August 14, 2010
It was good fortune for me that theweather on Friday, when we spent the day mostly outside, on a boat tour, etc., was good. Because it rained all day on Saturday, which if anything, was bad news. The good news for Saturday was twofold: Emilia (Eva's and my friend from Iceland) had arrived for a week (I would only see her for a day) and we would be staying that night in her aunt's very fancy apartment in the city center. It rained so much on the way there, but the bus dropped us close by.
There was a balcony, a shower with unlimited hot water, Coronas in the fridge (I like them despite the nearly universal European scorn for them), an outdoor heater, and Danish salami. I worried though, that the rain would thwart plans for the day.
I had heard of the Free State of Christiania, a small town in the middle of Copenhagen, occupied mostly by hippie types and supposedly ungoverned by the Danish government, and felt that it was my duty as a tourist to make a visit. The entrance had a sign that said "Welcome to Christiania" on one side and "You are now entering the E.U" on the other. It was raining, but the streets were still busy with pedestrians, vendors selling hash, people cooking food on grills for sale (I bought a hot dog with lots of chili sauce from one), outdoor bars. More dreadlocks than anywhere else I visited in Copenhagen, but also a fairly pleasant atmosphere.
The bus ride back to Emilia's place was slow for all the traffic, and the rain was now coming down very hard. Emilia had already started preparing dinner, and the fourth of the group, a Mexican guy named Juan, arrived soon. We chatted on the balcony, listened to music, and wondered when the rain would stop. Dinner was chicken in Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, grilled potatoes and salad, with grilled sausages for dessert.
The 4 of us took a cab to a bar called Jolene. I recall that the bathrooms (I think there were many) were nested within a labyrinth of white doors -- I would open door after door until I found one that was a bathroom. There was a map of the world, maybe in lights, on the wall. I don't think we were home until 5. The first of my connecting trains to Paris zould be leaving at 7:45 a.m.
[It just so turns out that the rainstorm I described was unusually intense for Copenhagen. Watch this video. I met some folks from Malmo, Sweden (very close to Copenhagen) a few days later, and they most definitely concurred that cats and dogs were raining).
Fiery Furnaces -- Tropical Iceland
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