Sta'ns Hostel Malmö

... The Kings Park, windmill, garden, coffee break, old part of the city, city center, main square (Stortorget), small square (Lilla Torg.), St. Peter's and town hall. Statue of Carl X Gustav -stole (conquered) Malmo from the Danes. Had smoked salmon/cheese sandwich for lunch. The tour was very informative and lots of fun!

We have now secured our 4x4 for the Botswana segment of the trip. A Land Rover Defender TD5, fully equipped with everything you could need for a self-sustaining camping trip. We got a bunch of glossy brochures in the mail showing couples having the time of their life on leisurely drives through Southern Africa ...

... to come alive when the darkness and city lights hit them. Suddenly the city became a whole lot more interesting and beautiful. Noticing this, we decided to explore the city again by night - this time it was much more interesting and enjoyable despite it being the second time around. Completely exhausted from walking around all day, we headed back home to Holger at about 11pm and stumbled into a party... A long day became a long night.

Yesterday, we planned to catch a night train to Amsterdam after spending the day in Copenhagen. Things didn't go to plan at all, but I'm not one to point the blame at either the Danish or the Dutch end. I'll point firmly at the Germans instead. We had a leisurely morning and had breakfast at the Rut & Ragners Hostel in Malmo, before lugging our bags through the town back towards the train station. Once in Copenhagen ...

Hello We spent our second last day in Copenhagen at the World Barrista Championships and after 3 long days of heats (51 entrants) and 1 day of finals (6 finalists), the barrista we came to Copenhagen to support was named "runner up, to Ireland". Close but no cigar! So we had a few drinks to celebrate and then headed back to our hotel restaurant to see the guys who worked there (hillarious ...

... having fun. Because they were the last group in the semifinals they kept the same boat for the finals and raced in the semifinal boat. The finals was a packed race with many penalties being handed out for illegal turns and maneuvers. They came in second overall, but because of a rule that they weren't aware of at the time they were disqualified at the end, without a chance to protest because of the rules. But all in all ...

... especially because there was lines of tourists waiting in line to do these ridiculous poses with the mermaid. A much better time was had visiting 'Christiania'. The area that is now 'Christiania' used to be occupied by the army, then when they moved out in 1971 groups of homeless, hippies, young people, artists and political activsts moved in and declared it a 'free city' with the aim of running autonomously ...

... and attack your face. Anyway walking through Assisstens Kirkegaard is a really nice idea if you've got a few hours to spare. I only intended to go there for 20 minutes or so but ended up staying for 2 1/2 hours because it's silently captivating exploring the dense foliage and gravestones that date back as far as the 1700s. Not to mention the whole site takes up about 2 1/2 city blocks ...

... and we were following one of the guys around) and then got some food and found a park to sit down in. It was a beautiful warm sunny day in Copenhagen so it was good to sit down outside and relax for awhile. Everyone in Copenhagen seems to ride around on bicycles! They're everywhere! People just leave them outside shops or the train station and they're not locked up or anything.. so someone could easily come along and just take any bike they ...

... the Rathas Square made it well worth the trip for it was full of old churches, cosmopolitian shops, and beautiful buildings. 5. Tivoli - Overall a rip off, it was still a fun night to wander around and look at the rides and everyone's excitement. Tip - don't wait on the midnight light show - quite overrated. The changing of the guard was worth seeing though. 6.Vesterbro - The trendy neighborhood that we stayed in had lots of nightlight. It's a nightlife center ...