24th Sept. HELSINGOR
In a split decision to see another smaller part of Denmark I chose to travel north of Copenhagen to Hamlet's city. Yep, Elsinor, or Helsingor as it is rightly spelled. It's a small town but quite rich. Every house looked well to do and the main pedestrian streets (cobblestoned!) showed off some expensive shops. Nial came with me, and after visiting Hamlet's castle and watching the jellyfish in the harbor, we found the hostel. It was a renovated 19th century manor house with many new little side buildings. I was going to travel to Sweden that evening on the ferry but decided to stay because the hostel was so nice. The receptionist wasn't as friendly, but we made do. Nial and I walked most of the town and enjoyed the architecture of some large homes, a large home that is now a museum, and some old homes that leaned steeply towards the road. Then we picked up some Danish meatballs and Danish bacon - and pasta and salad - from the grocery store and made ourselves dinner. The receptionist kicked us out at 8pm to close up. I feel bad - sort of - because we left at 6am the next morning and didn't clean up. But she wouldn't let us that night, and she didn't open until 9am!

So then Nial got on a train for Hamburg, and I took my first ferry across the strait to Sweden. It was an easy ride but confusing on the other side in Helsingborg when I walked to the train station behind the harbor. Took me a few locals bothered before I found it.

22nd Sept. COPENHAGEN
And Autumn continued to follow me. It became cooler in Denmark, but no less sunny, which was fine for the capital city. Unfortunately (again) I had my first experience with not finding the hostel where the book says it should be. Nor did the phone number work. So I went to the second hostel on the list, which was friendly but more like a barracks than a dorm area. I slept in a long room of maybe 50 beds, separators between every 4. Not that I minded, I was just happy to have found the place. I'd had too many long bus rides around northwest Copenhagen. On the bright side, everyone in this part of Europe run on the Honor System. That means they don't check your tickets on public transportation. I've been a bad girl about this many times.

I feel bad. I didn't see much of Copenhagen, and the small parts I saw, including the central square, the green walk along the 5 Lakes, and some residential blocks when I got lost, were all quite charming. But I drowned myself, quite happily, in Carlsberg Beer. I took a morning walk to the Brewery and wound up spending the entire afternoon there. Why? Technically I was only allowed 2 free beers. But Denmark had a sudden black out that lasted 3 hours and they let us drink for free the entire time. Apparently a nuclear plant in south Sweden suddenly clicked off, and it knocked power everywhere. So I was content to avoid the traffic jams and sit with my beers. Plus the bartender I later called K (because I can't remember his name), and a Brit named Nial became my drinking buddies, and we spent the entire night out getting drunker and drunker. Turns out Nial was staying at the same hostel, and we enjoyed a lovely hangover morning/afternoon together.

21st Sept. AARHUS
By noon I hopped off the train and set my feet on northern Danish soil. Aarhus is one of the larger cities in Denmark and on it's only mainland. I found the hostel easily, but had to wait until 4pm to check in, so out I trotted again to explore. For the second time I had to withdraw money that was not Euros. I still find the Swiss Franc the most beautiful, but Kroners aren't bad.

Aarhus is a very personable city with a lot of pleasant streets and strips of park. I arrived on Sunday, so it was quiet, but people still wandered as I did. I took a bus out of town to a Prehistoric Museum. The museum had a large exhibit and a long movie about Afghanistan that was interesting (and wanted to point out how we've hurt a vibrant culture). But the point of the museum was better. At the end of the ice, copper, and iron ages you get to see a 2000 year old man, complete with red hair, preserved all this time from being buried in a peat bog. He looked like a blackened mummy. Outside the museum I looked at some reproductions of viking houses, then realized I'd left my bag inside. And they'd just locked up! AND, they needed a code to turn off the security, so I was told to come back the next morning. UGH! I didn't get to walk the "Prehistoric Path" that takes you past ancient camp sites, but the owners actually did show up and retrieved my bag for me.

So the day after being stupid, I spent the morning back in Aarhus looking at the Gamle By, an old town reproduction. It was fantastic if you like learning about towns before industrialisation (which I do). I got to peek into dozens of buildings like a cartwright, blacksmith, apothecary, tailor, etc. They even offered a little horse carriage ride along the cobbled streets. I chose instead to sit on a park bench awhile and feed some geese. One of them bit me (mumble). But the weather was still gorgeous. In fact, upon walking through a park later, I smelled musty leaves and crisp air, the first signs of Autumn.

20th SeptHAMBURG
Hamburg. I'm not sure what the name instills in you, but from other travellers, the name suggested the Reeperbahn and erotic stores. Yes, much like the name Amsterdam. I arrived Saturday afternoon to use Hamburg as a pit stop before Denmark. So all I saw of the city was an incredibly large statue I believe dedicated to Wilhelm in the distance, and the famous Reeperbahn red light district. It's less like Amsterdam's "laze back and enjoy the fumes" than a european Las Vegas. Lots of lights, lots of strip clubs and sex shops, lots and lots of restaurants and pubs. I sat at a restaurant and just watched the crowds for a few hours. Somehow luck was on my side as a man probably in his forties asked to sit at my table when all the other chairs were taken. It turns out he's a kind of real estate mogul from america who owns over 800 sites in europe. Well off. He was pleasant conversation and wound up buying my dinner. Then he melted back into the crowds. We never exchanged names, it was rather nice. I had to hurry back to my hostel then, because it had a curfew.

17th Sept BERLIN
As you may have read from my email, I found Berlin a mixture of sad, heavy history and momentous progress. So much of Berlin was destroyed by artillery. There is even a cathedral they left standing as tribute to that part of the war. It's quite eerie walking around the grounds and staring at the broken steeple in the blue sky. The new buildings they constructed are incredibly modern but tasteful. They even glint well in sunsets. There was much to see. The first day I got lost in the Jewish Museum, which I do recommend, but warn not to read everything. It took me over 4 hours. They take you through history from the very beginnings, and spend most time on 15th to 19th century hatred. If you want world war hatred and memorials, go to the long stretch of Wall that still exists. I was there too late for commentary in english, but the pictures were striking on their own.

The second day was much of the same, including walks through Berlin's largest park, which has some fantastic metal sculptures. I walked past a number of museums but chose instead just to tire my feet. That night (Friday) I hit up a trance and techno club called Tresor. It's motto is that it never closes, and apparently it does stay open through dawn. I left around 5am...Good music, good fun! Germany is supposed to be the place for techno, and I wasn't disappointed. As for day three, I was going to play soccer with some germans, but lost their phone number...Next time!

17th Sept. Deventer
Deventer, a smaller city in eastern Netherlands. I stopped there for a half day on my way to Germany to say hello to Bas, my friend from Bushmills, Ireland. Bas is a great guy who walked with me all around the Giant's Causeway there in Ireland, and wanted me to see what amounted to a beautiful old town. The oldest parts were full of cobblestoned streets and original buildings, and a large church converted to a museum has a cannonball sticking to it's wall. The city is along a large river with an excellent quay, and we watched some fishermen haul up a large catch. Bas, thanks for the half day and the lunch, it was fantastic!

AMSTERDAM
There's a lot to say about this free city. Some of you at home would adore it, and the place I stayed (yes, for the very reason you're thinking). I can't say it's the city for me, but I did have a good time. Unfortunately I arrived on the 14th, which was a Sunday, and left that Wednesday, which didn't work well for late night dancing. So obviously I checked out some coffee shops and spent every night in the bar of my hostel. If you come to Amsterdam and you want to meet people, play pool, get high, drink beer, etc etc, then the Flying Pig is for you! On the other hand, if you don't want to worry about security and you need quiet space, don't come here. I had a good time, even made friends with one of the bartenders (consequently receiving a free drink or two). I drank a lot but after Belgium it didn't bother my head. Did I peruse any of Amsterdam's other joys? That you'll have to ask me yourself. *mysterious smile*

Amsterdam is incredibly bike friendly. In fact, if you hear any bells ringing behind you, jump immediately to the right or expect a front tire running you over. I took a bike tour that gave us some good city history then took us through town, outside, and to a cheese and clog farm. Yes, I have pictures of clogs on my feet. No, I didn't buy any for anyone! Afterwards I discovered 4 people together on the tour were at my hostel and they let me join their crew. Had dinner with them and the next day we all went to Van Gogh's museum. Personally, I found it slightly disappointing. An average history, great comparisons to other artists, lots of paintings especially of his self-portraits, but no famous paintings of any kinds. It cost 9 euro, I guess I expected just a little more of Van Gogh himself. Saw a few great Monet's though.

Well, the weather has been beautiful ever since...since July. I've been incredibly lucky! I am on my first day in Berlin now, and will write more as my time here develops!

BRUGES, BELGIUM
The actual dates for spending time in Bruges are between Sept. 10 and 14. I'm a tad behind. I can best describe Bruges as Belgium's beer capitol. True, there are few abbeys within the city's outskirts, but Bruges is a great place to import from other parts of the country. One bar visited offers over 300 choices. Out of those, I think I tasted just under 40 (say 7 or 8 a night plus some sips of others, for 4 nights). The beer is good! Oddly enough my favorite was a peach beer on tap at an exceptional little bar that let us stay after hours. By us I mean a very nice american guy, Eric, who let me follow him around every day to explore the city, another american named Benjamin who makes his own beer in Seattle and wanted to taste test, and a French gal named Stephanie who is possibly the nicest person I've ever met.

Bruges itself is a phenomenon. It's part of the UNESCO heritage list - the whole city - and so within 10 years should entirely phase out cars. It's a well preserved medieval town of no more than 30,000 people (everyone else lives outside the city walls and canals). Most of it is cobblestoned and all of the houses are beautiful in the flemish style. Many little towns outside are similar. Did I mention flemish Belgium is flat? Incredibly so, not a hill to be seen unless you count the dikes protecting the man made canals (which are used to keep water from flooding the rest of the flat land). I actually saw all of this by taking a little bus tour that showed the countryside, windmills, waffles, chocolate, and beer. Good choice!

Switzerland
Wow. If you have a little money to burn and you're in the neighborhood, COME TO SWITZERLAND! I had the most fantastic time here the last 3 days. Arrived at an off time for the hostel and so wandered around Interlaken for a few hours to wait. I watched Paragliders landing in the park and after an hour fretting about the price (?100) I decided to do it. Why not? It was amazing. I had no idea you can actually rise in the air with a parachute, but it is literally like being a bird. You just follow the thermals. My flight had a professional pilot (Robi) behind me doing all the work, and he was very good. Our jump started 800m above Interlaken, and we rose higher than everyone else who jumped at the same time. The flight lasted over 20 minutes. Hawks were flying with us. It was great.

And then the next day I went canyoning through a canyon called Grimsel. It's fun as well. This time instead of flying high I jumped low - straight into glacial water. Brrr!! Luckily they make you wear tight wetsuits. Canyoning is all about climbing down the canyon by rapelling, swinging along ropes, sliding on waterfall rocks, and jumping off ledges. I think the whole group had a blast. We were all very talkative at the end. A few people told me I had a constant huge grin on my face. I was one of the more adventurous and did a front flip off one ledge and climbed up again for more.

Yesterday I mountain biked for 6 hours. Biked uphill maybe 600m to a village called Grindelwald. From there I caught the bus to Grosse Sheindegg, which is about 1900m high. Had lunch, relaxed and stared in awe at the swiss alps and their glaciers, then deigned to bike back down. Um, mountains have rather steep slopes. I've never been more scared but eager on a bike in my life. Parts of the downhill roads were gravel, parts concrete, parts grass and rocks. Now imagine going 30-40mph along that. I think I wore the back brake to the metal. It was fun though! The wind on my face, that triumphant feeling when I reached the places I'd biked up.

Basically, I loved Switz. I want to come back and stay for a long time. Maybe I'll come learn German.