Affordable Globetrotting: 05/28/18

Room Dilemma in Copenhagen

Nyhavn at Night.

Arriving in a country that you have never visited at night can be both exciting and scary. That feeling you get when you look out the window as the plane descends…or seeing all of the city’s lights for the first time as you enter its streets, is one of the most exciting feelings you can have when traveling (or ever). But then there’s the feeling of worry. You may start off feeling a bit of anxiety, not only because you’re in an unfamiliar place, but because you’re in an unfamiliar foreign country… in the dark...and you have to walk to your hotel or Airbnb in the city's quiet streets. Your travel adrenaline is going though, so you forget about your fears. Most of the time you will make it to your room with no dilemmas. Other times, you may encounter some issues...That can be a whole different adventure and story in itself (stay tuned for Part 3 in Barcelona).

Luckily in Copenhagen, we arrived to our hotel without any dilemmas, and the check-in was a piece of cake. We were tired and in desperate need to shower, but we were also starving and dying to discover some of Copenhagen right away. So we dropped off our carry-ons in our room and went out into the city's darkness to find a place to eat before it got too late. It was easy to notice as we shut our hotel room door behind us that our adrenaline was the only reason we were able to function at that point.

Copenhagen at Night.

Most restaurants were closed at that hour, so we “settled” on getting a couple of brats from a food truck that we remembered seeing by the train station when we first arrived. I didn't know it at the time, but I came to find out that this food truck was actually on my list of “places to eat” while in Copenhagen (Have you read my previous blog post: “Take a Walk…or Run on Your Next Trip” yet?). The brats at this food truck were amazing. I was pretty stoked that we stumbled upon this place.

Anyway, back to my story….

We walked back to our hotel after this awesome late-night dinner no longer hangry, but still tired and super unkempt. I couldn’t wait to shower, hop into a real bed, and get good rest for our packed itinerary the following day.

What felt like 50 flights of stairs later (we were on the very top floor), we approach our hotel room door and Daren slides our key card. A red light. He slides the key again…rejected. One more time he tries our key card…denied. Of course, I had to give it a try in hopes that I had the magic touch to open the door. Nothing.

We go down the million flights of stairs to the lobby to get a new key card from the only hotel night staff available.

Back upstairs we go (legs dead by now) and try the new key card. Red light again…and again…and again.

And again we go down the billion flights of stairs to inform the same girl that the key didn’t work.

After 3 cards (and a billion flights of stairs later) the hotel staff goes with us upstairs. I could't help but wonder what was going through her head as all three of us staggered up the stairs. I wonder if she thought:

a) We were idiot Americans that didn’t know how to use a hotel key card.

b) We were too drunk to use a key card the correct way.

c) A mix between both a and b. Or

d) She thought she had the magic touch to be able to open the door.

Whatever her assumption was, she attempted anyway and was just as unsuccessful with opening the door than we were. At least we proved that we weren’t idiots, drunks, or incompetent.

Phone calls later to her manager (and whoever else) there was one option left to try: To crow bar the door open. Many attempts were made with the crow bar, but the door did not open. Not much progress was made. We at least found out that the hotel doors were pretty damn secure. Always trying to stay positive here...

Upgraded Suite with Balcony

The hotel staff upgrades us to a new room. A suite actually. Come to find out that suites aren't all that great if you don't have your belongings with you.

With no clothes to change into and no personal items to use, all we could do is go to bed feeling absolutely disgusting.

But then I realized as I sat on the bed (completely out of it now) that there were some necessities that I absolutely needed to have and use before bed that were with my belongings in the other room. Daren rolls out of bed and was soon enough on his way out the door to the pharmacy. I stay back at the hotel to prevent slowing Daren down.

An hour and a half later passes and I start to get worried about Daren. I have lack of service with my phone in the hotel, so my phone calls don't go through.

Daren on his own adventure is having a hard time finding not only a pharmacy in the area, but one that is open. Did I mention that the word, “pharmacy” in Danish sounds nothing like the English word?..Yet another reason why you should learn a little bit of a country’s language before visiting so it’s not difficult to find something you need when in an emergency situation. Have you read, “8 Must-Do’s Before Your Next Trip” yet?

Anyway, back to my story…again.

When Daren finally discovers an open pharmacy, it’s a few miles away from the hotel. Already exhausted, he runs back to the hotel.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, I stress about his whereabouts. All the thoughts that went through my head were driving me crazy. The hardest part was that there was nothing that either one of us could do to in our particular situation to communicate and ease each other’s minds.

Daren finally arrives back to our room sweaty and ten times more exhausted that when we first arrived…and I ten times more mentally exhausted. We bicker at each other out of frustration. Being too exhausted, we decided to postpone our argument until morning, do what we have to do to get ready for bed, and crash….hard.

The next day, we wake up to the sound of thumps, an electric drill, and talking next door. A couple of locksmiths arrived early to break into our room. Still tired and dirty, and a still a bit bitter about last night, Daren and I get out of bed to start our day that should have already started a few hours prior.

With out saying much, we grab our belongings from the now open door, shower and eat a breakfast that includes enough coffee to satisfy a full army. We apologize to each other about the pointless argument we had the night before at breakfast and come to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing we could have done to prevent any of the dilemmas we had. We agreed to forget about the night before and start our trip on a fresh note. After all, we fixed our dilemma (doing our best to stay positive the whole time), we were rested, showered, food satisfied, and we received an upgraded room along the way.

Though our dilemmas in Copenhagen cost us a bit of grief and lost time, we did what we had to do: stayed positive, solved the dilemmas, and carried on with our trip.

Feet in Freezing Baltic Sea

As I mentioned before, sh*t happens sometimes when you travel. Just never forget to stay calm and positive while finding a solution to your dilemma. And after you find that solution, make sure to continue your trip being as excited as you were before the dilemma happened. Many adventures lie ahead on your travels, and it's up to you to decide if you're going to let that dilemma take over and ruin your trip, or just be another story to tell and laugh about when you make it back home.

These dilemmas interrupted our travels, but we certainly didn’t let it ruin our time in Copenhagen…which by the way, turned out to be one of the best trips ever.

Safe Travels,

Veronica