Kasper the Friendly Dane

Last Thursday, in Copenhagen, I went out to a bar with a guy I met at the hostel who found somebody interesting and left me stranded on a bar stool alone. (No hard feelings, of course. In fact I think I may have done something quite similar earlier in the evening.) The night was winding down, however, and my buzz was wearing off, which basically means my ability to initiate conversations with random, foreign strangers diminishes.

Luckily, I met Kasper - a Danish 21-year-old who actually worked at the bar I was at (I found out later). Well, after some nice conversation about my country and his country, Kasper invited me to some local spots in Denmark that I might enjoy. He said he had a car and he wouldn't mind showing me around a bit. Without any reluctance, I took him up on the offer.

We agreed to meet at 10am at my hostel. Fast forward to 10am at the hostel - picture me, asleep in my bed, oblivious to the time, dreaming about cuddly puppies. Then fast forward to 11am and picture the same thing. Ditto noon. Well, 12:30 comes around and Carsten (the owner of the hostel I was staying in) comes into my shared room and suddenly says, "Michael, there's a boy waiting for you downstairs." At first I'm confused because I've just woken up and I have absolutely no idea what he's talking about, but it could be exciting. Then I freak the eff out! I rush downstairs to see Kasper standing in the hallway and I put on my best "apology face" (you know, all scrunched up and innocent-like) and tell him I'm sorry. He basically says that he just woke up too, so there's nothing to worry about.

I shower really quickly, then get dressed and we head out the door and into Kasper's car. We drive for a while, then a while more, then a really long while. I guess it's my own fault for not asking Kasper how long it would take us to where we were going or doing any research on the place before going there (I'm currently picturing my mother wincing at these facts). Basically I just hopped into a car with a stranger and hoped for the best.

About 2.5 hours later, we arrive in Moen in the south of Zealand. Moen is a coastal city where the cliffs are literally falling apart and dropping into the Baltic Sea. They are made of chalk, and the chalk comes tumbling down the side of the cliffs in little pieces that look like feta cheese. (Kasper jokes, "Every time these rocks fall, our country gets smaller and smaller." And he's right.) You can pick up these rocks and literally write with them. There are also tons of beautiful black rocks covering the beach. I ask Kasper what they are and he says it's flint. Like flint you use to make fire. I'm impressed... and I obviously steal some.

On the way back from Moen, Kasper stops at a gas station to fill up. We haven't eaten all day and by now it's 4pm, so we decide to grab a quick bite. I had one of the best hot dogs I've ever tasted (especially since I've given up eating hot dogs a couple of months ago) - it was BBQ flavored with cheese on the inside and stuffed into a tiny hole in a crispy french roll filled with ketchup. They sell these all throughout Scandinavia and I've never seen them before in my life. Yummy, yummy, yumm-o!

After a brief period of no conversation in the car (due to rapid consumption of hot dogs), Kasper starts talking about fairies. Somehow, I knew this was going to come up on my trip somewhere. Kasper tells me an elaborate story about how he saw a fairy when he was little. He was reading with a friend on his bed, and this little fairy in a red hat flew out of sight, but both he and his friend saw it. I can't really tell if Kasper's joking or not (he is in actor), but I sort of like believing that he believes, so I just take his word for it and move on.

Kasper continues to keep the conversation going. He asks me if all Americans are like Miss South Carolina, then does his best impression of her saying, "Like, all, like Americans, don't have, like, maps!" He tells me that there are only 30 homeless people in all of Denmark. He gives me some lessons in Danish, at which I fail miserably. Then he sings some "Les Miserables" in Danish - it's just not the same.

The car ride is getting a bit long again, so I ask how long until we're back to Copenhagen. "No," Kasper says. "We're not going back yet, we're going to Hillerod!" I say a bit wearily, "Of course we are."

But thank goodness we did. Hillerod has Frederiksborg Castle, which used to be the seat of the Danish kings. The oldest parts of the castle date back to 1560 and you can tell. It's so old, but so fascinating. I immediately fell in love with this castle upon looking at it. It's not like most castles you see in Europe. French chateaus, for example, are usually very isolated and have an extremely elite and inaccesably royal attitude about them. Their pretentiousness and grandeur is almost off-putting and tends to make them boring. Frederiksborg, on the other hand, is right in the middle of a thriving city. Joggers with iPods ran through the cobblestone streets of the castle courtyards and local dog owners walked their four-legged friends around ancient fountains. I myself may have gotten a little carried away when I simply couldn't hold it anymore, so decided to pee on the Queen's royal gardens.

After Hillerod, we finally headed back to Copenhagen. We ate at Oscar's Cafe - I had a Mexican Burger that was delicious (considering, like hot dogs, I don't eat burgers anymore). We then went to Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park essentially, right in the middle of the city, and saw a great laser show at night right along the lake.

I owe Kasper a huge thank you for everything he managed to show me in one day. So thank you, Kasper, for really showing me Denmark. I feel like you let me see parts that most tourists don't ever get to see. As any good traveler knows, these unplanned adventures are what always make the best travel experiences.