So if anyone wants to know where special text characters like Æ, å, é and ø hang out, well they hang out in Denmark, in case you wanted to know. (I’m sure you did).

Anywho, I made it to Copenhagen! I’m not quite sure what to think of the city just yet, but my stupidity has transcended nations as I left the battery to my camera sitting in the charger back home, so all of my photos here on out will come form my phone. They’re not bad, but could be much better. You’ve been warned.

I arrived at the Copenhagen airport and went through the easiest customs I’ve ever gone through. He literally looked at my photos for a second, and stamped it. No questions, no stories, nothing. When I landed I wasn’t really sure what to do. All I knew was that I booked a hotel in the middle of town, and that’s it. Luckily, most people speak English so I was able to hop a train bound for Copenhagen’s Central Station.

Copenhagen's Central Station

As luck would have it, my hotel was directly across the street from the trail station, so that worked out well. I was early, but hoped they had a room ready because I was exhausted from the flight and just wanted to nap for a few hours. Sure enough, they did! I was a little surprised at how small it was though…

Hotel or Dorm Room? You decide...

Oh well, it’s just for one night. The facilities were shared by the entire floor, so in a way I felt like I was at sleep away camp. Now I understand why the hotel was so cheap! Looking back, however, everything was perfectly clean and I never saw another person using the facilities so it was money well saved.

After sleeping for a few hours, I went out to explore the city of Copenhagen, but after just a few minutes roaming around the city I came to a major realization:

EVERYTHING IS SO DAMN EXPENSIVE!

It’s true! A bottle of Coke was almost $4 USD. As a matter of fact, the Big Mac Index rates Denmark’s currency at almost double what the US is. The Big Mac Index is an annual report published by The Economist that takes an average price of a Big Mac in a certain country and compares it to other countries to get a fairly accurate picture of how strong/weak different economies are. For more info about that, read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

After the initial expense shock wore off, I started browsing the local shops, like this one:

Why yes, yes I did!

I didn’t really have many plans for the night so after walking around for a few hours, I came back to the hotel to change and go to dinner. The hotel recommended a great Vietnamese place right around the corner called Kiva. Check out this awesome beef salad I had for dinner:

Most expensive beef salad EVER!

The final tally for my meal was close to $45 USD just for that and an appetizer. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious but just a bit pricey. I guess it’s a good thing tipping isn’t customary in Denmark. After dinner, I did find one thing that’s priced normally: beer. I stepped into a local pub and has a glass of their local brew. Cost: $5. That’s more like it! If only I can just drink beer the entire time I’m here…

I digress. The beer was good and cheap, but I forgot one thing about bar culture: the smoking. I was in the pub for less then 15 minutes before I left, and still walked out smelling like an ash tray. Even my hair smelled gross, but I guess them’s the ropes.

Since I was still pretty exhausted from traveling, I decided to make it an early night for tomorrow I have panned something super cool: A Segway Tour of Copenhagen!

Stay tuned…