Hello hello! I am back across the pond traveling from Copenhagen to Athens with none other than my cousin Sam Dunn!
Since my last post in February 2025, I finished my gap year and started my studies at Brown University. Some quick highlights:
- There was a power outage across the Iberian peninsula on April 28, 2025, which happened to be the day I was supposed to fly from Madrid to Paris. After a canceled flight and three hours waiting in line, I secured a flight to Bordeaux the following morning. Airports might be okay for naps, but if you’re trying to get some good shuteye, I’d look elsewhere.
- I sang Handel’s Messiah with le Grand Choeur de Paris 1. Our singing was so powerful that rain started falling from the heavens. Or maybe the Parisian thunderstorm got in through the church’s leaky ceiling. I don’t quite remember.
- Oh! Le Mont Saint Michel is beautiful. Very touristic, but worth the overnight visit I paid last June. So many sheep. So much sand. So much water. I highly recommend visiting this magical castle located on the bay with Europe’s biggest tides.
- And then college, college, college, as they say. I made some good friends, took some fun classes, and am still about as undecided as a person can be. Check back in with me next year to find out what I’m studying!
- This summer, I taught English to teens at the Providence Public Library. Super fun! English has a lot of rules that I do not understand. But then again, does anyone?
Well, that about sums it up. Let’s get into our travels!
On August 1, 2026, I arrived at Boston Logan International Airport with eight pairs of underwear, eight pairs of socks, six shirts, four shorts, a swim suit, a light sweatshirt, a light pair of pants, some toiletries, half a sub from Al’s South Street Cafe, and this computer. And a deck of cards. And probably some other things too, but that’s most of it.
Quick side note about international airports: Apparently they don’t actually have to service international flights. They just need to have the capacity to service such flights. I was shocked to discover that Syracuse Hancock International Airport has not serviced international flights since 2018. I have lost some of the pride I had for my local airport.
Anyway, back to Boston. Everything went smoothly and I soon found myself on the plane. In the next seven hours, I finished my audiobook, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, slept a few hours and then watched the first 72% of The Drama. I figured I wouldn’t have time to watch the 1h45m film in the 1h20m that remained in the flight, but after seeing the movie appear on screens all around me, my curiosity got the best of me. I will finish the movie on my flight back to Boston at the end of my trip.
After an airport baguette and croissant during my brief layover in Paris, I realized that I had no plans for when I landed, so I texted my brother Jared. He was in Copenhagen for the week, visiting his friend Wyatt from Brown. We made plans for lunch, then I promptly slept until I touched down in Copenhagen at noon on August 2.
Copenhagen recently released the Rejsekort app, which allows you to easily pay for all your public transportation trips. You check in when you begin your journey, check out when you’ve gotten to your destination, and the app tracks how much you owe. This works even when you switch modes of transportation. No turnstiles. No annoying ticket booths. Yes big fines if you forget to check in. Overall, I was a big fan!
Upon my arrival, I took the metro to Wyatt’s apartment near Enghave Plads, a cute little square in the southwestern part of the city. When I arrived, it was just about time for a little something, so we got ramen a few blocks away at a place Wyatt liked. He has been living in Copenhagen for about two years now. He spent his last semester of college studying abroad there and loved it so much that he decided to move there.
Wyatt showed us around the neighborhood, stopping at a gelato place owned by a woman who had her PHD in the science of ice cream, and then we went back to his place. Despite only sleeping a few hours on my flights, I did not rest for long. I bid adieu to Jared and Wyatt and walked to my next stop: Malcolm and Ryan’s Airbnb.
Malcolm and Ryan, my friends from Brown, were in Copenhagen to visit another friend from Brown, Freja, who had an internship there for the summer. After hanging out in their 12th floor Airbnb, we made our way to Kongens Nytorv, a plaza in the middle of the city. Our original plan to walk along the beautiful Nyhavn canal near there was derailed when we stumbled upon the finals of the Footvolley League of Champions tournament set up right outside the Kongens Nytorv metro station. Played with a slightly heavier and bouncier volleyball, footvolley is largely played with the chest, for setting, and the head, for spiking. Only one of the players we were watching frequently used his foot to spike the ball over the net. It was quite impressive.
After watching the second and third set, we walked along the canal and began thinking about dinner. Jared and Sam, fresh off the plane from Amsterdam, joined us for döner kebabs. Since Copenhagen, we have consumed many kebabs. They are a cheap and reliable meal in every city we’ve been to.
After dinner, Sam and I took the metro and bus to where we would be sleeping, Anders’ house. In the summer of 2022, my family hosted a German exchange student, Sophie. The following summer, we met her mother, Alexandra, and her Danish step-father, Anders. They are a wonderful family. It was so nice to get to start our trip with a stay in Anders’ home. If you are reading this, Anders, thank you so much. It was a lovely stay.
The following day, Sam and I went into the city to meet Jared at a bakery for breakfast. We ate our focaccia in a beautiful cemetery and then walked to the central harbor for our main event of the day: swimming. Unlike many cities, the water in Copenhagen is clean enough to swim in. It was very refreshing and fun until we noticed the many tiny jellyfish in the water. I’m sure they are harmless, but they killed the mood a little, so we decided to call it quits and went to find lunch. I had a delicious chicken sandwich.
After lunch, Jared and Sam wanted to find a cafe to rest and read. I grabbed a pastry with them, and then went back to the harbor to meet up with my friends. In Copenhagen (and many cities with beautiful waterways), you can rent little electric motorboats to explore the harbor. We thought we’d give it a try. I’m very glad we did. Although I’d walked along the harbor and some of the smaller canals connected to it that morning, it was nice to see the city from a different perspective. Plus, it’s always fun to get on the water in a small boat. I like boats.
Following our great excursion, we went back to Malcolm and Ryan’s Airbnb, made chicken parmesan and garlic bread, and played cards. Aside from a gross overestimation of how much garlic bread four people could eat, the meal was very good. But honestly, can you really ever have too much garlic bread? Well, kinda. Yeah.
As I went home that night, I had about 15 minutes to kill because of the way my bus was scheduled, so I wandered around the area, where I found the Elephant’s Gate. Little did I know, I would do more exploring that night. When I got to the metro, I took it in the wrong direction. I surfaced after two stops in the plaza right in front of the city hall. A nice suprise. It turns out my bus back to Anders’ also stopped there, albeit with many more stops. I took it in the right direction and went to bed.
Our last full day in Copenhagen started as any good day should start, with a pastry at a bakery. It then continued to be a good day, as we got another pastry at another bakery. Then, it being about noon, we went to the Absalon community center with Wyatt for a little lunch. Absalon was started by the founder of a big retail company in Copenhagen. He renovated a deconsecrated church and turned it into a social hub, offering cheap lunches and communal dinners every night, as well as just being a great place to hang out. It's not too far from Wyatt's apartment, so he was kind of a regular. After spending the morning touring another part of the city, Ryan and Malcolm joined us for lunch and then some more card and word games. It was a very relaxed early afternoon.
Our late afternoon was also quite relaxed. Jared, Sam, and I went to Freetown Christiania, a somewhat self-governing small commune inside of Copenhagen. It is still subject to Danish law, but has its own constitution. Up until 2024, Christiania was notoriously home to Pusher Street, an open illegal cannabis market. After growing violence associated with the trade, the Christianites voted to close the street with the help of the Danish government. With very unique architecture and a distinctively bohemian vibe, Christiania is a popular tourist destination. We had a nice afternoon visit.
That evening, we met up with Anders and his 26-year-old son for smørrebrød, a traditional Danish open-faced sandwich of rye bread topped with yummy things like roast beef, eggs, salmon, herring, and potatoes. We split a bunch of them. I always like splitting meals, especially when traveling. It’s fun to try a little bit of everything.
After dinner, we went to a nearby bar, soaking in the remaining sunset while enjoying a round of Carlsberg, probably the best beer in the world. It was really nice to catch up with Anders and to get to know his son. The beer was not the main event at all. Given that it takes a while to drink, it is a nice excuse to sit outside and enjoy each other’s company. At 20, I could never do this in the United States. Of course, alcohol regulation is a complicated issue, but this casual social drinking is a positive that is certainly missing from young American society.
After our beers were drained, Anders and his son went home. Sam and I stayed in the city center a little longer, enjoying our last few hours in Copenhagen. In addition to the main harbor, Copenhagen also has a few small, rectangular lakes. We walked along them, ice cream in hand, until it was dark. Then, we took the bus back to Anders’ house for an early night.
The following morning, August 5th, we woke up at 4:45 to take the bus to the airport. Our next stop: Berlin. You’ll hear about that soon. For now, welcome back to dunns.us. Until next time!
- Justin Dunn