Thursday, April 29, 2010

Tall Ship Sailing!

Last weekend I signed up for the DIS trip to go tall ship sailing. I could not have picked a better way to spend my weekend! It was perfect weather, and despite it being a little chilly on the boat, it was incredibly relaxing. As soon as we boarded the boat we were divided into teams so we could help with various tasks around the ship. We started off hoisting the sails and preparing to set sail, with the help of our ship dog! Everyone on the boat was awesome and we got to know each other pretty fast, before I knew it, it was time for lunch. All the meals were cooked in the tiny tiny kitchen the entire time, which was pretty impressive. Lunch was good, and after we cleaned up we headed to shore to go on a short hike. After about an hour we headed back to the boat and sailed towards port. My group was in charge of making the cake, and we almost added 2 liters of butter into the mixture, good thing our tour leader stopped us! We reached port at about 8pm and proceeded to eat dinner. Then we I went on a night walk with a few new friends as everyone else cleaned up. After an exhausting day, we went to bed on the boat, awaiting my 4am wake up call for night watch. Just about the only good part about the night watch was getting to see the sun rise a little bit, but it was really cold and I was really tired, so I was not too happy about having to wake up then. Thankfully I got to go back to sleep at 5am and slept like a rock. The next day was spent sailing again, and I got to climb the rigging all the way up to the top! That was kind of scary. Then my group was in charge of making lunch. That was quite a challenge in the tiny kitchen, but we only had to warm things up. We arrived back to the original port at about 4pm that day, cleaned the boat, and headed on our way. It was a very awesome experience that went by way too quickly.



In other news, I am a little bruised from the soccer match I had for one of my classes, against some asylum seekers we helped in the beginning of the semester. I have hardly ever played soccer, and pretty much suck at it but it was still really fun. I only fell twice, haha. Also, I am preparing to go to Bornholm, an island about an 8 hour boat ride from Copenhagen. Hopefully the weather holds up long enough for us to bike all over the island and see some of the finest sandy beaches in the world!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Living in a Midsummer Night's Dream

I posted before that I feel like my life here in Denmark has been like a dream, and last night I got to experience dreaming on stage in the Royal Ballet Performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is safe to say that I have been going through a little theatre withdrawal, and I felt slightly homesick because last night was also my school's greek week dance competition. Needless to say I think watching the Royal Ballet perform was an acceptable remedy to both of these problems.

Last night's trip to the theatre was also a mixture of really great luck. My friend Meg and I decided that Wednesday night would be a great night to attend the ballet and were going to head to the box office to get half off tickets after classes, but i woke up to an awesome email from DIS. Essentially the Volcanic eruptions finally paid off in my favor. DIS was supposed to sponsor some sort of conference this week, and as a part of that they bought ballet tickets for those who were planning on attending. However, due to the Volcano, DIS suddenly had 500 kroner tickets (100ish dollars) on their hands with no one to attend the show. DIS then turned to the students, offering the tickets for a mere 200 kroner (35ish dollars). Meg, Miriam and I jumped at the chance and got our tickets!

We arrived at the Royal Theatre about 45 minutes before show time and struggled a slightly to find our seats. Little did we know we did not have to walk very far, because our seats were in the 9th row! Not only were our seats amazing, but a women sitting close to us informed us that the Queen of Denmark would be in attendance!!!!!! I don't think I have ever been so excited for a ballet performance! Not only is Midsummer Night's Dream one of my favorite plays, but I was very excited to see it translated into a ballet. After the Queen arrived, to a standing audience of course, the ballet started and suddenly the stage was transformed into a beautiful Shakespearian world. The dancers seemed to float across their stage in their beautiful costumes, and their ability to convey a story without the use of words fascinated me. Act 1 came to a close much faster then expected, the ballerinas had successfully transformed my world into theirs. After intermission, Act 2 started and once again my world was transformed. The wedding scene, which is the first in the act was by far my favorite and I simply did not want it to end. Time flew by again and I found myself clapping for the curtain call. The ballet was over :( However, it is safe to say that last night was one of my favorite nights in Copenhagen, and as we clapped for the performers, I glanced over at the Queen, who was absolutely beaming at the performers, and so was I.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Interlaken: The Final Stop




The final destination on Kelli and I's agenda was cozy Interlaken, Switzerland. The quaint Swiss town was absolutely adorable and was the perfect place to end our journey. After we checked in and got settled we wandered around the town and found the perfect place for dinner: Mexican! The only problem was, every thing in this town was about 30 dollars for a meal, so Kelli and I split a huge plate of guacamole for dinner, which was totally fine with me! The view from our hostel balcony was breathtaking as well, it overlooked almost the whole town. We went to bed early in order to prepare for our hang gliding adventure the next day!



At 9:00am sharp our new friends Bernie and Ed picked us up from our hostel. These 2 jokesters would be our pilots for our adventure in the air! We joked with them the entire way up the mountain, about how they "just bought the business at the bar 2 nights ago," all in attempts to put our nerves at ease. However, I think it was safe to say at this point that I was not hardly as nervous as I was excited. After a short hike up to the launch area I helped Ed assemble our glider, suited up, and had a little bit of a photo shoot! We also had to practice our launch, so that we could run in-sync down the hill. After 2 practice runs, and a good-bye to Kelli, we started our run! 3-2-1 step step run!!!!!! Suddenly I was in the air like a bird. There is simply nothing like this feeling, I wish I got to do that every day.


After landing safely we waited for Kelli's glider to land as well and headed back to the hostel. Hang gliding was by far my most favorite thing I got to do while traveling. And we still had the entire day ahead of us. We got McDonalds for lunch, completing our cycle! And wandered around the city. We found an awesome park where we could watch other hang gliders and para-gliders sail through the air. It was really cool to see what exactly we had done, but while sitting on the ground. Kelli and also found a place to make our own jewelry, and we both made bracelets to remember the best 2 weeks of spring break ever. I was happy to head home after Interlaken, traveling is exhausting, but I loved every moment.



Monday, April 19, 2010

Rome and All Day Field Study # 2

After Florence Kelli and I headed to Roma! After arriving mid morning and checking into our hostel we jumped onto the metro and headed downtown to see the city. First stop: Colosseum!



Stunning, such amazing history in this city. After the Colosseum Kelli and I visited the Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, and then headed over to Trevi fountain to eat gelato and throw a coin in:



Then we sat on the Spanish steps and people watched, including watching the crazy people try to sell noise makers. Then we headed over to the Pantheon and finally got dinner at the same place Kelli visited with her family 6 years ago. Needless to say it was an exhausting day but I enjoyed being in Rome so much and could not wait to get up and see the Vatican the next day.

We spent the majority of the day walking through the Vatican museum, gazing at amazement at the Sistine Chapel, waiting in line to enter the beautiful Basilica, walking through the tombs of the Popes and hunting for the nearest McDonalds to continue our quest for it in each country.



After such a long day, we headed back to our hostel where we looked for a place to eat. When we were at the front desk, our friends Meg and Bridget were there and we were so excited to see them! We had no idea they were going to be in Rome at the same time as us, so we spent the evening, after a delicious last Italian dinner, catching up with them over gelato.

Now for Field Study number 2! Yesterday we went to the Odense Zoo and the Fjord Research center to see some Marine Mammals in action. We learned a lot about the training aspect for the animals and how it makes handling them in every day life much easier. We watched a sea lion feeding, watched the seals, watched a manatee feeding, saw the trainer do an exam on a lioness, and wandered around the zoo. I loved this zoo! Most of the exhibits were multi species and their training solutions were very different and innovative. They were also breeding most species in the zoo, including the Tapir, who recently had a baby, the manatees the lions and the tortoises. Then we headed over to the research center to watch a seal feeding and see trainers interact with porpoises. All in all it was a very educational weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed our Marine mammals field study.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Fancy Florence and All Day Field Study #1

I think my favorite place over my 2 week vacation was Florence. Not only was it the place where we did not have to stay in a hostel, but I got to meet up with my little and other fellow DIS students! We arrived around dinner time in the pouring rain, and after lugging our suitcases across the city I enjoyed my first authentic Italian meal and then ate my first gelato! According to our Elon friends that live there, it was the best in the city. I don't doubt it! That gelato was sooo good.



After sleeping soundly in our friends apartment, Kelli, Kilby and I woke up to go meet our friends Maddy and Mike for a walking tour. While the walking tour was a little less then satisfactory, I did get to see parts of the city that I would probably have not seen. Then we went to a museum and got to see the David! Such an amazing statue in real life, I couldn't believe we got to see it, and not wait in line! After a quick lunch we walked around the city markets and we bought various leather goods and souvenirs. We had a home made meal that night and hung out and talked until pretty late.

Unfortunately that morning Kilby had to get up and leave really early, but Kelli and I also had to get up really early so we could climb the Dome of the massive church. We had to wait about an hour an a half in line but it was totally worth it. We got an amazing view of the painting on the inside of the dome, as well as an amazing view on the outside.



Kelli and I also sat in a beautiful park with Maddy and Mike and enjoyed being in Florence, then Kelli and I walked around and had some more gelato. This is a picture of us on the Ponta Vecchio where all the gold shops are lining the bridge.



For our last Florentine meal, Kelli and I took our host, Sarah, out for a nice dinner. I truly thought Florence was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been too. I loved the architecture, which was green and white limestone and the general feeling of the city. But nevertheless I was excited to go to Rome the next morning!

Back to life in Denmark: Today was our Nordic Mythology field trip to see Viking like things. Aside from waiting an hour and a half in the freezing windy cold for the bus the field trip was ok. We saw some Viking ships and things, some areas where they live etc, we also got to see where viking ship burials took place and the place where the hall of Beowolf used to stand. Today was all in good fun, but I am way more excited to go to the zoo with my Biology of Marine Mammals class tomorrow!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Nice was Nice plus The Queen's Birthday!

As promised, today's post will be about my trip to Nice. Which was rather short, so I will include my Danish adventures for today! Nice was very beautiful, however, due to a sketchy hostel and a rainy day it was a little less interesting then I originally hoped. We arrived after being on the train literally all day (mostly unanticipated, thank you eurail for confusing me). Kelli and I then enjoyed all you can eat tapas, which was totally worth the wait! The next day we wandered through the town, found the beach and the flower market and hiked up the castle that led to a panoramic view of the entire city!



The hike up was a little rough, but totally worth it. We also go to see the waterfall at the top.



We also enjoyed more awesome food, including crepes and our McDonalds for France and did our typical souvenir shopping. This ended the first week of our travel break, and we headed to Florence in the morning.

However, this is not the end of this post. Today was the Queen's Birthday!!! According to most Danes that I talked to, only old people and children really care about this holiday, but, due to the United States lack of royalty I could not wait to visit the Queen in Amalienborg Palace. At noon sharp she came out with the royal family on her balcony and waved, while the band played, then she continued to parade around the city waving all the way down Strøget. This was such a cool experience! Not only did I vaguely get to see her wave from her palace, but we also got to see her closer in the parade through the streets. I think it is safe to say that between biking Wednesday, and today, I got a good amount of Danish culture this week! All I have to say is: I only have one month left! So keep it coming Denmark!!! Nordic Mythology Field Trip tomorrow!!!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Barcelona! Just as Beautiful as it was 5 years ago!

We arrived in Barcelona after taking a high speed train from Madrid and proceeded to find our hostel, which was located right off of Las Ramblas! After checking in, we made our way to Plaza del Rei for a nice lunch, accompanied by our new friend Hannah, who was studying abroad in Istanbul (SOOO JEALOUS!) Then we headed to the Sagrada Familia which looks essentially the same as it did 5 years ago, but it was so fun to see Kelli's reactions to the towering church. The beautiful market was also the same, with the fruit displayed vibrantly in the front. After the Sagrada Familia we hiked our way through Barcelona to Parc Guell, the park that Gaudi designed that I did not have the chance to see when I was in Barcelona the last time. This place was fantastic! I probably could have spent an entire day walking around the park that overlooked the entire city. It was totally worth the hike all the way up a huge hill to get to this place. Not to mention the weather was perfect for it.


The next day we did the Fat Tire Bike Tour!!! Which has also not changed much, but I loved it just the same. Once again the weather was beautiful and we stopped along the beach for a quick lunch.



All in all, Barcelona was just as great as it was the last time around, and I am so glad I got to show Kelli one of my favorite cities.

This was the message painted on the wall in our hostel, and I think after this semester it is most definitely true:



Also!! On a Denmark note, after my 4 hour biology class this morning (which was surprisingly awesome) I went back to my visiting families house and had lunch. I also got to feel like a true dane and bike around their town which was too fun. I am totally going to take a bike down to Elon this summer, I forgot how nice riding is. Other then that I am just looking forward to the weekend when I will get to visit Roskilde and the vikings, and also the zoo!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Madrid!!!!

The first stop in my 2 week adventure was Madrid, Spain. The first day I was there Kelli was not with me, she arrived the day after, so I spent the first day with my friends Alex, Margot and Julie. We first made our way to the Parc de Retiro where we rented row boats, had some ice cream, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.



Then we headed to the Prado museum to see some fantastic artwork from Goya and the likes.
Kelli joined me the next day and we did a walking tour of the city where we had a crazy guy from texas as our tour guide. Then we went to the Regina Sophia museum where we got to see modern art like Picasso and Dali originals.



Madrid at night is so beautiful, and Kelli and I spent every night wandering around Plaza del Sol people watching, and posing with the bear, the symbol of the city.

We also went into the Spanish Royal Palace and visited the gardens. The insides of the Palace were so ornate it was fascinating. Since Spain was a catholic country they were not allowed to show their "pride." This being said, the outsides of their buildings were very boring. However, once you got in the inside the rooms were beautiful. Decorated from floor to ceiling with incredible paintings and furnishings. Not to mention the gardens which were huge and had peacocks! Naturally Kelli and I had to walk to see them.



Note the peacock in the back left of the picture! We were able to walk right up to them :) That night Kelli and I had the best hot chocolate in the world! Featured on the Travel Channel even! It was so thick you had to dip churros into it. So I think it is safe to say that after all the tapas, paella, and chocolate, sangria I think I ate well in Madrid. Despite rather loud hostelmates, we boarded the train early in the morning (in a station with a jungle inside!) and headed to Beautiful Barcelona!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Spring Break 2010!!!!! I am pretty sure my life is a dream

Madrid - Barcelona - Nice - Florence - Rome - Interlaken
The trip of a lifetime!
The past two weeks have been the most incredible experience in my life. I was pinching myself every day, I am not sure how I got so lucky to be here now, but I saw more things then I could have ever imagined and everything Kelli and I did ended up way better then expected. From seeing original Picasso artwork in Madrid to Hang gliding through the Swiss Alps I had the spring break of a lifetime. I have spent more time on trains then I have in my life, spent more time with one person then I ever have, enjoyed some incredible food (including McDonalds in every country we went to), flew through the air, saw Roman ruins, and laid on the beaches in the south of France. I did way too many things to include in one blog post, so the plan is to review a city a day so I can post lots of pics and include lots of details!! The bottom line: Spring Break 2010 = Awesome