We will walk 3 km in a downpour for beer, would you?

Kennedy: Yes, mom, everything is fine, we haven't run into any issues the past week except maybe some pricey internet rates. Having just spent three days in Copenhagen, we ran into a LOT of higher-than-average expenses. We did a lot of walking around (at least you don't have to pay to use your feet), and stumbled across a free museum too, Copenhagen's National Museum. It had lots of interesting artefacts from ancient Danish history, including stolen goods from the Viking era and some really old skeletons. There was also a pretty cool exhibit called Stories from Denmark, which spanned from the 1600s to 2000. Random paraphernalia included a protective child's 'hat' from the 18th century next to a modern-day pink bike helmet; old dollhouses still pimped out with tiny furniture and chandeliers; and a hut from the neighbourhood of Christiania, where, in the 1970s, hippies tried to create their own city within Copenhagen. This neighbourhood still exists today, across the canal. We hear it's lovely but didn't get to see much of it due to the crappy weather.
It rained a lot in Copenhagen, so we did things like climb winding, narrow church spires outside on very slippery steps, and get absolutely drenched while making our way to the Carlsburg Brewery (which is probably the coolest brewery in the world...). On our last day, it was almost sunny out, so we walked up to find the statue of the Little Mermaid... everyone's right, it's totally overrated. Just a little bronze statue, looking sad, sitting on a little rock, being ogled by a crowd of tour groups. Poor Ariel...
Oh yeah, we stayed in our largest dorm room to date, a 24-bedder. It was kind of annoying, but they had put up little dividers throughout so you felt like you were in a 4-bed with a lot of noisy neighbours nearby. Thankfully not the military barracks I'd been picturing. Not the cleanest place out there though, so other backpackers, maybe steer clear of City Public Hostel...
We took our last overnight train from Copenhagen to Amsterdam, two nights ago. SO happy I never have to do that again. Human beings are just not meant to sleep sitting up, bumping elbows with people on either side of them.
As soon as we dropped our bags off at our hostel, what did we do? Nap? No. Not us. We headed to Dam Square to meet up with the New Amsterdam Free Tour, and walked around the city for 3 hours, with our (Torontonian!) tour guide Allie. Stops included the Red Light District (yeah we went there - it's just like you all picture it), the Anne Frank House (we can't justify paying the outrageous fee to go inside though), and the Dampkring, one of Amsterdam's finest "coffee shops." People may recognize it as the setting of a particularly psychedelic scene from Ocean's Twelve. The scene where Matt Damon breaks into Kashmir. That's right ladies, I sat in the same seat as George Clooney. Too bad I wasn't sitting on his lap :(
Today we are heading to FOAM, a museum with works from a lot of famous photographers, including Annie Liebowitz. Might also hang out in Vondelpark, if weather cooperates, as it's also still free to sit on grass.
Until next time :)