An unintentional tradition spanning over the last several years is Bricole’s October adventure. It neatly coincides with both our anniversary and a downturn in travel around the world. If you have been following the blog religiously, you would know that our last couple trips have been not entirely relaxing. While a hike in 45mph wind to a volcano or trekking through the desert in 100º heat to see Petra are not without their own merits, there is something to be said about a more relaxed vacation. We had intended our August trip to be more chill with trips to islands off the coast of Portugal, but things change, and we found ourselves in Eastern Europe. All sentences ending with, “And then we ended up in Auschwitz,” are not typically indicative of a leisurely sojourn.
Thus, it was imperative to us that our next trip be chill, relaxed, and without the need to drive or hike great distances. And thus began the using of our loyalty points. Nicole being a Hilton Honors gold member, wisely elected to use her vast amount of points to book five nights at a beach villa in the Maldives rather than the Doubletree LAX on Century Blvd. Whilst a free cookie is not to be overlooked, neither is a stay at one of the most exclusive destinations in the world. And while most would call that good enough, the Maldives are quite far from Los Angeles, and one might as well check out the rest of the area while there. We have also had the Seychelles on our radar and now is as good a time as any. Being extremely niche, Air Seychelles is not included in my airline benefits, so a confirmed seat would be over $1000 per person to go from the Maldives to the Seychelles. Not to be outdone, I have amassed my own credit card points and got us both confirmed seats all the way to Praslin island in the Seychelles.
After that, things become a bit iffy. Nicole is a semi-finalist and possible finalist in the Austin film festival toward the end of the month, but won’t know her status until a later date. Furthermore, the US women’s national soccer team is playing Korea in St. Paul, Minnesota and it will be veteran player and former FIFA MVP Carli Lloyd’s last game ever (or so she says). Oy vey! So, as always, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have the privilege of being able to change our plans at a moment’s notice. We will be bookending our island escapes with a stopover in the United Arab Emirates, but don’t know how long we may be there. But first things first, right now we find ourselves on a flight from LAX to Copenhagen, a natural beginning to such an adventure.
Scandinavian Airlines, or SAS, is one of the few international carriers that will allow us to get a business class seat on standby. While I felt that our odds were decent, one can never be complacent. When we were given seats 2D and 2F at checkin, however, I felt fairly confident that we would be sitting up front. It was a fairly empty flight, but it was nice to be up in the good seats. SAS is essentially a low-cost carrier in economy and we would have had to pay for all of our drinks and meals, so it was a much different experience up front when someone dressed like a chef came out to greet us and explained the menu options.
Nicole had chicken, and I had beef. Being standbys, we had last pick, so we will never know what that third option was. I found it to be a surprisingly good meal for airline food, though I think the whole chef cosplay may have skewed my opinion. When you get shown the bottle of the wine you order, you know things are serious. Copenhagen is quite far from Los Angeles, as you might imagine, but our seats were comfortable, clean, and “hygge” as the Scandinavians might say for the long-haul voyage across the pond.
Despite us both getting headaches, the flight seemed to pass by surprisingly fast. A couple meals, a vain attempt at sleep at 2pm Los Angeles time, a few shows, and we touched down at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport. It was 6am, or 9pm in Los Angeles, setting us up for a very confusing time adjustment.
The terminal looked interesting. Not only was it very empty, but it had the aesthetic stylings of a high school built in the 1970s. We had no line at passport control and our bags were already on the belt when we got to baggage claim (they were over 8 kilos, so we weren’t allowed to carry them on the plane). Next we went to go to get our covid test. It isn’t actually mandatory for entry since we showed our vaccine cards, but we will need it to continue our voyage. In an odd way, things were easier when they forced you to get tested on arrival. After a quick gagging jab at the throat, we got on the automated metro system for central Copenhagen.
Some 15-20 minutes later we arrived at our hotel just after 8am. “We are a little early,” I told the guy at check-in, who then chuckled at our misfortune. I went to use the restroom in the lobby and by the time I got back out, Nicole was signing the final paperwork for a room that he had somehow rustled up. Thanks to this spot of luck, we were able to shower and get settled, and perhaps even nap a little before venturing out into the city.
passports & pepto bismol 