Heading to Århus

Sorry about the delay.  I didn't feel like writing much last night, so I slept for a bit - and here we go.  This post begins with Sunday morning in Copenhagen, and runs through Monday morning in Århus.


I discovered that with the window shades drawn, I can sleep all the way to 5:00 AM.  Once I woke, however, I found that my back was aching, so I decided to go for a run instead of spending another hour or so failing to fall back asleep.  I took the same route as before - 3 km, 14 minutes.

Upon arriving back at the hostel, I was "cheered on" by two girls sitting on the front stoop, so after a short breather walk I stopped and talked to them on the way back inside.  It turns out they were both drunk (I'm sensing a pattern here regarding who interacts with me), and had actually been out all night (bars in Copenhagen close at 7:00 AM).  Both were from Norway, and were visiting a friend, so we talked about the differences between Norway and Denmark.  Mostly, they complained about how rough Danish sounds when compared to Norwegian.  I also learned from them the proper way to pronounce Oslo and Bergen, which should come in handy a few weeks from now.

 After heading back inside, packing up, and showering, I headed for the train station with about 40 minutes to figure out the how to use my Eurail passes.  It was actually impressively simple.  I took my Danish pass to the ticket office, and it was stamped and activated with the date.  From there, I simply needed to write down the date in the "first use" blank, which activated free transit for that day.  I also needed to write the train schedule information for the train I would be taking.  Once I had done that, the pass acted as my ticket for that train, along with my passport.

Getting on the train itself was slightly confusing, as European trains evidently will split and merge as it makes sense to do, sometime with little warning.  In other words, local train cars and long-distance train cars will sometimes move together,  so long as they're going to the same stations at the same time along the same track.  It's important to enter the right car, however, or you may end up going somewhere other than you intended.  It's a very efficient system, but presents a challenge for a non-native speaker.  After asking for help, however, I got into the right train and found a seat.  I didn't get to keep it for long, however - as the train filled up, people who had purchased seat reservations ousted me, and I set in the doorway with other poor travelers. :-P

A DSB train winds through the countryside.

I spent the first hour reading all my Eurail information very carefully - checking the train I was on with the maps and timetables I had, to try to wrap my head around the system better.  It's extremely well laid out, and very reliable - My 3-hour train was on time at every stop it made, and I arrived in Århus at about 11:40 CEST.

Along the way, I passed the time by practicing my Danish.  I was far more proud than I probably should have been when I asked another passenger "Undskyld, hvad er klokken?" (ohn-skewl, vadh ehr kloh-gern? [Excuse me, what is the time?]), without any sort of hand gestures, and she didn't hesitate or ask for clarification before pulling out her phone to show me the time.  I fist-pumped in my head, mostly because doing that on a train is likely to draw some stares.

From the train station, it was about a 10-minute walk to the hostel I was planning on staying in.  For some reason, however, the desk didn't open until 1600, so I had about 4 hours to kill before finding out whether I'd be sleeping on the street.  I looked around for some city bikes, but realized I was out of twenty kroner coins.  This immediately prompted me to try out some more Danish - "Undskyld, tyve krone?" - while asking to trade two fives and a ten for a twenty.  After succeeding in a convenience store with this request, I rode around the city for a bit before heading back to the hostel to check in.

Åboulevarden

I was in luck - they had a room available, and I booked it for two nights.  That would allow me to spend Monday traveling light, with most of my gear back in the room.  I was rather tired, so I didn't want to do much that evening besides get some dinner and check out Århus's famous nightlife along the Åboulevarden canal street.

The restaurant I decided to try was a typical Danish burger café, so I tried the Danish take on the burger with a beer.  The burger was tasty, and emphasized greens a lot more than an American burger would - it was almost half salad.  The burger was served with boiled potatoes and a sauce that looked and tasted all the world like a sauce...made from sour cream, crushed garlic, curry powder, paprika, and pepper!  The beer was nothing special - I don't think Denmark is going to cure me of my non-appreciation for beer.

Because the nightlife doesn't pick up until fairly late, I headed back to the hostel after dinner to rest for a bit before heading out later.  I figured I'd visit a few bars, have a few drinks, try to talk to some people, and see what happened.

Pro-tip: drinking alone sucks.  I do not recommend.  Visiting a Danish bar by yourself is like being at a party you're not invited to.  After having a few drinks and people watching for a while, I headed back home.  It could also be that a Sunday evening is not an idea time to experience the nightlife of any city, but I was want for better options.

This morning, I went for a run along the canal and head a fruit smoothie and panini for breakfast.  I had hoped to go to a beach, but the weather is pretty dismal.  I may just go anyway for the exercise and to get out, but it will probably be empty.  Really, the weather has been rather poor for the whole trip so far.  Here's hoping it improves.  I'm going to head out and just try to have an interesting day.  If I don't, I may just move straight on to Ålborg tomorrow.  Here's hoping!  

Of interest:  Both Copenhagen and Århus are laid out in a villa style.  The typical setup is shops along the streets, with occasional entrances in smaller roads and alleys to small open courtyards that offer access to residences.  Many residences are on major roads, but seldom are they accessible from said roads.

Also of note:  Initial impressions regarding a relationship between communications infrastructure and socialism are negative.  My currently prevailing impression is that it's more an indication of wealth.  Of the people I've discussed it with, there seems to be a sense of "It's a convenient luxury to have good infrastructure, and we're rich, so why shouldn't we have it?"