Back Again

Day 499
I was up early and quickly packed. After checking out I headed to the metro. I then got off at the wrong spot. Big surprise. Luckily the first person I asked for help spoke English and she told me where I needed to go. In no time I was on the bus to the airport.

After checking in I went thru immigration. After the pain in the ass of registering I really wanted to be given a hard time and to show that I had all my ducks in a row. I don't think that the guy even looked at my registrations. It was really upsetting.

My first flight was on time and I fell asleep before it even took off. When it landed in Copenhagen I went thru security again and then hung out at my next gate. We boarded on time but then sat on the runway for over two hours. By the time I got to London I was already 2.5 hours later than expected. I then about had a heart attack, the immigration line was ridiculously long and slow moving. Luckily after about an hour of waiting the nice American couple in front of me let me use their phone so that I could call Edward, who I had met in Hong Kong, to tell him that I would be late, very late for drinks.

The line was ridiculous. It took two hours. You couldn't go to the toilet, there wasn't any water, and sitting was impossible. Babies were crying and the elderly looked very uncomfortable. This is what Ellis Island must have looked like over 100 years ago. This is what you would expect out of a 3rd world country, not out of the UK. I understand if they want to check people more closely, but then they should have more than 4 people working at a time. It's just unreasonable to expect people to wait for so long. It was down right obscene. Eventually it was my turn and soon I was back in the UK.

As soon as I grabbed my bag I called Edward to tell him when I thought I would get to the bar. I then hopped on the expensive but way faster train (as opposed to the tube). I just didn't want to spend another 1.5 hours getting to my hostel. Plus, the longer the line took the more determined I became to be able to see a friendly face. Once I got off the tube (I had to switch) in Camden I couldn't find my hostel but I found Edward in the bar and he helped me look for it. After a quick change I headed right back out again.

We caught up over a few drinks, but pubs close early here and I didn't arrive until almost 11, I was meant to be there at 8! It was really nice to see Edward again after exchanging emails for the past two months. I was also extremely happy to be back in London.

The King

Day 176
In order to accomplish the rest of the things I wanted to see in Copenhagen I had to get up pretty early. I packed up my stuff and quickly had it in storage and was on my way out. I was headed to a little town called Hillerod with the biggest castle in Denmark called Frederisburg.

While I was walking around the lake towards the impressive structure I met a Canadian woman. I don't remember her name, she might have never given it. This woman talked more than I do, it was pretty amazing. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Normally this would have really annoyed me, but I was glad to have some else there for a bit.

The initial plan had been to get an audio guide and learn loads about the castle. I decided to skip it and listen to the Canadian instead. I could still take picture of everything and enjoy the splendor of the castle. What I can tell you about the castle is that one of the beds there belonged to the son of a king who had 25 confirmed children. No one is really sure how many more might be out there. The castle was pretty amazing. I don't think that I have ever seen so much stuff. Usually castles are pretty empty, objects had been lost through time, this one was full of stuff. It was pretty cool.

After heading back to Copenhagen we parted ways and I headed to the Copenhagen History Museum. I hesitated at the price here, not because it was expensive, it wasn't, but because I was running out of Danish kroners and I wanted to make sure I had enough for a bus later. On seeing my hesitation the guy working there let me in for free. Thanks!

Copenhagen was settled as a port town with a natural harbor. After 1167 the town grew quickly. The city was situated perfectly to become a trading power in the Hansiatic League. This connection brought a large German influence to Denmark. This would explain why people don't cross the street until the light says its ok, even if there aren't any cars coming.

During the 17^th century the Scandinavian states were at war, vying for control. This is when Christain IV came along. He transformed Copenhagen into a capital city and laid the street foundations that it has today. He also won power for the country.

I sort of lost interest when the more modern stuff came up. There was some big event going on and I couldn't seem to get away from the commentary. I also had one more stop and wanted to make sure I got there.

After walking for quite some time and taking pictures of random monuments (one had a black cloth on its head) I found her, the little mermaid. Her easy access location has lead some devious people to decapitating and dearming her. She's always repaired afterwards and looks no worse the wear. Now she was getting felt up by Asian teenagers. Luckily I managed to get a shot without anyone else in it.

I was getting really hungry at this point, but I only had enough kroners left for the bus ride to the station. It was too far for me to walk with all of my stuff. I decided to leave early for my night train. The train actually left from Malmo in Sweden. I figured that I would get dinner there. I was really upset to see that not only was it raining in Sweden, but that the only place to eat at the station was Burger King. I had no choice, but I did have Swedish money, so BK it was.

The night train was a bit disappointing. I had somehow once again ended up in a compartment full of men. Still, I fell asleep quickly as the train pushed forward.

To Travel is To Live

Day 175
During this trip I have felt like I have been living in the land of make believe. Much of the itinerary I have been following I researched and planned about 3 years ago, right when I had the idea for this trip. I´m constantly amazed that I am actually seeing it through. Even now, almost 6 months after leaving home I still can´t believe that I am here. I am really fortunate.

As my life is a fairy tale I decided to learn more about the actual fairy tales. I headed off to Odessa where Hans Christian Anderson had been born.

Anderson grew up in poverty. His mom was a washerwoman and his father a shoemaker. His father died quite young and his mother was a drunk, HCA eventually severed all ties with her. Through odd jobs and an eventual patron Anderson managed to get an education. He then had some success as an actor and a play write. Anderson´s first trip abroad was in 1831 and his last and 31st was in 1873. Overall he spent 9 years on the road. Anderson wrote travel books and in one of them said that "to travel is to live."

On one trip he stayed in London with Charles Dickens and his family. Apparently he really over stayed his welcome, he also did not speak very good English. Dickens later said that he felt that Anderson was unable to express himself in any language.

Anderson wrote several novels and travelogues, but is best known for his children's stories. He even wrote the Ugly Duckling as a parable of his life.

In 1875 HCA died of liver cancer. It was a bit sad when I got to this point. The artifacts on display had portrayed him as an amazing person.

Next up was the house he was most likely born in. It seemed quite large, I had to remember that there would have been 7 families living here. The last room had examples of his books in all sorts of different languages. The only book that is in more languages is the bible.

HCA wrote that life ”is like a voyage to some known point. I stand at the rudder, I have choose my path, but God rules the storm and the sea. He may direct it otherwise, and then, happen what may, it will be the best for me... my life will be the best illustration of my work.”

After wandering a bit more I checked out the St. Knud Cathedral. There were some bones here, but I didn't know the story.

It was time to go back at this point. The hostel was still dead. I don't understand, places aren't often like this. I need a place with some life!

Package Tourist Redemption

Day 174
After stopping by the supermarket for my breakfast I headed straight to the Carlesberg Brewery. It was quite far away though and by the time I got there it was almost lunch time. Given, I hadn´t really woken up that early.

I didn´t know if I should really take the tour though. It was quite expensive and I figured that it would be much like all the other brewery tours I´ve done. In the end I decided to go for it, mostly because I was allowed to take pictures. The girl selling me the ticket didn´t mention to me until I had paid20that I would get 2 free beers with the tour. She should have said that first, she would have had me at free beer.

Carlesberg was founded in 1847 by J.C. Jacobson and named after his son. The museum started with a collection of unopened beer bottles from all over the world. The collection was started in 1968 by a road engineer. Eventually it took up way too much space in his house and he decided to give it to the brewery. There were 10,376 bottles in the collection at this point. He has continued to collect and people sometimes give bottle donations. Now there are 17,615 bottles in total. The most interesting ins a Bass No. 1 Strong Ale from the UK dated 1869. This is possibly the oldest bottle in existence.


As for the museum it was a bit similar to what I had seen before. There was a history of beer section, but I won´t repeat that. Apparently women were the first to brew beer in Denmark. During the Renaissance people consumed between 10 and 30 liters a day. This is known as the great Nordic inebriation.

The Carlesberg brewery brought bottom fermented Bavarian style beer to Denmark. The first bottles had swastikas on the labels. This was later changed. In the 19th century brewery workers were given 4 liters of beer for free a day. It´s a wonder anything got done.

After the history there was a small sculpture garden and then came the stables and some really cute horses.

As I walked to the bar to claim my free beers there were some interesting quotes on the walls. "I am a firm believer in the people. If given truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them real facts and beer." Abe Lincoln. "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." Dave Barry.

Once in the bar I worked on my journal and drank my beers. Wren I had been checking out the museum there was a really large tour group that was getting in my way. Apparently they had to be on their bus at a certain time and most of them didn´t use all of their free beer vouchers. They gave me a stack of them on their way out. It was more than I could finish in a month of Fridays though, so after a bit I just passed them on to the people at the next table. I had a train to get on and I didn´t want to fall asleep and find myself in Djibouti.

I headed right to the train station and really got there just in time for my train. I was headed to Lund, in Sweden, to try and meet Christine again. This time it worked and we had a nice dinner. Lund is a university town and where Christine went to school. She gave me a little walking tour after eating. It´ s a really cute little town. The only problem was that Christine had that thing to do on weekdays that most people have, I think it´s called work, and couldn´t stay out that late.

When I got back to the hostel I didn´t even bother to try and make friends. I simply went to sleep.

What Country is This?

Day 173
I was slow in getting my act together. I don´t know why, it just seemed to take forever this morning. Maybe the long line for the shower was to blame.

I then spent a bit of time reading before grabbing lunch and heading to the train station. The plan was to go to Helsingor. This is in Sweden, but I didn´t actually know this until a few days later.

The plan was to meet up with Christine who I had met in Siracusa. I was a bit confused though and I thought that the train took 20 minutes to get there, but it actually left every 20 minutes. Because of this I ended up getting there a little too late. I tried to find an internet cafe to apologize but couldn´t. In the end I walked over to the castle and took some pictures. I decided to not go in this one. It was really expensive and didn´t look any different from others I´ve seen.

By the time I got back to Copenhagen it was definitely time for dinner. I tried to talk to some people at the hostel, but they were all hopeless. I just ended up going to bed.

Later on I found out that Christine had actually been even later than I was. We both just thought the other had left by the time we go there. Even though it sounds like I didn´t do much Helsingor is a really pretty town and wandering around was fun. It was only that the train rides were rather on the time consuming side.

Museum Menagerie

Day 173
It wasn´t until I had woken up that I realized that I was sleeping in the bottom bunk of a three bunk bed. I´d heard of these, but had never actually seen one before myself. It was a bit weird.

I wanted to accomplish things today. First on the list was to book my night train reservation out of here. That took a little bit of time but I was able to get what I wanted. Once that was done I headed to a place that I had been to before in Atlantic City. No, I wasn´t going to be gambling, I was going to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

When I was a kid the Ripley's books were already a thing of the past, but I still loved them. Robert Ripley began as a sports writer and was really interested in fascinating statistics. In 1922 his went on his first round the world trip. He moved from sport oddities to cultural ones. He visited 201 countries during his life time. Ripley died quite young, only 58 years old in 1948. Despite this he left a lasting legacy of travel and, well, bizarre stuff. During his lifetime Odditouriums were opened, some of these closed, and other became museums, like the one I was about to visit.

As I perused the displays I wasn´t as intrigued by the stories themselves, but by Ripley´s travels. He went to places that don t even exist anymore and preserved bits of culture that may have been lost without him. I wonder if this inspired me as a kid and I didn´t even realize it at the time.

Some of Ripley's things were down right silly, for example a woman used the same 14 bobby pins for 50 years. Some were about ancient African tribal rituals that would even sound odd to their current desendents. I found the collection of two headed animals to be really interesting. I kept expecting to see Dr. Doolittles pushme-pullme around the next corner. An unfortunate deer had an antler through its neck. There was a collection of toast art. A tornado broke a house in two, yet preserved the china perfectly.

Early in my tour I felt like a couple of kids were following me. Eventually I found out that I was right. The kids were from India and wanted to see the museum but their parents were not interested. They were a bit scared though and wanted to stick close to an adult. I didn´t ask, the little boy just told me this and apologized for following me. I told them no problem, but wondered exactly what qualified me as an adult. After a while they moved ahead of me, I guess I was taking too long.

After checking out a statue of Lincoln made out of shredded $100 bills I moved next door to my next museum. This was the Hans Christain Anderson Museum. He wrote fairy tales, but I bet you knew that. What I didn´t know was that he was also an avid traveler.

The museum didn´t really concentrate on Anderson´s life, but rather on his stories. Most were hanging on the wall to read and others were multi media stories read to me. Ok, this was a kids museum. I told you I didn´t know why those kids were calling me an adult. I read everything there. The Ugly Duckling, Thumbalina, the Little Mermaid. I really disliked the Matchstick Girl though, she froze to death, thats just sad.

There were two more museums left on my ticket. While I walked down the street there was a guy singing really badly for money. I think people were paying him to shut up.

The next museum was the Guinness Book of World Records Museum. This was not nearly as interesting as I would have liked. They had a replica of the worlds tallest man, Robert Wadlow. This was another sad story. Wadlow was 8´11. His body produced a continuous amount of the human growth hormone. His height caused him all sorts of medical problems and he required leg braces to walk. One of these braces gave him a blister which got infected, he died in 1940 at age 22. On a happier note I did see the worlds largest soccer ball, it was my height. The Danish royal family is apparently the oldest in the world.

Following this museum was one that I can´t remember the name of. It was filled with optical illusions and other weird things. First it told me to find a ghost in a fireplace, it was just me in a lot of mirrors. Then I spent some time talking to a rather drunk leprechaun. After that I yelled down a bottomless pit. It was dumb.

At this point it was time for dinner and I headed back to the hostel. I had a feast of bread and tuna fish. Nothing was going on. It was one group of lame travelers. After reading for a bit I simply headed off to bed.

It was a very good beer

Day 172
When I woke up I was back in Germany. I was in my least favorite city though, Hamburg. No matter, I only had about an hour to wait for my next train. I was headed to Copenhagen, Denmark. I had never been to Denmark before and was quite excited.

The train ride was not short though, about 4.5 hours. There was even 45 minutes on a ferry. Luckily the sea was calm and I didn´t get sick. They did make everyone get off of the train though, unlike when I was in Sicily. I think the point was to get people to buy stuff. It worked, I bought some M&M´s.

By the time I found my hostel I was exhausted. I had spent 17 hours in transit. It´s funny just how tiring doing nothing can be. I did want to see a bit of Copenhagen though. I spent some time wandering around and even checked out the main shopping street, the longest pedestrianized street in the world. I also stopped at a bar that is known for slow pour Carlsburg. I only had one though, it was the most amount I have paid for a beer yet on this trip.

At this point it was evening and I decided to go and see Wall-E. It was really incredibly cute!

Walking back was nice, even though it was a bit late at this point. No one bothered me at all. That was really nice. When I did get back to the hostel it was really very quiet and I simply went to sleep.