Saturday, August 09, 2003

TIMEWARP ALERT: This is my border expedition report for July 8, 2003:

Tuesday July 8, 2003
Oelstykke, Denmark

I rise early and jump on Peter’s computer. The big challenge for the day, if you can call it that, is to book a flight to Belize in August. This is for work, and it will see me traveling down there to work on a couple of documentary projects. In order to make the purchase, I must transfer money from one account to another, pay my visa, and pull a few other financial miracles. Using a PC again reminds me of how blessed I am to be a Mac user. After multiple crashes, encryption problems, and blue screens of death, I give up. Anyway, its time for one of those big Danish breakfasts of cheese, cold cuts, and heavy bread. Three more reasons to love Europe.

After breakfast, we take the bus to Oelstykke’s train station and board the S train for Copenhagen. We stroll around, Peter, Jesper, Mike and I. It is a beautiful day and the beautiful people are filling the cafes in Nyhaven, the trendy beautiful people area of the city. I snap a large number of photos of signs, musicians, and buildings. We climb the big round tower in the centre of town.

The Jazz Festival is on, and the plan is to visit a local venue for some music and beer. But a few thousand other beer and music fans have the same idea, and we are denied. We stroll around some more, taking in the beauty of Copenhagen.

Peter takes us to one of his favourite watering holes, Gulliver’s. It is here where he watches footie with his mates. The bar is totally English as is the bar staff and clientele. I make two amazing beer discoveries named Black Pearl (a black ale that could be the evil twin of a Guinness) and a lighter pint called Kostrizer. My handwritten notes sum these tasty offerings with one word: yum.

As the day gets late, we visit a restaurant that I last was at in 2001. It is called “Broadway” and serves Turkish fare. The best thing about Broadway is that not only is the food good, the prices are cheap – even by Copenhagen standards. 49DKK! Which is about $10. And Dandy Dolma too.

Back at Peter’s, I am dealing with Travelocity and Visa. Still trying to resolve the Belize trip issue. I am also fighting fiscal fears – that I am living a lifestyle way beyond my means (stupid thinking, I know). I discover the wonders of SMS or Texting – and slowly hammer out messages to folks back in Canada. 10 cents per text is much cheaper than calling home.

I wrestle with whether or not to bring my video camera along on the actual expedition. I know that if I bring it, it will seriously impede my enjoyment of the trip. And if I shoot in a professional style (ie: taking time to shoot video that doesn’t look like holiday videos) then I will seriously impede my border mates. I decide to leave it at Peter’s. And anyway, why bring something along that could be stolen? Both the laptop and the camera will be safe in Oelstykke.

We close the day with discussions of what will be and a few cocktails. My room at Peter’s is his wife’s art room. It is adorned with art. In the 2am darkness, I notice that the ceiling has glow-in-the-dark stars and the clock radio beside my bed projects the time on the ceiling in devil red numerals. I feel like I am on a drug induced trip as I drift off to sleep.

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