Greece... and the end!

Well folks, this is the end. My 8 weeks of European adventures have come to a close. I'm sitting in the Athens airport, waiting to check in for my flights to Munich and then Chicago, and it's very bittersweet. Although I've absolutely LOVED my time in Europe, and feel so lucky to have studied and traveled, I'm also looking forward to being home for a while. (Also I'm pretty sure I smell terrible and am convulsing people so a real shower in my own bathroom is much needed.) Here's the low-down on my past four days in Greece:

Michelle and I parted ways with Sarah on Tuesday morning and flew from Rome to Athens (after our flight was delayed two hours due to a Greek Airport Services strike). Unfortunately, that delay cut down on our time to sightsee, so although we walked around and saw the Acropolis and Agora, we didn't get to go inside or see anything up close. What we did get to do was eat fresh Greek yogurt with toppings at a yogurt bar called Fresko, which was incredible. We also had a fabulous traditional Greek dinner of a Greek salad, chicken gyros, pita bread, French fries, the works. Athens is definitely a place I'd like to return to sometime in my life so I can appreciate its history for more than a few hours. But we went to bed and woke up bright and early to catch a ferry from Athens to Mykonos, one of the Greek islands. After a 3-hour delay on the ferry due to "engine troubles," we finally arrived in Mykonos seven hours later, exhausted but ready to relax on the beach. We stayed in an adorable hotel called Artemoula's Apartments, and it was a 5-minute walk from the beach. So we relaxed and tanned on the Platys Gialos beach for a few hours, then went into the town of Mykonos for dinner and some shopping. We once again had Greek salad and gyros, and this time we got frozen Greek yogurt for dessert -- it literally was dispensed from a machine like regular American frozen yogurt, but it was Greek yogurt, and it was amazing. We strolled through the maze of little streets, getting lost multiple times, and entered many of the adorable jewelry, clothing, and souvenir stores. We returned to our hotel exhausted, and let ourselves sleep in the next day.

On Thursday, we ventured out to Paraga Beach, a 20-minute walk along the shore from our hotel. It had a younger crowd than Platys Gialos and more open sand to lay down our towels, in addition to crystal clear aqua-colored water. Oh, and did I mention there was a significant number of half-naked people there? Yep. Little did we know Paraga was the first nude beach, so it's still acceptable to be topless there. That was definitely a change from what we'd experienced at previous beaches! But we spent the entire day there, swimming and tanning and reading on the beach, and it was lovely. After, we bought eggs and cheese to make omelets for dinner (like the poor college students that we are), and had a great night on our balcony, eating and looking out at the view. We ventured out to Paradise Beach later, but it turned out to just be a bunch of night clubs with exorbitantly high entry fees because little-known DJs and artists like Afrojack and Nicky Romero were playing there. So we skipped it and went home, but it was a nice slice of the crazy night life that Mykonos boasts.

On Friday, we stayed by our hotel's great pool all morning and afternoon, and we had already checked out and were waiting to take a ferry back to Athens that night. We went into town once again for dinner, getting the same Greek salads and yogurt from two nights before (they were just too good to resist). The best part was witnessing not one but TWO sets of wedding photos happening. One bride and her groom were posing in different areas of town, and they both looked stunning. The other bride, however, was riding a donkey (yes, a literal DONKEY) through the streets, had an entire band following her and singing, and had all of her bridesmaids and friends dressed up and shouting at her the whole way. At one point, we watched on as she got off the donkey and did some sort of organized dance with her followers, and it was a true "Big Fat Greek Wedding" moment. Too funny. Eventually, it was time to leave, and after our ferry was delayed an hour (surprise, surprise), we finally made it into Athens late into the night... or early into the morning, I guess. Now, after saying farewell to Michelle, I'm waiting for my flight in the airport. 

Here's a quick synopsis of my overall thoughts, feelings, and knowledge gained from these European adventures:

MY FAVORITE PLACES: 1. Copenhagen, 2. Capri & Sorrento, 3. Norway, 4. Prague, & 5. Dublin

MY FAVORITE FOODS TRIED FOR THE FIRST TIME: 1. Roast boar in Prague, 2. Duck liver in Copenhagen, & 3. Greek yogurt in Greece!

MY FAVORITE LANDMARKS: 1. The fjords of Norway, 2. Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Berlin, 3. Kullenberg Peninsula in Sweden, 4. Fredericksborg Palace in Copenhagen, & 5. Ponte Vecchio and the other bridges of Florence

MY FRIENDS I GOT TO SEE ALONG THE WAY: Michelle, Sarah, Maggie, Christina (Prague), Katy (Florence), Sarah H. (Florence), & Michael (Florence)

PLACES I STILL WANT TO GO: 1. Santorini, Greece, 2. Edinburgh, Scotland, 3. Istanbul, Turkey, 4. Geneva, Switzerland, 5. Amalfi Coast, Italy

The lists could go on and on. But needless to say, I've had an INCREDIBLE two months abroad, and I can't wait for the adventures that are still in store for me. Until next time, Europe!

ITALY: Where the best food, friends, and beaches collide

***Sorry for the delay in posts! This was written on the morning of Tuesday the 12th.***

Oh Italy, you've done it again. I've now been to Italy three times, and I love it more and more each time I visit. This time, we took a overnight train from Vienna and arrived in Florence at 9:00 am on Friday (after a three-hour delay). My first order of business was to meet Katy outside the Accademia! Katy is studying abroad in Florence for the summer, so we got to spend lots of time with her. Thursday afternoon consisted of visiting the Duomo, climbing the Campanile (bell tower), eating a delicious sandwich lunch with Katy, going into the Baptistery, Orsanmichele Church, and Duomo Museum, walking across the Ponte Vecchio bridge, and of course stopping for gelato. Jenna from Alpha Chi was also in Florence visiting her family, and Michael from Michelle's Madrid program was also traveling in Florence that weekend, so we all met up that night, watched the sunset, got pizza, and went out together. It was a great group of Vanderbilt friends and we had an awesome time together. Then on Saturday, Katy met us to go to Piazza Michelangelo, which looks out over all of Florence and which I didn't go to the last time I was there. After another delicious sandwich lunch, we visited the Boboli Gardens. Katy and her floormates made a reservation at La Giostra, a great restaurant, for us, so we had a fantastic late dinner together. The waiters brought us free champagne, appetizers, an limoncello for dessert, and I had delicious pear and cheese ravioli for my meal. It was another wonderful night, and saying goodbye to Katy was sad. But it was time to move onto southern Italy!

Early Sunday morning, we departed via train for Naples. Once in Naples, we switched to a crowded regional train to Sorrento, where we were staying for the night. We spent the rest of the day on the beach in town. The water was a perfect temperature, and I FINALLY got a slight tan! We ate dinner at a restaurant down the street from the beach that might've topped our previous dinner. I consumed bread with olive oil, caprese salad, and pasta with fresh clams and tomatoes. Let's just say I was very happy and full. On Monday morning, Michelle got sick, which was a bummer, but Sarah and I still ventured out to the island of Capri. We took a 30 minute ferry over to the island, which is gorgeous. It's made of cliffs, caves, and perfectly blue water, and the weather was ideal. We went for a quick swim right away, and the water was crystal clear and beautiful. We saw lots of little fish swimming around us, and even though it was only 9:00 am, the beach was getting crowded. We then took a 2-hour boat ride around the entire island, stopping to see caves with stalactites, orange coral, rock formations, and the infamous Grotta Azzurra ("Blue Cave"). It's a small cave, and the way that the sunlight hits it makes the water look like it's glowing an electric blue color. To enter, we had to switch into a small rowboat and lay down to get through the opening, which was tiny. But the water was incredible, and my pictures can't even do it justice. After the boat tour, we took the funicular up to the town where there were lots of restaurants and shops. I bought perfume from Carthusia, which makes perfume out of flowers found on the island and has been operating since 1691. Unfortunately we had to make it back to Sorrento to head to Rome that night, so our time in Capri was short, but it was absolutely lovely. That night, we took the train from Naples to Rome, and after checking into our hostel and showering, it was 11:30 pm. But since we were only there for one night, we walked to the Trevi Fountain and all threw our coins in and made a wish. So touristy, but worth it. The next morning, Michelle and I had a flight to Athens, and Sarah had a flight to Copenhagen. So we parted ways, and headed to Greece, the last leg of my trip. Just one more blog post to come!

AUSTRIA: A Country of Music, Animals, and Old Buildings

***Sorry for the delay in posts! This was written Thursday the 11th but not posted until now. Florence post to come soon!***

My three days in Austria are now over, as I'm riding an overnight train to Florence. I very much enjoyed this country, and since they speak German it even lessened my disappointment in Germany due to Berlin. The first day was spent in Salzburg and the second two in Vienna, and both were quite enjoyable in their own way. Here's why.

On Tuesday, Sarah and I took the train out to Salzburg to go on a Sound of Music tour. Yep, we are the ultimate American tourists, but we heard amazing things about this tour from other people who had done it, so we decided we had to follow in their footsteps. The train ride to Salzburg was a HOT three hour trip, but once we got off and walked around the town, we were much happier. Salzburg is famous for two things: the location of The Sound of Music, and Mozart. Nothing else. So the entire town is gardens where the Do-Re-Mi song was filmed, or Mozart's first house, or rows upon rows of souvenir stands touting the two attributes. After exploring and getting a quick lunch, we embarked on the 4-hour official Sound of Music tour, led by a hilarious Austrian man who knew every little detail about Salzburg and The Sound of Music. We stopped in multiple places along the tour: the Von Trapp house, the lake where the kids and Maria fell in while boating, the tree area the kids run through in their curtain clothes, the place where the gazebo from "16 Going on 17" is now housed, the Unternes mountain Maria is first filmed on, and the church where Maria and the Captain get married, to name a few. We drove into the countryside and stopped in Mondsee, the town with the church, and we indulged in some apple strudel there. After another train ride, we made it back safe and sound to Vienna.

On Wednesday, Maggie left us mid-afternoon to continue her own trip in Munich, and Michelle finally arrived to continue traveling with us! So Sarah, Maggie, and I went to the zoo in the morning, which was one of the best zoos I've been to. My inner child was extremely excited to see pandas, reindeer, baby giraffes and elephants, tiny monkeys,  swimming penguins, and more. We grabbed a nice lunch at the Naschmarkt across the street from our hostel, which is a long food and souvenir outdoor market. Then it was time for Maggie to leave, and Michelle arrived at the exact same time! So we went back out with Michelle and toured Schonnbrunn Palace, which looked like a mini Versailles from the outside but was very underwhelming inside. The gardens were nice, though. After, we explored along the canal, walked through an amusement park that had the famous Ferris Wheel in it, and finally ate dinner at a decent restaurant in Judenplatz (Jewish Plaza, of all places!).

On Thursday, we walked basically the entire city. We started by seeing a church in Karlsplatz, then went to Stephansdom (the largest cathedral) and climbed the 400 stairs to the top to see the view. Then we continued along what's called the "Inner Ring" of the city to see more churches, Parliament, City Hall, multiple museums and parks, and my personal favorite, the Schmetterlinghaus. In English that's "Butterfly House," and Sarah and I ventured inside to find hundreds of butterflies gliding around the flower and plant-filled greenhouse. We took a ton of gorgeous pictures and felt like 5-year-olds, but again, our inner children were very happy. We had a good lunch in a plaza, and afterwards walked to a street with strangely-built apartments. They reminded me of Gaudi's houses in Barcelona but on a smaller, weirder scale. We strolled back through a nice park, bought ourselves some snacks for later, and are now on the train on the way to Italy. Tomorrow we'll meet up with Katy, Michael, and Jenna, so it'll be a massive Vandy party in Florence, and I can't wait! Florence round 2, here I come. Let's leave out the pneumonia this time.

PRAHA: The City of Monopoly Money

I'm about to leave the beautiful, wonderful, CHEAP city of Prague after three lovely days here. After our in-flight WiFi didn't work on the plane ride here (boo Norwegian, you let me down), and then Sarah and I leaving the baggage claim area without getting our luggage and setting off alarms, the mishaps ended and we were ready to take on Prague! The bus let us off in city centre and we walked to our hostel, overwhelmed by the beauty of Prague on the way. Maggie was waiting for us when we arrived so we all headed out together to explore and eat dinner. Our hostel recommended this amazing restaurant called Lokal, which brews its own beers and has traditional Czech food. I ate pork shoulder with bread and potato dumplings, and Maggie got fried cheese. So delicious. The only downfall was the heat - even at night, it was super sticky and hot, especially in the hostel without air conditioning. But we powered through!

Lennon Wall

On Sunday, we went to the Prague Castle area. It was a nice walk there, and we stumbled upon the Senate building and gardens along the way. Outside the castle we met up with Christina, a girl from our Cross-Cultural Psych class who happened to be in Prague for a few days, too. It turned out that we got there at 11:45 and the changing of the guards happened at noon, so we watched that (which was pretty anticlimactic) and then bought our castle tickets. We first went into St. Vitus' Church, which reminded me of a lot of the other large cathedrals with high ceilings and stained glass I've seen throughout Europe. Then we entered the actual castle - my favorite room was the one with the window from the defenestration of Prague. One of the only things I remember from AP Euro is that three rebels got thrown out that window and survived, which started the Thirty Years' War. So that was pretty cool to see. After that we went into St. George's Basilica (pretty underwhelming compared to St. Vitus), walked down the "Golden Lane" of little old shops and houses, and headed out. Not too far from the Castle was the Lennon Wall, which I was so excited to see. It's a massive graffiti wall that was a tribute to Lennon but has become a wall of art for all hippies, rebels, and tourists. I painted "Peace Love AXO" on it in white - I'm sure it's already been painted over, though. After, we walked across Charles Bridge and back into the square near our hostel, where we got delicious street food for lunch. I got a chicken and veggie skewer on a bun for the equivalent of $5, Christina got a sausage in a bun for $3, and Maggie got fried bread with cheese and garlic for $4. Such good deals for such good food. And that reminds me of why this post's title is "The Land of Monopoly Money" - it's because to convert Czech crowns to US dollars, you divide the Czech price by 20. Which means a 100czk meal is only $5. So it basically feels like fake money because the bills are large but have such a low value. Compared to Copenhagen, Prague is dirt cheap!

Later that night, Sarah and I went to the ballet. It was a "Best of Swan Lake" performance, and it was absolutely incredible!! The lead girl was the most talented ballerina I've ever watched, and we were sitting in the fourth row, so we could see everything crystal clear. Maggie met us for dinner at the nicest cafe across the street and we had a lovely night eating outside. We made sure we went to bed somewhat early so we could wake up and go to the Petrin Lookout Tower today. It's called the "mini Eiffel Tower" and is out near Prague Castle, so we walked 30 minutes, then took a fernicular up a hill, and then climbed to the top of the lookout tower. We could see all of Prague from the top and even further out into the Czech Republic, and the weather was perfect for it. We worked up an appetite with that climb, so we went to another restaurant our hostel recommended, which turned out equally as excellent as Lokal. I had homemade potato and mushroom soup to start, and roast boar with spinach and dumplings for my entree. I've been so adventurous with food this trip, so now I've added boar to the list of foods I've tried, and it was scrumptious. Entering into a large food coma, we ambled over to the Jewish Quarter of Prague, and Sarah and I went into the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest functioning synagogue in all of Europe. I bought a pretty hamsa bracelet at the Jewish street vendors outside, who were selling tons of cool handmade jewelry, artwork, and other Jewish items. Unfortunately, it was getting late, so we returned to our hostel, grabbed our bags, and headed to the train station. After a nice 4-hour train ride, we're here in our hostel in Vienna! Stayed tuned for a Vienna post on Thursday or Friday.

Goodbye Copenhagen (Hello Europe)

***This post was written on Saturday morning but not posted until now - sorry for the delay!***

This is the end. My time in Copenhagen is over, and it's extremely bittersweet. I'm currently on a plane to Prague, and it feels so strange that I won't be heading "home to Copenhagen" afterwards. 6 weeks has flown by, and I had a fabulous time. Saying goodbye to my floormates last night was so hard!

This past week has also flown by. After coming home from Berlin, we had a pretty chill weekend of watching movies and doing homework. I had two papers due this week and a final exam yesterday, so unfortunately a lot of my last week was spent writing and studying. On Tuesday night, our Danish RA made us all a classic Danish dinner and we had a "floor night," so that was fun and relaxing. The meal consisted of Danish meatballs, apple/carrot/lemon salad, pickled cucumbers, and Danish potato salad. It was delicious! After, we watched a Danish movie (with English subtitles of course), and had the classic Danish dessert of strawberries and cream - also so yummy. It was a great way to spend time as a floor before we all left.

On Wednesday, instead of a lecture during class, we walked around the neighborhood Norrebro and talked about the diversity. (Not really sure how it connected to Cross-Cultural Psychology, but it was a nice break from the classroom). Then at night, our class met again to go to a refugee counseling center, which was very interesting. When I got back on Wednesday night, our floor's WiFi was out (and stayed out for the rest of the week, so sad), so I took that as a sign to go to bed early. Thursday was the 4th of July - this is the first year I wasn't home for the 4th! It was sad, especially since no one celebrates it in Denmark (obviously). So to make up for it, our floor had a big dinner and fun night together, which made it much better. On Friday after my final, I went to New Harbor one last time with some floormates and finally got smorrebrod, the Danish open-faced sandwiches. I tried marinated herring and liverpate - the herring was good but a little too "fishy" for me, but the liverpate was great. It was the same kind my Danish visiting family made for me, so I made my floormates try some. The rest of the night consisted of packing and hanging out one last time as a floor, and it was a great, relaxing way to end my 6 weeks in Copenhagen.

Now, Maggie, Sarah, and I are headed to Prague for three days. It's the first leg of our two weeks of travel, so I'm very excited for what's in store for us! Look out for posts after each leg of our trip.

Berlin Study Tour

Back from Berlin! My Cross-Cultural Psychology class went there for the week for our study tour, so we left on Monday morning and arrived back in Copenhagen last night. Overall, Berlin was a weird city. Compared to the rest of Europe I've seen, it's kind of ugly. That's partially because it's so modern - it was rebuilt in the '70s after Cold War bombing and destruction, so the history related to the city is all connected to World War II and after. Although I did all the quintessential sightseeing things, I was still underwhelmed with what the city had to offer. Don't get me wrong, the World War II/Holocaust memorials and history were very meaningful and unique, but I think my expectations for it were a little too high. Regardless, I still had an enjoyable week with good friends and good food. Here's a quick synopsis:

MONDAY: Wake up at 4:45am. Get to the airport at 6:15. Fly to Berlin and arrive at 10:00. Go to the Jewish Museum. Best part was an art exhibit there of over 2,000 metal "faces" (see below) representing the victims of the Holocaust, and visitors could walk across them which made loud clanging "scream" sounds. Very moving. Eat lunch. Take a walking tour of the Jewish quarter and other parts of the city.

Jewish museum symbolic art

TUESDAY: Rain rain rain. Lecture about the German Democratic Republic at the DDR museum. German bratwurst for lunch! Interactive lecture and activities at the MILES center for LGBTQ youth. Dinner with class at an awesome place that served schnitzel, which is so delicious.

WEDNESDAY: Lecture at an Anti-Semitism Historical Center. Lunch at a Croatian restaurant. Sightseeing with friends, finally! We went to Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust memorial, and the Parliament building. Then a bunch of us went up in the TV Tower, which was a great view of the city. When I walked out, my floormate Maggie (who was in the other class in Berlin) was sitting outside waiting for me! So we went out for a great Mexican dinner and everything went uphill from there.

THURSDAY: Talk at the Department of Immigration. We had the afternoon off and DIS recommended we go to a museums, but a bunch of us decided to go to a concentration camp instead. We saw the East Wall Memorial, grabbed lunch, and took a 45-minute train out to the camp. It was called Sachsenhausen, and over 36,000 people died there from 1936-1945. We took a guided tour of the place and saw the living and working areas and the extermination area. It was a shocking, informative, and somewhat unreal experience. We were all extremely glad we decided to go there instead of museums. After, we sprinted (literally) back to the train station so we could get to our group dinner on time. The dinner was at "Dark Restaurant," where you eat in total darkness and all the waiters are blind. We had to choose between a beef, poultry, fish, or vegetarian 3-course meal, and we didn't know what any of the dishes were until afterwards. It was so much fun and a very unique experience. The food was great - I got a salad with meat, a filet with potatoes and beans, and key lime pie with chocolate and pineapple for dessert. Yum! Needless to say, this was definitely my favorite day in Berlin.

Blind restaurant

Sachsenhausen gate: "Work will make you free"

FRIDAY: Visit to the Boros art collection. This was another one of my favorite places. It's an old bunker that's now used to house modern art, and it was a neat set-up with lots of truly interesting and symbolic modern art. Usually I'm not a fan, but there were some incredibly creative pieces, and the whole class enjoyed it. After our last group lunch at a Bavarian restaurant, I went to the East Side Gallery (all the paintings along the Wall), and finally got a soft pretzel with cheese that I'd been wanting all week. After that, it was time to leave Berlin!

Wall art

So, like I said - Berlin was weird, and I'm definitely glad I went and was able to see Germany, but I don't think I'd actively go back on my own again. Now I'm back in Copenhagen, and I have one more week of class left. I'm sad it's almost over, but I'm also super excited to travel afterwards. So one last Copenhagen post will come next week!

A Weekend in the Land of the Irish

Sorry for the delay in posts! I'm currently in Berlin on study tour with my Cross-Cultural Psych class, but I'll write about that after I get back home. So this post is about my weekend in Dublin, Ireland!

So Liz, Emeri, Jake, and I spontaneously decided that we wanted to go on a weekend trip somewhere, and prices and times all pointed to Dublin. We booked our flights and hostel just a week in advance, but were so excited to go. Our flight out of Copenhagen was at 8:30pm on Friday and ended up being 45 minutes delayed, so with the time change we arrived in Dublin after 11pm. But no worries! There were tons of people out and about, and after we checked into our hostel, we went out and explored Temple Bar, the hip nightlife area. Besides Emeri getting her phone stolen, we had an awesome first night there.

On Saturday, we did a free walking tour of the city that I had prebooked online through NewEurope Tours. It was fun, but a little too informative/historical for us. Also, I should mention the weather. It was absolutely bipolar the entire weekend - one second it would be sunny and the next it would be windy and pouring. This went on all weekend, which made walking around a little miserable at times, but we powered through. After the walking tour, we went to lunch at O'Neill's, a classic Irish restaurant our tour guide had recommended. We got beef and Guinness stew with potatoes and veggies, and it was the most filling, delicious meal I've had in a while! Feeling very content, we walked around the city, and Liz and Emeri stopped at a jewelry store to get authentic claddagh rings (Irish wedding rings). I already have one that our family friends the O'Reilly's got me years ago- can you tell they're Irish? We visited the Jameson Distillery, which had a cool interior but all the tours for the day were full. We returned to our hostel to quickly nap and use wifi, and then it was time to head to our pub crawl! We signed up for it through the free walking tour company, and it took us to 5 classic Irish pubs and ended at a club. The best part about it was seeing the differences between the pubs because they all had their own flare - live music, flavored beer, 5 stories, Irish dancing, you name it. By the end we were completely wiped of all energy, so after a quick falafel sandwich at a restaurant on the street, we called it quits and went to bed.

On Sunday, we didn't have much planned, so we wandered to Christ Church and discovered that mass began in 20 minutes and was free. Despite me and Jake being Jewish, we thought it would be a cool experience, so we went to mass. It was very cool - the church was gorgeous, the Irish clergy wore green and had some different traditions, the choir sang beautifully, and all in all it was a great learning experience. Afterwards we did a little shopping, ate some lunch, and then it was unfortunately time to head to the airport. We finally arrived back at our dorm in Copenhagen at 8:45pm, ate dinner, and had to pack for our week-long study tours. My post on Berlin will come at the end of the week, so stay tuned!

A Lay-Low Week

You can imagine how exhausted I was after returning from Norway on Sunday night. That led to me sleeping for twelve hours on Sunday night, which kickstarted a semi-lazy week for me. I started my new class, Cross-Cultural Psychology, on Monday, which is alright. But the most exciting part was that Sarah is now in Copenhagen and in class with me! Our reuniting hug was adorable, if I may say so myself. The week followed in similar fashion:

Tuesday: sleep in, go to class, make dinner, do homework, watch a movie, book hostels for Vienna and Florence (eek so excited!), go to bed.

Wednesday: class, lunch and walking around with Sarah, homework, movie, bed.

Thursday: wake up early, field trip to the Museum of Denmark for class, then lecture, and then here's where my week finally picks up! I made plans to go to Roskilde and meet with my Visiting Danish Family. So I hopped on the train, got to Roskilde at 5pm, and my visiting mom picked me up at the train station. We walked to their house, which is quaint and adorable. They have a Danish flag flying out front (of course) and a great backyard with tons of flowers and plants growing, a greenhouse, three pet rabbits in cages, three chickens in a cage, and a great patio area. So cool. I had met the parents, Kirsten and Jens, last time, along with their oldest son Søren (basically pronounced "Srn" because Danes mush all their sounds together). But this time, I met their other two children, whose names sounded like "Hillig" and "Sina" but I have no clue how they'd be spelled. Hillig is their 20-year-old son and Sina is their 16-year-old daughter, and they were both delightful and very smart. We had dinner all together outside, and it was incredible. Kirsten made some sort of smørrebro on rye bread with mushrooms, bacon, and a meat that sounded like liver - I was too scared to ask, but it was delicious! There was homemade potato salad with herbs from their garden, meatballs, beets, salad with fresh mozzarella, and a yummy dessert of buttercream and mini cookies. Everything was amazing! Needless to say, I was stuffed.
After dinner, we chatted for a while about lots of topics, and here's a few things I learned:
1. Denmark basically has a Hunger Games reaping for boys for the army! One day a year, every boy of a certain age in Denmark draws a number, and if they draw 1-4,000 or so, they have to go into the army. How antiquated!
2. Europe has their own version of American Idol called Eurovision, where every country has one performer/group compete, the countries vote for each other, and there's a winner each year. And this year Denmark won!
3. A competition riding horse costs the same amount as a nice car. AKA $20,000. Sina rides, so she gave me the low-down.

4. Danish GPAs are very, very complicated.

5. Everyone in Denmark loves Rihanna. Period.

Post-dinner, we drove down to the Roskilde harbor, where there's a Viking ship museum, a great view across the water, and on Thursday nights, a car show. Yep, every Thursday, people from all over Denmark who have cool cars and motorcycles drive them to the Roskilde harbor and park them for everyone to see. I'd guess there were over 500 cars and motorcycles there, and let me tell you, those were some reaaaaally nice cars! Afterwards, they showed me downtown Roskilde and the Roskilde cathedral, where Christian IV and lots of past kings and queens are buried. There was a free organ concert when we were there, so we got to listen to some of that, too.

Sadly, it was time to go, so I said my farewells and took the train home. It was the definition of a lovely evening, though, and I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to meet them!

When I got home, my floor decided to go sit out at New Harbor since it was still so nice out, so we walked around and chilled outside until bedtime. It was one of the best days I've had in Copenhagen!

Roskilde harbor

Nyhavn at night

Today: I woke up, went to my class (9:00, so early), grabbed lunch, and now I'm packing for Dublin! That's right, I'm headed to Dublin tonight for the weekend, and I couldn't be more excited. Then, on Monday, I leave for Berlin for the week with my class on our Study Tour. So much traveling, I can't wait!

Norway in a Nutshell

I'm back! Back from the interesting land of Norway! I say "interesting" because I was baffled/amazed by a lot of things there. Let me preface this post by saying Norway is a GORGEOUS place that everyone should see before they die. Basically the entire country is UNESCO and on the World Heritage list. Despite the rain and windy weather, the fjords and scenery were still breath-taking. And our "Norway in a Nutshell" tour made traveling from place to place easy and worry-free. Here's a play-by-play so you can understand why I loved (parts of) Norway in its own special way:

DAY 0: NIGHTTIME IN NORWAY
Flew to Bergen. The flight was delayed (as written in my last post from the plane!), so I arrived at my hostel at 12:30 am. Needless to say, I was exhausted, so it was unfortunate that I was rooming with 17 strangers in one room, which was pitch black when I entered, and I couldn't even see to properly make my bed. Struggles on struggles. But I survived my first hostel experience!

DAY 1: CRAZY LONG DAY
Woke up at 6 am (eek so early!). Met Rhett, Maggie's friend from UNC that traveled with us, and we bussed to the train station, finally meeting Maggie there around 7:45. We left on the train for Voss, then took a bus from Voss to Gudvangen, and then a fjord cruise to Flam! Despite the drizzle, we stood on the deck, taking great pictures an absorbing the beauty. After arriving in flam (which is a teeny town), we checked into our hostel and went for a hike. Now, let me explain this hike. We read about it on a "Flam hiking" list, and it was called a "Category 3: hike with climb", so we thought it would be doable. It was through a farm area and up to a waterfall, so it sounded great. As we start the "climb" part, we realize it is a straight upward climb on a barely marked path through the mountain up to the waterfall. Oh, and did I mention there were grazing sheep EVERYWHERE? Literally all over our path and next to us. Rhett touched a lamb. Insane. Anyway, we majorly struggle up this mountain, FINALLY reaching the top of the waterfall. We head back down and it starts raining harder, so the path gets very slippery, and Rhett steps on a part of the path that gives and he falls, dislocating his pinky finger. Like, very visibly dislocating it, with the knuckle completely bent to one side. Not good. So when we get back to the hostel, the nice hostel owner called us a taxi to the nearest hospital, which was 40 km away! (What happens if someone has a heart attack or is violently ill? Do they just die?! That shocked me.) after a $200 cab ride (outrageous -- classic Norway ridiculously high prices, though), we get to the hospital, and it's basically deserted. We FINALLY found a doctor, who agreed to treat Rhett even though he didn't have an appointment - apparently Norway doesn't have ERs, and you have to schedule all hospital visits. So strange. (Again, what do sick/injured people do if there's a real emergency?) But after three hours and another $150 cab ride, Rhett's finger is popped back in and we're home. Oh, and it only cost Rhett $300 for x-rays, painkillers, and treatment, so the cab rides cost more than getting his finger fixed. RIDICULOUS! That was a long, long day.

First fjord!

Brekkefossen Waterfall

DAY 2: ADVENTURE DAY!
Maggie and I signed up for a kayaking trip, so we traversed the Sonjefjord via kayak for four hours! It was fun when it wasn't raining or super windy or severely splashing us... Which was only 25% of the time. But we survived it, and we got to stop at a cool waterfall that had a rainbow over it, too. After a nap, Rhett joined us for a fjord safari down three of the most beautiful fjords. We had to wear massive "fisherman suits", gloves, hats, and goggles to keep us warm, and to protect us from the pelting rain. Despite the weather, it was still beautiful, and we saw waterfalls and glaciers aplenty. We also stopped in a tiny town called Undredal, which is famous for its brown goat cheese, and we got to taste it. Mmmm! It was so delicious, Maggie and I bought some to take back to Copenhagen. No regrets. We called it an early night, all huddling under our covers for warmth and passing out soon after.

Goat cheese tasting

DAY 3: TRAVELING ONWARD
Finally, the weather cleared up and it was sunny and warm out! In the morning we hiked to Otternes, an old Viking farm town, but when we got there, we found out you had to pay $10 to walk around the town. Again, classic expensive Norway. So we hiked back and stopped to have a picnic on the fjord along the way. We even spotted two seals in the water! After, we went to the beach for an hour and rested, then it was time to leave. We boarded the 1-hour Flam Railway, famous for being the steepest train in the world, and also for having great views. It was a tad overrated, in my opinion, but we passed some epic waterfalls. Then we transferred to a 5-hour train to Oslo, which had great views of meting glaciers, snow, and little farmhouses. We hopped off the train and walked to our hostel, which we were very displeased with in the end. Here's why:
They charged us an extra $10 for linens. The hallways were dirty, the paint was peeling, and the bathroom was disgustingly dirty. At 6 am, two girls who had clearly been out all night came in the room and made SO MUCH NOISE. In all, it was a bad hostel experience. :/

Our beautiful view from Flam

DAY 4: BYE BYE NORWAY
After leaving the hostel, Rhett and I accompanied Maggie to the train station because she had an earlier flight than us. After Maggie left, Rhett and I visited a Viking Ship museum, which sounded cool. But after a 30-minute bus ride, we were very underwhelmed when there were two total ships in the museum, and it cost us $7 to enter. Bummer. Not wanting to spend money, we walked through a weird sculpture park, with strange naked sculptures everywhere. Not our cup of tea. So we left for the airport early because there was nothing else to do. Basically, Oslo was a major let-down. So if you're reading this post, do not go to Oslo! Go to other parts of Norway. Despite our Oslo disappointment, though, I really did love Norway. I'm very excited to sleep in my own bed back in Copenhagen tonight, though. All in all, a successful break in Norway! Now for DIS session 2.

One of the two Viking ships

Hi from the sky!

I know I know, it's been too long since my last post, but that's a testimony to how busy I've been! From castle tours to planning for my Norway trip, time has been scarce lately. But here I am, sitting in the Copenhagen airport writing this (and I just saw that my flight is delayed a half hour, so I'm a little grumpy). Side note: in this airport the gates have maybe 10 seats total, and they don't assign gates until, like, 15 minutes before boarding. So I indulged in a Starbucks chai tea latte in order to have somewhere to sit while I wait for a gate. Total Denmark cheat-you-out-of-your-money move. Harrumph.

At any rate, let's talk about last weekend. On Friday we wandered out to a free concert in the lobby of the Opera House, which is on the water and beautiful. However, it takes 10x longer to walk all the way there than take the ferry because you have to cross the canals in specific places, which we didn't know. So we ended up arriving to the concert 45 minutes late, just in time to hear the final number, which lasted two minutes. Sad day. But at least we heard something! And we explored the inside and outside of the Opera House after, which was beautiful. Having learned our lesson, we rode the ferry (more like a water taxi) back to Nyhavn, and called the journey a success. Later that night, everyone else on my floor left for Berlin for the weekend, and my SRA went home, too, so it was just me, myself, and I for a few days. Being the sleep-lover that I am, I fell asleep by 11:30pm, which was actually beneficial because I had to wake up at 7:30 on Saturday to go on a castle tour. Here's the scoop on the tour:
1. Met friends. Walked to Copenhagen tourist office. Bought a "Copenhagen Card" for the day.
2. Took the train to Fredericksborg Castle. Toured the castle and looked at all the cool old stuff (but for real, it was HUGE and awesome). Went out to the gardens that reminded me of Versailles. Took lots of pictures. Ate lunch.

Fredericksborg Castle and gardens

3. Took the train to Helsingor. Saw Hamlet's Castle (it's the castle Shakespeare "probably" based the book on). Went into the dungeons, which were by far the best part, although really creepy and cold. Walked around the town.

Helsingor

4. Took the train back to Norreport. Walked to the Round Tower and climb it. Took pictures. Climbed down.

5. Went home and collapsed on the couch! Well actually I made myself a nice salad for dinner and collapsed simultaneously. A fun but exhausting day! And then, I got to SLEEP IN (oooooh!) on Sunday (til 11:30 - hah, barely sleeping in) because I was meeting my visiting family at 1:00.

My visiting family is a Danish family that DIS set me up with to meet once or twice throughout my stay in Copenhagen. My family lives in Roskilde, and has three kids, ages 16, 19, and 22. The mom, Kirsten, emailed me and asked me to go to the botanical gardens with them, so I met them on Sunday to do that. They were absolutely delightful people, not to mention extremely smart (they knew the name and history of every plant at the gardens). They also took me into Tivoli, which I hadn't seen yet, and boy oh boy was it awesome! It was like a much better, classier version of Disney. I can't wait to go back and ride the rides one night with my friends. By nighttime, my floormates came home, and the weekend was over in a snap.

Monday through Wednesday were our last days of our first session class, so I was busy writing my final paper and researching Norway. For class on Tuesday, though, we went to a meditation center. The meditation itself was ok (I'm pretty lousy at it), but the best part was the hot tea and cookies the lady served us. Yum yum yum. And then we went to the Denmark vs. Armenia World Cup qualifying soccer match on Tuesday night! Denmark lost (of course), but it was still an awesome experience.
Now, here I am, still waiting for my delayed plane in the airport, ready for a 4-day Norway adventure! A new post will come afterwards. :) Until then...

****UPDATE: I wrote that post in the airport, but actually posted it ON THE PLANE, IN THE SKY, on Norwegian Airlines' FREE in-flight WiFi! The. Coolest. Thing. Ever. So hello from the sky!  Also this flight is empty and I have a whole row to myself so ROCK ON NORWEGIAN AIR! Norway here I come!

Good Company, Good Views

This has been a pretty chill week, yet one of my favorite here so far. I was graced by a visit from the one and only Daniel Pocica from Sunday to Tuesday, which was just lovely. We revisited Rosenborg gardens, Amalienborg, Kastellet and the Little Mermaid, as well as venturing to the Botanical Gardens for the first time. And on top of a great day of sightseeing, we also hit up Sankt Peder's Bager (Saint Peter's Bakery, as we'd call it in English). Although they were out of wienerbrod (the classic Danish pastry), we nommed on some sort of cinnamon bread/coffee cake type thing that was delicious. WiFi went out in our apartment from the afternoon til after midnight, and we were seriously struggling. It's slightly embarrassing how much we rely on the Internet. But WiFi came back and all was well in the world (or in Skindergade 14, at least). On Tuesday I said goodbye to Daniel (tear tear), and took a mental health day where I napped and cooked dinner and chilled out.

Wednesday was apparently Constitution Day in Denmark, so lots of stores and restaurants were closed, but of course we still had class (DIS, what's up with that?). Luckily, the Louisiana Art Museum was still open, so a few of us ventured out there for the afternoon. After spending some time figuring out how to take the regional train there, we rode 30 minutes through the countryside and arrived in Louisiana. The museum pleasantly surprised us, as the view outside of the water and nature was gorgeous. On top of that, the Tara Donovan exhibit was the coolest modern art I've ever seen! (See the picture of the straw wall, which is literally plastic drinking straws glued together.) Sadly on Thursday we had a long day of class and a quiz to study for, so we weren't able to sightsee. But today, there's a free performance at the Opera House, so we'll head that way after lunchtime. And this weekend my floormates will all be in Berlin, so I'll be making new friends and hopefully hitting up the beach tomorrow!

Food, Folks, Festivities, and Fun

My apologies for the delay in posts! There's just so much to do and so little time (to write blog posts). And so much has happened within the past week that I don't think I can remember or write about it all! But I'll try my hand at it.

Kartoffelkage

TUESDAY: Class. Lunch. Went to La Glace, the oldest patisserie in Denmark, and got a Kartoffelkage (translated in English to "potato cake" because it looks like a potato). Yum yum yum! Definitely going back for the hot chocolate. Walked to Christianshavn, the district across the river. Climbed up Our Savior's Church, which has the best view of Copenhagen from the top. It was super windy up on the spire, but the views were definitely worth it. Visited Christiania, and it started raining, so we took the Metro home for the first time, which was of course very easy.

View from the top of the spire

WEDNESDAY: Extended class. Our floor walked to Nyhavn and took pictures and ate dinner at an (overpriced) Italian restaurant there. And at midnight my floormate Brian turned 21, so we lit sparklers in the courtyard and sang to him.

THURSDAY: Class. Studying (yep mom, you heard me) for a quiz, and then Distortion! It's the massive street festival with music and parties, and it was crazy indeed. But we met some awesome Danes and saw a new part of the city, so what could be better?

Frederiksberg

FRIDAY: Class. Rocked that quiz (proud of me, mom?). Lunch at Sandwich Pigen, which we learned is not pronounced like "pigeon" but rather "peen," which just goes to show how much I don't understand Danish. A rather horrendous adventure to Frederiksberg Gardens where we took a bus in the wrong direction and ended up riding the bus for 90 minutes instead of 15. Oops. And then we thought we were in the gardens but were actually in a cemetery. Double oops. But once we made it to the gardens, they were lovely! Came back, had a bagel and lox from Hey Bagel, wrote a paper (SEE MOM, I'm so studious!), and went to bed early because on the weekend I went to....

WEEKEND: SWEDEN!!! Yep, I went on a DIS Hiking, Canoeing, and Rappelling trip in the Kullenberg Peninsula of Sweden. We took a bus and ferry over to Sweden, canoed down a river Saturday morning, had Swedish stew and bread for lunch, did the hardest hike of my life down to and back up from the beach in the afternoon, and ended the day with a delicious American barbecue and bonfire. Then on Sunday, we went rappelling down cliffs at the beach and hiked some more, stopping at a quaint bakery/cafe for tea and cake before heading back to Copenhagen. All in all, a fantastic weekend, and my tiredness and soreness proves it.

Canoeing

We'll see what this week has in store for me! 

A Weekend of Danes and Swedes

I should really change the title of my blog to "Copenhagen is the greatest place on Earth"... because it's true. Having now been to ten different countries in my life, I think Denmark might be my favorite. (Sorry Italy!) Here's a summary of my past few days, and maybe you'll see why:

Duck

FRIDAY: I had my first class. It was good. School is school. But afterwards a bunch of us went to the Glass Market for lunch and it was amazing! We tried samples of cheeses, breads, meats, and tea, among other things, and I had a duck sandwich for lunch. Yes. Duck. Delicious. And on Friday night my floor went out and had a blast together! Great start to my weekend.

Swedish seafood

SATURDAY: Two floormates and I took a day trip to Malmo, Sweden. Malmo is a coastal town just 30 minutes away by train from Copenhagen, and it was a great day for it. After arriving, we went on a 45-minute wild goose chase for a restaurant we heard was great, ending in us finally finding the restaurant and seeing that it was closed. So we walked back into town and had delicious seafood outside at a little cafe - win-win since we still got good food and also got our daily dose of cardio. We shopped around Malmo, which is apparently where all the Danes go to shop because the Swedish exchange rate is better, so everything was a tad cheaper there than in Denmark. One more country off my checklist!

Rainy day in Copetown

SUNDAY: Rain rain rain. Seems to be something Copenhagen likes to do often. Unfortunately. Despite the rain, a few of us decided to walk to the National Museum of Denmark, which was FREE (my new favorite word). After, we looked for the Royal Library, which was sadly closed, but ended up wandering around the city and taking some great pictures. Even the rain couldn't stop us from having fun.

Little Mermaid

MONDAY: Weather forecast said rain all day, and yet there wasn't a cloud in the sky today. After class, we went to the amazing sandwich shop Smagsloget and finally got sandwiches, which were in fact amazing! So happy. We strolled into the Rosenborg gardens and ate our sandwiches, then continued our walk down to Kastellet, an old military barrack area with streams and green grass and old cannons and a church and ducks and so much beautiful nature. 70% chance of thunderstorms my butt, it was perfectly sunny! We moseyed on over to the Little Mermaid statue, which is known for being a huge tourist attraction but also very anticlimactic, and it was just that. But we had to take a picture of it and say that we saw it, of course. After a lovely (and hot!) walk back to the dorm, we took our books and class work out to the Rosenborg gardens once more and laid in the grass, soaking in the beautiful weather and a little bit of academics, too.

Kastellet

All in all, it's been a fabulous weekend, and I have so many more things I want to see and do! Copenhagen, you treat me too well.