The Vacation Begins with Airline Adventures

Central Station, Copenhagen

God aften fra København.

I made it to Copenhagen. And, this is the weird and wonderful part, my luggage made to Copenhagen with me. I had booked a nice trip via Air Canada from Las Vegas to Toronto to Copenhagen with nice lazy connection times in between.  But when I got to McCarran Airport, I found out that the Las Vegas/Toronto was delayed significantly, so much so I was guaranteed to miss my Toronto/Copenhagen flight.  While I was at the check-in desk, I was automatically rebooked on a flight to Montreal, then Montreal to London-Heathrow. then to Copenhagen.  The Montreal flight was leaving 40 minutes sooner and I had no clue what the new connections time were or even if I had a seat on the final London-Heathrow/Copenhagen flight.

I made it on the Montreal flight. It ended up leaving a half-hour late.  And it turned out I was scheduled for only a one-hour connection time to London-Heathrow.  Oh.  But so what?  Vacation is supposed to be an adventure and airline rebooking hijinks are just part of the adventure.

I made it onto my flight to London-Heathrow and. six hours later, I was in the United Kingdom.

Proof that I was in the U.K> Pound-sterling ATM machines.

The six-hour flight was not conducive to sleeping.  I ended up watching nine episodes of the Matt LeBlanc sitcom on Showtime. Episodes.  Unfortunately, it was very funny and it didn't put me to sleep.

Heathrow airport was strange.  At least the international gates are.  They don't tell you which gate from which your flight was to leave.  Instead, there is just this large central waiting area.

Taxi sculpture in Heathrow

I got booked on my flight to Copenhagen.  I eventually was told which gate it would be leaving from.  And the plane did eventually leave.  I ended up sleeping more on the 90-minute flight to Copenhagen than I did on the five-hour and six-hour flights combined.

Soon I landed in overcast Copenhagen.  I took the train from the airport to the Central Station not far from my hotel.  There was a major bicycle infestation at Central Station.

The place was lousy with bicycles.  And they weren't locked.

I rolled my suitcase Big Green a few blocks over the cobblestone sidewalks and was soon at my hotel, the Hotel Absalon.

One room at the Hotel Absalon

The room is very European.  Tiny, but absolutely clean.  I had planned on doing a little afternoon sightseeing in Copenhagen, but that bed there was not just calling my name.  It was incessantly screaming it out for me to crawl under the comforter and take a Danish nap.  Who am I to say "no" to a demanding bed?

Entrance to the Hotel Absalon

I had a nice nap.  I got caught up on work emails.  I napped some more.  But eventually it was time for supper.  There was supposed to be a nice brew pub in my neighborhood, the Mikkeller, but it was packed.  So, instead, I went to the nearby Jensens Bøfhus, which appeared to be a local casual-dining, relatively inexpensive (by Nordic standards) steakhouse chain.  Think a Danish Outback.

Pork tenderloin at Jensen Bøfhus

I got the pork tenderloin and it delicious.  Tender and flavorful.

When I was walking around looking for a restaurant, I noticed that I was staying on the "seedy" side of Copenhagen.

The seedy side of Copenhagen.

Strip clubs.  Street walkers.  After all, it was literally on the other side of the tracks from upscale, family-friendly Tivoli Gardens, which is east of Central Station.  This is the wild west.

But look how clean the streets are, with nice cars.  It's a Disney-fied version of a Red Light District.  Which is OK with me.  Nighty-night