When my suitcase was half packed the next morning, Baby found it perfectly suited for her and climbed right in. Kicking her out of there was perhaps the hardest thing I've had to do thus far since leaving home. I took the train out and walked the rest of the way to Copenhagen Downtown Hostel, where I would spend the next three nights. After I settled in I took a free 90 minute Christianshavn tour, during which I saw mostly the same things Nanna had showed me, but with a bit more backstory.
I went back to the hostel with the understanding that dinner is free for the first 40 people to sit down. It was probably 3/4 full when I arrived, and I took a seat between two people I recognized from the tour. I tried to make conversation, but they were both glued to their electronic devices. I gave up and say there quietly instead of pulling out my phone (I can only use my phone with wifi, but we had free wifi at the hostel). When the food arrived though, everyone tucked their devices away, pulled their seats closer together, and began to talk. Dinner was rice with steamed green beans, peas and carrots. It was bland and had little to no protein, but at least it was free, social, and there was plenty of it.
After we finished eating we continued to sit together and talk. There was one solo male Scottish traveler, two Australian girls traveling together, a solo female Brazilian who was advancing to her second year of travel, and a solo female Slovakian traveler. It was the most independent female travelers I had met in one sitting. Even though I figured we would never see each other again after the meal, I felt inspired and so much less alone to see other women pursuing their dream of travel.
I asked how they got started, where they had been, how safe they felt in various places, and whether they could impart any advice to me as I was nearing my first month of solo travel. The Brazilian woman told me, "everyone said I was insane to do it, but I felt it was worth the risk. I've felt safe everywhere I've gone; the key is to pay attention to your surroundings, always."
The Slovakian woman sang praise to Southeast Asia as a great destination for the solo woman, and the Brazilian woman agreed. I was glad to hear it because I've been very seriously considering heading over there after New Year's Eve, spending my 90 days outside the Schengen region before working my way back, this time West to East (ideally something like Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Netherlands). The Australian girls said "I couldn't imagine traveling alone!" The Scottish man contributed, "it's quite nice actually," to which the women made eye contact, smiled, and nodded in unison.
After dinner I took a walk around the neighborhood. It was very dark outside at 8pm, but it's a safe area always bustling with people. I heard the sound of music and followed it to its source at the old town square (Gameltorv). There stood about 60 people holding long, thick red burning candles, singing a somber melody in Danish. Then one by one, the people took their candles and threw them into the center of the square, not in a pit or anything but straight onto the ground.
The candle flames joined together to create a bonfire right there on the square. The singing died down and a juggler began to perform downwind of the fire. I felt like I had stepped into the twilight zone. I thought about asking someone what was going on, but I could tell despite the juggler that this was a melancholy event, and I didn't want to intrude on anyone's personal moment of reflection. I headed back to the hostel and tried to look up the event online, but found nothing.
That night I skyped with one of my best friends since I was 2, Deborah. I quickly realized that even though we had seamless wifi, this wasn't the best place to skype as it may irritate my bedmates. The Australian girls I happened to be rooming with said they didn't mind so long as it was a quick conversation, and Deborah didn't have much time available to talk anyway. She had exciting news to share- she got hired for what sounds like her dream job in the East Bay!!! We haven't lived within 500 miles of each other in the last 7 years. Even more now I hope that after I get my fill of traveling, I can reestablish a life in the Bay Area. Although at this point only one month in, I can also envision living a nomadic lifestyle.
Sleeping at the hostel on Monday night was near impossible. Usually I sleep like a bear in hibernation. It sometimes takes me a while to fall asleep, but once I'm out hardly anything can rouse me. I got so comfortable with my own rooms the past week that it was hard adjusting back to hostel life. I woke up about every 45 minutes. I was on the top bunk, so half of those times when I sat up I thwacked my head on the ceiling. Every time someone rolled over in their sleep it sounded like someone was setting off fireworks. And mind you, this is coming from someone who slept soundly through a 6.7 earthquake.
On Tuesday morning I arose from a fitful sleep and grabbed a bite to eat for breakfast from a cafe called "A Slice of San Francisco." The owner is from Marin but only lived there as a child, so the food tasted quite like a Danish reimagining of San Francisco, although I won't deny it was delicious.
I headed to the steps of city hall (Radhuspladsen) to meet the free walking tour. Half of my dormitory room attended too, and it was nice seeing some familiar faces. I got a chance to ask the tour guide about what I had seen the night before. He was momentarily at a loss for words, then recalled that the previous day was the anniversary of the end of World War Two, and suggested that it might have been some sort of memorial.
I didn't see much on the tour that I hadn't already seen (except an underwater merman in a canal!), but I did get a lot of information on the history of the places I was enjoying. For example, I found out that the building with a huge spire on top composed of four dragons whose tails twisted together (pictures on facebook) was a stock building, and that it's currently for sale. Apparently McDonalds tried to buy out the building and the Danish government wouldn't allow it, which I thought was pretty cool. I found out that Copenhagen has burned down many times, which made the scene I saw in Gameltorv the night before even more bizarre. They told us a good deal about the government and culture of the city.
The tour ended at Amalienborg (the Royal palace), and there I met Martine. I knew Martine briefly in the dorms at college, and Martine is lifelong friends with my best friend Deborah's boyfriend (it's a small world)! Originally we had only planned to hang out for an hour, but after talking for a bit she invited me to join her later plans with a friend. She treated me to a fresh blended juice at "Joe and the Juice", and we spent a long time catching up and talking about our interests and lives.
Later we met up with Martine's friend Kristina in Christiana, where we purchased a couple of bottles of wine and sat at a beautiful waterside spot while we drank, played music, joked around, and had deep conversation. It was an awesome time, probably the most I had ever spent with Martine, and I found the two of them to be excellent company. That night I got back to the hostel around midnight and had a more pleasant night's slumber, probably courtesy of the wine.
I woke myself up in the morning talking (for those of you who don't know, I am a sleep talker). I noticed at that point that I had dark bruises on the back of each hand, and wondered if someone had tried to give me stigmatas because I was chattering all night. I went out for a walk to see the last few things I had planned to see in Copenhagen that I missed so far, which among other things included a free trip to the top of Christiansborg Castle, which people say is the best part of the city. Of course, it started raining as soon as I got to the top, but the views were still incredibly beautiful.
I went to Rosenborg palace, as I had told some of my students at my old school called Rosenberg that I would, and from there I sent a postcard to the school and to an old student to whom I promised a postcard. I walked around the botanical garden too, which was nice but the ones in Oslo and Gothenburg were more impressive. Maybe it has something to do with the weather cooling off.
That evening I met Nanna one last time at a board game cafe called b******! She taught me how to play a couple of board games over a cup of the most decadent hot chocolate I've ever had (pictures on facebook, always). We had a fun time and a good laugh, and I once again felt so grateful to have been in such good company in Copenhagen.
My bus the next morning was at 8am, so I got an early start walking there from the hostel at 7. On the way out of the hostel I ran into another traveler who saw my backpack and asked me, "onto the next destination?" Moments later I ran into the owner opening her "Slice of San Francisco" cafe, and she told me "have a safe trip home!" I was struck by the difference in thought patterns of travelers versus people who live in one place. For the traveler, the assumption was that the journey is continual, and for the settled person the assumption was that the journey is fleeting.
The bus to Hamburg was an experience in itself. I slept until the bus parked at 10am on a ferry, which I had no idea to expect. I guess I knew that we had to cross water to get to Germany, but I never stopped to think about how. We had to get off the bus during the ferry crossing, and even though I was originally reluctant to leave my cozy slumber spot, I was soon excited at the prospect of crossing borders by boat.
Back on the bus I started a conversation with a fellow passenger from Singapore. He told me that he's been traveling for nearly seven years by traveling to "intentional communities" and also using helpX.net, a website that connects hosts with helpers. I've been thinking of using the site but was uncertain how successful it would be and therefore reluctant to pay for membership. He encouraged me to make an account, which I did a few days later in Hamburg. We ended up talking about everything under the sun, and a couple of other passengers joined in the conversation too. The six hour bus trip seemed to pass by in no time.