Copenhagen, Denmark

Written on Train to Berlin Coming from Copenhagen January 1st, 2009 - 7:40AM


So, people in Copenhagen are fucking crazy.

The city doesn't buy their own fireworks because it's inhabitants all bring them and set them off themselves. Complete Mayhem.


Before the New Years celebrations we walked the town a bit. We went to Tycho brahe's Astronomy museum/observatory. That was 15kr or so and really high up. View was almost worth it. Then we walked the Strogut some more which is a road of shops, so that was also cool. We took pictures of some places including the city hall, which as usual was really big. More to come on that building later.



We ate at McDonalds, which is the 2nd night of fast food in a row. We are aiming for cheap. We gad to go there specifically though because everywhere else was closed and soon we started to figure out why.

The Sun started going down at 3pm as per usual and we went back to the hostel to drink a bit. I bought a 4 pack of Heineken and downed it quick while watching TV and smoking inside. After a quick nap we headed down to the square in front of the city hall. Thousands of people then gathered and started to set off fireworks there. Hours before and hours after 12am people were shooting them off. At buildings, cars, and other people which turned out to be not cool. We found somewhere relatively safe to stand and stood till around 12:10am. We took lots of pictures then decided to head back to the hostel and go to sleep to be ready for our 7:40am train to Berlin.

Overall the Hostel was okay, the people were nice and they gave us cookies and champagne for the new year celebrations. There was free internet and I talked to Ma a little bit. You could smoke in the rooms which was weird though.



This morning went smoothly, got up, walked down the street where people were still setting off fireworks. Went to the train to Berlin and got right on. Very nice train or at least the best so far. I am impressed with the seats and their comfyness level. We got some meatball sandwiches once it started moving which were good but I am concerned about the gaseous effects. I also ordered a water, but little did I know that normal European bottled water is carbonated. Mike told me that after I took the first sip. Thanks Mike. It was/is horrible.

Then around 9:45am I heard something about a boat over the loudspeaker. I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. Mike, Alex and Pat were all also sleeping at the time as well. Then about 10 minutes later I heard something in English about a boat again and getting off the train. I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter. Turns out the train goes on to a ferry like boat and travels 40 minutes across the water. We were not aware of this and were quite frightened. We went upstairs on the boat and had a cig then went to the duty free shop and talked about how a bunch of Germans just put Alex on a boat. (he is of Jewish heritage, hence funny) I still cannot fathom that no one told us were going to be on a god damn boat. Mike didn't even know, so it made no sense. (he knows everything) After 40 minutes of drinking cola light (diet coke is called that in Europe, makes more sense) and eating chocolate we got back on the train and entered Germany. (I used parentheses in this paragraph a lot.)

First thing I noticed was the abundance of Wind Turbines. Hundreds of them in one field. The more I see Europe doing right the more I realized America does not have high enough standards for itself.

Carlsberg's Non-Confident Advertising in Copenhagen

Train: Stockholm to Copenhagen

Written 6:50AM - December 31st


No problem waking up this morning. Apparently Alex and Mike couldn't sleep so the decided to go get Kebabs at 3:30am and saw a bloody fight. Like two guys beating the crap out of each other, blood, and giant Swedish Police kinda fight.

Pat slept a few hours and I got a solid 6 hours of sleep. Woke up around 4:50am pretty refreshed, probably woke up initially because Alex and Mike were telling Pat about the fight at a very high volume but that's fine cause it is an amazing story.



Alex and I scurried out of the hotel as to not be caught because we weren't supposed to stay in the 2 person room. We got to the train station and immediately procured cappuccinos (picture from a Stockholm cafe but they are almost all the same wherever you got them including 6am in the train station) while Pat and Mike made sammies at the hotel. They are so cute. We found out the Eurail passes were worth it today as well. This ticket alone would have been 900 Krone and we only had to pay 120Kr for the reservation and that was it. After all that we went to the train and I finished my Lucky (Last Cig in the pack for future reference) We are on an X2000, which is a far nicer/faster train than the last one. This SHOULD be about a 5.5 hour train ride. Our hostel is only 2 blocks from the train station which is a nice change. We have a list of things we want to see before assumed New Years celebrations.

Alex said yesterday he expects to be perpetually tired over the next three weeks and I think he is right. I am currently awake because of the insanely strong cappuccino but I have this general malaise over me. You just have to fight through it and base movement on hopeful adrenaline secretions and caffeine. I'll sleep when I'm dead.




The UCMB is leaving tomorrow, I hope and know the people within the band will have fun. I never missed a performance physically - once or twice I was not mentally "there" but my body was. Feels weird, but I regret nothing. I have only been on this trip for 5 days and it's already one of the coolest things I have ever done. Everyone should experience different cultures, it rips the world you know wide open, which is scary but amazing at the same time. You never know what to expect and that is why it is an adventure. I can't believe tonight is the start of 2009. 2008 went so fast which is sad but 20 more days of Europe then I'm thrown into 2nd Junior year semester. Sounds like fun to me.


And now one more picture to prepare you for the Copenhagen Blog:

Stockholm, Sweden

Written on 30/12 (That's how they mark it in Europe)

I am currently sitting in the Frey Hotel in Stockholm. We could not get our sleeper train tonight because of the Holiday. (Not Told, Sorta Pissed) So we have a 6:20am train booked for tomorrow. We were originally just going to sleep in the train station but then Pat offered to pay for a hotel for the night, and I personally am cool with it. No, but really, I don't have to sleep in a train station so that is awesome. (Below is a picture of Central Station)


Yesterday we got in to Stockholm and left Central Station (really big and awesome) Stockholm is much bigger than I thought it was going to be, apparently it is the biggest city in Scandinavia.

We got to our hostel by way of the T. We bought a 24 hour pass for trains and buses which was a very good deal. The hostel was pretty good, free internet and the room was nice.

We had two major goals for the first day, go eat reindeer and go to the Absolut Ice Bar. We left the hostel and went to find a cafe that sells reindeer. We took a T to Old Town which was really cool. It has very old buildings, obviously, and small quaint streets. It was sort of like walking through history, but cooler. So we went into this restaurant that was too fancy for us but whatever. Alex and I got some great beer and Pat got wine because again, he's on Vacation!



Reindeer was delicious, pricey, and totally worth it cause let us be honest here, I ate a god damn reindeer. Blitzen is my bitch.

Then we headed over to the Ice Bar. We had to make reservations earlier, but still worth it. The place was completely made of ice including the cups that were more like shot glasses with expensive liquid. We all had to put on Parkas to walk inside the actual bar area. The inside of the bar had to be kept at -5 degrees Celsius at all times.





After that we went back to the hostel and met some people in the common room. We drank a bit (Absolut oddly enough) We met some girls from Vienna who were cool as well. I might marry one of them, so that is pretty sweet. Eventually after some walking around trying to find and open bar we ditched the girls and came back to go to sleep. (Tiny bit drunk) We set our alarms for 8am but that didn't happen. We all slept till 9:50am or so, packed up and then checked out. At this point we were still going to sleep in the train station so we kept our backpacks at the hostel to hold. We then hopped on a bus to the Vasa Museum. I honestly had no idea where we were going and my head hurt a bit from the night before so when we walked in I was in for a surprise. I was looking down at the ground as per usual and then I heard "woah" and looked up to see the biggest Scandinavian war ship that is inside a building I had ever seen. Apparently it was in the water for 20 minutes then sunk which I find to be hilarious. They got it out from the sea bed sometime in the 1960's and now it is a museum. We saw a short movie about it which was very Museumish, no real actors, just pictures and that slow zoom they do on all of them with the booming voice over. We then went back and saw the ship from every angle possible. No pictures came out well of the real version so Google it or something. I'll just post this one of Alex and Mike talking with a wooden dude.

Then we headed to 7/11. I bought an apple and some citrus stuff. That was lunch. Then we went through town on our way to see Stockholm City Hall. On the way we saw a 37 meter tall glass obelisk. No biggie. Tall, Glass, Lit up, pretty straight forward. I'll post a picture of how it looked at night cause it looks cooler.





Lots of Spires in Stockholm as well, they really like spires. Then we got to the city hall, which apparently took 8 million bricks to make. It might been one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is right on the water which makes for fantastic picture opportunities.









After that we walked back to the Hostel to get our bags. While we were there we saw the Austrian girls and said goodbye. We might call them while in Austria. Maybe. (Didn't Happen) Then we went to the train station and we figured out we should not sleep there. (score) Alex and I checked out bags at the station because we only got a 2 person room. Now we're just watching TV and getting to sleep early for our train to Copenhagen and the new year.

PS: The sun went down at 2:30pm today.

PPS: I stole the pen I am currently using.