Denmark

Nikki took control of getting us to the hostel as soon as we arrived in Copenhagen. We had been on an overnight bus so it was good that someone in the group was alert and in the mood for navigation. In no time at all we had found our hostel, checked in and were waiting for our room to be cleaned. Nikki was desperate to do some laundry so we found a posh cafe that was also a laundrette! It was strange to be amongst people having business brunch with our dirty clothes wizzing in the background but the Danish bacon and eggs were worth it.

Our first day was spent walking far and wide. Copenhagen has the longest pedestrian street in the world and is also famous for hotdogs. Every five minutes there seemed to be a stand where you could purchase a sausage with mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, onions, dried onions and ketchup...They were delicious but made us stink for the rest of the day.

The biggest 'must see' tourist attraction was something called "The Little Mermaid". The author of the original story came from Copenhagen and it was with great anticipation and excitement that we walked past the Winter Palace in search of the famous fishwoman. What we found was a medium sized statue of a mermaid overlooking the water. It was a somewhat overhyped attraction but I can now say that I have seen it.

(The'must see' attraction herself)

Both Jen and I have friends living in Copenhagen and through some master organisation we managed to meet with all of them at the same time in a bar. Jen knew James from living in London and I knew Christian from working in America. Christian had grown up in Copenhagen and asked to see a map to show him where our hostel was. He studied it for a moment then looked at me and remarked "Copenhagen is generally quite a safe place, but where you are living, people get shot". The general unsavoury nature of our hostel area was also confirmed by the girlfriend of James, the problems were gang related involving the Hells Angels and rivals, thankfully none of us were motorbike riding gang members so we were told we should be fine.

(From left to right, Celia, James, Me, Nikki, Christian, Unknown guy who jumped into shot)

Christian tried to teach me how to order two beers in Danish and then strode up to the bar girl and explained what I was about to try to do. It was quite funny that he placed such importance of warning her in advance and even more so when she looked at me and said "I'm Latvian but you can go ahead and try speaking Danish anyway". I ordered my beers and we had quite a few more, eventually arriving at our hostel past four am and with no bullet wounds or any other motorbike gang related accidents to speak of.

Our last night we stayed with James on the floor of his flat and visited some other attractions including an area where drugs are sold openly in a self contained village. We also spent time at a famous fairground area which was lit up for Christmas. The next morning Jen and I said our goodbyes to Nikki who had to fly to England for a wedding and we then set off to catch a bus for Berlin which involved a ferry that we were not aware of till we were told to get on it. Typical advance planning from myself.

(Copenhagen is gearing up for the climate summit so there are globes and things dotted round the city)

(The waterfront)

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