Copenhagen: not my scene

I'm sad to say, Copenhagen and I didn't get along too well. I think it was largely because I have gotten used to staying in smaller more manageable, idyllic towns where I don't feel like I need to go around and see the sites, but can just do what I feel like and relax and soak it in. Being in a real city, with lots of cars and bikes whizzing by me all the time and big buildings and everything else was a bit disconcerting at first. I think it also made me feel more alone- to be in this big place where I was so foreign and didn't speak the language or know where to go. Of course, most people there speak English, but still. I didn't feel an affinity for the place right away, instead I felt sort of uneasy.

I have found more and more on this trip that the places I like to be when I am touring cities alone are the places where it feels less like a city, less like a foreign country, and more appropriate to be alone. Namely, I gravitate toward parks and quiet walks by water. I guess it's a cop out, but it's free and someone stuck all those parks there in these crowded places for a reason. My FAVORITE part of Cph. that I saw was this canal where there were all these epic and very pirately, old fashioned sailing boats. I took pictures of a few of my favorites, which I will eventually put up on Facebook.

There was other good stuff. It grew on me as I explored. It's a pretty cool blend of old and modern, as many European cities are. There was a really cool exhibit up in preparation for the world emissions summit (or whatever they are calling that thing) called 100 Places to Remember (Before They Disappear). I wandered into the "free city of Christiana." I thought it would be interesting because it was founded by hippies in the early 70's, and people there can just sell and smoke hash and weed totally in the open. But it turned out to just feel kind of sketchy and uncomfortable. Ah well.

However my visit was tainted by an awkward interaction with a plump Greek man of about 30 who turned out to want more from me than friendship and pleasant conversation, and who for some reason demonstrated to me that he had literally a huge wad of cash with him. That was weird. And then while I was still recovering from that experience, I discovered that my bag that had had my passport, 30 UK pounds and chapstick had vanished from my backpack. I missed all three items, and the bag itself, very badly. And I was really mad at myself for not being more careful and somehow letting this happen, even though I had been trying to be careful all along.

In the end it was all right. The US embassy in Cph. turned out to be really efficient and pleasant. I had a new emergency passport less than 24 hours after losing the old one. And it was kind of cool to see how that whole process worked. But I feel like my Copenhagen angst was somehow warranted.