Here we are Copenhagen

The flight was an hour delayed getting into Copenhagen, which was fine with us because we had hours to kill before we could check-in to our Airbnb in the trendy area of Vesterbro. As we waited for the train to take us to downtown Copenhagen, I was approached by three different people asking for directions, as if I was a local. The first guy came up to me and asked whether the train was going to Copenhagen Central. He struck up a conversation and I found out that he was from Azerbaijan but studying in Romania and on holidays in Denmark and Norway. He was surprised to hear that we were from Australia and not Danish residents. Ricky’s information centre also assisted a Vietnamese guy and an older couple find their destination. It was lucky they were all headed in our direction otherwise Ricky’s information centre would have been no use.

With eight hours to kill, we wandered around the city centre as we watched the Copenhagen marathon. We didn’t have the energy to join them. We did have the energy to eat our way around town, landing at La Neta, a Mexican restaurant, after a quick bite to eat and a loo break at Burger King – and to use their free WiFi, of course.

Later in the day, we continued our explorations and ended up at Freetown Christiana, which was once the hippy epicentre of Copenhagen. Things have drastically changed since last year. The area has been cleaned up and construction work has commenced. There was certainly more of a touristy feel now. Apparently the government decided to “clean” up the area after someone was shot dead during a gang feud.

We finally checked into our one-bedroom apartment in Vesterbro, which was a long way from the chiming bells of city hall where we stayed last time. I couldn't bear the sound of bells every 15 minutes until midnight. Thankfully we avoided getting tinnitus this time.

Jason Snoopy McSnoop made himself at home immediately, snooping through drawers and cupboards. It was as if we was ransacking the joint. But I don’t think that he’ll get our host's frilly knickers over his calf muscles.

Eurovision activities commenced almost immediately with the turquoise carpet parade, but due to security concerns this was restricted to the press. We were left to watch the parade on a live YouTube stream from our lounge room in Copenhagen.Læs mere