Return to Copenhagen

---

Geo: 55.6759, 12.5655

That was an epic, grueling bus ride. It took not one, not two, but 15.5 hours from Brussels to Copenhagen. Ouch. We bid goodbye to Bert and Nele at Brussels Nord station around 11pm. By 11.45ish, we were boarding our Eurolines coach. To be fair, it was a reasonably comfortable coach with heaps of leg room. Overnight it was also a relatively empty bus which allowed us to stretch out and get about 4 minutes of uncomfortable sleep. The route was long, taking us via Eindhoven, Hamburg and eventually on a ferry from Germany to Denmark. The ferry ride took us around 45 minutes, time enough for a lunch break. As if the journey wasn't going to be long enough, it was made longer by surprisingly intense security getting off the ferry in Denmark. Initially, it seemed our bus had just been randomly selected for a security check as several others drove straight through. It turned out to be pretty rigorous; passport checks, every passenger being questioned, bag checks, even sniffer dogs. It took probably an hour and two passengers were actually taken off the bus and detained by police!
Finally around 3, we arrived in Copenhagen. Lucky for us, we could see our hotel just accross the tracks from the bus stop. A relieving sight for weary eyes. We were also relieved to find our packs undisturbed by the authorities, and we made the short walk to our hotel. We relaxed a while before taking a half hour walk into the city to look for dinner. We found an awesome place with half price on Mondays. Pasta, lasagne and banana splits for desert came in extremely cheap by Copenhagen standards. Tonight is our last on the European continent. Tomorrow we board the Norwegian Star Cruise ship, headed for the Atlantic Ocean and the Americas. We are entering the final month of our trip. Still plenty to look forward to, as we just booked some amazing day trips in South and Central America. Exciting times!

---