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).
Monday, April 20, 2009
Berlin, or my excuse to eat
City 2 Berlin
Day 4
We went on another bus ride/nap to Berlin. We were dropped off at Potsdamer Platz for lunch and some exploring time.
Potsdamer Platz is a really cool modern building. This is the roof. The modern feel of Berlin is one of my favorite parts. It is so different than most other European cities. It feels much more American. We continued walking around and ran into the Memorial for the Murdered Jews in Europe. It is full of various sizes of tilted blocks and creates feelings of loneliness and isolation.
The memorial, we ate at the German restaurant right behind it, this is where I had my meal of weisswurst. Delicious as long as you don't think what is in it.
Next we went on a tour of an Berlin Underground bunker from WWII. We couldn't take any pictures, but it was cool. They had this really cool paint that glowed in the dark so they could see how to get around despite blackouts.
Day 4
We went on another bus ride/nap to Berlin. We were dropped off at Potsdamer Platz for lunch and some exploring time.
Potsdamer Platz is a really cool modern building. This is the roof. The modern feel of Berlin is one of my favorite parts. It is so different than most other European cities. It feels much more American. We continued walking around and ran into the Memorial for the Murdered Jews in Europe. It is full of various sizes of tilted blocks and creates feelings of loneliness and isolation.
The memorial, we ate at the German restaurant right behind it, this is where I had my meal of weisswurst. Delicious as long as you don't think what is in it.
Next we went on a tour of an Berlin Underground bunker from WWII. We couldn't take any pictures, but it was cool. They had this really cool paint that glowed in the dark so they could see how to get around despite blackouts.
That night we went to one of the coolest parts of the trip, the Unsicht Bar. For non-german speakers, that means the blindness bar. After quite the journey to get there, which included wandering around Berlin for an hour in a group of 33 people looking for the wrong address. Once we got there we divided into our tables and met our waiters, our blind waiters. To enter into the PITCH BLACK restaurant, we had to line up holding shoulders. The waiter placed us into each of our seats. Literally, you could not see anything. It was crazy trying to eat, cut things, pour my beer into its glass, all while not being able to see anything. Everyone talked louder and ended up eating with their hands. It was true though, with one sense deprived taste was heightened. 
The view down into the Reichstag
The view down into the ReichstagDay 5
Company 3-Bayer Schering in the morning
We had another one of our delicious meals. This time, we ate on top of the Reichstag looking over Berlin. It was great food AND we got to skip the giant line for the Reichstag. It was really cool, I hadn't been to the top of it yet. It has this giant glass dome on the top and you walk up around the domes along these ramps. You can also look down onto the floor of the German government, symbolizing the transparency of the German government after the Nazi regime. Unfortunately, after walking around the dome my camera ran out of batteries, so I didn't have it for the rest of the day. We went on a bike tour around Berlin. Our tour guide was really funny, and with our luck, it immediately started to rain/sleet once we started to bike. I was obviously really good after all my biking practice in CPH. My bike had a name, Donna Summers. Therefore, Last Dance was stuck in my head the entire ride. We hit all the major sights, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz, Brandenberg Gate, the Reichstag, Berliner Dom, and Museum Island.
After a short coffee break, we tried to go to the Jewish Museum. The coffee break was a mistake, because we were too late to go through the Museum. Instead, we walked to the Pergammon Museum, where DIS paid for us to get audio guides. It was amazing, it is this huge greek temple in the middle of Berlin. We then had a late German dinner.
Day 6
Company Visit 4- Zendome (they make geodesic domes)
We had some time before lunch to walk around Alexanderplatz, where this great little Easter market was going on. There were these adorable little goats! I spent most of my time just watching them.
The little baby ones just kept hopping around!
We then had lunch at a German Brewhouse, where I stuffed myself with more excellent German food. We then took a train out to Sachsenhausen, one of the first Concentration Camps. We had audio guides to tell us more about the camp. On our walk back to the train, we noticed some ominous clouds. We were right to be scared, because it started to pour when we were only halfway through our walk. We all got on the train soaking wet, then split since the tour was officially over. We went out to eat by KaDaWe (the famous department store in West Berlin) and the Gedachtniskirche, the famous church they left bombed out as a memorial to the devastation of WWII.
After dinner, I made a stop back to our hostel to pick up my luggage and then off to my hotel. Well, after the train ride and getting slightly lost while looking for the hotel, I arrived around midnight. Even though I had only about 6 hours of time there, it was totally worth it. I had my own bed and shower! The next morning I saw my second sunrise, since I had to be up so early for my flight for LONDON!
Company 3-Bayer Schering in the morning
We had another one of our delicious meals. This time, we ate on top of the Reichstag looking over Berlin. It was great food AND we got to skip the giant line for the Reichstag. It was really cool, I hadn't been to the top of it yet. It has this giant glass dome on the top and you walk up around the domes along these ramps. You can also look down onto the floor of the German government, symbolizing the transparency of the German government after the Nazi regime. Unfortunately, after walking around the dome my camera ran out of batteries, so I didn't have it for the rest of the day. We went on a bike tour around Berlin. Our tour guide was really funny, and with our luck, it immediately started to rain/sleet once we started to bike. I was obviously really good after all my biking practice in CPH. My bike had a name, Donna Summers. Therefore, Last Dance was stuck in my head the entire ride. We hit all the major sights, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, Potsdamer Platz, Brandenberg Gate, the Reichstag, Berliner Dom, and Museum Island.
After a short coffee break, we tried to go to the Jewish Museum. The coffee break was a mistake, because we were too late to go through the Museum. Instead, we walked to the Pergammon Museum, where DIS paid for us to get audio guides. It was amazing, it is this huge greek temple in the middle of Berlin. We then had a late German dinner.
Day 6
Company Visit 4- Zendome (they make geodesic domes)
We had some time before lunch to walk around Alexanderplatz, where this great little Easter market was going on. There were these adorable little goats! I spent most of my time just watching them.
The little baby ones just kept hopping around!
We then had lunch at a German Brewhouse, where I stuffed myself with more excellent German food. We then took a train out to Sachsenhausen, one of the first Concentration Camps. We had audio guides to tell us more about the camp. On our walk back to the train, we noticed some ominous clouds. We were right to be scared, because it started to pour when we were only halfway through our walk. We all got on the train soaking wet, then split since the tour was officially over. We went out to eat by KaDaWe (the famous department store in West Berlin) and the Gedachtniskirche, the famous church they left bombed out as a memorial to the devastation of WWII.
After dinner, I made a stop back to our hostel to pick up my luggage and then off to my hotel. Well, after the train ride and getting slightly lost while looking for the hotel, I arrived around midnight. Even though I had only about 6 hours of time there, it was totally worth it. I had my own bed and shower! The next morning I saw my second sunrise, since I had to be up so early for my flight for LONDON!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Prague
Finally updating the blog, sorry for the long delay! I am going to do a lot of posts to cover the travel break.
City 1, Prague
Day 1
So my travel break started with a sweet 14 hour bus ride from Copenhagen to Prague. Sunrise number 1, along with my first overnight travel of the trip. We arrived Sunday morning, quickly ate breakfast and then went off on a walking tour, where we hit all the major sights, including the Astrological clock, Charles bridge, and walked all the way up to the Prague Castle. It is the world's larges castle complex. Prague is a gorgeous city with lots of different styles of buildings, my favorite was the art nouveou. They also have a mini Eiffel Tower, spotting it from the hill made me feel like I was on the drive to Kings Island. We also then spent our after checking out some of the other sights in Prague, including St. Vitus cathedral, St. Nicholas church, and the Mucha museum. I really enjoyed the Mucha Museum, he is the artist who created all the art nouveou Parisian posters from the early 20th century.Then we all met up again for a private tour of a traditional brewery. They make this excellent really dark beer, and we got a free glass out of it! There was a group of Italien tourists and another of Japanese tourists, and we got in a competition of drinking songs. Well, by competition the Italiens and Japanese actually had drinking songs to sing, and we tried to think of any American drinking songs. Our most successful was Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
Day 2
We had an early start with a visit to Johnson and Johnson. Boring, but had good snacks and unlimited coffee. Next was lunch at a place where we were supposed to eat like medieval knights. Well, the food wasn't actually like traditional food, but it did feel like we were eating in a dungeon. That afternoon we took a bus to Ruckl crystal factory. The Czech Republic does not have safety regulations. The glassblowers actually drink beer while doing their glassblowing, while wearing flipflops and t-shirts. According to our guide, beer is much better than water in the heat, due to its nutrients. This explains why the Czech drink the most beer per person anywhere in the world.
Day 3
Company trip number two, Microsoft. They just pushed their new products most of the time. Today was full of crazy Prague weather, it was snowing when we left Microsoft, sunny the rest of the day, then later snowed again while thundering. I didn't think that was possible. We had a free afternoon, so we went to the Prague national Museum, which was full of taxidermied animals and had one cool exhibit about Czech history. I think it seemed so much better because it was actually in English along with Czech. Then it was shopping time! I got a cool pair of Euro sneakers, they are purple. My new goal is to look as Euro as possible. That night we had a DIS pub crawl, which was pretty disappointing. We went to only 3 pubs, and had the same beer at each one.
Astrological Clock
View from Charles Bridge, looking at the castle
City 1, Prague
Day 1
So my travel break started with a sweet 14 hour bus ride from Copenhagen to Prague. Sunrise number 1, along with my first overnight travel of the trip. We arrived Sunday morning, quickly ate breakfast and then went off on a walking tour, where we hit all the major sights, including the Astrological clock, Charles bridge, and walked all the way up to the Prague Castle. It is the world's larges castle complex. Prague is a gorgeous city with lots of different styles of buildings, my favorite was the art nouveou. They also have a mini Eiffel Tower, spotting it from the hill made me feel like I was on the drive to Kings Island. We also then spent our after checking out some of the other sights in Prague, including St. Vitus cathedral, St. Nicholas church, and the Mucha museum. I really enjoyed the Mucha Museum, he is the artist who created all the art nouveou Parisian posters from the early 20th century.Then we all met up again for a private tour of a traditional brewery. They make this excellent really dark beer, and we got a free glass out of it! There was a group of Italien tourists and another of Japanese tourists, and we got in a competition of drinking songs. Well, by competition the Italiens and Japanese actually had drinking songs to sing, and we tried to think of any American drinking songs. Our most successful was Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
Day 2
We had an early start with a visit to Johnson and Johnson. Boring, but had good snacks and unlimited coffee. Next was lunch at a place where we were supposed to eat like medieval knights. Well, the food wasn't actually like traditional food, but it did feel like we were eating in a dungeon. That afternoon we took a bus to Ruckl crystal factory. The Czech Republic does not have safety regulations. The glassblowers actually drink beer while doing their glassblowing, while wearing flipflops and t-shirts. According to our guide, beer is much better than water in the heat, due to its nutrients. This explains why the Czech drink the most beer per person anywhere in the world.
Day 3
Company trip number two, Microsoft. They just pushed their new products most of the time. Today was full of crazy Prague weather, it was snowing when we left Microsoft, sunny the rest of the day, then later snowed again while thundering. I didn't think that was possible. We had a free afternoon, so we went to the Prague national Museum, which was full of taxidermied animals and had one cool exhibit about Czech history. I think it seemed so much better because it was actually in English along with Czech. Then it was shopping time! I got a cool pair of Euro sneakers, they are purple. My new goal is to look as Euro as possible. That night we had a DIS pub crawl, which was pretty disappointing. We went to only 3 pubs, and had the same beer at each one.
Astrological Clock
View from Charles Bridge, looking at the castle
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Status: Alive
Just wanted to give readers of my blog a shoutout so that you would all know that I am alive and wasn't sold into white slavery or anything. I just finished my DIS portion of my study break, where I was able to go to Prague and Berlin. Both were amazing, and I will be making multiple posts later. Right now I am in London, and will be traveling to Edinburgh on Tuesday night and back to Copenhagen on the next Sunday for a couple days, then off to Stockholm. It will be a action-packed couple weeks!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Mary Ann visits Ginger
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!This past weekend my friend Mary Ann was here from Bath to visit me! She arrived Thursday night, and I took her to the laundry mat cafe for food and hot chocolate. It was a very hygge time. Then, on Friday I walked her all around town and showed her the major sights, which is quite a bit of walking. Eventually, the weather got worse and worse (The weather became horrible once Mary Ann got here), so we decided to go to the National Museum. It was a lot of fun, my favorite part was the children's section of the museum. We got to dress up in some sweet viking gear. Mary Ann enjoyed the fact that about every other exhibit randomly had a skull in it They also had some bog people, which were really interesting. 
Here I am pretending to be a vicious viking!
On Saturday, we went to La Glace for some cake, since Mary Ann's birthday is Thursday. It was, as always, delicious! This time I got the H.C. Hat, which was a chocolate caramel cake. We then went off to the Carlsberg factory, where they make what is "probably the best beer in the world". Their slogan epitomizes the Danish modesty, and I definitely agree with it! The factory was really fun though, and we met up with my friend Lindsay who also had a friend visiting. The self guided tour wasn't that impressive, but we did get two free beers at the end!
Here we are in front of the Carlsberg elephant, one of their mascots.
That night we went out for mexican, since there are no mexican restaurants in Bath. After that we had a pretty low-key night, and just stayed in to catch up and watched a movie. Sadly, Mary Ann had to leave really early Sunday morning, but it was so nice to see her for the time she was here!
The rest of this week has been spent solidifying travel plans, since our study break starts this weekend. So far, my traveling this is my traveling plans.
Prague March 21-24
Berlin March 24-27
London March 28-31 (with a day trip to Bath one of those days)
Edinburgh April 1-5
Copenhagen April 6-8
Holly Arrives!
Stockholm April 9-13
Holly leaves:( April 16
Budapest April 24-26
I am so excited to go all around!
Here I am pretending to be a vicious viking!On Saturday, we went to La Glace for some cake, since Mary Ann's birthday is Thursday. It was, as always, delicious! This time I got the H.C. Hat, which was a chocolate caramel cake. We then went off to the Carlsberg factory, where they make what is "probably the best beer in the world". Their slogan epitomizes the Danish modesty, and I definitely agree with it! The factory was really fun though, and we met up with my friend Lindsay who also had a friend visiting. The self guided tour wasn't that impressive, but we did get two free beers at the end!
Here we are in front of the Carlsberg elephant, one of their mascots.That night we went out for mexican, since there are no mexican restaurants in Bath. After that we had a pretty low-key night, and just stayed in to catch up and watched a movie. Sadly, Mary Ann had to leave really early Sunday morning, but it was so nice to see her for the time she was here!
The rest of this week has been spent solidifying travel plans, since our study break starts this weekend. So far, my traveling this is my traveling plans.
Prague March 21-24
Berlin March 24-27
London March 28-31 (with a day trip to Bath one of those days)
Edinburgh April 1-5
Copenhagen April 6-8
Holly Arrives!
Stockholm April 9-13
Holly leaves:( April 16
Budapest April 24-26
I am so excited to go all around!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Oslo and Odense Pictures
This way to Norway!
Our wonderful boat!
The Scream by Edvard Munch
The elusive sun of Norway
The Royal Palace, where we then had a snowball fight. I'm with Emily, Lindsay, and Arpi
The closest thing we saw to an iceberg.
Hans Christian Andersen's top hat from his museum in Odense
The Tinderbox, check out the awesome playhouse all based on the tale Clod Hans.
The other view of the playhouse. It was so cool.
The costume area
The art studio where we colored.
My love, Hans Christian Andersen!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Sickness, Oslo, and Odense
I feel like I start every post with apologizing for how long I spend between updates. Well, I am a slacker, so get used to waiting.
The title of my post basically describes my last week, which was pretty up and down.
1. Sickness
The worst part of the last week was getting sick. It started on Tuesday night, and continued through Thursday. I will spare you the disgusting details, but lets just say I spent a lot of quality time sitting on my heated (awesome I know) bathroom floor next to the toilet. Thankfully I did not have a field study that Wednesday, and one of my classes was canceled anyway on Thursday, so I didn't miss as much as I could have. I am better now, but it put a bit of a damper on the booze aspect of the booze cruise to Oslo, Norway.
2. Oslo
On Friday a group of 8 of us (2 rooms of 4) went on the overnight ferry to Oslo. It was a really good deal, and I basically went to Norway and back with housing for less than 50 dollars. It was a really sweet ship (nicer than the cruise ship on our Baltic Sea cruise) with lots to do. Where they make their money is on food, so my still unsettled stomach was a benefit, because I could get away with just the sandwich I had packed. We sailed throughout the night, and arrived in Oslo at 9:30. Major difference between Oslo and Copenhagen, the temperature in Oslo is at least 10 degrees colder. It snowed the entire time we were there, and there was even ice in the water (but no icebergs, which was both good and disappointing at the same time). We went to the Edvard Munch museum, who is one of the few Norwegians I have heard of. His museum was really cool, we saw the Scream, and I really liked a lot of his other art. Plus, it was free since it still counted as the winter season. The rest of our 6 hours in Oslo (which was way too short) we spent having lunch and walking around the old part of town. We also had a snowball fight in front of the Royal Palace. I sure everyone who was there was annoyed by the stupid Americans. That night was basically a repeat of the night before, which consisted of going to the clubs on board the ship. My next couple days are pretty uneventful, because they mostly consisted of catching up on work I had missed.
3. Odense
On Wednesday my H.C. Anderson class got to go to Odense, the town where he was born. It is about a 2 hour drive from Copenhagen, and we got to cross the long bridge connecting Copenhagen's island to the rest of Denmark. It was a gorgeous day, so it was a good thing I didn't fall asleep on the way there because I got to see all the scenery. Once we arrived in Odense, we went to the H.C. Anderson museum, which was pretty cool. It is built around the tiny house where he was born, so you can see how poor his roots were. It also has books from almost every language he has been translated into (he is the most translated author ever), tons of his art and papercuts, and lots of his personal effects. It was a really cool museum. Then we also got to go the Tinderbox, which is a place for children to connect to his tales. It was one of the coolest places I have been to so far, and the entire time I kept wishing I was 6 years old. Basically, they tell the kids some of his tales, and then the kids get to illustrate them in the nice art studio, dress up in elaborate costumes, and then get to act out/play out the tales in this super elaborate set they have created. Pictures are to come, but it was amazing and would be so much fun. We were able to walk around Odense a tiny bit and then had to ride back.
4. This weekend
Today is a very busy day, basically I am going to the rest of my classes, then immediately biking home to cook for Keops Kooking Klub, (fajitas, hopefully delicious), then eating dinner, and then picking up Mary Ann! She is visiting from Bath this weekend. Hopefully we will have lots of adventures to tell on the blog.
The title of my post basically describes my last week, which was pretty up and down.
1. Sickness
The worst part of the last week was getting sick. It started on Tuesday night, and continued through Thursday. I will spare you the disgusting details, but lets just say I spent a lot of quality time sitting on my heated (awesome I know) bathroom floor next to the toilet. Thankfully I did not have a field study that Wednesday, and one of my classes was canceled anyway on Thursday, so I didn't miss as much as I could have. I am better now, but it put a bit of a damper on the booze aspect of the booze cruise to Oslo, Norway.
2. Oslo
On Friday a group of 8 of us (2 rooms of 4) went on the overnight ferry to Oslo. It was a really good deal, and I basically went to Norway and back with housing for less than 50 dollars. It was a really sweet ship (nicer than the cruise ship on our Baltic Sea cruise) with lots to do. Where they make their money is on food, so my still unsettled stomach was a benefit, because I could get away with just the sandwich I had packed. We sailed throughout the night, and arrived in Oslo at 9:30. Major difference between Oslo and Copenhagen, the temperature in Oslo is at least 10 degrees colder. It snowed the entire time we were there, and there was even ice in the water (but no icebergs, which was both good and disappointing at the same time). We went to the Edvard Munch museum, who is one of the few Norwegians I have heard of. His museum was really cool, we saw the Scream, and I really liked a lot of his other art. Plus, it was free since it still counted as the winter season. The rest of our 6 hours in Oslo (which was way too short) we spent having lunch and walking around the old part of town. We also had a snowball fight in front of the Royal Palace. I sure everyone who was there was annoyed by the stupid Americans. That night was basically a repeat of the night before, which consisted of going to the clubs on board the ship. My next couple days are pretty uneventful, because they mostly consisted of catching up on work I had missed.
3. Odense
On Wednesday my H.C. Anderson class got to go to Odense, the town where he was born. It is about a 2 hour drive from Copenhagen, and we got to cross the long bridge connecting Copenhagen's island to the rest of Denmark. It was a gorgeous day, so it was a good thing I didn't fall asleep on the way there because I got to see all the scenery. Once we arrived in Odense, we went to the H.C. Anderson museum, which was pretty cool. It is built around the tiny house where he was born, so you can see how poor his roots were. It also has books from almost every language he has been translated into (he is the most translated author ever), tons of his art and papercuts, and lots of his personal effects. It was a really cool museum. Then we also got to go the Tinderbox, which is a place for children to connect to his tales. It was one of the coolest places I have been to so far, and the entire time I kept wishing I was 6 years old. Basically, they tell the kids some of his tales, and then the kids get to illustrate them in the nice art studio, dress up in elaborate costumes, and then get to act out/play out the tales in this super elaborate set they have created. Pictures are to come, but it was amazing and would be so much fun. We were able to walk around Odense a tiny bit and then had to ride back.
4. This weekend
Today is a very busy day, basically I am going to the rest of my classes, then immediately biking home to cook for Keops Kooking Klub, (fajitas, hopefully delicious), then eating dinner, and then picking up Mary Ann! She is visiting from Bath this weekend. Hopefully we will have lots of adventures to tell on the blog.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Benefits to being teacher's pet
Not all this post will pertain to being teacher's pet, but the most important part does, which is delicious cake. As I have said, I volunteered to be a class rep for my H.C. Anderson class, which is by far my favorite class, despite the downside of having to write papers. I also have developed a huge obsession with my teacher, Lisa Lotte, who does things like bring people gidebooks for trips they are taking and having people do papercuts. Major reason to be class rep, time to hang out with Lisa Lotte. Class rep involves getting feedback from the class and then telling the teacher what the concerns/comments of the class are. This took all of five minutes, but our meeting was over an hour. Although it was only 10am, we went to La Glace, this really historic bakery in København (I have to take advantage of typing on DIS danish keyboards) that it is likely that H.C. would have visited. We each were able to get a piece of cake and a drink, on the DIS tab, which is awesome because this place is super expensive. I got the Karen Blixen, a mocha cake (delicious) and hot chocolate (also delicious). We even got an extra pitcher (which never happens) of hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream. It was so good, like literally drinking melted chocolate. I obviously did not need to eat lunch that day.
Other recent events:
We made the required immature visit to the Museum of Erotica last Wednesday. My favorite part was the room where they talked about celebrities sex lives, I did not realize Charlie Chaplin was was such a ladies man. Worst part, the room where one creepy old man was just sitting by himself watching some of their videos. Afterwards, we went to St. Peter's bakery and got the legendary Wednesday snail, a huge cinnamon roll. It was as good as I had dreamed it would be.
I made it back to the Glyptotek and was able to see what I had missed. My favorite part of this visit was the Rodin area, where I recognized the Burghers of Calais from art history, which made me happy that I remembered something from freshman year.
Kelly has a friend visiting this week who we picked up from the airport since she had a field study. To make ourselves instantly recognizable, we dressed in all the Vanderbilt gear Kelly had since we did not make a sign. There is another Keops visiter this week. Best part, their names are Hamy and Cheese. We also have a girl in our keops named Sarah Bacon. There have been many Bacon, Ham, and Cheese jokes the past couple days.
Today is Monday, so it is burger night at Peders Oxe, which will be my dinner tonight. Keops Kooking Klub has given up on Monday nights since we all go there (except for the two poor vegetarians, sorry Lucy and Arpi!). Hopefully I will have another update soon.
Other recent events:
We made the required immature visit to the Museum of Erotica last Wednesday. My favorite part was the room where they talked about celebrities sex lives, I did not realize Charlie Chaplin was was such a ladies man. Worst part, the room where one creepy old man was just sitting by himself watching some of their videos. Afterwards, we went to St. Peter's bakery and got the legendary Wednesday snail, a huge cinnamon roll. It was as good as I had dreamed it would be.
I made it back to the Glyptotek and was able to see what I had missed. My favorite part of this visit was the Rodin area, where I recognized the Burghers of Calais from art history, which made me happy that I remembered something from freshman year.
Kelly has a friend visiting this week who we picked up from the airport since she had a field study. To make ourselves instantly recognizable, we dressed in all the Vanderbilt gear Kelly had since we did not make a sign. There is another Keops visiter this week. Best part, their names are Hamy and Cheese. We also have a girl in our keops named Sarah Bacon. There have been many Bacon, Ham, and Cheese jokes the past couple days.
Today is Monday, so it is burger night at Peders Oxe, which will be my dinner tonight. Keops Kooking Klub has given up on Monday nights since we all go there (except for the two poor vegetarians, sorry Lucy and Arpi!). Hopefully I will have another update soon.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Festlavn! or the new adventures of Pippi Longstocking
This past weekend was Festlavn, which is the Danish version of Carnival or Mardi Gras. Overall, it is a Danish Halloween. Little kids go around to house to house dressed in costumes and sing a little song. They carry little boxes that people put money or sometimes candy into. That only occurs one night, but Festlavn lasts the entire weekend. It also includes lots of parades, including this one that we randomly happened onto Sunday afternoon.
The Danish were not nearly as excited as we were about the parade. The streets were not even blocked off and cars kept going down the street. The parade also had to stop at red lights, which was kinda funny. 
Another major tradition of Festlavn is the cat barrel. They used to stick a black cat in a barrel, and then beat it with sticks to keep bad luck/demons away. Also, they thought it would keep away the plague during the middle ages. Now, they obviously haven't killed a black cat for this tradition in about 100 years. They even sometimes used to just stick a dead black cat in the barrel and knock it down. Now, it is just filled with candy and whoever knocks it down becomes the Cat King/Queen. Sadly, I was one of the first to hit it so it didn't break, but my Pippi strength did let me hit it so hard that the lights went out for a few seconds.
Here are some of my friends from my kollegium. The Keops party committee threw a Festlavn costume party. From the right, JD was a paperback writer, Kelly was Rose Weasley, and Lucy was Princess Leia. I obviously was Pippi Longstocking, which I found for cheap in the toy store. It was a costume for 6-7 year olds, which needed some alterations to make fit,but still looked so good that I was a finalist for the costume competition.
Here is someof my competition in the costume contest, a gangsta fairy, a cop, and a ski bum. Inexplicably, the ski bum won. I was obviously robbed and should have won.
The Danish were not nearly as excited as we were about the parade. The streets were not even blocked off and cars kept going down the street. The parade also had to stop at red lights, which was kinda funny. 
Another major tradition of Festlavn is the cat barrel. They used to stick a black cat in a barrel, and then beat it with sticks to keep bad luck/demons away. Also, they thought it would keep away the plague during the middle ages. Now, they obviously haven't killed a black cat for this tradition in about 100 years. They even sometimes used to just stick a dead black cat in the barrel and knock it down. Now, it is just filled with candy and whoever knocks it down becomes the Cat King/Queen. Sadly, I was one of the first to hit it so it didn't break, but my Pippi strength did let me hit it so hard that the lights went out for a few seconds.
Here are some of my friends from my kollegium. The Keops party committee threw a Festlavn costume party. From the right, JD was a paperback writer, Kelly was Rose Weasley, and Lucy was Princess Leia. I obviously was Pippi Longstocking, which I found for cheap in the toy store. It was a costume for 6-7 year olds, which needed some alterations to make fit,but still looked so good that I was a finalist for the costume competition.
Here is someof my competition in the costume contest, a gangsta fairy, a cop, and a ski bum. Inexplicably, the ski bum won. I was obviously robbed and should have won.
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