Alright!   My last day of my Benelux Trip 2023!   It’s crazy that it’s actually over.   I fly home tomorrow and I’ll have one more blog about my travel home along with some reflections on the trip and what I learned along the way.

For right now though, it’s time to talk about my last day.

I miss my earplugs

When I left my earplugs at the hostel in Budapest yesterday, I reasoned with myself that I “only” had two nights left and I’d be able to manage.

I stand corrected.

In my 6 bed dorm last night, there were 2 snorers.

After tossing and turning for awhile, I finally went downstairs to buy some generic earplugs at the front desk.   While not as good as the wonderful ones I left behind, they did their trick and I was able to finally snooze.

My day today started at 9am, which in the hostel world, is a late start.

This was by design though, I wanted a relaxed last day.   In fact, the only thing I had on the docket today was a dinner reservation and that was it.

So, I woke up, left the hostel at 10:30, and went out to figure out my day.

A plan comes together

First step – get some breakfast.   Well, at 10:30, it’s more like lunch, but whatever, I just needed some food in my belly.

I popped over to the nearby Joe & The Juice to have another gluten free wrap.   Tuna wrap this time.

The restaurant is actually in the Copenhagen Central train station which is about a 5 minute walk from my hostel.   As I sat at the table eating my wrap I saw a ticket machine exclusively selling tickets to Malmö, Sweden.

Hmmm….

First thing to do was to check how far away it was and it turns out it was only a 40 minute train ride on the Øresund Bridge which is part bridge and part tunnel connecting Denmark to Sweden.

Okay, sounds promising.   Just had to check the price of the train ticket.   If it was somewhat reasonable, I was gonna do it.   $34 return.   Yup, I was going.

Figuring it out quick

I boarded the train soon after and was on my way to Sweden.

Now I just had to figure out what the hell I was going to do in Malmö.

Luckily the train had free wifi because I used up all 5GB of data on my prepaid Europe sim card yesterday.   I had 40 minutes to figure it out.

First thing to do was download the offline map for Malmö.   Obviously I had never planned on going here so I hadn’t prepared anything for it before I left home.

Next I quickly looked up a blog post of 11 things to do in Malmo and started marking them all on my offline map.   I even quickly booked a free walking tour from 1-3pm which I may or may not go on.   At least I had the option.

Before I knew it, we were arriving in Malmö and I was off to explore the city.

A stroll in the park

Over the last few days I was thinking how I wanted my last day to be and what I decided on was that I wanted to have an easy going, stress free, stop to smell the roses, reflect on the trip, eat some good food kind of day.

So, with that in mind, my first stop was to the green area on my map.   About a 10 minute walk from the train station is Kungsparken, a huge park in the center of the city and next to it is the Malmöhus slott castle.

I slowly walked through the park taking it all in.   It was so peaceful and so serene.   There were moms strolling with their baby carriages, people walking their dogs, people sunbathing, and people having picnics.   It was beautiful.

I found a bench in a shady area of the park and sat there for awhile watching the world go by and reflecting on what this trip meant to me, the different trials and tribulations but also all the high points as well.

I’ll get into that more in tomorrow’s blog when I’ll reflect back on the trip, but suffice to say, I came away from it with a smile on my face.

After strolling around for about an hour and a half, I walked into town and through Lilla Torg square where coincidentally the walking tour group was just starting as it was just a little after 1pm.

I decided to pass on the walking tour.   I had enough of those this trip and I just wanted today to be about walking around and enjoying my surroundings on my own.

By 1:30pm I was heading back to Copenhagen.

There were actually border guards going through the train with drug sniffing dogs as we passed over the border.   It certainly wasn’t something I was prepared to see and to make things even more interesting, the dog alerted to the guy sitting directly in front of me.

The guard went through his bag and his pockets asking for id and if he had anything he shouldn’t have on him.

In the end all was good and they went on their way but it definitely was a bit of excitement on the train ride.

A quick snack and another park

After getting off the train in Copenhagen, I hopped on the metro to a bakery on the outskirts of the city center.

H.U.G Bageri (short for Helt Uden Gluten) is a bakery that is 100% gluten free.   It was a 30 minute walk from city center so I didn’t know if I’d make it out there but then I figured out the subway could get you there in 10 minutes.

I excitedly walked into the bakery and, sure enough, they had so many goodies to try.   Of course it wasn’t cheap but, mind you, nothing is cheap in this city.

I ended up going for a lemon tart and a decadent slice of carrot cake.

Yeah, it was my last day.   I was going all out.

Foreshadowing, you say?

Anyway, I noticed there was a park along the side of the road as I walked there from the metro station so I packed up my goodies and headed there to have my own little picnic.

So, for the second time today, I found myself in a park watching the world go by and reflecting on things.

One of those things, by the way, is to have more days like this sprinkled into future trips.

By 3pm I was back at the hostel.   I just wanted to relax for a bit before my 5:30 dinner.

Yeah, I took a nap.   Now, some people would be scurrying around the city trying to cram everything they can into their last day.   I know, I was one of those people.   For me, though, it was parks, food, and a nap.

A 7 course meal

Yeah, you read that right.   I had a seven course meal tonight.   I knew I wanted my last meal on this trip to be epic so I starting looking at places doing tasting menus around the city before I even arrived here.   I also had to make sure they had gluten free alternatives.

The place I found, Cofoco, is only a couple blocks away from the hostel so it was just a quick stroll to dinner.

The meal I ordered was actually a 5 Course Meal with a snack starter.   They also gave me gluten free bread as well so I’m counting that as a 7th course.

I spent the next hour and half eating glorious bite after glorious bite while sipping on a couple glasses of wine.

The damage was a whopping $160 but, I didn’t care, I did this for me.   It’s nice to treat yourself sometimes, ya know?

Anyway, here are the courses…

On to tomorrow…

Dinner was over at 7pm and I decided that was how I wanted to end my trip.   Sure, I could have gone out and explored the city some more, but I was tired and I was content.

If I could have scripted my last day, this is how I would have scripted it and I guess, in a way, I kind of did.

So, the trip is over.   I fly home tomorrow at noon and I’m back at work the very next day.

Like I said earlier, tune in tomorrow as I reflect on the trip and go through some things I learned, what I’d do differently, and what’s coming up in just 2 1/2 months time.