"I Have No Idea". Copenhagen

         

I arrived in Copenhagen from Edinburgh. No troubles at all. A week previously I had to submit to a bag search that would have been appropriate for entering into battle zones. But yesterday, I breezed through security and customs with hardly a glance. Go figure.

After tossing my bag onto my bed in Copenhagen I headed for dinner. By chance I walked along a lake in the city and finally I noticed that I was walking along a quarter mile of Buckeye trees.

I guess they are the same, perhaps a different name and a few things different....but I took that as a good sign.

      

Most of yesterday was spent getting to the airport, waiting on the plane, the flight to Copenhagen and then negotiating the Metro ticket and the Metro itself (it appears to be strait forward.)

              

After two weeks of training your brain to drive on the left in the U.K. and when stepping into a street to cross....looking left and not right for immediate oncoming traffic.....now Denmark goes back to the Drive on the Right system that we have. And even now I'm not sure if I got that right.

              

And if you are now looking for car traffic from left when you cross.....you also must remember that there is a Bike Lane prior to stepping in the car lanes.....so you are liable to be hit by countless bikes. Good for Denmark....saving the planet. Tough on tourists who are uninitiated.

The U.K. uses pounds and pence. But a Scottish pound note might not be accepted by the English and the Northern Irish are also on the pound...but the Republic of Ireland is on the Euro. Then you go to Denmark and stock up on pounds at the Edinburgh airport....and realize the Danes use Kroner! I thought they were in the EU and used the Euro. One fellow at the ticket machines for the Metro was highly vexed when he was told that the Danish did not use the same currency as the Swedes, where he had just come been.

                   

Further impressions.....Lots of Blonde people. Lots. I feel like I'm in Minneapolis. Also a surprisingly greater diversity of immigrants than what I experienced in Scotland. I have no facts or figures to back up anything that I just said....I'm just giving an impression. Good for them all....as they integrate their societies.

I mentioned this to my daughter....and wondered what European societies would look like in 100 years with their rates of immigrants.  Makaila said...."Probably like America."

That sounds OK. I do pray that they don't inherit our current political climate....though I fear it is already arrived.

                      

The night scene in Copenhagen seems to be quite lively with countless restaurants and bars. I found an upscale Burger joint and after eating my rather messy, huge burger....I realized that the Danes eat burgers with a knife and fork.

That is just wrong in so many ways.

           

I also note that the accent which the people in Copenhagen use when speaking to me....is almost unnoticeable. Meaning: great English. Gentle accents. Like all Americans....I speak only English....yes, yes, I know. The rest of the world speaks multiple languages and always knows English. I know. I know.

               

And as always....the music of the restaurants and bars.....is the soundtrack of my youth. Motown and rock from the 60's. Yesterday I head Eric Clapton and James Brown in one restaurant. (The day before in Edinburgh I heard Bobby Womack and Dion Warwick for breakfast.) American pop music seems to rule in these parts. (I'm still trying comprehend hearing James Brown singing "Sex Machine" over the loud speakers in downtown Sligo, Ireland a few weeks ago.)

                     

When I arrived in Copenhagen I was walking through the airport and saw signs of the Metro and its promise of swift and economical travel to the city center. It seemed cheaper than a taxi and I liked the challenge of trying to figure it all out.....and I discovered that I could purchase a 48 hour pass for that Metro. All 48 hours is cheaper than one cab from the airport to my hotel. I made my purchase.

I asked the attendants at the machines (there were countless people there purchasing tickets and struggling with coins and charge cards and what have you). So, I asked the attendant what Metro stop I would go to for my hotel....and I showed her the address. She immediately said...."I have no idea!" 

And I thought...."Ahh...welcome to Copenhagen."

                                   

But, she immediately pulled out her IPhone and plotted my destination and announced...."Get off at the Forum Metro station and then a 7-minute walk to your hotel."

 

                               

Turns out she was wrong.....it only took 5.

Welcome to Copenhagen indeed. 

Peace,  Bob