Now I'm in Sweden (Mjölby) writing about Copenhagen. No, that's not confusing. I've by now developed lovely gigantic blisters on the backs of both of my heels (which popped as they rubbed against my wet socks and shoes while I ran through the swamps) and have a slight limp on rather general principles.
Anyhow, Copenhagen: our stay was short, and so likewise will be this email, though not lacking in oddities to include at the end.

7/18/07
In the morning, we took a cheap Sterling Air flight to Copenhagen. The plane was about an hour late, though displayed as on time, which caused some panic by certain adults traveling in our party of three. The plane was only half an hour late when it landed, which was a source of great displeasure in the area of my Eustacian tubes (you know, those ones in your ears that hurt a lot on planes).
We took a bus downtown from the airport to the train station, and walked the few blocks from there to our homely hostel to drop our packs. Lunch was at a Turkish buffet we'd passed on the way in. It was deicious, and allowed us to observe the very Interesting people on the street (for examples, see the section at the end of this email)
In the evening, we met a man to whom I am apparently related (second cousin once removed, I believe) and his Asian-Danish wife. We all went to Tivoli (a rather cozy, well-gardened version of an amusement park, only with nice restaurants, and a pleasant atmosphere), where we takled, walked, and were treated to dinner at a Japanese fast-food place (which I am told was a British idea, but was nevertheless delicious, even though they put wasabi in their chocolate cake) called Wagamama (I hear this means "selfish").

7/19/07
Today was a nice (long) walking tour of the city, in which we explored the pedestrian streets (the longest in the world, the guidebook said), saw the Opera from across the water, got close the the Little Mermaid statue in the harbor, despite the crowd of tourists (she is, by the way, actually little, smaller than postcards or iconic significance suggests), and crossed a fortification on a man-made (abstractly) star-shaped island.
Most illustrative of native Copenhagener reality was the park we passed through, with sculpture and a playground for the many children to climb and yell and play on and very large lawns for everyone else and the kids not playing to picnic on.

7/20/07
After a late start, we set out to see the areas of Chistianshaven. After crossing a little canal and walking along it, we found a delightful, large, very busy bakery. Ryan and Eileen ordered fruit tarts and I, curious to see what was inside what appeared to be a mound of coconut-covered chocolate, ordered that. Unfortunately, it was filled with marshmallow cream, but with enough unsweetened strong tea, even that was tasty. As we sat and ate our treats, a small parade passed by, largely unnoticed but fully costumed and replete with jugglers. Shortly after, a small boat of three relaxing pirates floated down the canal, also largely unremarked upon (this was, after all, Christianshaven, the most unique part of unique Copenhagen)
In from the canal was a very pretty, very tall tower on a church, which we climbed. About halfway up, there was an outside viewing platform, then there were stairs that spiraled all the way up around the outside. I climbed all the way to the top and was rewarded by the cheap thrill of being a very long way up (if I spit, which of course I would never do, it might hypothetically take 27 seconds to reach the ground) and by a beautiful view of Copenhagen.
Back on the ground, we located and entered Christiania, a hippie commune declared a Free City and legally outside of the European Union. No photographs were allowed, but much there was photo-worthy in how different it was.
In the afternoon, we walked back to the hostel and boiled our remaining food (an onion and a head of broccoli- delicious, ne?) for dinner.


Remarkable and Interesting Facts and Observations
-Bicycles are never seen with bike shorts and rarely with helmets. It is much more common to see a fashion-conscious lady bicyclist biking in a skirt and heels, or people carrying packs or musical instruments on their backs, or many with child seats, or other interesting things which one is unlikely to find in the States.
-On most roads, there is a separate level of sidewalk for bicycles, about the width of a car lane.
-I definitely saw a balding man walk by in a frilly yellow dress and bright purple tights on the street.
-We noticed a pea vendor by the side of the road, with their little cart like a hot dog stand.
-Boys' fashionable hairstyle: gelled and styled into an extreme case of bedhead.
-In the youth hostel courtyard, a group of guys sits down at a table to drink and talk from around 5 pm until after bedtime. The bottles accumulate on the table.

Oh, what adventures!
By the way, I'm home now, typing from my laptop. I just have a bit of this to catch up, like a week and a half's worth.