. I had a blast the whole time, but because I was in one place for so long, with no train rides to write blogs, I didn’t have time or really want to spend time blogging. So while there is so much more to be said while I was in Berlin, only a little bit will be mentioned (sorry to Louisa, Nicolai, Anna, Rhianne, and other fellow Berliners who may be reading this wishing I included certain awesome details from my stay). As it is, here are some of the highlights:

Who I Stayed With

• Louisa and Phillip: 4 nights (I knew Louisa from Slo when I hosted her and her friend Gesa)
• Nicolai and Anna: 2 nights (I met them in Munich through Rhianne at the Oktoberfest)
• Rhianne: 2 nights (She dated my good friend Eric Frasch from Sigma Pi)

Highlights

• ~8 hour train ride from Copenhagen to Berlin (ugh, such a beautiful train ride tho)
• Drinking games with Louisa, Phillip, and their friends (the first night ended poorly for Kyle haha. Too much champagne, red wine, vodka, white wine, and more red wine)
• Explored Berlin with Louisa and Phillip (they’re an awesome couple btw. Love them). We saw the museum island, Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, had coffee in Kreutzburg, and ate a pizza doner kebab (mmm……)
• Spent a day at home doing nothing (well, I skyped with Jenny, watched some NFL highlights, did some email, uploaded pictures, and a few other things)
• Watched “Paranormal Activity” (a scary movie that haunted me the entire night. Seriously, not cool)
• Went on a free 4 hour walking tour of Berlin courtesy of a couchsurfer in Berlin who posted the tour in the “community” section of Berlin. ~20-25 people showed up which was cool. I learned a lot more about the history or Germany and Berlin, visited "Checkpoint Charlie," stood over Hitler’s bunker, and talked with some cool couchsurfers from all over the world.
• Visited the “East Side Gallery (the largest remaining part of the Berlin wall). Berlin has a very sad/depressing history, and I was very much aware of it while walking along the wall.
• Treptower park was awesome and had an impressive soviet memorial that was incredibly moving. A must see in Berlin in my opinion.
• Templehof park was interesting as it used to be the main Berlin airport (and was where all the food was dropped in when the soviets cut off their supply chain), and is now just a huge open park for the public
• Jewish Museum. I was incredibly saddened and moved by the history/persecution of the Jewish people. It's my favorite museum I’ve been to so far (tho I haven’t really been going to many museums on this trip. It’s not really my thing)
• ½ day trip to Potsdam (30 min outside Berlin). Such a beautiful city. It’s where all the German King’s Palaces and gardens are. I wish I had arrived earlier in the day. I saw so little of the town, but what I saw was jaw dropping)
• Hookah (or Shesha in other languages) Lounge with reunited Berliners! Smoked the apple flavored hookah (legal in America too mom…), played darts with Mark, and played some foosball. Oh yeah!
• Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. Walking around the camp and reading all the information/stories literally brought tears to my eyes. I had such an empty/ghostly feeling walking around. Everyone should visit a concentration camp to get a better impression of the horror that took place during those years. I think it’s great that all Germans attend a field trip to a camp in school.
• Flea Market with Rhianne. Berlin is known for its flea markets, but sadly we didn’t find anything cool. We walked around the Tiergarten for a bit tho which was cool. Fall in Berlin is beautiful.
• Bar life in Berlin! Went out with Rhianne and some of her friends to a hookah (shesha) bar. There were SOOOOO many young people out on the streets! It was nuts! I’ve never seen anything like it. Floods of drunk/soon to be drunk 20 something year olds were everywhere. Oh, and me and the 4 egyptian guys we were with had a 2 hour conversation on Islam/religion. So cool.

Random

• I’m addicted to the Steven King book I’m reading (“The Drawing of the Three.” It’s part of a 7 book series called “The Dark Tower”)
• Public Transportation is still weird for me
• I got made fun of by the Berliners because I ate a couple rolls which apparently still needed to be baked for 10 minutes before eating. Ha, Ha. Laugh it up guys.
• Rhianne was kind enough to send a bag of souvenirs I’ve collected to Michelle Townshend in Munich (which is where I think I’ll be flying back home from)
• I almost went to a professional soccer match with Louisa and Phillip but had to cancel due to their schoolwork. L
• Berlin is a nice city, with a crazy nightlife, diverse people, affordable prices on food and housing, an eastern European feeling to some extent, cool parks, an extensive history, and friendly people.

What time do the bars close???

I got back to Laerke’s home around 11pm from Stockholm, and was stoked to see one of my other couchsurfing friends there who I also hosted in slo! Mariella had been busy the last couple days or so and couldn’t hang out, but tonight was Friday night! Woot Woot! We hung out for a while drinking some wine, listening to party music, and debating which party/bar to go to. Man, the girls were hilarious in their natural Danish habitat btw. Haha Dancing and singing non-stop! Oh, and Laerke made this delicious red drink that had gin and some berry like juice thing that I still have no clue what it is, but it was good. J Sometimes words just don’t translate and I have to go along with what people tell me. haha

I think we left around midnight and made our way to one of the bars on foot. We stopped at a mini mart and bought some beer for our journey. I got a Carlsberg beer, which is the most famous beer from Denmark and is exporrted worldwide (pretty good, but not as good as the Belgian beer I had or some of the German beers). I’m gonna be divested when I go back to the states and can no longer legally drink beer on the streets. L

We met an interesting English fellow outside the bar and ended up hanging out with him for a good chunk of the night along with some of Mariella’s “homies.” J We pretty much just sat at a table drinking beers and talking, and before I knew what had happened, it was 3am! Haha Crazy. There were still tons of people everywhere, which I guess is pretty common in Copenhagen. People usually don’t even go out to the bars til around midnight, and they stay out til 4am easily, with some bars staying open past dawn. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing, but all I know is that Mariella and Laerke had to be somewhere at 9am the next day, so we left “early” so they could get some sleep.

I think we made it back around 3:45am and fell asleep shortly after. Definitely a crazy and memorable night in Copenhagen. Mariella and Laerke were super fun to hang out with, and I wish I could have stayed another night, but it was time to head to Berlin for a Saturday night adventure with my friend Louisa.

Swindled in Sweden

Sparknotes:

• ~10.5 hours of train travel for the day (from Copenhagen to Stockholm and back)
• The scenery was incredible. Probably the most beautiful area I’ve visited.
• Stockholm was one of my favorite cities so far, despite not really doing anything cool/fun. It reminds me of a European version of Seattle, but with more lakes and water everywhere
• I searched at least 10 stores for “Swedish Fish,” a gummy candy that my brother Cory really likes, but was unable to freakin find it! Sorry Cory
• I got swindled/played so bad. A street guy was doing the game where you try to follow the ball and guess which box it’s under, and within seconds I was out 50 euro. Don’t ask.
• I met a cool guy from Canada on the train back, who was studying in Stockholm

Wake up! Its 6:15am Kyle! Time to take a train to Stockholm in an hour!

While this may not seem that early to many of you reading this, FOR ME, 6:15am was “The Worst.” I managed to make it to my train on time, but not after sprinting the last 15 minutes which was a good way to wake up I guess. The train ride was beautiful, and I really should have spent the whole time just looking out the window, but sleeping and blogging distracted me from seeing the countryside. 5 hours later, I arrived in a city I literally knew nothing about. I kinda forgot to research things to do in Stockholm, but the tourist information office was very helpful and I quickly gained some insight about what to see.

I made a stop at McDonald’s (my 2nd time on this trip...) to use the free internet, but I also gave in and got a McChicken. So disappointed in myself. Haha After doing some quick research on Stockholm using my computer, I took off to explore the city, but not before experiencing 2 possible earthquakes in the McDonalds. I need to look online to find out if it was actually an earthquake, but the entire building shook for about 5 seconds on 2 separate occasions. Kinda scary. Everyone was just looking around scared wondering if it was actually an earthquake. Luckily, if it was an earthquake, it wasn’t very strong and I quickly got out of there. I would have been so angry if I died in a McDonalds. I hate McDonalds (except for the breakfast menu of course haha). Dying there would have been “The Worst.”

Side note: “The Worst” is an inside joke within my family, started by my brother Kevin this summer, who said that “Every night is the worst,” referring to putting his 3 year old son Myles to bed every night (who keeps waking up after being put to bed, saying he has to go potty as an excuse to stay awake longer, but he doesn’t actually have to go).

Anyway, Stockholm was really cool and reminded me of a European version of Seattle. There was water/ocean everywhere, small cobblestone streets, prominent buildings and churches, and a lively atmosphere. I don’t know why I liked the town so much, but it seemed really cool, with lots to do. The city is also spread out over a bunch of islands, so I’m sure each area is unique and would be fun to explore.

I debating doing a City Sightseeing Tour (tourbus) in Stockholm considering I didn’t have much time (~4 hours), and I actually have a free ticket to use (from Eurail) that I can use in over 25 cities. Unfortunately, Stockholm was not one of those cities listed. L So, I just wandered about aimlessly trying to find cool things on the map. As I mentioned before, I’m getting tired of walking through cities, but I guess it’s something you just gotta do. Maybe the 2^nd half of this trip will include more hiking and outdoor activities. I could easily just google “hiking in Europe,” but for some reason that hasn’t happened quite yet. I would assume the train doesn’t exactly take you to any trailheads tho. Haha

My short afternoon in Stockholm was nice despite not actually doing or seeing anything that cool. I checked out the main shopping areas (I have no clue why), walked along the water, explored a huge park on an island for 10 minutes, and rushed back to the train station. I’d like to come back in the summer and explore the islands around the city via cruise ship or kayak. Now THAT would be fun.

The Not-So-Good in Stockholm:

• I searched for at least 20 minutes in a bunch of different stores looking for some authentic “Swedish Fish” gummies and got shot down everywhere. I think the candy brand needs to change their name. Its false advertising if they don’t even sell it in Sweden. Haha
• I spent 30 minutes searching for a pair of bad ass wool socks (like the pair Olav from Norway has) and also got shut down. They were all either ugly or incredibly expensive.
• I got swindled/played so bad. A street guy was doing the game where you try to follow the ball and guess which box it’s under, and within seconds I was out 50 euro. It was such a bizarre situation and happened so fast, I’m really not even sure what even happened. I watched a couple games, then got pressured into guessing/betting, and was out 50 euro seconds later. WHOA! How did that happen! I didn’t even want to play, let alone bet that much! I swear the lady behind me was taking the money out of my wallet and just giving it to the guy. I walked away stunned, a little depressed, and more than anything just disappointed in myself that I wasn’t strong enough to say NO. This definitely ruined my day, and as much as I tried to think positive and make the best of my afternoon, the memory kept creeping into my head making me feel bad. Ugh.

The train ride back was fairly boring until I switched trains halfway through my journey, and ended up meeting a really cool guy from Canada who is studying abroad in Stockholm. He was a fun guy to chat with, and before long we were both in Copenhagen. I’ve noticed on my trip that some people are just super easy to talk to and the conversation flows with ease, while other people you meet you feel like you have to force the conversation to keep things going. Reid was definitely the former type of person, and we had fun talking about traveling, raves, beer, and whatever else.

Just Cope-nhagen

Sparknotes:

• Hung out with the guy I met from Boston and toured the city together
• Walked through the Free City of Christiania (a residential development in Copenhagen that essentially governs itself, the people don’t really pay taxes, and people are semi-allowed to buy and smoke marijuana on the street)
• Walked through a bunch of cool parks/cemeteries, walked along the canals and lakes in the city, saw the Tivoli theme park, and walked through the ethnic district of town
• Delicious dinner with 4 of Laerke’s roommates
• Talked with my mom for at least 30 minutes while she was watching the grandkids for the day (super Grammy)

I met up with John (the guy I met from Boston who was also staying in Copenhagen) around 10am set off to make a tour of the city for the day. John is definitely an experienced and efficient traveler, and was super fun to hang out with for the day. It was definitely nice to have some company and saved me from having to do the awkward “pose and take a picture of yourself” photo.

Our first stop was a small residential development in town called Christiania. It’s pretty famous in Copenhagen and if you ever get a chance you should swing by before the government completely cracks down on the area. Apparently the area was somewhat of a social experiment back in the 70's after squatters started living in these old abandoned buildings/warehouses (similar to the theater play "Rent" I guess), and the government essentially let the people live there/not pay taxes/smoke and sell marijuana on the street. Things are a little different now as the government occasional conducts drug raids, and the "citizens" of Christiania have to pay 50 million dollars/year as a community in order to continue living in the multi-billion dollar valued real estate they're occupying.

The neighborhood is pretty run down, with graffiti everywhere and old warehouses, but this is also what gives Christiania its special appeal. John and I must have seen at least 5 different school tours through Christiania, explaining the history and current state of the area. I thought it was funny that they did this considering there were marijuana stands all up and down “pusher street.” Haha It’s a very different culture over here. After walking around a bit, we made our way into the well known café in Christiania to warm up a bit and have some tea. The place was surprisingly cool, had free internet, and is open 24/7 which is nice.

The rest of the day we just walked around the city checking out the sights. We saw some cool canals and colorful buildings, the small 5 lakes within the city, a cemetery park, a cool ethnic street with lots of people and small stores, the king’s garden (apparently Denmark was the 1^st monarchy to exist), and a few other things we happened to run into. John and I then parted ways and I headed back to Laeke’s house.

On the way back home, I ventured through a couple different parks that were HUGE. It was nice just walking around in no rush to be anywhere at any time. Plus, it was gorgeous outside with all the leaves changing colors. Living in California the last 5 years has made me forget what fall is supposed to look like. Haha Spokane really isn’t all the pretty in fall either (too many pine trees), so it was cool to see all the colors and different types of trees.

The rest of the night was nice, but nothing too exciting happened. I got to talk with my mom for a while when she was watching the grandkids, I had dinner with 4 of Laerke’s roommates (tho Laerke was still at a workshop), and I spent some time planning what to do the next day. Around midnight I got a crazy idea to take a train to Stockholm, Sweden the next day, so I hit the sack “early” because I had to wake up around 6am the next day. Ugh.