8/4
[Øresund]
183. Sjelland over breakfast. The Danish coast is in sight after passing through the open ocean -- across the eastern end of the Skagerrak and down the narrows and reefs of the Kattegatt -- overnight.
184. Sjelland through breakfast. Purely facetious.
185. Buoy in the channel, which has gotten narrow. Suspiciously narrow...
186. Ok, that's why. Always good to get back on familiar ground.
187. Kronborg from the sea.
188. Directly opposite the fortress.
Literally seconds after the above was taken, the power washer came past and in the process of cleaning the window made it useless for photography. The lesson: live in the moment and take your shots while you can, because they are there and gone between blinks.
189. Ferry, sailboat, and water distortion.
Coffee finished, I went up on deck to take more pictures and be more frustrated by bad batteries.
190. Ferries crossing off Helsingør.
191. There was apparently some weather overnight; things you miss when belowdecks with no windows.
Other than this, the weather has been pitch-perfect, which was a godsend given the extended periods of planned homelessness. Of course, this means it will rain throughout Wacken, and Party.San as well, but you take what you can get.
192. Helsingborg shoreline. This makes it pictures of four countries on this trip, despite never actually being in Sweden.
193. North to the narrows of the Sound.
194. Helsingborg industrial shoreline.
195. Postcard seascape. I can live inland just fine, but for most of my life it's been a fairly short hike to salt water and an open horizon, and it kind of shows.
196. Island in passing.
197. ...and the Swedish coast beyond.
I dunno...it's like these batteries are easily tired out or something. Need to upgrade to wicked-badass ones, and lots of them, to do the festivals.
198. Fishing boat going the other way.
199. Windmills on the shore behind.
200. And on the Danish side.
201. The trawler heads up towards Sweden.
202. Low-hulled build, probably an unloaded containership, coming in.
203. The power-launch lifeboats look like minisubs.
204. When the spray dries in the sun, it leaves a crust on any exposed surfaces.
205. Broadside view of the previous ship.
It's getting towards nine AM; I'm all packed, but it's still time to hit the exchange desk and make a final check. Just have to make sure I don't miss going under the Øresundbronn or anything.
206. Target: bridge. There's NFW we're making that, not in just another half hour, and it's out of the track besides.
207. Superstructure, flags flying.
208. Over into København.
209. Windfarm at sea to the south.
210. Into the harbor again.
211. Liferafts, not depthcharges. Each of these contains a Zodiac boat, but fortunately, they didn't have to deploy on this trip.
[København]
Even while pigpiling off the boat, I was missing the 9:50 train. Good thing there were also realistic options after getting down from Nordhavn.
212. ((not germane))
213. UNICEF/RCRC aid depot in Nordhavn.
214. Navigation aid; ok, this is where we are, let's go south.
215. Cool old car on a sidestreet, Nordhavn.
216. Out into the harbor from the S-tog platform.
217. Posthorn weathervane on top of the post office.
Everything is relative; under normal conditions, I'd be fuming about 53 DKK for a sandwich and some water...but I've just come from Norway, where the same meal would cost more, and the sub would be half the size.
I couldn't get a reserved seat on the ICE, so like last year it will be a mad scramble for an unbooked seat -- but at least on this go I've got the ticket in my pocket.
218. Tivoli orb over the train. On, afterwards, and in a free seat with a minimum of aggro.
Now resting at Rødby -- the ferry's late, but at least we didn't miss it like last year.
219. Back at sea; Denmark recedes behind the ferry.
220. Gulls flying alongside the ship.
221. Offshore windfarm.
222. Some kind of platform, for salvage? It's not really big enough to be a drilling rig.
223. The German side draws closer.
[Elmshorn]
It's like something out of Tales of the Black Freighter -- logical decisions, by random chance, lead to the worst of outcomes. I ended up alone on the train to Elmshorn, and am alone here on the platform, likely for another half hour. At least I'll get in and in all probability set up before dark, and it's a long festival yet and another one after to get stuff passed out.
224. View from the tent. Same place as ever.
[Wacken]
This tent's on its last legs. Thinking about tossing it after Party.San, especially if I have to put it away wet. I'll survive.
225. Making up a selection of merch items for today and tomorrow.
226. Herrlicher Himmel.
Shortly after this, I helped a crazy druggie Dutch dude kill down a bottle of Scotch, met his crew, got into an incoherent political argument, helped a Swedish teenager fix her bag, and passed out about half my CD allotment (from above) for the current two days. Looking good, but not as good is the report from Solvi that she'd gotten her wallet jacked from her tent. I aint got shit valuable that isn't strapped to my carcass at all times (well, except a computer that hates working and an out-of-region cellphone, both buried under laundry), but it's still a concern, even just as a marker of Wacken's metamorphosis into just another megafestival.
I also, and probably more importantly, have a belt buckle for the first time in four days. Fucking Hammer.
After the abovenoted, I got some dinner and a beer, and to talking with der Mattse (ok, Matt Wilkes, but German fluency gets you named whatever the locals want to do with your handle), a bunch of the DORF contingent, and some occasional passing Irish; good times, all around.
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