Once upon a time in Copenhagen

Hey there! This week I bring you one of the most devious stories I will tell in this blog. It all started when I got a week of holidays and my girlfriend didn't. I was undecided about going back home to Portugal, and spend a bit of time with family and friends, or visit a new country that I haven't been to. I decided on visiting the capital of Denmark and change my original plan by increase my holidays to a second country, Sweden. So that was the plan. I would go to Copenhagen, spend three days there, and then I would cross the famous Øresund bridge to Malmö, Sweden.

March arrived and with it my holidays. I packed the bag, kissed the girlfriend and off I went to the airport. When I arrived in Denmark I was welcomed with what I was expecting already, coldness. After I moved to London, my body got used to cold temperatures so, the weather wouldn't be a problem. I managed to arrange a hostel right in the centre of Copenhagen, in the famous Nyhavn district. And what a stroke of luck. The Nyhavn is such an impressive and beautiful quarter, with coloured 17th and 18th-century townhouses on both sides facing one of the many canals that go inside this nordic city. The city itself is indeed impressive. Just in the Nyhavn district, besides the amazing pictures that you can take, you also can enjoy a wonderful evening by the canal while eating a fresh-caught fish. The old town is replete with parks and beautiful churches. Inside those parks, you will find impressive castles or towers surrounded by lakes and I lie you not, that itself is worth going to Copenhagen. There's as well the Kastellet, a military star-shaped fortress with an impressive view of the nordic sea, which I recommend if you have a bit of spare time. In all aspects, the capital is pretty relaxed. It is surely a good city to spend a weekend if you are tired of all the stress from the big metropolis, like London.
Anyway, after installing myself in the hostel, I went for a walk around town to find where to eat. I reached this posh market in the centre where they were serving all sorts of European food and wines, so I thought to myself, "this couldn't be better!". The food was good and the wine was Portuguese, so it was amazing, but when I went to pay I almost passed out with the price!  Back to the hostel, I decided to have a few drinks at the bar and have a chat with my fellow housemates. Everyone was quite friendly and, without realizing, there was already a significant gathering of people, drinking and talking outside the bar. It was then that one of the guys starts smoking marijuana and says " this city is a weed paradise". I didn't understand why he was saying that. It was not my first time in a nordic country and, although I know they are very liberal, Copenhagen looked like a very clean city, you couldn't detect those typical dealers on the street. So I asked him and he just said: " You don't know? There's a free market in the city, you just go and buy it." I'm not a person who regularly smokes, I tried it a couple of times but that was it. But a free market, I have to go.

The next day I went straight to that market, aka "Freetown Christiania". I've been to Amsterdam but this was completely different. In Amsterdam, everything had a capitalist view, with proper shops selling it. But here, everything was a complete hippie mess, a proper flea market for anything related to hippie culture, including the drugs. After investigating the market for a while and getting enough courage, I went to one of the sellers and ask for weed. He immediately shows all his products and asks me what type I want. I was feeling completely dumb. I didn't know the type of drugs, I just wanted to try the "normal" stuff. He probably realized that I'm a rookie in this game so he just gave me a joint. Anyway, I grabbed my stuff, I walked up the hill where everyone was going, and I sit down smoking my pot. I felt dizzy straight away, and after a few puffs, I couldn't smoke anymore. I remember thinking "How can someone smoke one of this alone?", I wasn't even at half and I was dying. But the worse part was about to begin.

I offered the rest of my joint to a random guy sitting next to me and decided to hit home. The moment I stand up it was like my soul left the body. I felt empty inside, completely drained, and I thought I was going to pass out. I had to summon all my inner strength at that moment to make my feet move, and, what took me around 10 minutes from the beginning of the market until the centre was now taking more than an hour. When I finally got out of there, I faced another problem. How to go home? I tried to recreate the path I took earlier, but my memory was just not responding. To join all this, I was feeling completely paranoid. I thought everyone was looking at me or talking about me or even following me. At a certain point, I found myself in a bridge. Just remembering this part of the story is making me laugh already. I just needed to cross it and I would be home. It was a bridge for both bicycles and pedestrians, and in the middle, it would turn or to the right, to one of the islands, or the left to the mainland. My stoned brain obviously panicked and I literally stood in the middle of the bridge thinking which way to go. I even thought about calling my girlfriend to help me make the decision, but I realized that it would be a bad idea. After a good few minutes, and probably a lot of confused looks, I decided to take the path where most people were going and thank God I decided correctly. When I reached the hostel, I went straight to bed and I fell asleep. The next day was way calmer than this adventure, trust me! I got so paranoid with all this, that I never even tried it again. I will end this story with a piece of advice. Do not do drugs, and if you still want to do it, don't do it alone.

I'll see you next time and Ciao Ciao!!!