Pricey but Precious Copenhagen

Sorry it has taken us so long to update you all on our most recent travels. It has been a little difficult to come by free internet and a decent keyboard as the Belgian and French ones are hard to type with so please dont judge our poor grammar :)

Our overnight train from Berlin got into Malmo, Sweden 20 minutes early (!!) on a Sunday morning. Very much like our northern neighbor, North Dakota, nothing was open at this hour. Soo, we walked around the old town square, took some pictures, and then walked towards the harbor where we saw the mast of what looked to be a pirate ship. Yes, folks... a pirate ship! Argh! We scoped out the perimeter trying to find an easy access point to board the wooden vessel but it was pretty well fortified. Then, we saw a man standing outside dressed as a pirate; we came to know him as Carl. We asked him how one could see it up close and he informed us that the kogg is actually a museum and it opened daily at 11.00. A kogg isnt actually a pirate ship, it is a fishing boat which is significantly lamer. We somehow connived him into giving us a free entrance and he showed us all around the exhibition. We got a sweet picture, MK did her handstand, and our quick trip to Sweden was compete.

We then had a coffee and departed for Denmark via the bridge that connects the rest of Scandinavia to mainland Europe. It was awesome! Half an hour later we arrived in Copenhagen in all of its expensiveness. They are famous for having the highest public transportation prices in the world-- woot! Not. We bought ourselves a one-way bus ticket to our hostel, for the equivalent of 5€. Our hostel was simply bizzare, but by Danish standards it was cheap so I guess that is to be expected? We were informed that the hostel closed everyday for cleaning between 12 and 4 so we dropped our things off in the lobby and went to find some free entertainment. Success- there was a bench near one of the city's 5 reservoirs that we sat on. KJ journaled a bit while MK made a couple of avian friends. Specifically, none other than Mama Duck! Her mate wasnt extremely pleased with her lust with popcorn but she seemed to wear the pants in the relationship so she kept coming back after plopping in the water every now and then to wash out her beak.

After running out of popcorn, we had nothing left to offer the ducks so we decided to change up our venue and moved to Kings Park where we sat on the cool grass, took in the summer sun, and played a few games of cards before take a quick zoomer. The park was packed with other Danes doing likewise. Apparently their climate is similar to Seattle, so when the sun does decide to make an appearance the whole country takes full advantage of it.

As our hunger made itself known, we set off to find a supermarket, which was not made easy as it was the Sunday evening before a holiday (Pentecost). Half an hour in, we saw a beacon of hope in the form of an all-you-can-eat SALAD and pizza ad outside of a restaurant by the train station. So we paid our 70 DKK and feasted like queens. We were excited because it was the first time we have had salad dressing since we conned the McD's manager out of it in Venice.

The next day we woke up to further explore the city by foot-- no public transit for us! We dropped our backpacks off in a locker at the train station and then found our way to Copenhagen's claim to fame: the Little Mermaid statue! It was awesome, and with an ice cream cone in hand, it was even awesomer!

We returned for yet another all-you-can-eat dinner of salad and pizza, and it pulled us through our awful 15 hour train ride to Amsterdam that followed. We optimistically boarded the train, looking forward to catching up on journaling and chilling out in our couchettes. This, however, was short-lived, as we were immediately joined by the stinkiest 77-year old man, or hobo as some might call him, we have ever met in our lives. About only every tenth word of his was decipherable and we are still dumbfounded as to how he managed to pay for a couchette ticket but was unable to pay for a shower along the way. Next came an overly-friendly, self-proclaimed Canadian man whom we also had a difficult time understanding. He insisted on helping us with EVERYthing, from climbing up to our beds, folding our clothes, and forcing unwanted conversation on us. The real kicker was when the first thing each of them did upon entering the compartment was to take off their shoes AND sweaty socks. We made a short-lived escape to the dining-car where we indulged in sacred 1.30€ boxes of Nesquick. After returning to our smelly and stuffy compartment, we experienced a miracle in the form of an open window. Then we climbed up to our couchettes and called it bedtime around 8.00. The sun was nowhere near set but that was fine... conversation was just over. Over the course of the night we tried to change compartments but this was made impossible as all of them were quote-on-quote full. The cabin hostess refused to take pity on us, despite the grotesque faces she made every time she entered our compartment.

We forced a 12-hour nights rest and upon waking up we booked it out of the compartment to find some coffee. We didnt return until 5 minutes before our arrival in Amsterdam. We then bid our cabinmates a farewell and then set out in elation in search for some beloved stroopwaffles! We dropped our backpacks off at a nearby hostel and found a supermarket where we got our tastey treasures and some salads for lunch. We then chowed on a bench by the canal, fed some pigeons, and then made our way back to the train station, stopping to pick up our backpacks on the way. Belgium, here we come!