Adventures Alone at Last: Copenhagen

I’m sorry that it’s been a few weeks, but that is mostly because I’ve been easing into the swing of classes and attempting not to drowning the rising waters of German that have been slowing overtaking not only my sanity, but also my homework schedule, social life, and what I like to call, Katie chill time. But forget that time, forget all that which you think to know about the once Katie Holdcroft. I’m suppose to be writing a blog post you see, and as you can most certainly see things are not going very well. I was in another country a few weeks ago and what do I have to show for it, just a couple of ticket stubs and some iphone photos, no friends, not really any genuinely lasting memories, just some recommendations and the hope that I’ll return again someday. Yes, someday is the term I love, someday, but someday for me usually means with Lauren. In case you haven’t met Lauren yet you will eventually, I assure you that much. But if you don’t know her yet, just know that she is my older sister by two and a half years. We are however, the closest friends one could find, and that is all I will say about her at this time. I loved Copenhagen, but not because of the architecture, or the food or the beautiful people who glided by on bikes made of silver and gold. No I love Copenhagen, because for the first time in over a month I was completely and utterly alone.

Some people are alone and crave company, or some people are and alone and thrive. I feel that I am somewhere in between. On the one hand, I read the news and never want to speak to a soul again, but then I’m standing in line at a Quizno’s and somehow find myself telling the sandwich maker my finals schedule. It's a dark and lonely road I know, but it’s not like I’m begging to tell anybody. No, let me be clear, after three weeks of German intensive I was more than ready for some alone time. I ended up in Copenhagen because I had never been there before, and I have mission this year of only going to countries I’ve never been to before, (excluding Germany) I’ll always make an exception for Germany.  It was a long shot, because while most of my friends were taking trains or buses to Adriatic ports, I’d have to haul myself back to the Vienna airport, back through security, and board a plane at 8 o'clock at night which would get me to Copenhagen at around 10pm (22 o’clock), and to my hostel around 11 (23 o’clock, I’m catching on you see?). I was intrigued by Denmark, because I hadn't been to a completely new county since I was fifteen on a bus to Prague.And although I had my fare share of fun in Prague, that trip was behind me. And if I planned to experience all of this beautiful continent I could, then I needed to start from the top. The first thing I noticed about Copenhagen was that they had the convenient store 7-11. I love 7-11, but not because I enjoy slurpees, but because of Japan’s relation with 7-11, and the relationship that I have developed with the convenient store over the course of my parents 4 year stay in Japan. Copenhagen felt like a dream, and for the first time I what felt like a very long time, I felt that ache in my heart and sweat in my palms that could only come from sitting in the back of a cab, pulsing through the night into a great and wonderful unknown.

I had many lone adventures in the small vibrant hipster capital,  the strongest indicator once I touched back down in landlocked Austria being, not only my aching feet from 5 days of intensive urban biking and strolling, but also my aching wallet, which suffered greatly under the crushing financial burden of a stable economy. I could go on for a few more pages, describing the girls in my 6 person dorm at the Urban Hostel in the “seedy” part of town, or the way in which I attempted to walk around the city on my first day, only to defeatedly return to my hostel 2 hours later, and rent a bike like the other sane residence of this country. I could describe to you the delicious meals of pita bread and hummus and cheese, or smoked salmon and radishes, which I consumed some evenings, or the fine glasses of white wine and aged gin which I drank in the city’s dying light. I could also go on about the ballet which I paid 20 dollars to stand and watch, but in my opinion was worth every penny. And how I biked there and feeling like a Dane in the flesh. I could describe the tour I went on via Kayak through the quaint houseboat lined harbors and canals, and how our guide was named Smel and looked like a modern day sea explorer. I could explain all these things in great detail and more, I won’t however, because those are the sophisticated things you’d expect from a place like thriving city like Copenhagen. I’d describe it all to you, but there is too much to say. For five days I lived in my head, aimlessly observing the people, the streets, the life which I could only imagine living. For five days I toasted myself and dined in restaurants, enjoying singular company. I remember it well, but only because I alone suffered the bad and reveled in the good. I made every decision without second thought and consulted with no one. I looked at art, I laughed with strangers, I picked up a few Danish phrases, and glided by on a bike which wasn’t gold or even silver, but it felt Danish enough for me, I felt Danish enough for me, and that’s all a tourist could ask for, you know?