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!