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On Jan 2nd I hitch hiked from Odense to Copenhagen, about 160 km. I managed to find a ride to take me the whole way but it took me 2.5 hours to find that ride! I found in the days to follow that hitch-hiking is harder in Denmark and that I would have to wait longer. The ride to the island Seeland included crossing a new bridge (two years old, really) that is 17 km long between the two islands! When it was built it was the longest hanging bridge in the world, although the Japanese now have a longer one. The Danes are nonetheless very proud of their bridge and their other accomplishments and would always tell me about them. In Copenhagen I found a youth hostel, which was also closed. I started to think that every *$?! hostel was closed for the holidays (the hostels were closed in Odense as well)! Fortunately there was another hostel in Copenhagen that was open. It was dirt cheap too, only $20 for the night plus another $6 to rent bed sheets. 
In my room were four guys from Italy although I never really got to know them. At the hostel I met a Danish girl and an Australian girl. The next day I went into the city alone, and met two more Australians! (Australians travel a lot, much more than Canadians who pretty much stay at home). They were two students from Sydney. The three of us did our own little walking tour of Copenhagen. We went by the inner harbour of the city. I think these boats are here year round, since they are surrounded by low bridges which do not open. 
Together we saw some museums and churches and famous sights, including the little mermaid statue. She was somewhat smaller than I expected (life size, really) and a lot closer to the shore (only a few metres away - I stepped over some rocks to get to her). The artist's wife was the model for the sculpture. The little mermaid is about 60 or 70 years old and has lost her head twice (due to vandalism) over that time. 
We were also in Louis Toussaud's wax museum (including the house of horrors!) and Ripley's believe it or not musuem. This is the Danish royal family (in wax). The reigning queen of Denmark is on the left. 
We went to the Royal Palace, which is constantly under a traditional guard. One of the Australians took a shot of me next to a guard. Notice how young he looks, and also that he did not look at the camera. 
The highlight of the day was seeing the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace at 12 noon. That was quite the event. There were hundreds of guards involved in the ceremony. 
We also saw the Rosenborg Slots (a castle), but couldn't go in as it was a Monday, a day when many attractions are closed. 
That night (the 3rd of Jan) I called the guy Bjarne I met at the new year's party and arranged to go to his place. Before I went there I took a picture near the town hall of one of the most electronlically advertised buildings I have ever seen. There is a large electronic thermometer in the middle. 
There I had another great dinner and a free place to stay! After dinner we went to a bar in a basement downtown. It was a very cool small place with a great atmosphere. The most famous Danish beer is Carlsberg, which is brewed in Copenhagen. The symbol for this beer is an elephant. The girl bartending that night took me upstairs to another smaller bar where there is a big elephant head (not a real one, but made of wood) where you can press the tusk so that "Elephant beer" comes out the trunk!! That was very cool. The girl told me that a lot of tourists, including Canadians, come to the bar just to see the elephant head! On the 4th of Jan I took a train further north to Humlebaek. There I checked out one of Denmark's most famous art museums, the Louisiana, which has some Renoirs, Picassos, Degas, and other very famous works. Then I hitch-hiked further north to Helsingor. These towns are on the coast in a very beautiful part of the country. It was great to be able to walk along the sea, the weather was great too. 
In Helsingor I saw Kronborg castle, which is the same castle where Shakespeare's Hamlet takes place! (the story also takes place in Helsingor). The castle had authentic dungeons where soldiers would live and train for months at a time without ever being allowed out to see the light of day! The castle can be seen in the background here, behind a small navy ship. 
Only four km from Helsingor across the water is Helsingborg, which is in Sweden. (So I can say that I saw Sweden but not that I was there!) Helsingborg is behind me in the background here. 
After checking out the castle I hitch hiked back to Copenhagen where I stayed at Bjarne's place again. On the 5th the Queen of Denmark had a little parade through the city, but I missed her as I showed up around ten AM only to find out that she had passed through in a gold carriage drawn by white horses at 9 AM. So I decide to leave Copenhagen, and then began one of my longest and wildest hitch-hiking adventures yet. I spent the next twelve (no exageration!) hours travelling nearly 500 km from Copenhagen all the way back to Hamburg! Altogether I had eight different rides, including two rides with truckers, and a lift from a young Danish girl on her way to visit her grandmother about 25 km in my direction. Note to future travellers of Canada: when abroad, wear a Canadian flag somewhere on your pack or person (don't go overboard with a really big flag or multiple flags though). Europeans like Canadians and will sometimes get excited when they learn you are not a common American. So anyway, shortly before this girl had to leave the highway for her grandmother's town, she invited me in for coffee and I spent the next hour chatting with her and her grandma over coffee and cake! Her grandmother only spoke danish but that didn't spot her from talking to me anyway. About an hour or so later I was back on the highway entrance ramp. Much later that night (shortly before midnight) I actually made it to my aunt's place in Hamburg, and surprised her in doing so as she didn't know I was coming. Back to the Main Page - Zur�ck zur Hauptseite |