So, I had never been to Copenhagen. Technically I had been in the airport at the start of this journey, but I don’t think airports actually count. They’re sort of a weird international no-man’s land.
It seemed a shame to be there, but never BE there. So on my way out of this region, I figured out that I could shift flights a bit, and fly out of a small airport near Klaipeda, with a long layover in Copenhagen, giving me enough time to buzz through the city.
It was a sound plan, though felt a bit less sound when my alarm went off at 3:30.
I had to walk about a block to meet the Bolt driver, and did not appreciate the statue of death coming out of the canal.
The castle tower behind it is new; it was built in 2025, as a replica of the original Klaipeda Castle. They’re apparently planning on rebuilding the entire castle over the next 20 years, for tourism. Friggin tourists.
The airport was very small. I knew that, but was surprised when I saw what that actually meant. I got to the airport 2 hours before my flight, which is what you’re supposed to do.
On the screen, you’ll see 4 flights. These are the only 4 flights today. Like, all day. 4 flights. They even started showing the flights for tomorrow on the screen, I think just to fill it up?
So it turns out, I didn’t need to be 2 hours ahead of the flight. I could have been 15 minutes and still been ok. It meant I had plenty of time for coffee though. I’ve been ordering a “Flat White” everywhere – I’m not 100% sure, but it requires the least amount of communication.
Two others near me chose different drinks. I happened to sit down directly across from the duty-free store (there are like 40 seats in this entire airport) – and the tiny bottles of vodka. I watched TWO people purchase a bottle of water, and little bottles of vodka, and combine the two. At 5:30 in the morning. The Baltic States love their vodka. Multiple people have told me they like to eat their Rye (Rye bread is the only bread, basically) but drink their wheat. As long as it isn’t the pilot, I guess I shouldn’t worry?
Lithuanians seem like the loudest of the countries, and they’re quicker to yell at each other (in traffic, in restaurants, and now in airports). English in Lithuania is definitely not as common as in the other areas. After Lithuanian, Polish is one of the most common languages, along with Russian, and German.
Vilnius – the capital today – was actually part of Poland for a while. It was the capital of Lithuania when they established independence the first time, in 1918 – but then Soviets invaded. The Polish army then drove the Soviets out…but kept the area for themselves. A demarcation line was eventually agreed upon, but it meant Vilnius was in Poland. Then it really got messy – Soviets came back, Belarus got involved, Germans were still coming on holiday, and no one liked each other’s borscht recipe. Vilnius again became a part of Lithuania in 1939 – though then in a few years, the whole thing went under Soviet rule.
Lithuanians got over the whole capital-stealing thing, and now have a very close friendship with Poland, and call them their brothers. Poland is apparently a good country to have in the family; I’m told they’ve been preparing for war with Russia (again) since 1989, and are prepared to fight.
Estonia considers Finnish their brothers, and also finds comfort in the strength (and discipline) of the Finnish military.
Latvia, a true middle child in the region, is a bit on their own I guess?
They also say it isn’t a matter of “if” Russia attacks, but rather just “when” and “how.” Of particular concern is the “Suwalki Gap” which, as we all know, is the only land connection to other NATO countries. Russia has a huge military force in Kaliningrad (near where I was last night), and it is assumed they will gather forces in Minsk as well. It’s about 7 hours by car between the two, so they could pretty quickly collapse that border. To help protect against this, a military base just south of Vilnius has just been built for NATO, with about 5,000 German troops being sent there. This is Germany’s first international permanent deployment since WWII.
The amount of war this region has faced, for generations, is overwhelming. It was shared with me that it takes two generations, from the end of war, to believe in peace. The people in this region have never had two generations without war. Oof.
On that happy note, my early flight and a 1 hour time change got me in to Copenhagen around 7:00.
The highlight of my flight was the juice that was handed out, in a fully compostable container. Sustainable and delicious!
After the flight, I stopped in the bathroom. On my way out, I was at the sink washing my hands. There was a woman next to me doing the same, and I could see her reflection in the mirror out of the corner of my eye. I looked up to see myself…but I wasn’t there. Like, I could see the bathroom stalls behind me, but…not me? I didn’t have a reflection? Friends, it took me quite a while to process there was no mirror. The bathroom had two halves, with stalls on the back walls and sinks in the middle on either side of a half wall. There was a woman next to me, and there was a woman at the sink across from her on the other side of the half wall. They were not the same person. Thoughts like “am I asleep?” and “am I a vampire?” occurred to be before I processed the actual situation.
After I resolved that crisis, I took the train into the city, and wandered a bit through the Nyhavn Harbor area. On the way, I even helped a guy from Arizona; he was on the same metro train as me, but asked for help to find his hotel. After I politely said “I’m not from here…?” he still seemed desperate, so I helped problem solve. He’s apparently been to Copenhagen before, but last time he rented a car – and then didn’t pay for parking, which would have been $10, and wound up getting a ticket in the mail for $400, which his company would not pay. He seemed annoyed that no one had taken the time to explain parking rules to him…but he also just got on a metro train with no idea where he was going, so I feel like maybe he doesn’t make great choices. I showed him which app to download, and then helped him map out which transfer he needed. Odds are 50/50 that he ended up in Sweden.
Denmark uses the Krone instead of the Euro, and Denmark is VERY expensive. A stamp for a postcard cost $7 usd. Hi is Hej (which conveniently sounds JUST LIKE hi) Please is Behage, and Thanks is Tak (which sounds like sock, basically. Danish is my easiest language!)
The “Kingdom of Denmark” also includes the self-governing territories Faroe Islands, and Greenland, so they certainly have some thoughts about ‘merica right now. They’re also the birthplace of LEGO, and are usually ranked one of the happiest countries in the world.
It was VERY rainy. I had downloaded a walking tour, but it felt too chaotic and didn’t want to keep my phone out to follow it, so I just wandered around and took pictures of big things.
I decided to have breakfast while there, and it was very organized. I walked in and was immediately asked “English or Danish?” And then “Allergies?” – and they were seating people based on answers. Then, I was directed towards a long hallway where I was to leave my (very wet) coat and my (very wet) backpack – which had my laptop in it. The table they had told me to sit at was not within view of where they wanted me to leave my stuff?!? This did not seem like a great idea…but there were like 15 other bags and twice as many coats, so I did as I was told. And miraculously, it was right where I left it when I was done.
I only interacted with a few people, but they were all exceeding polite. One woman asked where I was from, and I said United States. She replied with “Are you sure?” – and I wasn’t sure what to say. I mean, yes? I have a US passport? But also, I had noticed when signing up for the airport app that United States wasn’t listed on country choices for your phone number code? I tried searching for United, US, and America, and it didn’t come up. You couldn’t manually enter it, but I found it under Canada.
She clarified that I don’t have an accent, which confused her. (It reminded me of a Don Williams lyric – Learned to talk like the man, on the 6 o’clock news.)
Fun but very wet adventure. I then headed back to the airport, and am ending in Berlin for the night.
I am now far enough away to not care about Russia.