Our internet time here is limited so I just wanted to let you all know that we got to Copenhagen safely and we'll talk to you all when we get to Berlin tomorrow. Happy New Year from all of us, and we'll see you all soon!
~ Mike
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So after a night of no sleep, alex and I woke Pat and Brady up at 5:30 to catch our 6:21 train to Copenhagen. The train we took was much nicer than the last one, and was a high-speed train which made the ride much smoother. Alex and I slept most of the way, but woke up in time to see us cross the Oresund Bridge, a nearly 7-mile long combination bridge and tunnel, the largest in all of Europe. We arrived in Copenhagen at 11:20, 15 minutes ahead of schedule. We bought our tickets for when we were leaving for Berlin, and headed off to our Hostel. We stayed at the Absalon Annex, the most expensive and worst hostel of the trip, but because it was New Year's Eve, there was little we could do.
We dropped our bags off and began walking through the city. We passed by Tivoli Gardens
and city hall, both of which were beautiful. From there we walked down the Stroget, which is a long road lined with shops. At the end of the Stroget we came across the Round Tower, which was Tycho Brahe's observatory when he first observed the stars and planets. After admiring the views of the city, we walked back down the Stroget and noticed that many shops were closing early because it was New Year's Eve. We decided that we were too poor to pay the cover at a bar for the night (all around $50), so we bought some beer and went back to the room for a bit.
At around 9:45 we decided to go out and enjoy New Year's Eve. The only word to describe the nigh is "mayhem". People were setting off fireworks and mortars everywhere we turned. One lade dropped one right in front of us forcing us to run away, while another accidentally dropped a roman candle, hitting a biker. The closer it got to midnight the
crazier the fireworks got. We stood in awe of what we were seeing in the middle of the city in front of town hall (check out the video below). At around 12:30 we began making our way back to the hostel to sleep to the sound of a war-zone. This was definitely a new years we will never forget.
So we began the day by waking up in Norway at 6:15 am, a time entirely too early for our liking. We walked down to the train station and took the 7:35 train to Stockholm after grabbing some breakfast to go. At 9:15 the conductor made an announcement that we were crossing the border into Sweeden, and at 9:30, the sun finally came up. We didn't realize how far north we really were until that happened. We all read and watched movies on the train ride, trying to keep ourselves occupied.
From dinner we walked back up towards the train station to go to the Absolut Ice Bar. The Ice Bar is a place made entirely of ice - the glasses, chairs, tables, and the bar itself are all made of ice. We donned our parkas and gloves, and headed inside. The bar was pretty awesome, as well it should be. The drinks were good, but the coolest part was feeling as if you were inside a giant slab of ice. After about a half hour we were freezing and decided to leave. We got back to the hostel and chilled with some girls we met from Austria. We ended up getting pretty tired and crashed soon after.
old Swedish war ship that sank in 1928, but was salvaged and preserved. The ship was amazing, but unfortunately built poorly. We enjoyed learning about Swedish history for a while, and then left to walk across town. We ended up passing by Sergel's Torg, a 37-meter tall glass obelisk. From there, we walked to Stadshaset, which is city hall. The city hall was beautiful, as well it should be, as it is where the Nobel Prizes are given out each year. While we were there we watched the sun set...at 2:15 pm. We walked back through the old city again, and back towards our hostel to pick up our backpacks. Since the train was cancelled, we had the brilliant idea to sleep in the train station all night. Unfortunately, the train station closes at midnight, so we were forced to get a hotel across the street instead. Alex and I were unable to sleep, so at about 2:00 am we went on a walk to entertain ourselves. We ended up coming across a Kebab place, so we stopped in for
something to eat. While we were there, a fight began outside, and we ended up having to stay for over an hour as they searched for the person who started it. Neither of us ended up sleeping at all that night.
