After coming home for a while, I have written just a few of the things I do and do not miss from my time in Copenhagen.
What I miss:
my friends
chocolate milk cartons littering the streets
Monday Peder Oxe night
Sankt Peter's bakery
7-11
the wonderful springtime weather
the long spring days
the bikes
restaurants being open past midnight
Keops Kooking Krew
Keops in general
Nyhavn
occasionally being mistaken for British by Danes
free health care
The fact labor day=communism day
Anywhere in Europe being a short flight away
Being in a city
the architecture
brie
Danish rudeness
the museums
no open container laws
all my friends being legal
What I won't miss:
paying for water
ice
no free refills
always feeling out dressed
the bad winter weather
unpronounceable Danish
things being closed on Sunday
not driving
flying whiskey glasses
spending too much money
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Why you always need your CPR card
This past weekend was a pretty eventful one! Friday was May Day, which is National Laborer's Day in Denmark. Everyone goes to this one park, Faeldparken, where there are food booths, music, speeches, and demonstrations.
Only part of the crowd for May 1st
It was a great afternoon. We brought blankets, sat by a stage, and listened to terrible Danish pop music. Unfortunately, my night was not so good.
That night a group of us decided to go out, but stayed close to our home since we wanted to keep it more mellow. Well, that failed. While on the dance floor I see a fight break out in the corner. The two of us facing that way start yelling at my friends to move out of the way. As we attempt to, the guys in the fight shifted toward our direction. As the bouncers were trying to break up the fight, the DJ turned off the music, and suddenly everyone could hear a glass shatter. Then, I suddenly felt intense pain in my shoulder and my arm felt wet. I look down and my arm is covered in blood. I obviously start to kinda freak out and just hold out my arm as it spurted blood. My friends went into crisis mode and were wonderful. Kelly was my humor/distraction and also yelled at everyone to get out of the way and let me outside. Sarah, immediately ran to the bar to get towels and get someone to call the ambulance. Chelsea, the pre-med, was my nurse. She applied pressure and gave me general medical attention until the ambulance came. She also rode with me in the ambulance.
I got to experience the Danish health care system, and I have to say, it wasn't fun. First, the medic wrapped my arm so tight my arm eventually started turning blue. Sarah and Chelsea had to keep massaging it to keep the circulation going. A nurse talked to me once I arrived, and eventually Kelly and Sarah arrived too with my CPR number (my Danish insurance number), without which I could not have gotten any medical care. After about 3 hours, a nurse took off my wrapping and put on a bandage. Then, after another 3 hours I was finally stitched up. Obviously everyone by this point was falling asleep, except for me. Too much adrenaline I guess. In the end, I had a grand total of 11 stitches and will now look super tough. I get my stitches taken out after 10 days, after which I will get some sweet scars.
no one will mess with me now!
Only part of the crowd for May 1st
It was a great afternoon. We brought blankets, sat by a stage, and listened to terrible Danish pop music. Unfortunately, my night was not so good. That night a group of us decided to go out, but stayed close to our home since we wanted to keep it more mellow. Well, that failed. While on the dance floor I see a fight break out in the corner. The two of us facing that way start yelling at my friends to move out of the way. As we attempt to, the guys in the fight shifted toward our direction. As the bouncers were trying to break up the fight, the DJ turned off the music, and suddenly everyone could hear a glass shatter. Then, I suddenly felt intense pain in my shoulder and my arm felt wet. I look down and my arm is covered in blood. I obviously start to kinda freak out and just hold out my arm as it spurted blood. My friends went into crisis mode and were wonderful. Kelly was my humor/distraction and also yelled at everyone to get out of the way and let me outside. Sarah, immediately ran to the bar to get towels and get someone to call the ambulance. Chelsea, the pre-med, was my nurse. She applied pressure and gave me general medical attention until the ambulance came. She also rode with me in the ambulance.
I got to experience the Danish health care system, and I have to say, it wasn't fun. First, the medic wrapped my arm so tight my arm eventually started turning blue. Sarah and Chelsea had to keep massaging it to keep the circulation going. A nurse talked to me once I arrived, and eventually Kelly and Sarah arrived too with my CPR number (my Danish insurance number), without which I could not have gotten any medical care. After about 3 hours, a nurse took off my wrapping and put on a bandage. Then, after another 3 hours I was finally stitched up. Obviously everyone by this point was falling asleep, except for me. Too much adrenaline I guess. In the end, I had a grand total of 11 stitches and will now look super tough. I get my stitches taken out after 10 days, after which I will get some sweet scars.
no one will mess with me now!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Buda-pescht!
Last weekend my friend Lindsay and I took a trip to Budapest. My bad travel luck continued, as we had a half hour connection in Munich. We prayed that we would make it, and hoped there would be a little delay to make sure. Unfortunately, we made it with time to spare and instead had over an hour of sitting on the tarmac while a propeller was repaired. After we finally made it to Budapest, we made our way to our hostel. Our hostel was very small and we had a great hostel owner. He was super-helpful and pointed us to a great restaurant. Budapest is soooo cheap compared to Copenhagen. We were able to have a huge four-course meal with a beer each for less than $10!
We spent the rest of the day exploring Buda, more specifically Castle Hill. We saw the palace, Matthias Church, and the statue of Tural Bird. We were there right when the sun was setting, and we got some wonderful views.
View of Parliament from Castle Hill
Another view from Castle Hill.
That night we further followed our hostel owner's advice and went to a cool bar down the street. It was cool, it was open air and had bathtubs as seats. I guess they used all the bathroom equipment as furniture because when I went to the bathroom...
This is what I found! Yes, that is not a toilet, but instead a hole in the ground. It was a shock when I entered the bathroom.
The next morning we woke up early and headed off to go to the Synagogue. It is the 2nd largest in the world. Sadly, it was closed since it was a Saturday. Since it was closed we walked around and did a little Pest tour. First, we walked and saw the Opera house, House of Terror, and St. Peter's basilica. Then we did a bit of shopping (couldn't resist the cheaper prices) and ended up eating lunch at the market. Fact: Italian sauce in Budapest means ketchup. Otherwise, it was pretty good.
The rest of the afternoon we spent going to the famous Budapest baths. They were so cool/ confusing. Finding our way through all the locker corridors and figuring out how to rent our towels and stuff.
This was the ceiling of the bath lobby.
We went to the bath in the City Park, which we partly chose because it wasn't a nude spa. That did not keep us from seeing at least 6 naked, old Hungarian women. It was not a pretty sight. The actual spa was cool, had all these different pools that were like hot tubs both inside and outside. Some even had current pools and jets that were so much fun.
After we finished up relaxing at the baths, we went to explore the city park. We went to heroes square, a huge Hungarian monument.
Heroes Square!
That night we went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant and then off to a Rick Steve's recommended pub crawl (we followed Rick all weekend!). The pub crawl was neat, because it started off with an hour long cruise on the Danube. All the buildings were beautiful all lit up and my new camera took much better night pictures than my old one.
Buda Castle
Parliament
Sadly, we had to leave early the next morning for our plane flight. I was not excited to go back to Copenhagen and get to work!
We spent the rest of the day exploring Buda, more specifically Castle Hill. We saw the palace, Matthias Church, and the statue of Tural Bird. We were there right when the sun was setting, and we got some wonderful views.
View of Parliament from Castle Hill
Another view from Castle Hill.That night we further followed our hostel owner's advice and went to a cool bar down the street. It was cool, it was open air and had bathtubs as seats. I guess they used all the bathroom equipment as furniture because when I went to the bathroom...
This is what I found! Yes, that is not a toilet, but instead a hole in the ground. It was a shock when I entered the bathroom.
The next morning we woke up early and headed off to go to the Synagogue. It is the 2nd largest in the world. Sadly, it was closed since it was a Saturday. Since it was closed we walked around and did a little Pest tour. First, we walked and saw the Opera house, House of Terror, and St. Peter's basilica. Then we did a bit of shopping (couldn't resist the cheaper prices) and ended up eating lunch at the market. Fact: Italian sauce in Budapest means ketchup. Otherwise, it was pretty good.
The rest of the afternoon we spent going to the famous Budapest baths. They were so cool/ confusing. Finding our way through all the locker corridors and figuring out how to rent our towels and stuff.
This was the ceiling of the bath lobby.We went to the bath in the City Park, which we partly chose because it wasn't a nude spa. That did not keep us from seeing at least 6 naked, old Hungarian women. It was not a pretty sight. The actual spa was cool, had all these different pools that were like hot tubs both inside and outside. Some even had current pools and jets that were so much fun.
After we finished up relaxing at the baths, we went to explore the city park. We went to heroes square, a huge Hungarian monument.
Heroes Square!
That night we went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant and then off to a Rick Steve's recommended pub crawl (we followed Rick all weekend!). The pub crawl was neat, because it started off with an hour long cruise on the Danube. All the buildings were beautiful all lit up and my new camera took much better night pictures than my old one.
Buda Castle
ParliamentSadly, we had to leave early the next morning for our plane flight. I was not excited to go back to Copenhagen and get to work!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Happy Birthday Queen Margrethe! + Legoland
April 16th was the Queen's birthday, and they do several special things for it. All the buses fly Danish flags and the fountain on Stroget has golden apples floating in it. Also, the Queen and the entire royal family comes out on the balcony in Amelienborg to wave to schoolchildren and the rest of the crowd. Obviously, since I had seen the Queen of England, I could not leave Denmark without seeing their Queen too! It was really cute, all the little children sang her happy birthday in Danish and kept calling her to come out again. Her little grandchildren were also adorable. Afterwards we had a lunch of smorrebrod at Nyhavn. Overall, we felt super Danish.
Us after seeing the Queen!
You can kinda see the golden apples on the fountain jets on the top of the fountain
The royal family! The Queen is the one with the pink sash.
On Saturday we went on the DIS trip to Legoland. I couldn't live in Denmark without going to see the Lego mecca, which is three hours away from Copenhagen. Legoland is AWESOME! There were lego figures everywhere and tons of fun rides. I would not recommend it as the place to go if you are only into roller coasters, but it had tons of really cute rides that took you past all the amazing lego creations. Also, it would be great in the summer because there were all these water rides and play areas. My favorite part was lego models of various monuments and cities. I liked lego Nyhavn best, we could even spot the restaurant where we ate on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I dropped my camera once we got there and broke it. Buying a new camera in Denmark is pretty complicated, but at least I still have all my pictures and my new camera is much better than my old one!
Us after seeing the Queen!
You can kinda see the golden apples on the fountain jets on the top of the fountain
The royal family! The Queen is the one with the pink sash.On Saturday we went on the DIS trip to Legoland. I couldn't live in Denmark without going to see the Lego mecca, which is three hours away from Copenhagen. Legoland is AWESOME! There were lego figures everywhere and tons of fun rides. I would not recommend it as the place to go if you are only into roller coasters, but it had tons of really cute rides that took you past all the amazing lego creations. Also, it would be great in the summer because there were all these water rides and play areas. My favorite part was lego models of various monuments and cities. I liked lego Nyhavn best, we could even spot the restaurant where we ate on Tuesday. Unfortunately, I dropped my camera once we got there and broke it. Buying a new camera in Denmark is pretty complicated, but at least I still have all my pictures and my new camera is much better than my old one!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Heterosexual lifemate comes for a visit
After completely lazing around Copenhagen for a few days (example, did not realize the time changes from UK to Denmark until the second day) Holly arrived! I showed her the glorious Keops (Holly napped and enjoyed the bathroom size shower) and then we had an outdoor lunch on Radhuspladsen. By 1, we were on our train to Stockholm (Holly slept). Our first Stockholm night was spent checking into our hostel, which was a boat. Yeah, we slept on a boat and the corresponding room size was what you would expect. Also, the song I'm on a boat was sung throughout our Stockholm stay (I even had my flippy-floppys). 
Our boat was docked right across from the Nobel Prize building, so we had a great view out of our little window. That evening was spent wandering Gamla Stan (old town), getting dinner, and catching up over a couple beers.Our first morning in Stockholm was a tale of the epic search for a map. First stop, checking the hostel check in. No map. Second stop, tourist information. No map, except for sale. Obviously we refuse to buy a map. Lunch break. Decide to get by with the brochure maps, which do not cover everything/leave out half the street names. We eventually get a real map when we ask the front desk for dinner recommendations that night.
That afternoon we met up with Natalie's (Holly's friend from high school) siblings. We all decided to go to the Vasa Museum, which is this museum built around this giant ship that they raised from the harbor. It sunk on its maiden voyage because it had way to many cannons and couldn't actually sail. Epic fail.
After the Vasa, we decided to go this excellent muffin shop that Holly, Natalie's sister (I know its confusing) and been recommended. We found the street and we were at number 7. The muffin shop was number 99. The walk that proceeded worked off any muffin calories we later consumed. We said our goodbyes and Holly and I picked up bagettes and cheese for a cheap dinner. After dinner, we proceeded to go out. This included being sketched on by 30 year old Swedish men while hanging out in the hostel bar (why 30 year olds were in a hostel? I have no idea) and making friends with French girls who sympathized with us once the guys gave up.
Our next day was shopping day! I had to take advantage of cheap(er) Swedish prices, so after lunch we wandered around the shopping district all afternoon. We also tried to go to the palace to not be totally useless, but it closed early. We decided to keep it mellow, so after we just went out to a leisurely Italien dinner and saw Sunshine Cleaning at the movie theater.
Easter Sunday was our last day in Stockholm, and we filled it up. We made sure to leave early to go to the palace and we made it this time. We toured the royal suites, and saw where visiting heads of state stay. I have to say, it was a nice palace, but needs some restoration work. As we came out of the palace, the Swedish military was doing a special marching perfomance right in front.
This performance included the marching band, who had their own tour bus.We stopped in the Royal Church (see mom, I did go to church on Easter) and proceeded to Skansen, the open air museum kinda like Williamsburg. It was pretty cool, but not all the shops/houses were open because of Easter. Also, demonstrations were often given in Swedish. However, we did get to see Swedish animals including a moose. Our train back to CPH did not leave until after 10, so we had a veeeery long dinner at a buffet and also some sweet chill time in the Stockholm central train station. Surprisingly, our overnight train was a lot slower than our train there, but had fewer stops and beds! It was way more comfortable than we expected and I saw another sunrise.
Upon arrival in Copenhagen at 7 in the morning, Holly took another nap. We then had lunch at a Shwarma place and I proceeded to take her on my intense walking tour of Copenhagen. Almost any walk is worth avoiding a clip!
We went to the Little Mermaid, I showed her all the palaces, Nyhavn, and we ended up sitting in one of my favorite parks. We decided to take advantage of the lack of open container laws in Denmark and each bought a beer at 7-11. Park time eventually turned into a bit of a naptime until we both started to get cold. We warmed up with a cup of coffee at Baresso (Danish Starbucks) and then I showed Holly the glory of Peder Oxe. It was not the full experience, since it was basically empty the day after Easter but the burgers were just as good. We wrapped up our day with some hyggelig time at Laundrymat.
Our next day started with some delicious St. Peter's bakery and then a little shopping. We had a delicious lunch at RizRaz, a vegetarian buffet. We did a bit more of a walking tour and saw the statue of Kierkegaard (for Holly) and had 7-11 slushies (for me). That night I made Holly a wonderful pasta dinner and we proceeded to pick up Allison (another friend from Oxford) from the airport and had a night of fun at the scottish pub.
Wednesday was Holly's last day in Copenhagen and it was action-packed! We spent our morning touring Christiania and we of course had to stop at the bakery there that is sooo delicious! We then toured the Carlsberg factory, stopped by H.C. Anderson's and Kierkagaard's graves, and had a great indian dinner. That ngiht we met some Danish people that Allison's boyfriend knows. Overall, it was a great visit! I loved being able to see Holly and it made me nostolgic for school!
Our boat was docked right across from the Nobel Prize building, so we had a great view out of our little window. That evening was spent wandering Gamla Stan (old town), getting dinner, and catching up over a couple beers.Our first morning in Stockholm was a tale of the epic search for a map. First stop, checking the hostel check in. No map. Second stop, tourist information. No map, except for sale. Obviously we refuse to buy a map. Lunch break. Decide to get by with the brochure maps, which do not cover everything/leave out half the street names. We eventually get a real map when we ask the front desk for dinner recommendations that night.That afternoon we met up with Natalie's (Holly's friend from high school) siblings. We all decided to go to the Vasa Museum, which is this museum built around this giant ship that they raised from the harbor. It sunk on its maiden voyage because it had way to many cannons and couldn't actually sail. Epic fail.
After the Vasa, we decided to go this excellent muffin shop that Holly, Natalie's sister (I know its confusing) and been recommended. We found the street and we were at number 7. The muffin shop was number 99. The walk that proceeded worked off any muffin calories we later consumed. We said our goodbyes and Holly and I picked up bagettes and cheese for a cheap dinner. After dinner, we proceeded to go out. This included being sketched on by 30 year old Swedish men while hanging out in the hostel bar (why 30 year olds were in a hostel? I have no idea) and making friends with French girls who sympathized with us once the guys gave up.
Our next day was shopping day! I had to take advantage of cheap(er) Swedish prices, so after lunch we wandered around the shopping district all afternoon. We also tried to go to the palace to not be totally useless, but it closed early. We decided to keep it mellow, so after we just went out to a leisurely Italien dinner and saw Sunshine Cleaning at the movie theater.
Easter Sunday was our last day in Stockholm, and we filled it up. We made sure to leave early to go to the palace and we made it this time. We toured the royal suites, and saw where visiting heads of state stay. I have to say, it was a nice palace, but needs some restoration work. As we came out of the palace, the Swedish military was doing a special marching perfomance right in front.
This performance included the marching band, who had their own tour bus.We stopped in the Royal Church (see mom, I did go to church on Easter) and proceeded to Skansen, the open air museum kinda like Williamsburg. It was pretty cool, but not all the shops/houses were open because of Easter. Also, demonstrations were often given in Swedish. However, we did get to see Swedish animals including a moose. Our train back to CPH did not leave until after 10, so we had a veeeery long dinner at a buffet and also some sweet chill time in the Stockholm central train station. Surprisingly, our overnight train was a lot slower than our train there, but had fewer stops and beds! It was way more comfortable than we expected and I saw another sunrise.Upon arrival in Copenhagen at 7 in the morning, Holly took another nap. We then had lunch at a Shwarma place and I proceeded to take her on my intense walking tour of Copenhagen. Almost any walk is worth avoiding a clip!
We went to the Little Mermaid, I showed her all the palaces, Nyhavn, and we ended up sitting in one of my favorite parks. We decided to take advantage of the lack of open container laws in Denmark and each bought a beer at 7-11. Park time eventually turned into a bit of a naptime until we both started to get cold. We warmed up with a cup of coffee at Baresso (Danish Starbucks) and then I showed Holly the glory of Peder Oxe. It was not the full experience, since it was basically empty the day after Easter but the burgers were just as good. We wrapped up our day with some hyggelig time at Laundrymat.Our next day started with some delicious St. Peter's bakery and then a little shopping. We had a delicious lunch at RizRaz, a vegetarian buffet. We did a bit more of a walking tour and saw the statue of Kierkegaard (for Holly) and had 7-11 slushies (for me). That night I made Holly a wonderful pasta dinner and we proceeded to pick up Allison (another friend from Oxford) from the airport and had a night of fun at the scottish pub.
Wednesday was Holly's last day in Copenhagen and it was action-packed! We spent our morning touring Christiania and we of course had to stop at the bakery there that is sooo delicious! We then toured the Carlsberg factory, stopped by H.C. Anderson's and Kierkagaard's graves, and had a great indian dinner. That ngiht we met some Danish people that Allison's boyfriend knows. Overall, it was a great visit! I loved being able to see Holly and it made me nostolgic for school!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Edinburgh,
We arrived in Edinburgh early on Wednesday (another sunrise down). Our hostel had a great location, right on the Royal Mile. Unfortunately, that also meant we had to walk up a giant hill with all our luggage to get there.
The view of Edinburgh Castle from the park that used to be a sewage lake. Surprisingly, flowers grow very well there. We decided to wander and explore, and ended up finding a free walking tour. It was great, because it really helped orient ourselves to Edinburgh. My favorite part of the tour, the story of Greyfriar Bobby. He was a stray that the night watchman at the graveyard adopted. After the watchman died, the dog returned to his grave every day to sit and watch over him. It was a really sweet story. The rest of the day we spent showering, eating dinner, and having a couple drinks at the pub. We called it a pretty early night after the lack of sleep on the bus.
The next day we kept it very mellow. We slept late, had a leisurely lunch, hung out in the park for awhile, and then spent our afternoon at the Edinburgh castle. It was a gorgeous day, with wonderful views. It was super clear and even after our tour of the castle we just spent hours hanging out at the top enjoying the view and sun. We also enjoyed the free sample of whiskey at the castle. It had honey in it, and made us all mistakenly believe that we loved to drink straight whiskey. I have to say, although I love Dad's whiskey sours, any other whiskey besides this brand would not be my favorite thing to drink. We spent our night at the best comedy club in Scotland. It was a night with five different comedians, four of which were really funny. The first however, was painful to watch.
Look at that gorgeous clear sky! Not what you really expect in Scotland.
We started our Friday with a visit long breakfast. Then we split up until the afternoon. Kelly and Emily headed down to the extremely foggy beach and I went to the National Gallery of Scotland. I had an interview for my university collections internship (which I ended up getting). I feel like I might have gotten purely out of novelty, because the hostel's internet was out that day, so I had a half hour to rush to Starbucks and only got on skype 3 minutes before it started. I doubt they had any other interviewees that had to conference in from a Starbucks from Edinburgh. After meeting up again, we went to Elephant House Cafe.
The Elephant House is another part of our Harry Potter tour. This is the cafe where J.K. Rowling would sit and handwrote the first Harry Potter. The Edinburgh Castle was inspiration for Hogwarts. That night we went on a pub crawl. It seems like we saw all the other Americans visiting Edinburgh at the time! Craziest coincidence of the trip, Kelly met a guy who is from her hometown near Atlanta. They even had a lot of the same mutual friends.
Saturday was our last full day, so we decided to head to the National Museum of Scotland. It was our first day of bad weather, so it was nice to spend time inside. It was a cool museum, with lots of entertaining exhibits and was still in the process of a huge remodel. It even had Dolly the sheep!
After the museum, we decided to test out the specialty of Scotland, haggis. Rating of taste= not bad, rating of texture= horrible.
Looks=also horrible
Our last night in Edinburgh was spent at a couple pubs, and we called it an early night. Emily and Kelly both had very early flights. My flight was a little later, so I hung out in a cafe and read my book for a little while. Unfortunately, I could have hung out in the cafe for even longer, because my flight ended up being delayed over four and a half hours. Of course, I didn't find out about the delay until right after I spent my very last pound. Going along with the bad travel time, the metro was also broken when I finally made it back to Copenhagen, therefore delaying me another hour. The next few days were spent lounging and lazing while waiting for the next segment, Holly's visit and Stockholm!
The view of Edinburgh Castle from the park that used to be a sewage lake. Surprisingly, flowers grow very well there. We decided to wander and explore, and ended up finding a free walking tour. It was great, because it really helped orient ourselves to Edinburgh. My favorite part of the tour, the story of Greyfriar Bobby. He was a stray that the night watchman at the graveyard adopted. After the watchman died, the dog returned to his grave every day to sit and watch over him. It was a really sweet story. The rest of the day we spent showering, eating dinner, and having a couple drinks at the pub. We called it a pretty early night after the lack of sleep on the bus.
The next day we kept it very mellow. We slept late, had a leisurely lunch, hung out in the park for awhile, and then spent our afternoon at the Edinburgh castle. It was a gorgeous day, with wonderful views. It was super clear and even after our tour of the castle we just spent hours hanging out at the top enjoying the view and sun. We also enjoyed the free sample of whiskey at the castle. It had honey in it, and made us all mistakenly believe that we loved to drink straight whiskey. I have to say, although I love Dad's whiskey sours, any other whiskey besides this brand would not be my favorite thing to drink. We spent our night at the best comedy club in Scotland. It was a night with five different comedians, four of which were really funny. The first however, was painful to watch. 
Look at that gorgeous clear sky! Not what you really expect in Scotland.
We started our Friday with a visit long breakfast. Then we split up until the afternoon. Kelly and Emily headed down to the extremely foggy beach and I went to the National Gallery of Scotland. I had an interview for my university collections internship (which I ended up getting). I feel like I might have gotten purely out of novelty, because the hostel's internet was out that day, so I had a half hour to rush to Starbucks and only got on skype 3 minutes before it started. I doubt they had any other interviewees that had to conference in from a Starbucks from Edinburgh. After meeting up again, we went to Elephant House Cafe.
The Elephant House is another part of our Harry Potter tour. This is the cafe where J.K. Rowling would sit and handwrote the first Harry Potter. The Edinburgh Castle was inspiration for Hogwarts. That night we went on a pub crawl. It seems like we saw all the other Americans visiting Edinburgh at the time! Craziest coincidence of the trip, Kelly met a guy who is from her hometown near Atlanta. They even had a lot of the same mutual friends.
Saturday was our last full day, so we decided to head to the National Museum of Scotland. It was our first day of bad weather, so it was nice to spend time inside. It was a cool museum, with lots of entertaining exhibits and was still in the process of a huge remodel. It even had Dolly the sheep!
After the museum, we decided to test out the specialty of Scotland, haggis. Rating of taste= not bad, rating of texture= horrible. 
Looks=also horribleOur last night in Edinburgh was spent at a couple pubs, and we called it an early night. Emily and Kelly both had very early flights. My flight was a little later, so I hung out in a cafe and read my book for a little while. Unfortunately, I could have hung out in the cafe for even longer, because my flight ended up being delayed over four and a half hours. Of course, I didn't find out about the delay until right after I spent my very last pound. Going along with the bad travel time, the metro was also broken when I finally made it back to Copenhagen, therefore delaying me another hour. The next few days were spent lounging and lazing while waiting for the next segment, Holly's visit and Stockholm!
London: where songs from Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks ran through my head
I arrived in London and made our way to our hostel, where I was supposed to meet up with Kelly and Emily, two of my friends from DIS. Our hostel was super-sweet, it was a former Victorian mansion owned by Samuel Palmer, a biscuit king. We stayed in a 21 bed room, which actually was not bad. We got really lucky I guess, we didn't have anyone obnoxious in our room.
Palmer's Lodge Hostel
I had some time before Kelly and Emily were going to get there, so I walked around exploring the neighborhood a little bit. I found this beautiful park where I just sat listening to music and reading my book. I was so grateful for the sun!
After we were all reunited, we set off on our quest to find everything Harry Potter related. First stop, Platform 9 3/4!
Mission successful! Next stop was Tottingham Court Road, which Harry Potter devotees will know is where in the 7th book, Hermione takes Harry and Ron after the Burrow is attacked. We of course then had to get fish and chips at a pub, to start off London right!
On Sunday we started off our day by visiting the excellent London markets. We started off at Spittalfields, which was the best market. It had tons of really cool clothes, jewelry, and food. We then walked to two other markets, Brick Lane and Petticoat Lane. After a lunch from an indian street stand, we headed off to our third HP destination, the London Zoo. We of course recreated Harry discovering he was a parseltongue. Yes, we are huge nerds. We had a excellent thai dinner, then went to a pub to meet one of Kelly's friends.
Our next morning we started off with buying some cheap theater tickets, then headed off to our bike tour. This time, I rode the bike Big Red (couldn't resist the name!). We rode around Hyde Park, Kensington Park, and past Buckingham Palace.
The President of Mexico was there recieving a official reception for G20, so we saw the royal artillary first and thought ourselves lucky. Then, the crowning moment, suddenly we couldn't go by. The Queen herself was going by in her carriage.
There she is! I don't have a great picture, but you can see her little pink outfit with her pink hat and everything. The rest of our tour was slightly anti-climatic after that, but we saw Trafalger Square, Wellington Arch, and Westminster Abbey. After our tour, we got a recommendation for a cupcake place in Notting Hill. Actually it was on Portobello Road! Kelly and Emily did not understand my excitement, but I can blame my wonderful sister for being obsessed with Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Portobello road was seriously stuck in my head the entire trip. After a quick stop back to the hostel, we quickly made our way to West End to see Chicago! It was great, very differnt than the movie. The movie is so full of costumes and intense production, while this version of the musical was very bare, with the band onstage. It was an interesting contrast.
On Tuesday we started our day with a quick trip to the British Museum, mainly just to see the highlights, the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. We then had a delightful picnic lunch at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. Afterwards, we decided to rent a rowboat and row in Hyde Park. Important lesson learned, I will never be a professional rower. After our idyllic lake time adventure, we walked over to Kensington Palace for high tea. We felt very sophisticated and ladylike. We then split up for some alone time, I went to Primark. I am lucky I didn't study in London, because although Copenhagen is in general more expensive, the shopping in London was much more tempting! We met up again at the Tower of London, Had a beer, walked across Tower Bridge and had dinner.
Next stop, Edinburgh! All we had to do to get there was to take an overnight bus (slightly miserable).
Palmer's Lodge HostelI had some time before Kelly and Emily were going to get there, so I walked around exploring the neighborhood a little bit. I found this beautiful park where I just sat listening to music and reading my book. I was so grateful for the sun!
After we were all reunited, we set off on our quest to find everything Harry Potter related. First stop, Platform 9 3/4!
Mission successful! Next stop was Tottingham Court Road, which Harry Potter devotees will know is where in the 7th book, Hermione takes Harry and Ron after the Burrow is attacked. We of course then had to get fish and chips at a pub, to start off London right!
On Sunday we started off our day by visiting the excellent London markets. We started off at Spittalfields, which was the best market. It had tons of really cool clothes, jewelry, and food. We then walked to two other markets, Brick Lane and Petticoat Lane. After a lunch from an indian street stand, we headed off to our third HP destination, the London Zoo. We of course recreated Harry discovering he was a parseltongue. Yes, we are huge nerds. We had a excellent thai dinner, then went to a pub to meet one of Kelly's friends.
Our next morning we started off with buying some cheap theater tickets, then headed off to our bike tour. This time, I rode the bike Big Red (couldn't resist the name!). We rode around Hyde Park, Kensington Park, and past Buckingham Palace.
The President of Mexico was there recieving a official reception for G20, so we saw the royal artillary first and thought ourselves lucky. Then, the crowning moment, suddenly we couldn't go by. The Queen herself was going by in her carriage.
There she is! I don't have a great picture, but you can see her little pink outfit with her pink hat and everything. The rest of our tour was slightly anti-climatic after that, but we saw Trafalger Square, Wellington Arch, and Westminster Abbey. After our tour, we got a recommendation for a cupcake place in Notting Hill. Actually it was on Portobello Road! Kelly and Emily did not understand my excitement, but I can blame my wonderful sister for being obsessed with Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Portobello road was seriously stuck in my head the entire trip. After a quick stop back to the hostel, we quickly made our way to West End to see Chicago! It was great, very differnt than the movie. The movie is so full of costumes and intense production, while this version of the musical was very bare, with the band onstage. It was an interesting contrast.
On Tuesday we started our day with a quick trip to the British Museum, mainly just to see the highlights, the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. We then had a delightful picnic lunch at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. Afterwards, we decided to rent a rowboat and row in Hyde Park. Important lesson learned, I will never be a professional rower. After our idyllic lake time adventure, we walked over to Kensington Palace for high tea. We felt very sophisticated and ladylike. We then split up for some alone time, I went to Primark. I am lucky I didn't study in London, because although Copenhagen is in general more expensive, the shopping in London was much more tempting! We met up again at the Tower of London, Had a beer, walked across Tower Bridge and had dinner.
Next stop, Edinburgh! All we had to do to get there was to take an overnight bus (slightly miserable).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
