København Exodus

Tuesday was spent hanging out with Sammy in town and then at her house, before grabbing pizza on the incredibly sunny hot 5pm bike ride to the beach to meet Lis and Nadine, along with Nadines mother.  Lis and Nadine swam, I paddled up to my knees and Sam dipped a toe in the Baltic Sea.

Nadine and her lovely mother went to have dinner in Christiania, so Lis, Sam and I stayed at the beach a little longer, then cycled back to Sams apartment.  Sam and I took different routes back, and I totally won.  Later we went to retro for a drink and a chat and then we had our final goodbye with Nadine.  Yes, I did cry, but she lives in Berlin, so I will visit for sure.

Lis and I ended up staying at Sams house on her last night but I got the short straw and had to sleep on a very shallow leather sofa.  Then in the morning, we awoke, had a scrumptious breakfast and hung out a little bit before taking Sams bags to the metro station.  I am going to Boston in September, so hope is still there for our friendship.  Afterwards, me and Lis walked back to get our bikes and then decided to cycle to the beach and swim.  It was ridiculously hot, cycling along the beach path was a little bit like a movie, but I don't know which one.  And we swam! And I was wearing my clothes.  Which promptly dried once I was no longer in the sea.  Cycled back to Lissy's for her to have a shower, then to mine for shower, dinner, Wimbledon watching and beeerrrr.

Thursday was a chill day, throwing out all kinds of crap so I don't pack it on Tuesday.  Then I get the news that Simon is leaving to go home and then to Italy, and that this is goodbye for us also!  Gosh, what a lot of goodbyes.  I've not seen a lot of Simon recently, but if I stretch my mind back over the year, we had a lovely time living together and he is a top guy.  But again, this is less of a real goodbye, due to him being in NYC at the same time as me in September, and me definitely returning to Copenhagen at some point!  Later that evening, I met Elisabeth on Nørrebro Bridge and we drank self-popping Champagne and talked.  A man cycled past us beating his handlebars with the hugest grin in the world on his face.  I think he was also singing?  Anyways, basically the happiest man I have ever seen.  Then a man walked past looking in the bins for recyclable and therefore profit-making plastic bottles and he told us to have a good evening (in danish, of course). And THEN a group of men walked past and one stopped directly in front of us, curtseyed a few times, then told us 'det er meget meget hyggeligt', and then strolled onward.  We headed onward ourselves, to       Gefährlich (German for 'dangerous') a small cafe/restaurant/bar/gallery in the heart of Nørrebro.  We had fancy drinks (1 each) and a little dance.  Then a drunken girl did not understand the concept of personal space or not lurching towards another persons mouth, so we left.

There were no goodbyes on Friday, and I met Elisabeth in the evening and we decided to cycle all the way to Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid), supposedly Copenhagen's number one tourist attraction, which both of us had avoided seeing until Friday.

We drank some wine and watched some tourists try to make the jump over the sea, so as to stand next to the statue.  We then went to Cafe Retro for free jazz, but missed it.  So just sat and chatted, before unlocking our bikes to ride home (Elisabeths last ride home).  This morning I went to Frankrigsgade to help her clean and take her to the airport.  Was sad.   Sydney is a long way away.  Yes I cried (AGAIN) and continued to after I walked away from her.  Teary eyed all the way home.  Now I am the last left in København, and I feel like I am in limbo, between two worlds, but don't fully belong in either anymore.  I am very apprehensive about returning to England, even though there are many wonderful things to look forward to, and so very upset that this part of my life is over.  Even if I return to Denmark, it will never be the same again.