Kobenhavn

My train ride went smoothly yesterday from Berlin. The view out the window when we got near the sea was beautiful and I am excited to be by the water. In the middle of the train ride, there was some announcement I couldn´t quite understand about a ferry. At first I thought that we would have to get off the train and take a ferry across and get back on another train, but to my surprise, the train drove onto the ferry! So I was on a train, on a ferry - a new experience! Everyone on the train got off onto the ferry and went to the upper decks which had a shopping mall and cafes. The views of the sea were wonderful with wind turbines lining every visable coast on the north and nothing but a sea horizon to the east and west. I can understand why the wind power is so popular because it is soooo windy here.

I arrived into the Koebnhavn train station around 8:30 (there was still light in the sky until around 11:30 at night, so it wasnt even close to dark). I was less impressed walking through the city to the hostel, which just a short walk from the station, than I expected to be. Everything here seems pretty touristy or kind of run down. The hostel is equally less impressive than I thought and while safe enough feeling is probably one of the lesser hostels I've stayed in with little character and little convenience. They require you to put all of your things in a locker room and leave between 11 and 3 every day. I found out from a coulple of nice Swiss guys in the room that it is the cheapest hostel in town at the equavalent of 20 euros per night. This country is not cheap at all.

My opinion of Copenhagen got a little better after my walking tour today. It was very cool and windy making for not so ideal picture taking, but the coast was kind of moody in a neat way and I saw some neat palaces, churches and fountains. There is an opera house across the water in one spot that was in an axis with a huge fountain and a church with an amazing dome. Just as I was about to finish the walking tour and head to the botanical garden, it started pouring rain. I tried to keep going thinking it would let up but it just started raining harder so I found a little jazz cafe to sit and have a glass of wine in and do some writing. After trying to wait out the rain in the cafe, I gave up and walked back to the hostel in the rain. I ended up talking with a girl from Minnesota and a guy from Australia in the room. The three of us went to find this vegetarian buffet that had mediterranean food which was recommended in the guide book for dinner. The food was really great and it was relatively cheap compared to most other options - I think still around 12 dollars though. The food was a refreshing change from cheese sandwiches and pizza and we all stuffed ourselved.

Tomorrow I´ll take a morning train out to an ecovillage near here as part of my thesis research, supposedly 80 minutes away on two trains. I´ll come back and stay in Copenhagen again tomorrow night and then I'm thinking of moving on unless I find the inspiration to stay one more day. It seems like all of the other backpackers I´m meeting are equally unimpressed with the city and moving on quickly, but I wonder if part of it is the rainy weather as well. I´m thinking of trying to find my way to the Folkecenter, a alternative technology research center on the northwest coast, for a tour they have on Thursday.

Hope everyone watches some good fourth of July fireworks for me!

Nicole