CPH -->BER
Monday, I met up with Ian & Bruce (the Captain of his Flight crew) for Italian food, then coffee, beer, & Glog (in that order).[0] We exchanged travel stories and had general conversations about American life.
Earlier in the day, I rented a bicycle at a shop in the central train station. After Ian & Bruce departed, I took off on bike and just rode around all over Copenhagen. I felt perfectly comfortable in the streets with the Indigenous Danes. A couple of times people asked *me* for directions. *lol*
Copenhagen is a bicycle Utopia. There are dedicated bicycle lanes everywhere a car goes and more. The lanes are pot-hole free and well maintained, even a salt car is employed to keep the lanes ice free. There are separate traffic signals for bicyclists, and in one place, yellow ground lights that flash as a bicyclist approaches an intersection warning right turning cars. Bicycles are traffic and people obey all the laws.
The Danes ride heavy duty all weather bikes with chain guards, internal hubs, disc brakes, fenders, but rarely go more than 10mph, so weight isn't much of an issue. Their lights are dainty, but visible to attentive drivers. That's the stark contrast to American drivers and bicyclists. American cars are designed to isolate a person from their environment as much as possible [1], and consequentally urban bicyclists have huge, annoying lights in attempt to pentrate their mobile box of non-interaction.
Admittedly, I prefer my 300 lumen headlight, which I brought with, b/c it allowed me to tear up the asphalt on dimly lit Copenhagen streets. The night was so cold, and beautiful, the air so clean. I've never seen so many stars in a capital in all my travels. I just rode and rode all over the city, until my lungs burned, along the seashore, up & down bridges, through residential areas, the red light district, Latin Quarter & Cristiania. I rode until midnight and stopped only b/c i had to pee. It's such an exhilarating feeling riding a bicycle on a dark, wet, cold moonlit night, navigating by starlight & moon reflecting on seemingly black water.
I boarded my train to Berlin via Hamburg and did get my wish of crossing into Germany via ferry, b/c unbeknownst to me, the train crosses by ferry. That's right, they loaded the entire ICE train onto a big Fuck Off Cruise Ship, made the passengers disembark onto to Ship deck and hauled all of it over the Sea. I withstood the biting cold to sip hot coffee out on the "Sundeck." Again, black water reflecting moonlight, the bone-chilling cold wind on my face. It's one of those moments best shared with someone to keep warm, both huddled together & gazing into the darkness.
I transferred at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. It's very much like the Berlin's hauptbahnhof, except there is a sex shop smack in the center. Ya know in case you forgot your butt plug in the WC on the last train, you can easily obtain a replacement.
Tonight, I go straight to the venue where Frank & Justin are playing. I'll dump my luggage in a pay locker until tomorrow.
I'm on the Train from Hamburg, en route to Berlin. Laptop, I-pod, a belly fully of Kartoffeln & champignons. So far my trip has been spectacular.
jv
[0] I like the Danish glog which isn't quite so sweet as German Glog. I like the roasted almonds & raisins at the bottom.
[1] cup holder, dvd player, cruise control, heated seats, everything designed to allow you to do lots of things besides paying attention to the road.
Earlier in the day, I rented a bicycle at a shop in the central train station. After Ian & Bruce departed, I took off on bike and just rode around all over Copenhagen. I felt perfectly comfortable in the streets with the Indigenous Danes. A couple of times people asked *me* for directions. *lol*
Copenhagen is a bicycle Utopia. There are dedicated bicycle lanes everywhere a car goes and more. The lanes are pot-hole free and well maintained, even a salt car is employed to keep the lanes ice free. There are separate traffic signals for bicyclists, and in one place, yellow ground lights that flash as a bicyclist approaches an intersection warning right turning cars. Bicycles are traffic and people obey all the laws.
The Danes ride heavy duty all weather bikes with chain guards, internal hubs, disc brakes, fenders, but rarely go more than 10mph, so weight isn't much of an issue. Their lights are dainty, but visible to attentive drivers. That's the stark contrast to American drivers and bicyclists. American cars are designed to isolate a person from their environment as much as possible [1], and consequentally urban bicyclists have huge, annoying lights in attempt to pentrate their mobile box of non-interaction.
Admittedly, I prefer my 300 lumen headlight, which I brought with, b/c it allowed me to tear up the asphalt on dimly lit Copenhagen streets. The night was so cold, and beautiful, the air so clean. I've never seen so many stars in a capital in all my travels. I just rode and rode all over the city, until my lungs burned, along the seashore, up & down bridges, through residential areas, the red light district, Latin Quarter & Cristiania. I rode until midnight and stopped only b/c i had to pee. It's such an exhilarating feeling riding a bicycle on a dark, wet, cold moonlit night, navigating by starlight & moon reflecting on seemingly black water.
I boarded my train to Berlin via Hamburg and did get my wish of crossing into Germany via ferry, b/c unbeknownst to me, the train crosses by ferry. That's right, they loaded the entire ICE train onto a big Fuck Off Cruise Ship, made the passengers disembark onto to Ship deck and hauled all of it over the Sea. I withstood the biting cold to sip hot coffee out on the "Sundeck." Again, black water reflecting moonlight, the bone-chilling cold wind on my face. It's one of those moments best shared with someone to keep warm, both huddled together & gazing into the darkness.
I transferred at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. It's very much like the Berlin's hauptbahnhof, except there is a sex shop smack in the center. Ya know in case you forgot your butt plug in the WC on the last train, you can easily obtain a replacement.
Tonight, I go straight to the venue where Frank & Justin are playing. I'll dump my luggage in a pay locker until tomorrow.
I'm on the Train from Hamburg, en route to Berlin. Laptop, I-pod, a belly fully of Kartoffeln & champignons. So far my trip has been spectacular.
jv
[0] I like the Danish glog which isn't quite so sweet as German Glog. I like the roasted almonds & raisins at the bottom.
[1] cup holder, dvd player, cruise control, heated seats, everything designed to allow you to do lots of things besides paying attention to the road.