Let's begin with the pitfalls. To begin with, Esbjerg has no City Bikes. Given the size of the city, this puts a damper on one's ability to get around. At least Holstebro was small enough that it could be traversed comfortably in 15 minutes. Esbjerg would take 20 minutes at a healthy jog. Making matters worse - there aren't really places to go inside the city. The whole thing is largely laid out in an L-shape, with residential areas forming the inner box that the L creates.
The walking zone of the city is rather nondescript, featuring street after street of clothing shops. Compared to the other towns and cities I've been in on this trip, Esbjerg seems to lack any sort of aesthetic vision.
I started the day by walking down to the grocery store to pick up some lunch. A few loaves of bread, a block of Gouda, some peas, a plum, and a hard blackberry cider later, I was on my way again, enjoying the food I had just purchased. If figured I would return to the largely abandoned walking district I had visited last night, to see if it was any more lively on a Monday - it was.
Lots of people were milling about outside stores - it seemed the order of the day was to shop, so I decided to get some shopping of my own done. The store selection, however, was woefully small. It seemed every shop was ladies accessories or menswear. I asked some shop owners in broken Danish how to get to a shop that sold the particular items I was looking for, but they apparently are all located miles out of town. After a few hours of this, I was rather disheartened, and decided to head back to the hostel for a recoup day.
Recoup days are, I've discovered, quite helpful in recharging my cultural batteries. Immersion in another culture is a lot like the act it's named after. It's a tiring experience, and doing so for too long can lead to depression, anxiety, and weariness. It's good to come up for air every once in a while, and about every fifth or sixth day seems to work well for me.
I started by taking a long nap, which did wonders, and did laundry as well. It's a nice feeling, doing laundry, because every load I do lightens my pack just slightly, as the detergent is used up. It's a small thing, I know, but mentally it feels good to do.
I had some leftover bread, cheese, plum, and peas, so I had a light dinner and relaxed, planning my trip tomorrow back to Copenhagen (it'll be a long one, and by bus part-way), and the shopping I hope to accomplish while I'm there.
In the absence of an interesting travelogue, I'd like to go through and mention some of the small, insignificant, but awesome things I've noticed and appreciated while in Denmark.
- When a traffic light is about to turn green, the yellow and red light both come on for a split second, giving cars, bicycles, and pedestrians early warning.
- Sales tax is included in prices.
- Prices are even kroner far more frequently than American prices are even dollar.
- Duvets are awesome!
- Denmark has 8 political parties, and majorities are very rare.
- Unlike in America, where mass transit can be competent locally, but falls apart over long distances, Danish mass transit is best between large cities, and short-distance inter-city transit is usually the poorest (though usually at least as good as any system in America).
- Waiters and waitresses get a livable wage, and so tipping is not expected. Appreciation for a fine experience is shown by coming back again and again.
Brian out.
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