Hello from Copenhagan. Arrived earllyyy morning, like half 7am. So I chucked my bag into a locker in Central Station and then took a shower as well. Fresh and ready to hit the city about 9am, I soon realized everything wasnt yet open, except a coffee shop called Baresso Coffee. Although its still a franchise, it was refreshing to see a local Danish franchise rather than the Starbucks you get everywhere in London. But want to know how much my cappucino was? 27 Krone...which translates to about AUD 5.50. ouch. I realize its like that everywhere in Copenhagan. So, it turns out Denmark is similar, if not more pricy than Sweden. According to the book Im reading at the moment, the income per capita in Denmark (excluding Norway and Switzerland) is the second highest in Europe after Luxemborg. This book I brought at the train station in Stockholm is called "The Armchair Diplomat". Its satirical, witty and politically opionated. but it good, because it does a piece of each of the EU-15 countries (plus 2) and gives the history review of each. I have the book in front of me and on the front page, it lists the countries in the Old Europe like this:

France: Most land, most push, biggest food producer
Germany: Most people, biggest economy, most anxious
United Kingdom: Most aligned with US, least likely to use euro
Ireland: Best example of how EU can turn a place around
Belgium: Most eurocratic: headquarters of EU and "capital of Europe"
Austria: Most vehemently antinuclear; first to start immigration debate
Italy: Most embarrassing head of government; best political soap opera
Spain: Most fun, highest unemployment rate
Greece: Most easterly; most tied up with Cyprus
Netherlands: Most tired of being ignored
Luxembourg: Most small, most rich
Denmark: Most surprising; anti-immigration, and anti-euro
Sweden: Most likely to suffer mysterious political assassinations
Finland: Most gung-ho of Scandinavian countries about EU
Norway: Most happily independent of EU
Switzerland: Most unlikley to ever join EU

lols, the book cracks me up. It gives the facts of each country, but also ridicules the nations.

Anyways, I spend the early morning walking around what I thought was an extremely quiet city....ah yes, it was 9am...when we returned in the afternoon, it was so busy I could hardly recognize being back in the same place. I met up with my friend, Arthur and his friend Patrick who is coincidentally living in London and also visiting from the weekend. They are both from Vancouver. We spent the day touring around Copenhagan, on foot and on boat/canal...disappointingly not on two wheels. Shucks. I think that would have been the ultimate transport. The roads here are so wide, because they accommodate an extra lane for bike lanes (not those narrow ones you get in Melbourne and abruptly terminates down the road, but big wide ones so you can even overtake another cyclist). Arthur told us there are city bikes you can cycle for free. Its a pretty cool concept. basically all around the city, there are red bikes that are locked up to bike racks. You put 20 Krone in, which unlocks the bike and you can cycle within the city zone for as long as you want. When you finish, you simply locate those city racks and you lock the bike again; you get your money back too. Today was Saturday, so all the bikes were used...awww

Ohh this afternoon, I had the best waffle. Mmm Danish waffles are really that good. I had mine with chocolate and Patrick had his with ice-cream. So yummy. Thats about the extent I went with trying Danish cuisine because for dinner, we had Spanish food...tapas, seafood paella and sweet sangria. it was so good. My face is still flushed from my glass(es) of Sangria so Im not in a hurry to join the boys who are in the pub right now watching the footy. Arthur tells me Danish food isnt so good. But Im still determined to at least try their Smorgesbord (open sandwiches).

Im going back to London tomorrow evening. Its a really late flight, about 11pm I think..I need to check. But its departing from Aarhus, which is a 3 hour bus/rail journey from Copenhagan. I need to book that leg soon.

P.S. Amy: I cant seem to post on the message board. But anyways, dont stress too much. if its any consolation, its still september. I am sure being "Laura" with respect to at least one thing - losing things. yes, I lost my student ID card on the first day!! like on the day of enrollment. I didnt even realize till that evening. seriously, can anyone be as clumsy as me?! ahhhh

update: photos added