Thumbs up for Copenhagen

8:22 
There we are, standing on the side of the road near Amstel Station. It's raining, we're soacked - probably looking like some weirdo's. Many cars are passing by, not so many planning on stopping. We are on our way to Copenhagen, hitchhiking, and this is just - only if this will be our lucky day - the beginning!

10.28
Drowned..... But, our first ride is in the pocket! Two hipsters from Portugal (one is originally Dutch) are taking us to Arnhem - at least it's a start!

13:04
After having heard all the pro's of living in a community, we are standing on the side of the road again, with only two major chances: the sun is shining ánd we are in Arnhem, waiting for our next ride. It doesn't take long, a truck driver from my "home region" Twente, including the hilarious accent, takes us nearly to the border. 

13:52
Only five minutes of waiting and we've scored our next ride - we're getting better at this! Again a Dutchman with experience in the field of hitchhiking himself. Full of tatoos and an appearance that would probably do good in a horror - don't worry mom, he had two daughters!

However nice and enjoying this ride has been, just after the border he drops us at a place full of trucks. A paradise for hitchhikers you'd say.

14:26
It is not..... It's Labor Day in Germany, which means that no truck is allowed to cross the border or even drive in Germany! 

Fortunally it does not take long: a hardly understandeble man, speaking some combination of Dutch, German and English, stops and is willing to take us close to Hamburg! Our first long drive! 

18:00
At a petrol station, where I found out I actually do have my dad's genes (forgot wallet in the toilet), we find three students that drive into Hamburg after having celebrated Queensday in Groningen. Not knowing that this eventually results in a two hour delay of sightseeing in the city we accepted the offer. 

19:48
Still not having passed Hamburg, we find a festivalfreak on his way home from Stelling. While he informs us about all the festivals he visited and all the juices he's been drinking today, his excitement results in driving a little too hard - just a little mom! 

20:24
Being dropped just north of Hamburg, it seems quite hard to get a ride to our new destination: Flensburg. Thumbs up is not enough, pretending to go to Kiel, however, is. Within only a few minutes an older couple from Albstadt, on their way to a funeral, offers us a ride. Every kilometer is one!

21:25
After having heard some more history regarding South-Africa (the man of the couple lived there for about eighteen years), a truck picks us up from a petrol station to bring us just behind the Danish border. "A paradise for hitchhiking", he says, "it's full of trucks!" Although he might looked like a stranger, smoking at least one cigarette per hour, and I had to hide as soon as a police car came near (only two persons are officially allowed), we do trust him. 

23:16
We are at a transport station. It is dark, getting colder and we wander in the middle of nowhere, seeking for a night drive to Copenhagen as our truck driver promised. Some truck drivers are drunk - one scared the hell out of me by falling out of his truck when I wanted to ask whether he was driving into Denmark tonight (fortunally not!!) - others willing to help, but not going into our direction. "What's next?" we ask ourselves "Sleeping in the bushes?"

Luckily we find a petrol station, opened 24/7, and two very nice persons that do take care of us. Although, after some calls, we find out all the ho(s)tels around are full, we can sleep somewhere inside. On the ground. I'm glad we brought our sleeping bags!

9:42
After a short night of sleep, we continue our search for a ride at the transport center. Many trucks have already left. The police is watching us, we meet our drunkman from yesterday again (RUN!) and almost all trucks seem to go to Germany. Almost. After many attempts, we find a Brittish man, with an accent just as nice as that of one of my housemates, on his way to Copenhagen. Copenhagen? Yes, Copenhagen!

14:02
It's a beautiful drive into Denmark. Our driver offers us some Belgium chocolate (why did we decide to go to Denmark again?) and stories about his children, the situation in Scotland and his experiences in the city we live, Amsterdam. Gotta love Brittish humor.

15:00
Being dropped at the airport, our changes of hitchhiking immediately drop. It's just too easy (and cheap) to get into Copenhagen from there by public transport. But..... we do not give up: not hitchhiking into the city itself is not hitchhiking at all. Thus, there we are again, standing on the side of the road. The sun is shining, not so many cars are stopping. We need only one. One will be enough. 

There he is, our hero. He takes us from the airport to the entrance of a hostel, while telling us what we should do during our stay. We made it!

22:46
It took us ten rides, a night at a petrol station and a little sunburn: we are in Copenhagen! What will our truck driver from Twente tell his wife during supper? Will our students party as hard as during Queensday? And will the funeral be as nice as the couple expected? We will unfortunately never know.... 

The first time, but certainly not the last. We will be "thumbing it up" again. However.... not during Labor Day, trucks are the way to go!