Arhus

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I left Copenhagen at some point during the day for Arhus. Arhus is the second or third largest city in Denmark next to Odense and Copenhagen. What a beautiful train ride it was too! Plus, I needed the break pretty badly. I think it took about 3.5 hours to get there. And got there I did.

We stepped off the train and left the station and I was in another new place already. A brand new place that I couldn't wait to explore. So my travel buddy led us to a bar the in Arhus called Flintstones (which was a classic Irish pub style bar) so we could get a cold one, recoup, come up with a plan, and use the wifi. Well, as fate or luck or destiny would have it, we met this Danish dude named Melde who invited us over to his place to stay and to jam on his instruments and go out later.

Melde took us back to his place. He let us set our gear down and we had some drinks and jammed for a little while. Solo was on the piano, I on the guitar and the drunk Danes were just beating on stuff percussively, then we all decided it was time to go out. It had suddenly gotten late, but it was all good because last light isn't until after 10pm! Kind of weird...

So, before we leave the house, he asks us to grab our gear and that he would lock it in the laundry room in the tiny courtyard of the little complex (these are very old buildings that just get kinda stacked together because of building in days of old and lack of zoning. Anyway, Suleiman and I were a little perplexed by this, but we needed a place to put our things down and he promised the laundry room was the safest. So we acquiesced his request and laid our gear down in said laundry room. He locked the door and off we went.

Melde hails a cab so we all hop in and it takes us about 2km away to the downtown area of Arhus. This dude jumps out of the car when we got to where we were going as did we and he didn't pay! He told us that was acceptable in Denmark,,,we couldn't believe it. Then he takes us to this seedy looking back-alley joint called Shen Mao, which is known for its grand ping pong table. I walk in to find a very crowded bar and a large group of people circling the ping pong table, all with paddles in hand. It was was fluid motion and everyone would hit the ball and so on and so forth. It was fun to watch, but it was kind of an ugly place. Melde was held back at the door by the bouncers and we were let inside. He was so bloody drunk! It wouldn't have been a problem at all if he hadn't have responded aggressively to the bouncers request that he throw his glad away before he go in. So he threw the glass at the garbage can and it shattered. I did not see Melde for the rest of the night after that.

Solo and I left Shen Mao and went to this other seedy late-night joint called Bodegan. So we're in there hanging out...it's busy! There are people everywhere...drunk people. Danes LOVE to drink. It is as if it hard wired into there genetic makeup to be drinkers. So, Solo has kind of been my voice during this trip...otherwise I would have never met anybody because I am so damned introverted. So he walks up to the table in the smoking area and strikes up a conversation with a Swedish guy. Long story short, now Swedish dude is speaking to me and he asks, "Who do you think the most beautiful girl in the bar is?" and i pointed across the way at the gorgeous little Danish chick and he leads me right over and strikes up a conversation. I was nervous, but this girl was absolutely captivated by me. So a long while goes by, and drunk solo wanders up to my table where I am sitting with this danish beauty. Danish guys kept spilling beer on her and her friend which I found appalling, but they didn't seem to mind as if it really just is engrained in their culture. So the girls get up to use the bathroom and Solo quickly says, "They're not coming back, they're not coming back! I know how these girls are, they're not coming back!" and he wouldn't shut up about it. I had taken it upon myself to watch the jacket that they had left in their seat as I thought it a simply decent thing to do. So a few minutes goes by and Solo is still going on about how he wants to leave so bad and go somewhere else because "they're not coming back!" So, I got up and went with him...STUPID!

He ended up wandering off anyway so I lost Melde and I lost Solo and it was my first night there. My phone was dead too, by the way. So I start searching for our "hosts" place. Thankfully I had noted a number of important landmarks otherwise I would not have found his place. Here's where it gets weirder. It didn't look like anybody was home so I knocked on the door a few times and no answer. So I'm locked out of my hosts house...NICE! I thought. It occurred to me, "Well, maybe he left the laundry room door unlocked before he went to bed..." NOPE! Locked. So I started thinking about how the hell am I going to solve this crazy puzzle since I'm shit outta luck...

After a couple tries on the skeleton keyhole on the laundry room door, I realized that I wasn't getting in that way. Alas! Behold! A TINY little window was open a teeny bit, but it was double latched. I figured that was my only hope. So I got out my old college ID and went to town on the little window until the latches were undone and somehow or another I was able to slither through this porthole of a windows, but I got it! It was so cold too! I slept on the stone floor that night bundled up in as much of my snivel gear as I could and still I shivered all night. I lost the SnapChats I took, but I looked like Les Stroud from Survivorman. Around 0630 the next morning I heard key jingling at the lock of the door and the door opened! Melde...that son of a bitch. He said, "How the hell did you get in here?" and so I pointed at the tiny window and explained that I really didn't have any other option. He told me that he awoke and had the dream-like thought "Oh shit! The Americans!" and so came to check. Finally, he let me inside the house and I discovered why we'd been locked out in the first place. Somehow and someway his sloppy drunk ass had brought home this pretty danish girl. He also brought home a plant he took from somewhere...looked like small olive tree.

Solo was still nowhere to be found. No texts, no calls, nothing. So I bundled up and passed out on his couch. Noon rolled around and I was awake again. No Solo still. I decided at that time that I was going to set out on foot and find his ass. So set off on foot, I did. I started walking...noting landmarks and other useful reckoning aids so I could better find my way around this new city. I walked and walked, but like my journey, I had no destination, just find Solo. Ahead there was a beautiful old brick cathedral...maybe 200 years old or more? I decided, "Well, I'll just take some pictures while I'm out and about sight-seeing. I arrive at the cathedral and there was large town square. It was a lovely day. Many people were out and about, lounging around, and chatting. Lo and behold! There he was...Suleiman, sitting there next to a fountain maybe 50 meters away from me. I shouted aloud, "Hey Asshole!" Everyone in the square looked up at me while I was pointing my finger at the kid who got lost the night before. So, I scolded him briefly and we went and got a quick bite at the McDonald's in the square. Afterward, we collected our thoughts and ventured back to Melde's place on the other side of town which wasn't too far from the train station.

We got back to Melde's and chatted for awhile after which he offered up his laundry room again so that we wouldn't have to carry all of out heavy shit all over town so we could go explore a bit.

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