On my first visit to Denmark, I fell in love with the country and the city of Copenhagen. Contrary to my guide, you could see elephants and experience ice hockey in the height of summer.
the hanson brothers
Arriving in Copenhagen, I was exhausted from backpacking and looking forward to a good nap. He was traveling with three other Americans and we were distraught when every subsequent hostel told us that all beds were sold. after asking around [okay, we were in a bar]a local took us to a “hotel” guaranteed to have space.
I could only sigh when we stopped at the ice rink for the local pro team. Since we were “high and dry”, we went in and reserved our beds. Left face point. Yes, our beds were arranged around the point of the left face. To make a little extra money during the summer, the rink melted the ice and put beds everywhere. The scene can best be described as a giant collection of cubicles in an office with beds instead of desks. It was cheap, dry and had a communal feel as you could hear everything. If you’ve seen the movie “Slap Shot,” it was like living with a few hundred Hanson brothers.
danish elephants
Okay, there was a Danish elephant. Okay, it was made of wood. And he served beer. From the trunk of him. Ah, let me start at the beginning.
Having made friends with some local Danes, they quietly asked us if we would like to see real Danish elephants. Yes, we could touch them. No, they were not dangerous. Could we even ride them? Wow, this was going to be a great entry in my Nomad travel journal.
They picked us up from the ice rink that night and took us to the city center. We stopped in front of what seemed to everyone to be a small tavern. Is this where they keep the elephants? We walked into a small tavern with…a life-size wooden elephant.
As it turned out, the elephant was the biggest and best beer dispensing unit in the world. Place your glass under the trunk and pull a fang to dispense your favorite beverage. Each fang provided a different brew, but I researched the mechanism too often that night and can’t remember the markings. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be an aspirin elephant anywhere the next morning.
If you’re visiting Copenhagen and don’t give a damn about privacy, the ice rink hotel can’t be beat for value and community spirit. Well, maybe the Danish elephants, but don’t tell anyone I told you.