Haven`t seen such an incompetent office anywhere in the world. Ever. Months of wait, no responses…read moreto call or emails, officer attitude may well be likened to that seen in the prisons.

Come here to get a little taste of two things USA goes overboard on; bureaucracy and security…read more If you need to physically go to the embassy to handle something, you first need to book an appointment between 9am and 12pm on weekdays (except Thursdays). Once you arrive at your arranged time, an armed guard will check your ID to your appointment before you can enter the building. Then you go through airport-style security; empty your pockets, put everything through x-ray, and pick up your belongings on the other side of the metal detector. They keep your phone, mp3 player, and USB sticks until you are on your way out. Don't even think about bringing your laptop. And you should maybe leave your favourite machete and AK-47 at home. Just a tip. After you get past security, you just wait. I hope you brought a book or a friend because you won't be able to mess around on your checked phone. The employees behind the counter are polite but the one that helped me is either incompetent or was having an off day. I only needed new pages in my passport and he offered to add 48 instead of 24 new pages. Since it is the same price ($82 USD), I happily accepted the offer and he marked it down on my form. They couldn't make it happen on the same day, so later in the week I had to leave work very early to pick up my passport before the embassy closed at noon. When an employee handed it to me, I hesistated because it felt a little too thin. I stopped and counted the pages and quickly realized there were only 24! When I pointed this out, the employee stated that I'd ordered that amount but I knew it said otherwise on my form so I insisted that he check it. Lo and behold, the 48 page option was marked. He then apologized and offered to add the extra pages but I was traveling the next week and didn't want to take any more time off work, so I declined, grabbed my phone, and left. Leave your electronics at home, bring a book, and arm yourself with nothing except patience. Welcome to 'murica!

Basic hostel, no frills. Staff helpful. Happy hour, breakfast for fee $11 US. Hot water…read more No TV. No air. No safe. Close to everything. Storage lickers and plenty of entertainment. Kitchen with two large fridges. No ice.

Fantastisk Sted At Gå Ned I København!…read more SITREP If you don't read Danish, that's my excited utterance of "Great Place To Crash In Copenhagen!" And a shout out to my yelpie Bridget W. and my trippy Mette for both cluing me onto this veritable hostel paradise! THE SETUP So what happened is on my flight out of Stockholm, Sweden, I ended up with a one (1) day layover in Copenhagen before going on to San Francisco. Now, this was PLANNED - I knew I had the layover: it was either this or pay $400 more for the next least expensive round trip between San Francisco and Stockholm (and back). As it turned out, I was already spending 10 days in the Baltic States with friends, hitting Sweden, Estonia, Russia and Finland. Unfortunately, there was no time in that itinerary to hit Denmark (nor Norway, for that matter, though technically, although also part of "Scandinavia", Norway is not a Baltic state). So an extra stop on the return leg in Copenhagen for a full day presented itself to me and I was happy to take it. DOWNTOWN DISTRICT AND CLOSE TO AIRPORT As soon as I jetted back into Copenhagen Airport (my 2nd time here in addition to my 1st two (2) hour layover in this airport on way to Stockholm), I jumped into the rail-car at the adjacent train station. Not more than 12 mins, I was at the downtown Central Train Station, and only a block and a half from Urban House! URBAN HOUSE It's right on the corner, with the front door in the middle of the block (just a block and a half up from one of the train station's entrances). https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/urban-house-k%C3%B8benhavn-2?select=JZdnyOCkTnIibGTVoHJ-bA&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w The fees are very reasonable: at the time I was making my reservation for the middle of July, it was $35 a night in a dorm room. I pulled the trigger on a SINGLE room with a bathroom for only $94.71/night. Easily just a third of the cost of even the more "moderately" priced hotels in Downtown Copenhagen, near the airport. And most of the time I would be on a walk-a-bout and not in the room anyways, so I didn't want to waste my money there. The room didn't have a TV anyways - entertainment was outside of the room. ENTERTAINMENT! ..and speaking of entertainment, Urban House had a full-on bar / cafe / "Student Union"-feel open area at street level. In fact, the guy serving beers, took a quick break so he could check me in. The gal that was serving breakfast the next day was the one who checked me out: as it turns out, a good consolidation of tasks combined in their multi-talented staff. I ventured out in the afternoon and evening (twice actually) to grab some excellent Thai food back in the Train Station. And then again to a bar a few blocks away that was hosting a Jazz festival. There was plenty to do, places to eat, immerse oneself into the night life, all within blocks of Urban House. No car needed. THE ROOM As mentioned no TV, but that was not missed. There was a desk and chair which was nice since this is where I spent any of my waking-time while in the room. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/urban-house-k%C3%B8benhavn-2?select=NuynCk7VfBPS6-Fn4XhFuQ&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w The bathroom was a fascinating engineered piece of configuration, especially when it came to the adjacent proximity of the toilet and shower: a good economy of space! https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/urban-house-k%C3%B8benhavn-2?select=AJLhvC82t2aCaZBooEwbAw&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w There are never enough pillows wherever I go (hotel, motel, etc.), and unfortunately, this went doubly so for this. It's rare when I have to dip into my travel gear and find a jacket and extra pair of pants and fold/roll them up just so I can get a bit more height on the shallow pillow they give you. It is what it is. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/urban-house-k%C3%B8benhavn-2?select=T9RWvTNb8ZgaFlkcvFW5uw&userid=3mNz5nQFTIBQm0oU5mBR0w THE LOWDOWN A reasonably affordable stop when touring through Copenhagen. Should I find myself traveling alone in this fair city once more, I totally would consider staying here again.

Everyone was very polite, and I received my tourist visa immediately (I was expecting a 2-3 week…read morewait!). A top notch ambassadorial experience, highly recommended.