I had been in communication with the group via email before arriving in Denmark so I knew when and where to meet them. The most recent email I had received from them had said that they would be getting in around 9 o’clock. I left the train station at 10 a.m. and walked to the hostel that I had booked for us a couple of nights prior. It was called the Backpacker’s Hostel. It was a big place with huge dorm rooms that ranged from eight man dorms to 64 man dorms. It was like a concentration camp almost. The place was only OK on the whole. It was hot, the showers were tiny, and you had to pay for breakfast. Not good. They did have a patio with a couple of grills, though, and the charcoal was free to for all to use.
I got on the internet for a while in hopes that there would be a message from the gang but there wasn’t. I decided to go walk around while I waited for them instead of just sitting around and doing nothing. I am glad that I did so. I got to see some really good street performances while I was walking around. I saw an alternative bluegrass band, a comedian juggler, and Native American Indian tribal music. I don’t know what they were doing in Denmark but it was one of the best performances I had seen. There was something about it that reminded me of the Karate Kid, which is most definitely a good thing.
We walked by Tivoli and to the pier where I was earlier. On our way back Lindsey and Ramsey discovered that by returning cans and bottles to convenient stores and super markets you could make so money and decided to raid every trash can we came across on our way back. It didn’t take them long to learn which cans were good and which types were unacceptable. It became a game for them. There was a lot of competition though. It seemed as though every place we went to people we constantly coming up to us asking us for our water bottle and empty cans.
Before meeting up with the gang, I had been in contact with a girl by the name of Rikke. She was the friend of Alex, our French Canadian friend we had met in Barcelona, and was informed by Alex that we would be coming to Copenhagen for a few days. I talked with her over the phone and set a time and place to meet up on the following day. It was the third of July. The four of us were on our way to meet up with Rikke when we decided that we were going to grill tonight. It seemed right to uphold the American tradition
We met up with Rikke at the train station and went with her to a nearby beach. This beach was all grass and had a diving platform! It was a perfect day for it as well. Denmark was having a heat wave. She had brought some drinks for us as well. This was the first time we got to try Bulmer’s. It wasn’t as good as Strongbow but it was a tasty treat for a hot day. Ramsey and I did a couple jumps and dives from the platform as well. We saw many little kids doing it and thought that we couldn’t allow them to show us up. After all, we are American and it was the most American holiday of the year. Well, all it took was one dive and I managed to throw out my tough American back right away. You win Danes. I will just head back to the grass, sit down, drink my cider and be quiet.
Rikke’s friend stopped by the beach to hang out with us for a while. Hr name was Julia and was a biochemist. They invited us to come with them to Julia’s apartment that night followed by a visit to Den Glade Gris, which translates to The Happy Pig. How could we not?
We said goodbye and then walked back to our hostel stopping by a grocery store along the way. We picked up some Danish hot dogs and some corn on the cob for the main meal. We also had potato salad and Lays potato chips for side dishes. It was a perfect 4th of July meal. Oh yeah, and Beer! We grabbed some charcoal from the reception upon our return and commenced the grilling out back. We met a lad from England by the name of Johnny. He was eating alone so we invited him to eat some of our delicious American cuisine. We told him about the Happy Pig and he said he would meet us there.
The night was amazing! We spent a couple of hours out on patio at Julia’s telling stories and getting to know each other. We then got to see her apartment and listen to some popular Danish music. It was very funny. I think it is amazing how almost everywhere you go in Europe you will hears some type of American music but back where I come from we are not exposed to hardly any European music. It would be nice if I could break these language barriers so I could understand what I was listening to. We didn’t spend too much time there. We left shortly after 11 pm and walked to the metro so we could get to The Happy Pig. The clock struck midnight while we were on our way so I busted out the iPod so to play Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American”! Lindsey and I sang it loud and proud. It was so much fun. It made me think of all my family and friends back home and how much I am starting to miss them.
We arrived to our destination, running into Johnny on the way and grabbed a booth before it got too busy. The drinks were expensive but we needed to celebrate! We partied hard until about 4 in the am and said our thank you and farewells to such an awesome group of gals. Brandon, Ramsey, Lindsey, Johnny, and myself walked back to the hostel after that but we luckily ran into a little guitar session from one of the street performers and a bunch of tourists in the middle of Town Hall Square. He played and we danced until the sun came up. It so amazing! People of all origins and races from all over the world were singing and dancing to the same songs together. It was such a great experience. Once we saw the sun coming up we went back to our hostel and slept.
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