OK, there many benefits from flying overnight to a far away country, but the shitty thing is that you land ridiculously early in the morning … so early that you might even wonder if the public services are open yet.

This happen for me when going to Denmark on business, again, and I flew out Saturday evening to combat the jet-lag before heading to the office Monday morning.  I’m not great for sleeping on a plane that travels 700mph at 20000ft.  I need as much time as possible to recover when arriving.  The notion of doing the red-eye doesn’t work for me.  I’ll end up being shut-eye.

Anyway, the flight to Copenhagen was 30-40 minutes ahead of schedule when landing.  It was pretty clear from looking out the window that The Little Mermaid (and the rest of Denmark) were snoring in their warm beds.  Thankfully I had actually managed to sleep on the plane, some achievement, so I wasn’t as tired as last time.

As the passengers embarked the plane and rushed towards the passport control, some of the airport shops were only just opening up and several people were waiting for their flights out of Denmark to the warmer parts of the World.

Being an old Dane, I knew it would be cheaper to catch the local train to the center of Copenhagen and then stroll the 5-7 minutes to the hotel.

I was greeted by a strong odor of bleach as I stepped on the train, which clearly indicated that it was the first trip for the little Thomas the Train, and not many passengers joined me on the 12 minute journey to Copenhagen.

The train arrived, on time of course, and as I jumped out on the empty platform and made my way through the station, I noticed some strange people staggering around the place and feared for a moment that World War Z had become a real story, and buddies were stacked in corners making strange sounds.

It wasn’t as cold as In the US, but it was still dark and chilly as I walked the streets through Copenhagen on a Sunday morning.  The only cars were taxis and some city buses had started to go.  Sidewalks were deserted.

As I walked towards the hotel I couldn’t help but notice more of the staggering creatures, who had a strong odor of alcohol.  Some were still giggling.  Some were practicing french-kissing under the shelter of the nearest shop and some just looked utterly confused walking in all directions at once.

Even Tivoli was closed!

Thankfully the hotel wasn’t too far and I quickly checked in and crashed on my under-sized bed.  The Danes have taken the notion minimalism to a new level, by introducing pigeon-hole sized hotel rooms, where you have to reverse your arse into the toilet and limited floor space.

A few days back in the homeland, before I head back to my lovely family.