Copenhagen, Denmark

I arrived in Copenhagen on the overnight bus from Berlin. Half way through the trip, the bus boards a ferry. Although getting out of the bus and standing on the deck of a ship was a welcome breath of fresh air, waking up half way through the night was not. Nonetheless, we made it to Copenhagen safely by about 5 AM. I love cities in the morning, so I spent the next few hours wandering around, watching the city come to live and watching many drunken revelers stumble out of bars – and then do things like vomit in the street or make out in corners with whichever person they’d picked up the night before. Then it started pouring rain. I ducked into a small alley and avoided the worst of it, but I was still pretty wet by the time I finally navigated my way to the hotel.

After checking in, hanging my stuff all over the room and having a quick shower, I headed out to explore the city. One thing I quickly noticed was the preponderance of gay men wandering around. I discovered that there was a gay-themed cruise leaving for Germany and Russia, so 2,500 gay men had descended on the city. Some of them were staying at my hotel, and it was fun to meet some of the guys, and to chat about science fiction and, of course, design. One guy I shared breakfast with is a designer from Miami and had hilarious stories about his experience with models.

After breakfast, I made my way to the train station, where I activated my EU Rail Pass, and made my reservations on the train to Amsterdam. The train is cool because it drives right onto railroad tracks that are embedded into the floor of the ferry in order to get across the sea. At the train station, there is a store for Telia (one of the mobile operators), so I got to witness the spectacle of the iPhone 3G launch. After sorting out my tickets, I walked all around the city and enjoyed the great Danish architecture and design (something for which my uncle John has an understandable weakness). I visited Christianshavn, explored all the canals, checked out the hippie vilage along Pusher Street, watched some performers that are part of the current Copenhagen Jazz festival, and then made my way to the Opera House (pictured above), the Royal Library, the Carlsberg Brewery and the Danish Design Center.

Tonight, I leave for Hamburg, where I will wander about looking for adventure in the German night. Early the next morning, I’ll head for Amsterdam. See you there.