possibly the best beer in the city

The title, I must confess, is neither true, nor of my own creation. Demonstrating the kind of modesty that one would like from a ill reputed beer, the good people of Carlsberg have placed this suggestion on a billboard in Copenhagen. Carlsberg is - after a long list, including but not limited to: Bud Light, Moxie, Robitussin, and tap water from Mexico City - one of the worst beverages in the world when you've spent any time at all in Belgium becoming accustomed to what beer should taste like. However, since I was in the city where it is brewed, I decided to give Carlsberg a second chance. I must admit, if you're expecting hog swallor, Carlsberg is not that bad, and I managed to finish a pint without complaint, except perhaps about the price.

Copenhagen is the 4th most expensive city in the world, and the most expensive city in Europe. If you've ever felt gouged in Paris or London, fly over to Copenhagen and you won't feel so bad about it. Pints of bad beer are the equivalent of $10, and a trip to any kind of fast food joint or pseudo street vendor will set you back at least $15 - $25. A meal at a good restaurant in the city would cover a month's rent in Cairo. And that's how I'm rationalizing it. Copenhagen will be the most expensive place I visit (perhaps with the exception of Dubai), and by the time I make it to Egypt and Nepal, I figure that the costs will average out. Also, many of the museums in Copenhagen are free, and that makes the high cost of food and lodging more bearable.

I just remembered that I have yet to mention something that pervaded many aspects of my stay. Metalica is having a huge 5 day concert in Copenhagen, and the city is packed with fans and posters and billboards because of it. I guess that the drummer is Danish, so perhaps that explains the selection of this city, but it was very interesting to see the wildly dressed fans everywhere I went. Perhaps most surprisingly, when my roommates and I were stopping by a local grocery store (a good way to save money on food) Metalica's bass player was shopping inside. While I wouldn't have recognized him, it wasn't necessary for my Argentinian roommate to point him out, because he was swarmed by Danish fans. He seemed pretty cool about the whole thing, and took some pictures with some of the Danes.

Last night, I spent the early evening relaxing in one of the city's parks. A flower-lined path circled a rather large pond where herons nested. It was a nice place to sit and read a book for a hour or so. When I returned to the hotel, I met some American girls that had just arrived, and after chatting for a while I convinced them to come out with my roommates and I to explore the nightlife. Wednesday nights turn out not to be the best nights in Copenhagen, but we did find a nice bar with some live music and an interesting crowd.

The next morning, I packed my things up ahead of time, and stopped by the Danish History Museum. I met up with my Argentinian roommate around midday to check out the Geological Museum (not bad, though the Smithsonian is more impressive) and the Copenhagen Art Museum. The art museum was really cool. They had a terrific space for the paintings and sculptures, and a good mix of classical and modern art.

While I enjoyed everything there (except maybe some of the weirder modern art pieces) it was the last "exhibit" that we visited that will stick with me. Having reached the top floor, we entered a room where it appeared that the museum was preparing to host a new exhibit. A rough plywood structure masked most of the room, and while the first door we encountered was locked, the second was open. For those of you that don't know, my general rule for Europe is: if the door isn't locked, it's cool to poke your head in and look around. Following this rule has afforded me some rather memorable opportunities, most significantly a unauthorized tour of the attic of the Royal City Palace in Munich. My roommate was a little more hesitant, but I convinced him to take a look inside, and we soon found ourselves in what we came to believe was some kind of modern art structure. There were many different doors, some leading to small rooms with simple decoration (a table with a mirror and a newspaper, or a shelf with a yellow paintbrush and some electrical wiring). Some of the rooms had more doors, allowing you to explore a rather large area of distinct interiors. The whole thing was very surreal. When we were done (we were on the other side of the first locked door) we backtracked, and I noticed one door we hadn't gone into.

Opening this door, we found what appeared to be a back hallway for access to the exhibits for museum personnel. Unlike the structure we had just been through, this was a permanent part of the museum, and much more official looking space of the kind you're definitely not supposed to be in. But in keeping with the unlocked door rule, I convinced my Argentinian roommate to follow me down the long, white, gradually curving hallway. It went on for quite a ways, and because it was narrow and curved, there was no way of knowing how long it was. The whole thing felt even more surreal. At one point, what we would later discern as the halfway point, there was a short hallway running perpendicular, with a door at the end. Trying the door, I found it to be locked, and so we continued down the curving hallway.

Finally, we came to a door, much like the one we had entered the hallway from, and we opened it to find... the room of the structure we had exited from. There was no way we had gotten turned around, but here we were, faced with the room we had entered the hallway from. To confirm this, we went in, and there were all the other rooms of the structure, each with their simple yet distinct design. And yet, as I had suspected from the moment we exited the hallway, something was rotten in the state of Denmark. There were subtle differences in the placement of the objects, and it wasn't too much longer before I was able to verify that we were not in the same structure, but rather a mirror image, designed and decorated exactly the same. Surreal to the max. The whole experience was really cool, and it's become one of the highlights of my stay in Copenhagen.

After leaving, I checked out of the Hotel Jorgensen, said my goodbyes to my Argentinian roommate, and headed out to the airport. Helping a girl from California with the train tables along my way, I reached the airport and hiked out to the Copenhagen Airport Hostel (the Flying Viking!). It's decent hostel, though far away from anything except the airport. However, I'm just here because I have a flight that leaves at 6:30 tomorrow morning, and I wanted to be close by so as not to miss it. It's already 22:15 here, and since I'm waking up at 4:45, I should probably get some sleep. Next stop: Slovenia!