Overraskelse

Surprise (in Danish).

An hilarious immersion into the next stop of my trip, in Copenhagen. The university pals had agreed to organise a weekend away to celebrate two 40ths (Clare and Tim). I kept quiet and when I realised it could time with my annual leave in Europe, I made plans to show up. And I didn’t, foolishly, make any other arrangements. This resulted in thinking that I’d be able to emerge from security at Copenhagen Airport and surprise them at the nearest café. After various shenanigans and subtle and less subtle ways of discovering their location, I had to reveal my presence via WhatsApp and wait to be found next to a 7/11. It didn’t have the dramatic glamour of the February surprise event.

I gatecrashed the hostel room my friends had organised, and we rather quickly decided to get drunk as we got ready. Then I can’t quite recall how the evening panned out but it likely included a trip to Netto (sadly lost from much of England but going strong in Denmark). We subsequently had a fun time at Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen’s theme park in the middle of the city, drinking, snacking and testing our ageing adrenaline on various rides. When the theme park closed, we decamped to Copenhagen Central Station and awaited the arrival of Jenna, as the group was dribbling in through the day. She was delayed so we loitered on benches next to 7/11 (a running theme during the trip). 40 we may be, but no more classy than at 19.

Aside from screaming on rollercoasters, which is more contained here than elsewhere, Scandinavian societies are reasonably quiet, so I like them.