Ladies and Gentlemen, I am back. I'm sorry not to have updated on the situation lately, but it's been a busy week! The important details: my ability to access funds has been restored, I am alive, and I have a working telephone. The longer story follows:
I believe we left off shortly after my arrival in London. So, I'll pick up beginning with leaving the disgusting hostel. I checked in, left my big bags in the luggage room, and set off for the British Museum. Naturally, I forgot to eat anything, so after a few hours of wandering aimlessly through everything in the museum, I started feeling a little off, and realized that I should probably obtain some sort of nourishment. So, away I went to Pret a Manger, the land of free wi-fi and relatively cheap coffee. I think I only ended up getting a banana, since I had a granola bar in my backpack, but I frittered away the next hour or so talking to my dad on Skype and trying to make some evening plans. After that, I only had an hour or so left to visit the British Library, where I saw some handwritten first drafts of Beatles' lyrics, the manuscript of Alice's Adventures Underground, some pages from Da Vinci's notebooks, and the Magna Carta, among other pieces of interest. I was trying to read the Latin in the Magna Carta on the big screen, but the style of writing is weird, so I couldn't make too much out, but a guy behind me asked, "Can you read Latin?" and when I replied in the affirmative, he just said, "GET OUT!" Clearly, he was very impressed with my intellectual powers. The museum closed before I could see their "Maps as Propaganda" exhibit, so maybe I will go back, because it sounded very interesting.
After that, I stopped at Tesco to pick up pasta, and stuff to make a meat sauce, and then went back to the hostel, where it turned out, there was no kitchen. So I went back to Tesco to return the meat and other perishable stuff, keeping the rest, and figuring it would come in handy later. This, my friends, is where I continue to learn that nothing is perfect. So the beds were a little more comfortable, the lockers were larger and more free, and the rooms smelled nice, but you had to buy their crappy food if you wanted to eat in the hostel. When I returned the stuff I had gotten, I picked up a sandwich and ate that. They give you a buy one get one free drink coupon, so I went down to the hostel bar for happy hour to see if I couldn't make some friends. I ended up talking to a few Australians, and getting into a passionate conversation about Tim Horton's and hockey with more Canadians. I got bored of the Australians, and decided to go to bed. I went in, fully expecting my 3 German roommates to still be out on the town, as it was hardly past midnight, and felt really awful when I probably woke them up by opening the door. Oops.
Monday was the Notting Hill Gate Carnival, which occurs every August Bank Holiday, and as far as I can tell, is an excuse for Londoners to get really hammered in the middle of the day. I didn't even know it existed, but it's apparently the 2nd biggest street festival in Europe. I met up with a bunch of Couch Surfers at a pub nearby (of course, after getting lost for a while first), and met some really nice folks. We decided to go get some grub before heading into the Carnival, and ended up at a place that advertised its "Spicy, Sexy Chicken." I got a lot of mileage making jokes about that. We lost a few of our number upon entering the sheer mass of people that was the Carnival, but they were all found by the end of the day, so no worries. The Carnival consisted of a very disorganized parade, each "float" being a group of people in either very cool or very skimpy costumes. I'm pretty sure all the performers were ragingly drunk. Imagine the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade if all of the balloon handlers were quite tipsy... it was pretty hilarious.
When I got back to the hostel, I was so tired, as we had been walking all day, that all I did was pack up everything and make sure my backpack was ready to take on the plane the next day. I woke up, had breakfast, and went to drop my stuff off in one of my dad's old colleague's office at the Canadian High Commission. Silly me, thinking that since it was a prearranged action, I would have no troubles. I got to the building, and the security guard was giving me the stink eye, and I'm pretty sure he didn't believe that I was there for a legitimate cause. When I checked in at reception, the security guy inside asked what I was planning to do with the luggage. I was trying to explain that my dad's friend had said I could leave it in her office, and he wasn't buying it. They don't let luggage past the lobby. OF COURSE THEY DON'T! So, here is where I started to have a little bit of a panic attack. Thankfully, the guy I was supposed to meet came down then, checked with higher up security, and told me I should go catch my flight, he'd take care of the stuff. He was very nice, which was very helpful to my state of panic.
I got to the airport, got on the plane, and got to Denmark. The flight from London is so short! I dozed off for a few minutes, and we were already landing. My first impression of the airport was that I had walked into a very expensive hotel lobby or furniture store. Everything is so nice in Copenhagen! I went through passport control, and the guy just looked at my passport, said "Welcome to Copenhagen, I see you haven't been to Denmark before! I hope you enjoy it!" He didn't ask any questions, or anything. SO CRAZY after UK passport control. The Danes are nice people.
So, it turns out that the international SIM is not helpful outside of the UK, and the T-Mobile guy was wrong, but that's ok because I had 10 pounds on the card which has been plenty, even though rates are extortionate. It was pretty bad though, because texting wasn't working, then finally it was, but my host couldn't send me texts or call me. Very strange. I was freaking out until I finally got a hold of my host at 31 pence/minute, but he picked up so it was all good.
But, anyway, the first night I was in Copenhagen, Johan (my host) and I talked about education in our respective countries, and music, and what we study until his girlfriend, Marie, got home from school. Then we went to the market to buy stuff for dinner and watched a documentary about Cairo and its trash problem, which was very interesting. Johan was kind enough to translate during the entire thing!
The next day, another couch surfer was coming, and she and Johan were possibly going to meet me in the city center in the afternoon- this is where the phone problems were actually a problem. I went to the Nationalmuseet, which is their National Museum. I learned a lot about Denmark. They had a cool "stories of life" exhibit, which just had a lot of odds and ends and stories about culture. I walked all across Copenhagen and soaked it all in. I ended the day by people-watching in the King's Gardens. When I got back, I was pretty exhausted from walking all day, so I didn't go out again, I just hung out with Marie for a while and then the next couch surfer, Alice, when she showed up.
On my last day in Copenhagen, we got yet another CouchSurfer in the apartment, which is a testament to how awesome Johan and Marie are, that they were willing to have 3 people in their verrrry small apartment! In the morning, we walked around the Norrebro neighborhood where Johan and Marie live, and saw H.C. Andersen's grave in a big cemetery that is used mostly as park space! It was strange to see kids running around in a graveyard... After that we met up with some CSers from Australia, whom Johan and Marie had had to turn down because 6 surfers in their apartment would not have worked at all, and then Johan took us on a tour of Christiania, the free city. His mom had lived there for 10 years ish, and his uncle was well known as a maker of a special type of bicycle for tall people, so he knew a lot about Christiania, and made for a good tour guide. We lost him though, because he had to meet with a woman at a venue where he books shows, but then he couldn't call/text me so I texted him saying we'd meet back at his place, and everything worked out. Marie had gone to her parents' for the night, so the remaining seven of us, and one of Johan's friends cooked dinner: roasted veggies, sweet potato fries, and pasta. It was really fun, and by the end of the night, it felt like we had all known each other for years.
I was sad to go in the morning, but excited to move on to a new adventure. Being unfamiliar with how trains work, I showed up way early for my train. When I got on, I was excited to see how lovely trains are in Europe. My 2nd class seat (in the quiet compartment... no screaming children FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE!), was about a thousand times nicer than any plane in which I have ever flown. There was nobody sitting across from me for most of the journey, so I was stretched out to my heart's content. Unfortunately, I didn't get the window seat, so I don't have a lot of pictures of the very charming Swedish countryside! Also, Swedish customs was funny... the guys were very tough sounding/looking in their actions, but they didn't even check my passport (what!?). By the end of the journey, the train was moving really fast, and looking out the window was making me a little dizzy, so it was probably a good thing I didn't have the window, after all.
When I got to Stockholm, I was immediately overwhelmed. I had no idea where to go or what to do, since my CS host would not be able to meet me for 5 hours. I started by getting some kronor, and turning that into change to put my backpack in a locker and be able to pay to potty. Then, I walked in the direction of Gamla Stan, the old town island. As I was walking, the wind picked up, and it got very cold, and started pouring. Disheartened, and lacking an umbrella, as well as having stupidly locked my hat and mittens into the locker, I figured I better do something about the situation, and popped into the nearest H&M, conveniently located about a block away, and bought a scarf and a hat for approximately 14 dollars. H&M in Scandinavia is like Starbucks or Walgreen's in the US. I'm serious. I feel like anywhere you stand, there are at least 5 within a mile of you. Anyway, I felt a little more fashionable (Stockholm and Copenhagen are INTIMIDATING fashionwise...) now that I had a scarf on, and decided to try Gamla Stan Take 2. This was a good idea. The sun came out, and as I walked around, I found a mob of people outside the big old church. Somebody who was apparently very rich, judging by the two Rolls Royce's outside, was getting married, so I waited with the crowd until the bride emerged in a storybook wedding dress.
Moving on, I walked all around the island, watched some people, and had some coffee. The time came to head to my host's apartment, so I retrieved my backpack, and took the T-bana. I was concerned I was walking in the wrong direction when I emerged from the station, but I kept going, and of course, it started pouring again. The street where his building is isn't actually labelled, so I had a fun time finding the place, but thankfully I did, and my host, Jonas, was kind enough to give me some tea and dinner. I met his roommate, Tuva, who actually went to school at Lawerence, so we talked about the upper midwest a bit. Jonas took me to a concert at a club, and we stayed until 2:30. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I like to go to bed early, so this was an extreme endeavor for me. My attempts (and subsequent failures) to set up the IKEA sofa bed were clearly enough to make Jonas question my intelligence.
On a side note, at the very same club where Jonas and I were attending a concert, Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman, the world champions of West Coast Swing, were hosting a workshop on the 2nd floor. I almost bailed on the concert... but I'm glad I didn't, because I had a ton of fun. There was an awesome girl band who opened for New Young Pony Club, and I decided that if I'm going to be the cool girl bassist in a band, I have to be more Swedish, because their bassist was the ultimate in CGBs.
I woke up super late today, but I high-tailed it out of here as soon as I was up. I thought about buying a Stockholm Card, but by the time I would have done anything, all the museums would nearly be closed, since they all closed at 4 or 5, and I left at 1. So, I wandered around Sodermalm, and people watched, and ate ice cream, and had a generally wonderful time. I decided to go to Djurgarden, where I saw another very fancy event happening at the Nordiska Museum, but I am not sure what it was. I walked around and enjoyed the nature-y surroundings on the island, and then headed back to Gamla Stan, where I had decided I would eat at a vegetarian buffet that looked pretty cool. I was starving, so I figured that would be the best and most delicious bang for my buck. It was SO GOOD, but here's the thing: I haven't been eating too much lately, so I ended up being unable to finish even one full plate, and now, 3 hours later, I am still uncomfortably full. I think that bodes well for my future eating habits, but I spent 100 kr (I will still say it was worth it, because it was delicious and I love vegetables, I was in dire need of something healthy, and that is only like $15).
I didn't want to go out tonight, so that I can actually manage to wake up tomorrow morning to go on the tour boats thing with Tuva and a friend of hers who is visiting. We're going to do the boats in the morning and shop in the afternoon (since things close at 4 on Sundays, we have to start very early!). So, Jonas left, while Tuva and I had some tea, and I wrote this massive update. I hate to be thinking about going to bed so early, and to not be out taking advantage of how fun Stockholm is (though it may sound like I was partying it up, last night, I'll have you know that last night I only consumed one (1) beer... it was around $7 and cocktails were twice as expensive... I can't afford to drink here... and don't feel like getting drunk at the club when travelling alone is a great idea.. but going out was really fun without drinking). I also am afraid I might be getting a cold or something, because my throat's been a bit sore today, so I'm hoping to sleep it off.
Okay, I am cold (Stockholm is SO COLD), so I'm gonna go wrap up in blankets and read for a while... it's been a week on the road, and I haven't really relaxed at all. Yesterday was actually the first time I slept through the night without waking up, so I think it's about time for some down time.
-C
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