Copenhagen Ice Rinks And Danish Elephants

O n my first visit to              the summer, the rink melted the    Denmark, I fell in love         ice and set up beds everywhere.    with the country and the        The scene can best be described    city of Copenhagen. Contrary to       as a giant collection of cubicles  my guidebook, you could see           in an office with beds instead of  elephants and experience ice          desks. It was cheap, dry and had   hockey in the dead of summer.         a communal feel since you could                                          hear everything. If you've seen    The Hanson Brothers                   the movie "Slap Shot", it was                                            like living with a few hundred     Upon arriving in Copenhagen, I        Hanson Brothers.                   was burned out from backpacking                                          and looking forward to a good         Danish Elephants                   nap. I was traveling with three                                          other Americans and we became         Okay, there was one Danish         distressed as each subsequent         elephant. Okay, it was made out    hostel told us all beds were          of wood. And poured beer. From     sold. After asking around [okay,      its trunk. Ah, let me start at     we were in a bar], we were given      the beginning.                     a lift by a local to a "hotel"                                           guaranteed to have space.             Having been befriended by some                                           local Danes, we were asked in      I could only sigh as we pulled up     hushed tones if we would like to   to the ice rink for the local         see real Danish elephants. Yes,    professional team. Since we were      we'd be able to touch them. No,    "high and dry", we entered and        they weren't dangerous. We could   booked our beds. Left face off        even ride them? Wow, this was      dot. Yes, our beds were arranged      going to be a great entry in my    around the left face off dot. To      Nomad travel journal.              make a little extra money during                                         We were picked up at the ice rink     provided a different beer, but I   that evening and taken to the         investigated the mechanism far to  center of town. We stopped in         often that evening and don't       front of what looked like all the     recall the brands. Unfortunately,  world to be a small tavern. This      there didn't appear to be an       is where they keep the elephants?     aspirin elephant anywhere to be    We walked into a small tavern         seen the next morning.             with...a life-sized, wood                                                elephant.                             If you're going to be visiting                                           Copenhagen and don't give a hoot   As it turned out, the elephant        about privacy, the ice rink hotel  was the world's biggest and best      can't be beat for price and a      beer dispensing unit. Put you         communal spirit. Well, maybe by    glass under the trunk and pull        the Danish elephants, but don't    down on a tusk to dispense your       tell anyone I told you.            beverage of choice. Each tusk          About the Author: Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers of travel journals. Writing journals are the perfect travel accessories. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com to read more travel articles and travelogues. Source: www.isnare.com