Venice

18th – 21st April 2017

I was quite ecstatic to leave for Venice, as I knew a single room was waiting for me. I thought to myself that if I would’ve stayed in a dorm room for one more night, I would’ve snapped. I left quite early in the morning, and the journey was pretty long. I had to change trains in both Innsbruck and in Verona. A little heads up is that you have to pay extra for longer fares in Italy. I’m pretty sure I payed about €15 in this train.
The Italian country side is absolutely gorgeous and I spent so much of the train ride just looking out the window at the green landscape and tremendous mountains. It reminded me a bit of Norway, just with more grape/olive plants and less snow.
I arrived late in the evening, and I couldn’t figure out how to buy a bus ticket (I even asked), so I dragged my suitcase those 15 minutes it took to get to the hotel. Getting to my room after checking in, felt like such a blessing. It felt so good. I thoroughly enjoyed it and stayed up for a few hours just to chill.

I woke up late and took my time getting ready the following day. So long, in fact, that the cleaning lady came knocking. Oops.
I stayed on the main land, and the actual Venice is located on the island, so I had to get a bus there. Conveniently, the bus stop was right outside the hotel. Apparently you couldn’t buy a ticket on the bus, but the very kind driver told me I could ride the bus for free, if I promised I’d buy a ticket on the island. The bus ride was about 20 minutes, and had a pretty good view.  Once on the island, I started walking.
Venice is so scenic. It feels like a whole different world from the main land, and even the bus depot. The narrow streets, the ancient houses, and of course – the canal. If you didn’t know, the canal is used as the only transport system on the island, as there are no roads made for cars, or even bikes. It’s by foot or by boat.

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I started out buying some breakfast, and sat by the main canal eating my food and taking in some sun. The weather was so lovely, about 20 degrees and full sun. I sat there for quite a while, just taking it in.
After my butt started going quite stale from sitting on stone steps, I decided it was time to get going. I had no plan, really. I just walked towards the south side of the island, taking all different kinds of street and back alleys. Like I said, it’s completely like a different world. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it. It’s such a shame that the sea might swallow it in the future.
After strolling the whole day, I went back to the hotel and just enjoyed the alone time.

The second day, I actually managed to get out a little bit earlier. I did the same thing, went out to the island straight away. My plan was to walk in another direction and try to see some new buildings. I walked over a different bridge, and took the roads and bridges I felt like. After walking for about 20 minutes I thought I must’ve got quite far out on the island, but no. To my surprise I spotted the first bridge I walked over the day before, and I also caught a glimpse of the bus depot. Oh well.

I then took the same road as yesterday, and got to the same place on the island. I walked further on this day, and got to a whole different area, that felt a lot like a proper seaside city. It was absolutely stunning too, but it didn’t have the same feeling of being something out of a fantasy world.

The thing about my visit to Venice, as I didn’t really have a plan and mostly just put one foot in front of the other, I have little to show for it. I don’t really know where I’ve been or what I’ve seen, I just know that it was all wonderful. Please excuse me for this lousy report on what you can do or see in Venice, but I mean, the whole place is worth seeing. I just absolutely loved it. I hope you can tell, and I hope the pictures makes you want to go and see this fairytale world.

Vienna

16th – 18th April

Once I’d left House of Terror, I headed for the train station that would help me get from Budapest to Vienna. The interrail app said I needed a reservation, but the man working at the train station said I did not need one. I asked multiple times if he was sure, he insisted, so I went to the platform. There, a female voice said over the stereo that reservations were indeed mandatory. I freaked out a little bit, but thought I’d just had to ask the conductor, and if he said I did need a ticket, I would just have to get one for the next train. Thankfully, he said it was okay, and I actually got to remain in my seat for the whole journey.

Safely arrived in Vienna, the next step was obviously to get to the hostel. Turns out, public transport in Vienna is apparently not synchronized with google maps, so I had to buy a smoothie to calm my nerves. It was really hard getting the information I needed, but I found my way to a close by subway station. The hostel was a quite far outside the city centre, as well as being located about a 10 minute walk from the station. I was quite relieved when I got there, it felt like I’d been traveling for hours.
I checked in alright, and went to my room. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. Compared to the other hostels I’d stayed in, this 6 bed female dorm was quite the let down. It didn’t feel welcoming at all. The beds were old and creaky, and I did of course have the top bunk. The ladder went past the bed so it was really difficult getting in an out, and it didn’t even have a railing all the way on the side of the bed. I thought to myself that once I was in that bed for the night, I would not get down until the morning. Honestly, the room just felt very miserable.

I had to go out again to get some dinner, and I spent quite some time out because I really didn’t feel like going back to the hostel. I knew I had to get up in that other bunk, and I really dreaded that. I obviously had to get back, and I just got ready and climbed into my scary bunk bed.

As per usual I got out a little bit later than I would’ve liked, but as they say, better late than never. I really struggled with finding somewhere to eat breakfast because everything seemed to be closed, and the weather was really unstable so I couldn’t really eat in a park, so I actually ended up going to McDonald’s. Superb breakfast.
After that nutritious breakfast, I decided to get a Hop-on-hop-off bus ticket again. I think it’s very enjoyable, and like I said, the weather wasn’t the best.
I saw loads of pretty buildings and statues, and I thought I’d get back to them later, but guess what, I didn’t. Honestly, I was starting to get really tired and drained in Vienna. I’d kind of had enough of people, and I really longed for the single room in Venice. I ended up sitting on the bus for almost two rounds, and I almost fell asleep a few times.

I did manage to get off to go to a contemporary art gallery called 21er Haus. On the first floor the exhibition revolved around seating furniture, such as chairs, sofas etc, and the artist had for example shaped them to his liking or built new ones. Some of it was art that I don’t really understand, but most of it was very entertaining. On the second floor there was paintings. The pictures were mostly motives of human disasters as Syria and the refugees, war, and so on. The paintings were really good, and some were very heart wrenching. I’m pretty sure they had exhibitions that I didn’t get around to, but as you know, I was super tired.
I rode the bus a little bit more, and then got off to get some dinner. It poured down on my way back to the hostel, and I was quite relieved to be back early. I packed, and got ready for the morning as I was leaving early in the morning. I went to bed and thanked the heavens for my single room waiting for me.

I’m truly sorry if this post seems like a lot of negativity. I’m just trying to portray the way I actually felt, which was quite negative. I was tired of being surrounded by people all the time, I never felt like I could actually recharge. If you hadn’t guessed already, I am indeed an introvert. I need my alone time to feel good.
That being said, I thought Vienna was a pretty city, and I hope to explore it more some day, hopefully with a better mood. The architecture was gorgeous, and the natural history museum, for example, looked tremendous. I will be back.

Budapest

14th – 16th April

I left the hostel in Prague quite early to get to the train station, I had about 1,5 hours to kill once I got there, in fact. I reserved a seat, exchanged my excess Czech cash (remember?) for Euros, and ate breakfast on the train station floor. There was a board showing train times quite close to where I was sitting, “how lucky”, I thought.
Looking closer at the board as the clock was drawing closer to 11.52, when the train was leaving, I could see that it read Budapest – 12.06, but no track. So I knew the train was late, but not where to wait for it. I stood in front of the board for a while, thinking if there was no track number at 11.50, I would go and have a look at another board or ask someone. Well, lucky for me, I went to have a look a minute earlier, because at the next board there was indeed a track number, and apparently the train was indeed departing at 11.52. So I ran. Like a maniac. And flung the suitcase and myself onto the train last minute. Thankfully, the conductor was very kind and let me fill in my interrail pass on the train. From thereon, the almost 7 hour train journey was very comfortable.

Once I got to Budapest, as always, I purchased my public transport card. I got on the bus, and thought to myself, that I couldn’t wait to have a single room, to just be alone for a few days. Spoiler alert: this did not happen. At first, I really, really struggled with finding the hostel. I walked up and down the same street, and couldn’t find it. I went into a café and asked for help, but they couldn’t tell me where it was either. So I went back out on the street, to look. I even started looking up hotels with vacancies. I followed the route on google maps carefully, and went and had a second look at the signs on the door bells belonging to something that looked a lot like an apartment building. I’d already looked once, but when I looked a little closer, I could indeed read a worn out sticker reading Motel California. I pressed the button, didn’t hear anything, pushed the door, and turns out, it was open. It was indeed an apartment building, you know the ones with a little square yard in the middle. I had no idea where to go, no signing, so I just tried the stairs, and headed for the first floor. I spotted a sign at the end of the balcony. As I got closer, I saw the man sitting outside. I asked him if this was the reception. He obviously didn’t speak English, and just replied with “Motel?”. Let me just make it clear; I do not judge people who do not speak English, I don’t demand that every person in the world must speak it fluently my own mother doesn’t, I’m just thinking – shouldn’t individuals who work with some kind of service occupation (especially in bigger cities) be able to communicate English on a decent, understandable level? Or is that just me?

Anyway, over with the side track. He called up a lady, who I spoke to, she said she’d be there in two minutes, but then she spoke to the man again, and we were going to wherever she was instead. I wasn’t petrified, but I was a little bit worried. The man, who’s probably a very kind hearted spirit, offered to carry my suitcase, but me, being a little freaked out, declined politely. We walked out and around the block. On the way I sent a snap to two of my friends saying to look for me at Motel California if they didn’t hear from me again, lol. We stood outside the door of another place looking like an apartment building, with an awkward silence forming, as I don’t speak Hungarian, and he didn’t speak English. Thankfully, the lady I’d spoken to on the phone came through the door after just a minute or so, and let me in.
The problem seemed to be that they didn’t really work with the booking site I’d used, so she didn’t actually have my booking, and the hostel was already overbooked. Therefore I’d been brought to a new hostel that wasn’t due to be open for another week or so, so it wasn’t as overall done as you’d want a hostel to be, but at that point I was honestly just happy to get a bed to sleep in. She also got me into an all girls room. I shared with two very nice girls from Portugal. They even asked if I wanted to go to a bar with them, but at that point I was super tired and just wanted to go to bed.

I woke, got ready and got out. I had some bread and some condiments, so I got the bus to a park close by, and ate there. The park seemed to be a popular place for people with no home to spend the night, and I can’t blame them, the park was pretty nice.
Whilst I had my breakfast I looked through my Europe guide book. I didn’t find the map of Budapest easily laid out, but I figured Castle Hill/Buddah Castle would be nice. And it was. As the name might suggest, it’s a castle on a hill, and as you might’ve realized by now, I go pretty weak in the knees for a good view.
When I’d had a look around, I found my way down again, and with no clue about what I wanted to do, I bought a ticket for a Hop-on-hop-off-bus. Busses like those are good, but I’m not sure I’d say it helped me so much with getting an overview of the city. I still felt a bit lost, so with nothing better to do, and hunger creeping up, I bought ingredients for wraps, and went to the same park where I had breakfast.

I decided that I’d join the nightly round for hop-on-hop-off, but as I had to go back to the hostel with the food, I missed it. I tried catching up with it, but failed quite miserably. I ended up on Castle Hill again though, and it was even more beautiful by night. I took some more pictures and took a different route down than I did earlier in the day. Once I was back down I walked by the river Danube, and got to see the parliament building all lit up. It was beautiful, and it was then I actually felt like I eased in to Budapest.

The following day, I was leaving for Vienna, but I had something I wanted to do first. I was heading to House of Terror, on a recommendation from my dad. It took some time locking my luggage in at the train station, so once I got there, the queue was quite long. However, it reduces quite rapidly, so I waited it out.
I had obviously not looked up what it was beforehand, so I honestly imagined something like the London dungeons, if you’ve ever been. I can tell you now, it was nothing like it. The London dungeons tells the stories of tragic events and legends of London’s history, sure, but in a very humorous way. This was not, in any way, amusing.

The museum told the story about two horrific invasions and occupations of Hungary – first nazi Germany, and then the Soviet Union, few years apart. You could see video clips of revolutionaries and civilians talking about dreadful years in their lives. I especially remember this one man, who had been imprisoned for being part of the revolution, being sentenced to 29 days in the standing cell. The cell was 1×0.8 meters, so literally no chance of sitting down. You couldn’t even lean on the walls, because if the guard peeked through the holes in the door and saw you weren’t standing up straight, hell would break loose. In the basement you could see the cells, I’m pretty sure they were real, and let me tell you, half a minute with the door open was enough for me in that standing cell. The stories were horrific, some much more horrific than this one.

Budapest really grew on me. Towards the end of the second day and also the last day, I really started to enjoy Budapest. I think I was bit put off in the beginning, because of all the back and forth when it came to the hostel situation, so I think I saw the imperfections  more than the beauty. I will also say, that I felt less safe in Budapest than I did in the previous cities. I’m not saying I felt particularly unsafe – just less safe.
I’d definitely go back to Budapest too, hopefully next time it won’t be tinted by a not-so-great hostel experience. Next time, I’ll make sure I’ve got enough time to actually enjoy the city and to thoroughly hear all the stories at the House of Terror.

 

Prague

12th – 14th April

After three hectic and a little messy days in Berlin, I packed up and left for Prague.  I got the train at 11.10, no changes and no reservation needed. However, I apparently snuck on first class for almost the whole trip without knowing. I had to go back to second class about half an hour before we arrived in Prague, so I had a pretty luxurious travel.
I arrived in Prague a few minutes before the clock struck 15.30, got out 10 000 CZK when I was supposed to get out 1000 CZK to pay for my 200 CZK travel card, bought a public transport ticket, and got on my way to the hostel by tram. One thing I’ll say is that most of the trams in Prague had narrow and steep steps, so getting on with quite a bulky suitcase wasn’t ideal. Once on, I just had to make sure to get off at the right stop, and then find the hostel,  Hostel Fontana.
Once at the hostel, which was very easy to find, the very friendly staff checked me in to my 8 bed female dorm. It was a very decent room with private shower and toilet. The two were also separated, so that you could use the toilet even if someone was showering, which is always good.

Since I arrived quite early in the day, I had time to explore a little bit in the evening. I went out to find dinner first, which ended up being some delicious summer rolls that I ate in a park, whilst looking at the superb tourist map I got at the hostel. The map was a use it-map. I’d actually stumbled upon their website whilst doing some research for my Interrail, and then forgotten that they existed. The idea is that locals share their insides to European cities and you can use their tips and tricks for free. I thought the map was excellent, and it was really easy spotting the worthy attractions.
I was very surprised by how small Prague felt, and how easy the city was to navigate. It felt like a very comfortable city, and I felt very safe. It seemed most of what I wanted to see wasn’t ever more than about a 10 minute walk away from one another, it was so accessible.
I saw loads of beautiful buildings and areas in a few hours on my first da, like the Old Town Square, The Jewish Museum, The music hall, and the Prasna Brana. I didn’t cross the river, and decided to leave that to the following day. I finished of quite early, and went back to the hostel to sleep.

The next day I left the hostel a little late (are you seeing a reoccurring theme, or nah?), because I needed to book somewhere to sleep for the last week of my travel, as I finally figured out how I was going to do it. I had a walking tour map, and saw even more beautiful buildings. It also led me up a hell of a lot of stairs, but the view was worth it! I love views. I just think there’s something magical about seeing a whole city just laid out in front of you. You can spot where you’ve been, and seek out where you want to go, and it all seems so simple and tiny from up high. 

After having seen what I wanted to see, I just walked a little here and there. Planned exploring is good and all, but unplanned exploring is underrated. I don’t think anything’s better than just walking around and turning right and left instinctively. I ended up going to the national gallery, which honestly was a bit of wasted money. It was a good museum, and it was huge, a very impressive collection and some really good handy work, but I find that old art gets a little bit boring after a couple of floors, you feel me? Anyway, I can say that I’ve been, eh?

Back at the hostel for a little break, I discovered that Prague had a second view point, and like I said, I love views, so that’s naturally where I headed. It was a quite a bit further than the last view point, this was like a proper walk, and probably took me about 45 minutes with no hurry. It was such a beautiful walk, and there were incredible views on the way up. The path was surrounded by beautiful nature; trees of different shapes and sizes, ponds, and flowers. The very top was full of trees, so no view, but they had a beautiful church where they held a communion (as it was Easter), and I stopped by and watched and listened a little bit. There was also a viewing tower there which you could pay to get into, but I thought I’d had a more than good enough view for free. I chilled a little bit at the top, just taking in the moment, before I started the walk down as I was starting to get pretty hungry.

After my meal I went back to the hostel, and got ready to leave in the morning. I really loved and thoroughly enjoyed Prague. It was so beautiful and relaxed. I could’ve happily stayed in Prague for another 5 days or more, I obviously couldn’t, but at least I know that I’ll be back. I want to keep on exploring this city, and I can really see myself keep on coming back forever.

 

Berlin

9th – 12th April

After two nights in Copenhagen, I left for Berlin 09. April. This was the first day my interrail pass was valid. I was a little bit nervous about how one should fill the pass with the needed information, but it turned out to be quite easy, and the way I thought it was supposed to be.
On some trains you are obliged to reserve a seat, because of high demands on certain routes, this was thankfully not one of them, so all I had to do was fill in the pass with the correct information and find myself a free seat.
This train journey was one of the more complicate ones, probably the most complicated one I think. I had to change trains in Frederika and then in Hamburg. I’ve only had one other journey that required two changes, and it always turns a bit stressful. And it’s all my fault, because I usually have quite good measure, like half an hour or more, which is more than enough when you only have to get from one track to another. So I usually run to the toilet, and practically run out of there with my trousers down, and then I end up standing at the platform for 25 minutes. Better safe than sorry, though, am I right? Hands up if you agree.

Everything went pretty smooth with the trains and all, and I arrived in Berlin some time in the evening. I checked in at the Generator Berlin Mitte to a 6 bed female dorm. This seemed like a very hip and cool hostel, and the beds were very comfortable. I got a top bunk though, and I am very nervous about the top bunk. I don’t really know why, as far as I know, I’ve never fallen out of one. But the beds were very robust,  I felt safe and the ladder was easy to get onto and climb down. This room also included a private shower and toilet. Which is a luxury one shouldn’t take for granted.

My adventures in Berlin didn’t really start until the day after as I didn’t really do much except go to bed on my first evening. I was originally only staying two nights in Berlin as well, but I decided to change my plans because basically everyone I know love this city, so I had changed it to three nights.
The following day I got up, after everyone else. I think it’s a little bit awkward getting up when you’re in a dorm with like 6+ because I always feel like everyone’s in everyones way, so I usually wait it out a little bit. So I’m always late out, Ooops.
I was originally planning on doing like a free walking tour, but because I was so late, I didn’t make it, so I decided to try and do my own little walking tour, so that I could at least get down the most important sights.

I figured out pretty quickly that the transport system in Berlin was quite confusing to me. I’m sure it makes perfect sense to people who are used to it, but not to me. And personally, I think it says quite a lot, because I can maneuver pretty swiftly through the transport system in London. I thought it was really hard finding the right platform or stop when it came to the tram and the busses. What seems natural to me, is that the stop for the bus/tram going in the other direction should be across the road-ish, and this seemed to not be the case, usually. Also, Google Maps was messed up in Berlin. Google Maps is usually my best friend, and it’s been doing it’s job perfectly for the rest of the trip, but there was clearly something wrong with it when trying to show directions to a transport stop in the German capital. But again, it might just be me who’s a little bit dim, who knows.

Anyway, after taking the tram in the wrong direction, I managed to get to the Berlin Wall memorial. It’s like a pathway you can follow, close to where the wall was actually stood, and thee are some ruins along the way etc of buildings that were stood close to the wall. There are loads of pictures, some of them very famous, and some of them of people who died trying to get past the wall. There are also many signs telling the story of the wall, and also how it affected the German people. There’s especially one story I remember, where a bride and her husband got married close to the wall so that her parents could watch out the window from the other side of the wall. Families were torn apart within hours, and many of them never got to see each other again, and some of them died trying.
Thinking about the Cold War is insane to me. Because, even though I know World War II wasn’t that long ago, I mean my grandparents lived, it still feels quite distant. But the Cold War, oh man. It’s literally so close. And I seem to forget from time to time. It officially ended when the Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991, 5 years before I was born. The Berlin Wall fell 7 years before I was born. It’s kind of like it wasn’t even history yet when I was born, you know. It’s so close.

After walking the pathway, I strolled around a little bit more before getting dinner. After dinner I thought it was still a little bit early to go back to the hostel, so I went to see the Jewish memorial. Don’t worry, I did not take any tasteless selfies. I might be disrespectful, but I’m not that disrespectful.
Walking through the stone blocks at the memorial, I was again hit by the overwhelming feeling that it’s not that long ago. And I kind of wanted to cry. Which I also did at the Berlin Wall memorial. Getting so close to history and getting closer to understanding that these were existing people, and it all happened, and it’s real. These are things I obviously know, but it’s also easily forgotten in the every day life for someone who is as young as me and haven’t lived through it or tasted the after effects like people my parents age. We probably all need a little awakening like that from time to time, maybe particularly people my age, I know I do.

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The second and last whole day in Berlin, I obviously had a few sights left to see, as I think I wasted about half the day before being annoyed at the transport system and accidentally going in the wrong direction. First step was obviously breakfast, and then I made my way to Brandenburger Tor. I’d obviously seen pictures of it (I mean, come on, I studied German), but I’ll admit I didn’t really know what it was. Turns out it was one of the gates in to Berlin in the 18th Century, and it’s survived bombings through World War II, and was also a spot where people met to celebrate the Berlin Wall’s fall. The more you know. I also saw the Bundestag, which is the Parliament Building of Germany, and payed dear Angela a visit. Obviously.

I took the circle line of the S-bahn, as a recommendation from my dad, because you get a good view of East Berlin, as it’s an overground train. I thought this was really chill. I love public transport when it works, so I just sat back and stared out the window and got off once I’d pretty much been a round.

My destination for the whole day had actually been the East Side Gallery, which is the painted remains of the Berlin Wall. Many, many artists has contributed their work, and there’s so many different and controversial pieces of art along the stretch. If I remember correctly, some of them are quite old, whereas some of them have been painted or updated in more recent times, but don’t quote me on this.
I really loved this little piece, which I honestly don’t really know if was a part of the gallery or had been added by someone random, (I’m not going to post a picture, because it’s a really bad one), but it said “How’s God?” “She’s black.”. I thought that was so simple, but such a strong message and i just loved it. I want a t-shirt with that, please.
What’s so strange about the East Side Gallery, is that it’s now a beautiful piece of art, but flash back a few decades and it was the cause of frustration and anger, it kept people captured, it split a whole country. And the world.

I think that’s pretty much Berlin for you. I ended the last day back at the hostel, and packed up, and got myself pretty much ready to leave in the morning. I really want to go back to Berlin, to get a different impression of it. Whereas I did think it was a beautiful city, and I was taken aback by all the history that punched me right in the face, I remember it as very stressful, because of all the mistakes I made considering transport. I get super annoyed by things like that, so it kind of painted the whole experience a little bit more grey-ish than it really was. Next time I go I want a few more days as well, so that I feel a little bit more relaxed.

Copenhagen

7th – 9th April 2017

So, I guess this is all a little bit overdue. After all, it’s already been 14 days since I left Copenhagen, but, as they say, better late than never, right?

This is for me, so I can remember it better in one year, ten years, and fifty years. And this is for you, if you’re wondering what I’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks.

So, let’s start at the beginning, because that’s always a good place to start. I went to Copenhagen 7th April, with one over packed suitcase, and a backpack. I almost missed the connecting flight in Oslo, so I had to run for it, but I guess the most important thing is that I made it. And from there everything went pretty smoothly, and I checked in to Sleep in Heaven with no problems. Here I was staying at a female dorm with 8 beds.
I’ve got nothing to complain about with the hostel, honestly. The beds were comfy (I got the bottom bunk, jackpot), the toilets and showers were clean, I didn’t find it noisy etc. etc. It was also easy accessible by bus, and it was also within walking distance from the city centre.

I went out with no real plan of what I wanted to do. I found somewhere to eat and looked through the brouchers I’d picked up at the train station. I figured the design museum looked pretty interesting, so that’s where I headed, once I finished my meal, obviously.

I thought the design museum was pretty good. It was free (for people up to 26) which also helps. When I pay for a museum I always expect it to deliver according to the price, and it’s a shame when it doesn’t. Personally, I feel like it’s easier to consider a museum worth a visit if it’s free, because even if it’s just okay, at least you don’t feel like you wasted anything on it. Except for your time maybe.
Anyway, moving on, the design museum had a lot of different exhibitions. There was one that showed clothes from different eras and talked about the practice of making the garments, what it said about you socially, and how it had effected identity.

There was also one exhibition where multiple artists had made different artworks from wood that had a function. I wouldn’t say that maybe any of the functions would help improve your day to day life, but it was very interesting and creative. I always think it’s good when museums are spiced up a bit with fun and different pieces. Among many others there was one with half a disco ball, that when turned made magnificent patterns of light reflections around the whole room.

At the end of the museum, there was a display of lots and lots of chairs, as the Danes are apparently known for their chair design, something I should probably know. This was the only exhibition I personally didn’t find interesting, though it seemed many others did. All in all I thought this was quite a terrific museum, and definitely worth a visit.

When I was finished at the design museum, I headed to the one thing I knew I was going to do in Copenhagen. Tivoli! That’s the amusement park of Copenhagen, and I was there probably like 12 years ago, and remembered it as very good. It cost 350,- danish kroner ($50/£40), which I thought was a pretty good price. You can also buy tickets, but I think it pretty quickly works out cheaper to buy the wristband, as some of the rides cost up to 3 tickets.
After I’d had dinner at the Tivoli, it was time for the rides. Which I postponed a little bit, because I felt a little awkward being on my own, and also being a grown up on rides with children. But I went deep inside myself and picked up some courage, got over myself, and decided that I don’t care what people think. So I finally got on to the rides. I took some rollercoasters (obviously not the fastest and craziest ones because I’m weak), and also, the H. C. Andersen children’s fairytale ride. Obviously.

After many rides, a massive portion of cotton candy and quite a few moments of me pretending not to be Norwegian, so that it wouldn’t be so embarrassing to admit I don’t understand danish, I left Tivoli, and went back to the hostel. After all I had been awake since 3 A.M. It was a great day, and a fantastic beginning to the trip.

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I’ve been wanting to see the little mermaid for a while now, and that was the only plan I really had for my second day in Copenhagen. She was placed in a lovely little park by the coast. I spent some time there, and I would’ve stayed longer if it wasn’t so bloody cold.
I walked back into the city and strolled around a bit and explored. For example, I found a little swing. I always find it freeing with swings, you know, it kind of feels like you’re flying.

I bought lunch and decided to eat it in a park, but like I said, it was pretty cold, so after I was done eating I had to get inside. I found the museum David’s collection to be only a few minutes away, and it was also free, so why not?

It was quite okay, in my non art-educated opinion. They had one exhibiting about art from Muslim countries, or art that was inspired from the Muslim faith and so on, which was pretty interesting, I thought.
The second exhibition was a little bit boring, I found. It was just a bunch of rooms representing how rich people decorated their houses in the olden days. Maybe not that old, probably like a century or two ago. It was okay, but a bit too extensive.
The third exhibition was a photography collection, called the colours of Djibouti. It’s pretty much in the name. Loads of pictures of interesting and random colour combinations, taken at every day places in Djibouti. The pictures were magnificent and gorgeous.

Out of the museum, the evening was creeping up, so I headed back to the hostel. I decided to go out again, and I grabbed a couple of beers in this lovely little cafe/bar hybrid, and wrote some postcards and updated my diary. And that was pretty much the end to my stay in Copenhagen.

I must say, I was surprised by how much I liked Copenhagen. It was a very calm and relaxed city, I felt. Not too many people, and easy to get around. Quite a lot of greenery, which always helps in my opinion, and I just felt really at ease in this city. Nothing really worried me, and it all came together very easily. I’ll definitely be coming back to Copenhagen, now that I’ve discovered what a true gem it is.