More from Copenhagen

Friday (October 9th), Afternoon, 2pm

Copenhagen is a glorious city! I went for a very long walk today.

I slept well, as you might imagine...some slight allergies, but nothing more that you might expect.

Annie woke me up and she and I got some 'alone time' to hang out while she got ready for work. It was really great to reconnect with her.

Annie left me a key. After a shower (Danish: brusebad), I decided I'd try my hand at grocery shopping. I wanted a toothbrush and some sodas, nothing too complex. Armed with a 200 kroner (around $40) note, I went into the grocery store.

I don't know how illiterates survive. I had a big challenge identifying some of the products as I browsed, and I can read some Danish! I bought some mixed fruit juice, some Cokes Zero (they have em! SCORE!), and the all-important toothbrush. I felt pretty good about myself until I went to pay.

My tab was 65 DKr--I gave the lady my banknote (Danish: pengeseddel), the coin thing tossed out some coins, then things got...different. She looked at me and asked a question. I panicked. 'Ummmm..Sorry? I don't understand...' She asked me how much money I'd gotten (in English)...then I didn't know! Help!! I don't know these crazy moon-man coins. She handed me a 100 DKr note (maybe with slight exasperation, or perhaps amusement, I couldn't tell which) and I was on my way. Okay, well, whatever the case, I got my damned toothbrush (Danish: tandbørste).

After a rest, I went for a long walk in the park (Danish: park). Annie and Jens live just across the street from one of Copenhagen's biggest parks--Fælled Park. I walked its entire perimeter, snapping pictures, wandering, people watching, and window shopping. I never had to answer any questions, so I did fine, despite sore legs.

I thought I'd go back to the store and get some beer, but first, back to the apartment for a rest. And I konked. Hard. I didn't wake up when Annie (who had loaned me her key) rang the doorbell. I figured it out in a moment, but not before she'd gone away. She went down the street to see if that's where I was. Oh well, we laughed about it afterward.

That evening, Annie and I hit the town while Jens went to his gf's place (did the word complicated (Danish: compliceret) occur recently? Okay, just making sure...). It was Culture Night, a night where everything stays open late and people hit the street to see shows, have fun, and hang out. Copenhagen was crowded, but it was worth it...

I told her that I should write the Dallas City Council and sugges this. But then I said "the postscript would be 'hahaha, just kidding'" Coz seriously, Dallas isn't too interested in things like culture. Seriously! Fort Worth maybe...strangely.

After seeing some amazing sights and eating an absolutely fantastic dinner (Danish: en lækker aftensmad), we wandered to a trendy little place for a couple of $15 cocktails. Yeah, seriously. But here's the thing...across the square was a 2-person band. Just wait...you can't even imagine.

Okay, there was a man playing an electric guitar...well, playing may not quite be accurate...commanding feedback from it at a volume guaranteed to make your molars fall out. Like kind of mediocre Hendrix....but wait...there's more. Okay, on stage with him was a woman playing something in the trumpet family. I am informed it is called a lur, and it's a bit of a national musical instrument around here, but to me it looked like something from Dr. Seuss. So skin-ripping feedback combines with deeeep moaning trumpet sounds. Is there a word like 'surreal' only more extreme?

Anyway, so far everything is cool over here on this side of the Atlantic!