Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Early to Rise

Being awake and making moves at or before 4:00 provides a very different experience of the world than that most people are used to. This is particularly true in Copenhagen, a city which unashamedly parties hard. Walk to Nørreport in the wee hours of the morning and you're guaranteed to pass more people lurching their way home from the bars and clubs than you are people going about their daily business. Unless of course their daily business includes stumbling through their front doors at 5:00am. Which is entirely possible.

But whenever I'm airport-bound before sunrise (aka every time I travel), I'm somewhat of a novelty, carrying a backpack, with my nose pointed towards city center instead of away. Though I will admit, I've been on the other side of the equation too; time seems to lose its meaning on a night out in Copenhagen, and it's not unusual to glance at your phone and find that it's 3:30 when you could have sworn it was only midnight.

The metro to the airport at this time of morning is always, well, interesting as well. Once again, travelers like myself are in the minority. Not nearly as much as we are in the city streets though. But the Nørreport metro platform can be a crazy place. It's not uncommon for the person next to you to be swaying unsteadily or even take a digger on to you. And rushes for the door of the train can get a bit physical. I usually tend to get to the station one train early so I can watch the chaos and strategically place myself at the head of the queue forming in its wake. But by all means, enter the fray. If that's what you're into.

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