Clumsy in Copenhagen

Today I did a really dumb thing.

Just today? I hear you ask. Ok, I know I often do dumb things (ask my sisters about the time I jumped in the canal at South Bank on my way to dinner with Mum and Dad), but believe me, they're not always as spectacular as this.

See, the hostel where we are is a little way out of town, so we have to catch 2 buses (or 2 buses and a ferry) to get to the Symposium at the Opera House. As the conference starts everyday at 8.45am with a big sing, and as if you want to guarantee your place in a specific workshop you have to daily book your ticket for that workshop (so they're all taken very early in the day) we have to leave the hostel around 7.30am to have a hope. Now here's the thing: just who is awake at 7.30 in the morning when on holidays? Seriously?

Then there's something else I need to explain before I get to the heart of the story. In Copenhagen, there is a strong culture of cycling. As such, there are specific cycling lanes set up on every main road. The only thing is, they are in between the footpath and the main road, so if you want to get on the bus, you have to cross the cycling path. And the other problem is, the footpath is upraised from the road, and so is the cycling path - but it is lower than the footpath - so there are 3 levels. So, the bus pulls over at the stop (but can't drive up onto the cycle path), you step out and down on the cycle path, narrowly avoiding cyclists and so on (actually that's not true, they're pretty good at stopping for you at the bus stop), and then have to step up onto the bus - if the bus is pulled right over at the edge of the cycle path.

But this morning it wasn't. This morning the 5A pulled up a few inches away from the edge of the cycle path - close enough to look like it was right there in my peripheral vision, but far enough away for me to miss the edge of the bus, and totally fall on the ground in between the cycle path and the bus. I went over faster than a load of lemmings off the side of a cliff! Smack down on my ankle, and then straightover on my other leg - and then I couldn't get up! Art tried to pull me up but I couldn't put any weight on my ankle at all, and had to be half dragged onto the bus! Meanwhile the whole bus, plus the entire population of Copenhagen (well, those awake at that time of morning) were just gawking at me and trying to stifle a giggle or two...

Fortunately though, feeling came back fairly quickly to my ankle and I hadn't seriously hurt myself - no hospital visits required - so I was eventually able to walk around relatively easily at the conference later in the day... but oh boy do I have a real doozy of a bruise developing on my ankle... not to mention the one on my pride...!