HOUR 1 (12 noon): Arrive in Copenhagen. Get off the plane and through the short immigration line in about 30 minutes. Look for lockers in the airport to store our carry-on luggage. Find metro line (luckily this was close to the lockers), buy ticket, get on, arrive in center of town about 15 minutes later. From plane to this photo is approximately 1 hour. So far so good.

HOUR 2 (1pm): After grabbing cappuccino from a cart, we ask the barista for a recommendation on where to head next. He directs us a couple blocks up and says to check out the hippy village called “Freetown Christiana” – a self-proclaimed autonomous anarchist district of about 1,000 residents who go by their own rules. Find a painted stairway on the way, follow it up to an art gallery, look around and take this photo at the table.

HOUR 3 (2pm): Tour through the brightly colored, graffiti filled, hippy town that is Christiana, which has been a source of controversy since its creation in a squatted military area in 1971. We find a small smoke-filled bar, grab a couple of ‘Christiania beers’ and quickly realize we stand out as the only non-locals there. After that we wander some more and find a courtyard area filled with tables and strike up conversation with some locals over another beer.

Hour 4 (3 pm): Leave Freetown, wander towards the canals. Find a pop up art installation and walk in to find a technicolor kaleidoscope. Have fun taking photos inside. Walk over bridges and navigate through bike riders down the walkways that line the canals.

HOUR 5 (4 pm): Explore the streets of Nyhavn, the 17th century brightly colored waterfront lined with bars, cafes and restaurants. Watch a packed party boat go by with a band playing live music and the rest of the boat dancing and cheering behind them.

HOUR 6 (5 pm): Find a restaurant on the water to grab something to eat. Bread, butter, lobster bisque and carpaccio. Relax for a few minutes since we’ve been running around since we got off the flight. Check the time and realize we may have relaxed too long. Quickly ask for the check and get out of there.

HOUR 7 (6 pm): Realize we have an hour until the flight leaves and should probably have planned this better. Nervously laugh as we jog to the nearest metro stop, which is luckily only a couple blocks away. Jump on the first metro heading back toward the airport. At this point we’re uncontrollably giggling as we keep checking the time and go over our exact steps as to what we are going to do once we get off the metro in order to make this flight. I stress to myself that the next time I do this I will plan better and give myself more of a cushion. Get off, run to lockers, grab bags, run to security. Thank you, Copenhagen airport, for having an efficient security line. Get through the line within 5 minutes and run to the gate. We’re the last in line to board but we made it. Stroll onto the plane, take a deep breath, and off to Spain. Layover was a success!