Copenhagen Adventure, Day 1 - again

After a bad night's sleep I showered and put on my old clothes.  There was a Starbucks a block away and I climbed through snowdrifts where I'm assuming there were suburban sidewalks.  I was having flashbacks of "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles" having just watched it with Lily and Jill.  But it was good to have a proper Latte and pre-Denmark danish.

Copenhagen is beautiful in the winter.  I wouldn't know yet, this is Illinois.

I picked up a copy of Armada, by Ernest Cline yesterday.  He wrote Ready Player One and I thought why not - I had searched the house for a paperback I wanted to read and couldn't find one.  On day 1 (again) I'm already a third of the way through it, and that includes the many pages I read and re-read over because I was listening for rumors and announcements on the plane.

It took three hours to get to the airport, rebooked (again) and through security.  Add time for lunch and checking in with work and my day is full.  It's amazing how much you can not get done in a day of travel.   The SAS person said that having an hour between connections in Stockholm would be no problem - same terminal, no security, no problem.

I saw a few familiar faces at the gate of the new flight -- through Stockholm this time -- including the snocross guy from Norway I cabbed with last night.  Boarding the flight I was struck by the Swedish aesthetic.  It was like a plane full of attractive Minnesotans with better glasses and fashion sense.  It was a little surreal.  The announcements were in Swedish first, then English.  But it was odd that the Swedish seemed natural.  I couldn't understand a word of it, but it was oddly familiar.  The pilot sounded just like one of my Danish co-workers.  Remember that.

This is what I hear when I hear Swedish spoken.  (Funny video regardless)

The flight was uneventful.  Quite long, cramped seat, tired of being on planes, etc.  One of the cooler features of the multimedia experience was the ability to see a camera's view from the nose of the plane.  Made taking off and landing much more exciting!  During the night flight it was, of course, boring and dark.  As we approached Stockholm, the sun began to peek out over the horizon.

It was a pretty amazing site.  It was hard to capture as a picture (especially if you were the guy in front of me using a flash..) but I tried.  After looking out the window and seeing nothing but the moon reflecting off the wing, this was a happy reminder that I was making progress despite my setbacks.

As we came closer and closer I started to notice the time.  We were certainly not running ahead of schedule, and I flagged down a flight attendant and asked her if I would be likely to make my connection.  She looked skeptical and mentioned that I would have to go through passport/immigration checks as well as re-enter through security, but that my connecting flight was in the same terminal.  My connection anxiety at this point was getting pretty intense, and I could only remember why I always chose nonstop flights in the past - and the future.  But I held out hope.

By the time we landed I had 15 minutes to clear all of my hurdles.  I made it through passport quickly, and securtiy fairly speedily as they weren't TSA and let you do crazy things like leave your shoes on.  Still had to contend with the folks who don't know how to go through security efficiently.  How do people not know how to do these things in this day and age?  Had a moment of cringe at passport control when I opened it to my picture and handed it over.  I look nothing like that now, going from 40 to 50 in a passport photo proves that time can be a cruel mistress.

Another speedwalk through the airport to -- of course -- the furthest gate available only to get a nice shot of this:

Another plane of mine that I'm not on

But at least it was away from the jetway already.  No clerks at the station, so I went to the closest SAS gate (another Copenhagen flight over an hour away, remember this) and she directed me to the SAS service desk which was, of course, at the other other end of the terminal.  By the time I got there three people were in line.  I asked which one was at the end and they pointed out the handy queue-number issuing machine.  Great, I can get behind that, I'm a queue-ing professional!  So I took my ticket and sat down at a gate where I could see the next numbers, but not have to stand with angry people.  More and more of them showed up, and they didn't look happier and happier as time went on.  One woman was trying to call SAS via phone and then web on her laptop that her dutiful husband was holding out for her.  Clearly no point that that exercise, as she looked intense and unsuccessful.

The guy at the head of the line who was being served took at least half an hour.  Seriously.  And then another number called, and another.  Finally, as people were becoming confused if they hadn't taken a number, or were hoping their number was somehow more important, my number was called.  Strolling past them all was sweet, but I could feel the eyes on me.  That's a hell of a lot of karma to have to work against.  But when I got to the window the agent took one look at my record and said I was already rebooked.  And my flight was about to leave.  Guess where?  Yup.  The other other other end of the terminal.  She picked up the phone to tell them to hold it for me (by name) and said.. "Run!"

So my second airport sprint of the trip felt much better than the one at O'Hare.  I was thinking less about the irony of dying of a heart attack on the way to a plane, and more about how maybe regular running was a good idea, this wasn't so bad.  I felt odd being the spaz running through all of the amazingly dressed Swedes, but sometimes you have to trade self respect for the next plane.

When I got to the gate I found.. at least three dozen people queued up.  Was the service agent just playing with me, or what?  As it happens the whole flight was late -- as they were waiting for people who hadn't shown up yet.  Why, of all flights, was this the one to wait for the people who were me on the last flight?

The best part was that higher row numbers were asked to use the aft jetway.  Which actually translated to "down the stairs to the tarmac" but I was so happy to be in fresh air -- and it was nice and warm, at least mid forties.

Worth risking being tackled by security to take a picture on the tarmac

Those were maybe the very best 90 seconds of the whole trip thus far.  Fresh air and hope that this was my last flight.

Final leg went just fine, finally.  Flying into Copenhagen I got to glimpse the proper sea for the first time, not from 50,000 feet.  Choppy and whitecapped, it was truly nautical.  A ship was passing through the harbor and it reminded me of the great lakes.  Gray and windy, it looked amazing.  While waiting to deplane a pilot who had been deadheading in my aisle asked if I was in a rush to get off the plane, and I was happy to say for once that I wasn't.  As it turned out, he was the pilot who flew us across the Atlantic!  We chatted about the flights and missed connections, and it was a pleasant way to trade stories of delays and complications.

As it turns out, passport control had been fully completed in Stockholm and I was free to just walk off and finally arrive in Copenhagen.  And the icing on the cake was that my bag was one of the first off the airplane, so I not only had completed my journey, but had everything I needed, no lost luggage!

Scored a metro card and made my way to the trains to get into my hotel.  Quick, efficient, and full of interesting characters, the train was quick and efficient.  I expected no less.  I have to wonder if we have our own cliches at home, as I was seeing people with very european bikes on the metro, as well as ordinary looking folks carrying various Lego products.  If it was a movie scene I would have described it as a bit heavy handed and obvious.

My hotel was WakeUpCopenhagen, a chain of efficient, budget minded hotels.  With small rooms and simple setups, it's ideal for me as I like simple and a cramped space is more comfy - just like my boats!  The clerk had trouble finding my reservation, as I was already considered a guest -- a day late I had to wonder if parallel timeline Robert who made all his flights had a good day wandering the city the previous day.

The view from my room

Michael (my boss) had suggested I just grab a taxi to the office just to maximize my time, but I had to get some food first.  At the end of the block I'm staying on is an amazing coffee shop, a 7-11, and a hot dog stand.  I ordered a plain hot dog there and it was delicious.  Bright red, inches longer than the bun, and covered in more sauces than I could figure and it was sweet and savory and I could have had six in one sitting.  But I stuck with one and a glass bottle of Coke.  Avoiding soda for a few months makes those rare colas taste particularly good!

Going to the taxi rank I got pretty wet.  It was a light, persistent rain and I couldn't help but think that this was the weather we expected in Ireland.  Gray, rainy, wet and cold.  But it suits the city here and it's much warmer than home.

Copenhagen is shorter than I thought it would be.  For a "world class" historic city, the buildings are not high rises, and it has a much more grounded feel.  Beautiful old buildings, much variety in the way they're presented but a common aesthetic that makes everything seem classical, but not necessarily old.

I finally made it to the office -- google maps told me to go to the wrong end of the complex, so I got an improvised walking tour.  Michael told me to check in at the front desk and have him paged, but I never really found the front desk.  I did find the Queue-it office though and just wandered right in.  Martin (one of many Martins) the CTO saw me first and rushed to greet me.  It was so much fun to get to meet so many of the people I had been talking to online.

This included Rupak, who is actually on my team and I've worked with a ton, but meeting him IRL was so different -- truly a nice guy and fun to be around.  Here he is showing me the flat-out amazing coffee machine at the co-working space.

It'll make pretty much any kind of coffee you want!

 I got to see all of the different groups of people in the office, and really finally understood the layout and how people are arranged.  And it's the little details that were most interesting - like this bell, for ringing when someone in sales closes a deal!

We need one of these in Minneapolis

My express goal for this day was to make it to our weekly team meeting - but this time on the Copenhagen side of the conference call.  I did indeed get there in time, and it was surreal, fun, and interesting.  Introductions were made all around the office, and I settled in to a desk to catch up on my email and schedule.  It's always different to see people in their natural element, and our CEO was even jovial -- often just no-nonsense and serious on calls with him, it's easy to forget he's actually a happy, nice guy - not just all business.  That was one of the biggest things I noticed, was the mood of the office.  While I understand it's the holiday season, I felt a general vibe of happiness in the otherwise busy space.

Eventually the day grew to a close and an exhausted me was thrilled to get a ride back to the hotel via Michael.  I hadn't had proper sleep in more than two days, but needed food.  After changing into more comfortable footwear, I wandered a bit of Strøget, a primary walking street full of shops and other interesting squares and restaurants and such.  Being the holiday season there are Christmas Markets in a few different spots in the city, making for an amazing wintry scene.  Even if there was no snow.

Food ended up being a gas station hamburger -- from the Gasoline Grill, touted to be the best burger in Copenhagen by some, it was an amazing burger.  I find it funny that the place was converted to a food shack, but they still sell gas.

Convenience and Cuisine!

On the way back to the hotel I stopped at one of the many 7-11's and grabbed a couple beers for my burger meal.  Like a Pret-a-Manger for beer and comfort food, 7-11 is the place to get stocked up for less than the bar and restaurant prices.

So a late dinner in my hotel room, tiny but cozy.  Watched some Danish TV (it's like they have a different word for everything!), writing up some notes from the day(s) and then off into a deep, deep sleep.