Friday – Had to run some errands this morning. Closed my bank account, did enough grocery shopping to get me through the weekend, had my last Danish pastry. So sad! Leslie left this afternoon. I put her on the Metro to get to the airport. I had to go to the Immigration Office to un-register my residency number. It was a beautiful day in Copenhagen. I had lunch at my favorite pita place for the last time. Did some shopping too. Have a couple birthdays coming up and got some souvenirs for my family. Stayed in tonight. Spent the rest of the day packing and organizing all of my stuff.
Saturday – last day in CPH. Did laundry this morning, more packing, cleaned my room, etc. Pretty boring day. Leoni and I went out for drinks tonight. Went to my favorite happy hour place – Kassen. Last night of yummy but overpriced drinks for me.
Sunday – Final packing and laundry this morning. Headed to the airport around 10. Not too fun to try and navigate Danish streets with two giant suitcases. Luckily I only knocked over two bikes and ran over one guys foot. All in all not too bad. Once I got to the airport I had to go to the Tax Refund Office first. Most EU countries charge a Value Added Tax but if you aren’t an EU citizen you can get a refund on certain things when you leave the country. Didn’t get a ton of money but glad I did it after what happened to me next. Went to check in and one of my bags was overweight by 3 kilos (about 5 pounds). I asked the agent how much it would cost and she said she didn’t know because I had to pay at a different counter. I didn’t even try to reduce the weight because I figured since it wasn’t very much so it wouldn’t be that expensive. I went over to the counter to pay and the lady says that will be 745 Danish Kroner. I almost fell over –that is about $150 American!! For 5 pounds!!!!! Couldn’t believe it. I told this agent that they need to better educate the people that check you in because if I would have know it was going to be that expensive I would have taken something out. She responded that they know they can call the other counter and couldn’t believe she didn’t know. Ridiculous!!! So it took me a while to get over that. Actually still not over it. Planning to write a letter and see if I can get some kind of refund. So after all that I went through security and to my gate and the flight was delayed almost 40 minutes. Considering I had a 1 ½ hour layover in Munich – I was a little nervous. Finally got to Munich and had to go through TWO different passport controls. While in line for the second one they started announcing final boarding for the flight to LA. I almost freaked out on one of the agents and she let me go through a different line. Although I shouldn’t have worried – this flight was a half hour late!! But – the good news is that I made it. Finally on my way home! Carissa picked me up at the airport. I’m staying with her for the next couple days. I’m leaving on Thursday to go spend some time with my family. When I get back Carissa and I are getting an apartment together so I’ll move right in there in August.
Monday – First full day back in California. It’s still the same. Trying to sort out how I feel about being back. Definitely glad to see all my friends again but freaking out about starting everything over. I have to find (in no particular order) a new apartment, new job and new boyfriend. Yikes!!! All of my friends who have done exchanges told me that coming back was a harder transition than leaving for a foreign country. And I think the same will be true for me. Thanks everyone for being so supportive during my time away. I definitely needed to know that there were people thinking about me and praying for me while I was gone. This was the most amazing, challenging, sad, happy, life-changing six months of my life and I couldn’t have made it through without all of my family and friends helping me. This is my last post – thanks for reading. I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did!!
Monday, June 29, 2009
June 18th - 25th
Thursday - Had to get up early this morning to head to Barcelona. We flew instead of taking the train because it was a lot cheaper and faster. We got into Barcelona around 2 PM. Dropped our bags at the hotel and grabbed lunch. Had an amazing tapas lunch at this little place around the corner. Grilled squid, potatoes, sangria. Yummy!!! After we ate, we went up to the hotel pool to get some sun. We were all ready for an afternoon off our feet. Our hotel in Barcelona was huge!! Leslie and I originally booked a double but upgraded to a triple since Kathy was with us. It was 4 times the size of our Paris hotel – not even an exaggeration! For dinner we went down to Los Ramblas tonight. It supposed to be one of the big things to do but it was really touristy. We stopped at one of the cafes and split a pitcher of cava sangria. Cava is Spain’s version of champagne. It was great but ridiculously expensive. Ended up just grabbing pitas for dinner at a take-away place. Couldn’t find any bars we wanted to go to so we went back to the same place we had lunch for some more sangria. There were a bunch of fun people there - couple guys from Canada and a group of Americans.
Friday – We decided to sleep in this morning – and we sure did. Didn’t get up until 11. Guess we were all more wiped out than I thought. Had lunch at our pita place again just because it was cheap and easy. Stumbled upon a huge market a little farther up Las Rambla. Had everything from fresh fruit and vegetables, any kind of meat you could even want, seafood so fresh a lot of it was still alive. There were crawfish everywhere because they escaped from their stands. They also had tapas bars and take away sandwich places. Plus the most amazing fresh squeezed juice I have ever had. Kathy got a pineapple coconut mix – I’m coming back tomorrow to get more. Walked through the city today. Went to see a few buildings built by an architect called Gaudi. This is what Barcelona is famous for. His buildings are so off-the-wall I can’t even describe them. They almost look alive or organic. The first once we saw was called Casa Batlio. All of the balconies on this one looked like skulls. Then we went to the La Pedrera which is actually an apartment building. The outside was shaped in waves – I didn’t even know you could make a building look like that. And the last one we went to was the La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family). This is a church that Gaudi started but died before it could be finished. It’s actually still not done – scheduled for 2026. There is so much detail and work put into this building you could stare at it for hours. Gaudi liked to incorporate nature into his buildings so there are a lot of animals, plants and flowers integrated into the design that you don’t even realize are there until you look for awhile.
We grabbed an ice cream after we were done then headed home to chill. Went up to the pool for a little bit again. The weather has been great. Hot but not too hot. It’s so nice to wear short sleeves and skirts after a winter in Copenhagen. We all went out for tapas tonight. Found a cool place in one of our guide books. Cheap and delicious – my favorite combination. We tried to go to the bar that supposedly has the cheapest drinks in Barcelona. Unfortunately they were closing when we got there. So we walked around a little bit and found this club – but they were closing too!! Eventually we stumbled upon THE COOLEST BAR IN THE WORLD! This bar was built into the ground and was decorated to look like a cave. There were stalactites and stalagmites under the stools and the entire basement was mosaiced with glass. Met some Irish guys there who invited us to their friend’s pub down the street. After we drank ourselves silly with Cava we met up with them. It was a very chill bar – lots of fun. Had to call it a night after that.
Saturday - We were all moving a little slow this morning. Especially Kathy – she was sicker than both me and Leslie. Went back to the market for lunch – I had this amazing pita with pasta and grilled veggies and got a glass of pineapple coconut juice. Perfect hangover cure! Leslie and Kathy had to get pita to settle their stomach. Walked through the Barri Gotic area this afternoon. It’s the oldest part of Barcelona. Saw a lot of cool churches and stumbled upon 3 different weddings. After site-seeing we went to the beach. None of us had been in the Mediterranean before so it was really exciting. Not a very relaxing beach though. For one, the Spaniards are prone to bursting into spontaneous song. And there were a ton of vendors walking around selling massages, henna tattoos, water, beer, etc. You name it they were selling it and they are VERY aggressive. Went out for tapas again that night. Just stumbled upon a little place. Had another pitcher of sangria and another amazing meal!! None of us were up for going out after last night. Plus Leslie and I had to get up early for our train.
Sunday – Kathy headed home today. Sad to see her go but I’m going to see her next month in Indiana. Leslie and I headed to San Sebastian this morning. Fairly long train ride – almost 6 hours – but I slept most of the way. When we got into the train station we had a little adventure. We only had the address of the hotel and the train station didn’t have any maps. We were supposed to find the tourist office for maps. How are we supposed to find the tourist office without a map? The guy at the ticket counter pointed us in the general direction. Luckily when we were waiting for the street light a woman came up to us and asked if we needed help. We told her the address of the hotel and she gave us general directions on how to get here. Yay!! Once we started walked we saw a sign with our hotel name on it – we were going in the right direction! Not so fast – we were quickly lost. Stopped a lady on the street. She was really nice and helpful but didn’t speak a word of English. But she got us turned around and we also asked a bellhop outside another hotel. We finally got there after a half hour! After we got a map from the hotel we discovered that we were only a 5 minute walk from the train station! But what do you do – it’s all part of traveling! Finally checked in and walked around the town a bit. It is very charming. Small with lots of winding streets. Tons of tapas bars and restaurants and pubs. My kind of town. The weather was a little overcast when we got there but after it cleared up we went out to the beach. Went to dinner later at a really strange restaurant. They had a fixed menu so we thought it would be a good, cheap place to eat. The waiter was really strange and no one in the restaurant was laughing or really even talking. Needless to say we got out of there pretty quick and got a drink. Went to a tapas bar and ordered a bottle of wine to share. Again, some really nice locals helped us. In San Sebastian they don’t speak Spanish they speak Basque which is a mixture of French and Spanish. Hard to understand. But the people were extremely friendly. Met a couple of guys from the UK at this bar. They were a lot of fun so after we had our drinks we went to another place for a couple beers - Which was really necessary after splitting two bottles of wine.
Monday – I was a little hung over this morning. We got up and grabbed some breakfast on the way to the beach. We went to the north side of the city. They have a surfing beach there. Unfortunately I screwed up my camera and lost all of the pictures from that morning. The water here is extremely clear and blue. Gorgeous! After a little beach time we went to get tapas for lunch. The tapas bars are set up a little different here than Barcelona. Basically they have big trays of food set out on a bar and you just pick and choose what you want. Then you just eat it while standing at the bar. They also bar hop. You go to one place and have a couple then you go to another and another. It’s a lot of fun. That’s how we spent our afternoon. After lunch we did a little shopping and wandered around the city. I was starting to get a really bad rash from the sun and I tried to stay out of it the rest of the day so we spent some time relaxing in our room before we went out. Did some tapas bar hopping again for dinner. Grabbed drinks in a couple places. Ran into our British friends again tonight so they we all drinks together. We had a blast with those boys!
Tuesday – Time for Madrid. Leslie and I had to leave early again this morning and again I slept most of the train ride. It was another 6 hours. Got into Madrid mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel. Leslie was feeling sick so we didn’t do much today. Walked around the city just to get ourselves oriented. Wandered into the Plaza Mayor area of the city. Did a little shopping and site-seeing there. Found a little place to grab some dinner and called it a night.
Wednesday – Had a late start this morning. Had lunch at a place called Nebraska. Very strange – it was a chain. Kind of reminded me of a Denny’s but nicer. We just had to try it – they were everywhere. We decided to take a tour bus today. They had a couple of routes within the city and you can jump on and jump off all day. Since we were both pretty tired and this was our only full day in the city we thought it would be a good way of getting it all in. It is HOT in Madrid – somewhere around 90 degrees. Got to see all the big sites. Got off at the Museo del Prado. It is the biggest museum in the city. Lots of cool paintings. Jumped back on the bus to finish the tour. Walked around a little bit this afternoon on our own. Went to dinner in the Plaza Mayor area again. Found this great little place. The menu was in Spanish and our waiter didn’t speak English so he just kept bringing us stuff he thought we would like. It was all amazing!! We had our last bottle of Rose this night. So sad it’s our last night of vacation.
Thursday – Left this morning for the airport. Got back to Copenhagen around 5. Just hung out at my place tonight. We were both tired and not much for going out. Pretty uneventful day.
Barcelona - http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.1kvpfsp5&x=0&y=-l7vfb0&localeid=en_US
San Sebastian - http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.c5mqpcsp&x=0&y=-hi80xv&localeid=en_US
Madrid - http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.c5mqpcsp&x=0&y=-hi80xv&localeid=en_US
Friday – We decided to sleep in this morning – and we sure did. Didn’t get up until 11. Guess we were all more wiped out than I thought. Had lunch at our pita place again just because it was cheap and easy. Stumbled upon a huge market a little farther up Las Rambla. Had everything from fresh fruit and vegetables, any kind of meat you could even want, seafood so fresh a lot of it was still alive. There were crawfish everywhere because they escaped from their stands. They also had tapas bars and take away sandwich places. Plus the most amazing fresh squeezed juice I have ever had. Kathy got a pineapple coconut mix – I’m coming back tomorrow to get more. Walked through the city today. Went to see a few buildings built by an architect called Gaudi. This is what Barcelona is famous for. His buildings are so off-the-wall I can’t even describe them. They almost look alive or organic. The first once we saw was called Casa Batlio. All of the balconies on this one looked like skulls. Then we went to the La Pedrera which is actually an apartment building. The outside was shaped in waves – I didn’t even know you could make a building look like that. And the last one we went to was the La Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family). This is a church that Gaudi started but died before it could be finished. It’s actually still not done – scheduled for 2026. There is so much detail and work put into this building you could stare at it for hours. Gaudi liked to incorporate nature into his buildings so there are a lot of animals, plants and flowers integrated into the design that you don’t even realize are there until you look for awhile.
We grabbed an ice cream after we were done then headed home to chill. Went up to the pool for a little bit again. The weather has been great. Hot but not too hot. It’s so nice to wear short sleeves and skirts after a winter in Copenhagen. We all went out for tapas tonight. Found a cool place in one of our guide books. Cheap and delicious – my favorite combination. We tried to go to the bar that supposedly has the cheapest drinks in Barcelona. Unfortunately they were closing when we got there. So we walked around a little bit and found this club – but they were closing too!! Eventually we stumbled upon THE COOLEST BAR IN THE WORLD! This bar was built into the ground and was decorated to look like a cave. There were stalactites and stalagmites under the stools and the entire basement was mosaiced with glass. Met some Irish guys there who invited us to their friend’s pub down the street. After we drank ourselves silly with Cava we met up with them. It was a very chill bar – lots of fun. Had to call it a night after that.
Saturday - We were all moving a little slow this morning. Especially Kathy – she was sicker than both me and Leslie. Went back to the market for lunch – I had this amazing pita with pasta and grilled veggies and got a glass of pineapple coconut juice. Perfect hangover cure! Leslie and Kathy had to get pita to settle their stomach. Walked through the Barri Gotic area this afternoon. It’s the oldest part of Barcelona. Saw a lot of cool churches and stumbled upon 3 different weddings. After site-seeing we went to the beach. None of us had been in the Mediterranean before so it was really exciting. Not a very relaxing beach though. For one, the Spaniards are prone to bursting into spontaneous song. And there were a ton of vendors walking around selling massages, henna tattoos, water, beer, etc. You name it they were selling it and they are VERY aggressive. Went out for tapas again that night. Just stumbled upon a little place. Had another pitcher of sangria and another amazing meal!! None of us were up for going out after last night. Plus Leslie and I had to get up early for our train.
Sunday – Kathy headed home today. Sad to see her go but I’m going to see her next month in Indiana. Leslie and I headed to San Sebastian this morning. Fairly long train ride – almost 6 hours – but I slept most of the way. When we got into the train station we had a little adventure. We only had the address of the hotel and the train station didn’t have any maps. We were supposed to find the tourist office for maps. How are we supposed to find the tourist office without a map? The guy at the ticket counter pointed us in the general direction. Luckily when we were waiting for the street light a woman came up to us and asked if we needed help. We told her the address of the hotel and she gave us general directions on how to get here. Yay!! Once we started walked we saw a sign with our hotel name on it – we were going in the right direction! Not so fast – we were quickly lost. Stopped a lady on the street. She was really nice and helpful but didn’t speak a word of English. But she got us turned around and we also asked a bellhop outside another hotel. We finally got there after a half hour! After we got a map from the hotel we discovered that we were only a 5 minute walk from the train station! But what do you do – it’s all part of traveling! Finally checked in and walked around the town a bit. It is very charming. Small with lots of winding streets. Tons of tapas bars and restaurants and pubs. My kind of town. The weather was a little overcast when we got there but after it cleared up we went out to the beach. Went to dinner later at a really strange restaurant. They had a fixed menu so we thought it would be a good, cheap place to eat. The waiter was really strange and no one in the restaurant was laughing or really even talking. Needless to say we got out of there pretty quick and got a drink. Went to a tapas bar and ordered a bottle of wine to share. Again, some really nice locals helped us. In San Sebastian they don’t speak Spanish they speak Basque which is a mixture of French and Spanish. Hard to understand. But the people were extremely friendly. Met a couple of guys from the UK at this bar. They were a lot of fun so after we had our drinks we went to another place for a couple beers - Which was really necessary after splitting two bottles of wine.
Monday – I was a little hung over this morning. We got up and grabbed some breakfast on the way to the beach. We went to the north side of the city. They have a surfing beach there. Unfortunately I screwed up my camera and lost all of the pictures from that morning. The water here is extremely clear and blue. Gorgeous! After a little beach time we went to get tapas for lunch. The tapas bars are set up a little different here than Barcelona. Basically they have big trays of food set out on a bar and you just pick and choose what you want. Then you just eat it while standing at the bar. They also bar hop. You go to one place and have a couple then you go to another and another. It’s a lot of fun. That’s how we spent our afternoon. After lunch we did a little shopping and wandered around the city. I was starting to get a really bad rash from the sun and I tried to stay out of it the rest of the day so we spent some time relaxing in our room before we went out. Did some tapas bar hopping again for dinner. Grabbed drinks in a couple places. Ran into our British friends again tonight so they we all drinks together. We had a blast with those boys!
Tuesday – Time for Madrid. Leslie and I had to leave early again this morning and again I slept most of the train ride. It was another 6 hours. Got into Madrid mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel. Leslie was feeling sick so we didn’t do much today. Walked around the city just to get ourselves oriented. Wandered into the Plaza Mayor area of the city. Did a little shopping and site-seeing there. Found a little place to grab some dinner and called it a night.
Wednesday – Had a late start this morning. Had lunch at a place called Nebraska. Very strange – it was a chain. Kind of reminded me of a Denny’s but nicer. We just had to try it – they were everywhere. We decided to take a tour bus today. They had a couple of routes within the city and you can jump on and jump off all day. Since we were both pretty tired and this was our only full day in the city we thought it would be a good way of getting it all in. It is HOT in Madrid – somewhere around 90 degrees. Got to see all the big sites. Got off at the Museo del Prado. It is the biggest museum in the city. Lots of cool paintings. Jumped back on the bus to finish the tour. Walked around a little bit this afternoon on our own. Went to dinner in the Plaza Mayor area again. Found this great little place. The menu was in Spanish and our waiter didn’t speak English so he just kept bringing us stuff he thought we would like. It was all amazing!! We had our last bottle of Rose this night. So sad it’s our last night of vacation.
Thursday – Left this morning for the airport. Got back to Copenhagen around 5. Just hung out at my place tonight. We were both tired and not much for going out. Pretty uneventful day.
Barcelona - http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.1kvpfsp5&x=0&y=-l7vfb0&localeid=en_US
San Sebastian - http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.c5mqpcsp&x=0&y=-hi80xv&localeid=en_US
Madrid - http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.c5mqpcsp&x=0&y=-hi80xv&localeid=en_US
June 13th - 17th
Saturday - Leslie got into town this morning. She had an easy flight in. SAS has a direct flight from Chicago. We did a little site seeing this afternoon. Went into the city center, walked through a couple of stores and went up in the Round Tower. Then we headed down to the harbor and got some ice cream. Sat down by Nyhavn. Met some very friendly, very drunk Danes. After we grabbed a couple beers and chilled in the park for a bit. It was a overcast and windy this afternoon so we didn’t stay out very long. Headed back to the apartment so Leslie could take a little nap. Later that night we went to the Radhusplads area. Stopped in the Hotel 27 bar to have a cocktail then went into the Ice Bar. As the name implies, it’s an entire bar made out of ice. The walls, chairs, tables, even the glasses. It’s kind of a tourist trap but it was a lot of fun. They give you parkas and snow boots to wear while you’re inside. You can’t stay in very long, it’s WAY too cold. After that we headed over to Mexi bar. Amit and some other exchange students were there. It was Amit’s last night in Copenhagen. He was my last good friend here – every is gone now! Lots of fun at Mexi as usual!
Sunday – Just a little hungover this morning. We had brunch at this café on Osterbrogade that I’d been wanting to go to for awhile. Had a yummy Danish breakfast! The weather was nicer today. Sunny but still windy. Went back to the city center and took a Canal Tour. Since Leslie is only in CPH a couple days it was a good way to see all the big stuff in the city in an hour. Didn’t do much the rest of the day. Headed back to my place so we could get ready for our trip tomorrow. Had dinner at my place, packed and watched a movie. National Lampoon’s European vacation to get us ready for our Euro Tour!
Monday – Left for Paris this morning. Got into the city about mid-afternoon. The initial opinion of the city was underwhelming. It was raining and gray outside. Had lunch at a café by our hotel. It was actually kind of nice to sit under the awning and enjoy the rain. Leslie and I split a carafe of Rose, which definitely helped the mood. After lunch we checked in to our hotel. We had the tiniest hotel room I have ever seen. It was tiny, tiny, tiny. Just enough room for a double bed, desk and closet. That was it. After we settled in, we went site-seeing. We hit a couple of the big things today - Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle and Conciergie. The weather cleared up a little bit later so we just kind of wandered through the city. Found some shopping, went to a contemporary arts museum, had a drink in a café. Later that night we had dinner at an outdoor brasserie. It started raining again when the sun went down but it was nice to sit under the awning and watch the rain again. Had escargot – ofcourse, it’s Paris! On the way home we stopped at a pub for a couple drinks. We made it an early night. It was a long day and neither of us slept very well last night.
Tuesday – Today’s my Birthday!!!! Leslie was moving a little slower than me this morning so I went out to find an internet café. Kathy was getting in town today but I wasn’t sure what time. Finally found it and of course it wasn’t open yet. So I wandered around the neighborhood a little bit – found a bunch of outdoor markets and bought some strawberries. After Leslie was ready we had breakfast and then walked around the Jardiin du Luxembourg. There are these big gardens in the area where we were staying. Lots of palm trees so it was a nice reminder of home! We met up with Kathy at our hotel around noon. So happy to see her!!! We decided to walk over to the Eiffel Tower. Grabbed baguette sandwiches on the way for lunch. Today was a gorgeous day!! We had a much better outlook on the city. It finally feels like we’re actually in Paris. Took a bunch of pictures at the tower but didn’t go up because the line was crazy, it was at least a couple hours long. We decided to come back the next day. From the tower we walked to the Arc de Triumphe. Such a great view of the city but the walk up is torturous!! It’s a spiral staircase all the way. Crazy!! After we stopped at a café on the Champs Elysse to split another bottle of Rose – it became a habit on the trip. From there we headed back to the hotel. Kathy needed to find a hostel and we all wanted to get ready for dinner. We all got dressed up for Birthday Dinner!! Found a cool restaurant in my Frommer’s guide that we tried out. DELICIOUS!!!! The décor was awesome and the entrance had this huge touch screen floor. It changed from flowers that bloomed wherever you stepped to a koi pond where the fish would scatter from your step. Made it an early night tonight too. Kathy had a long day – got up at 5!
Wednesday – Another gorgeous day in Paris!! Had crepes from a street vendor for breakfast on the way to the Louvre. Spent all morning in the museum. So much to see! Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, tons of ancient artifacts – Egyptian, etc. Had lunch at a café afterwards and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around. Did some shopping, had a coffee, ice cream, etc. Then we went home to get ready for the night. That night we walked from our hotel, along the Seine River towards the Eiffel Tower at sunset. Such an amazing night. A perfect day with the girls!! We had great weather and the sunset was gorgeous! Took a ton of pictures along the river. We went up the Eiffel Tower after it got dark. It is completely lit up at night – looks awesome. The only trouble we had was Kathy’s panic attack about the height. She gets a little nervous in open structures like that so she didn’t do so well in the elevator. But she made it through. We had to go get drinks after that. Went into a cool bar by our hotel. Kathy and I split a bottle of Rose. (See a pattern here?) Kathy couldn’t find a hostel tonight so she squeezed in with me and Leslie. Our room is so small that when Kathy was lying on the floor we couldn’t get to the bathroom.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.2799ipmx&x=0&y=-pdn2c1&localeid=en_US
Sunday – Just a little hungover this morning. We had brunch at this café on Osterbrogade that I’d been wanting to go to for awhile. Had a yummy Danish breakfast! The weather was nicer today. Sunny but still windy. Went back to the city center and took a Canal Tour. Since Leslie is only in CPH a couple days it was a good way to see all the big stuff in the city in an hour. Didn’t do much the rest of the day. Headed back to my place so we could get ready for our trip tomorrow. Had dinner at my place, packed and watched a movie. National Lampoon’s European vacation to get us ready for our Euro Tour!
Monday – Left for Paris this morning. Got into the city about mid-afternoon. The initial opinion of the city was underwhelming. It was raining and gray outside. Had lunch at a café by our hotel. It was actually kind of nice to sit under the awning and enjoy the rain. Leslie and I split a carafe of Rose, which definitely helped the mood. After lunch we checked in to our hotel. We had the tiniest hotel room I have ever seen. It was tiny, tiny, tiny. Just enough room for a double bed, desk and closet. That was it. After we settled in, we went site-seeing. We hit a couple of the big things today - Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle and Conciergie. The weather cleared up a little bit later so we just kind of wandered through the city. Found some shopping, went to a contemporary arts museum, had a drink in a café. Later that night we had dinner at an outdoor brasserie. It started raining again when the sun went down but it was nice to sit under the awning and watch the rain again. Had escargot – ofcourse, it’s Paris! On the way home we stopped at a pub for a couple drinks. We made it an early night. It was a long day and neither of us slept very well last night.
Tuesday – Today’s my Birthday!!!! Leslie was moving a little slower than me this morning so I went out to find an internet café. Kathy was getting in town today but I wasn’t sure what time. Finally found it and of course it wasn’t open yet. So I wandered around the neighborhood a little bit – found a bunch of outdoor markets and bought some strawberries. After Leslie was ready we had breakfast and then walked around the Jardiin du Luxembourg. There are these big gardens in the area where we were staying. Lots of palm trees so it was a nice reminder of home! We met up with Kathy at our hotel around noon. So happy to see her!!! We decided to walk over to the Eiffel Tower. Grabbed baguette sandwiches on the way for lunch. Today was a gorgeous day!! We had a much better outlook on the city. It finally feels like we’re actually in Paris. Took a bunch of pictures at the tower but didn’t go up because the line was crazy, it was at least a couple hours long. We decided to come back the next day. From the tower we walked to the Arc de Triumphe. Such a great view of the city but the walk up is torturous!! It’s a spiral staircase all the way. Crazy!! After we stopped at a café on the Champs Elysse to split another bottle of Rose – it became a habit on the trip. From there we headed back to the hotel. Kathy needed to find a hostel and we all wanted to get ready for dinner. We all got dressed up for Birthday Dinner!! Found a cool restaurant in my Frommer’s guide that we tried out. DELICIOUS!!!! The décor was awesome and the entrance had this huge touch screen floor. It changed from flowers that bloomed wherever you stepped to a koi pond where the fish would scatter from your step. Made it an early night tonight too. Kathy had a long day – got up at 5!
Wednesday – Another gorgeous day in Paris!! Had crepes from a street vendor for breakfast on the way to the Louvre. Spent all morning in the museum. So much to see! Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, tons of ancient artifacts – Egyptian, etc. Had lunch at a café afterwards and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around. Did some shopping, had a coffee, ice cream, etc. Then we went home to get ready for the night. That night we walked from our hotel, along the Seine River towards the Eiffel Tower at sunset. Such an amazing night. A perfect day with the girls!! We had great weather and the sunset was gorgeous! Took a ton of pictures along the river. We went up the Eiffel Tower after it got dark. It is completely lit up at night – looks awesome. The only trouble we had was Kathy’s panic attack about the height. She gets a little nervous in open structures like that so she didn’t do so well in the elevator. But she made it through. We had to go get drinks after that. Went into a cool bar by our hotel. Kathy and I split a bottle of Rose. (See a pattern here?) Kathy couldn’t find a hostel tonight so she squeezed in with me and Leslie. Our room is so small that when Kathy was lying on the floor we couldn’t get to the bathroom.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.2799ipmx&x=0&y=-pdn2c1&localeid=en_US
Friday, June 12, 2009
June 9th - June 12th
This was my last full week in Copenhagen. I was planning to visit all of my favorite places one last time but Mother Nature had other ideas. It started raining Tuesday afternoon and pretty much hasn't stopped since.
Tuesday I did a little workout in my room. I brought my resistance bands along and they've come in handy. My hip is still bothering me so I haven't been able to go for a run. Ran some errands this afternoon. Needed to return some things to Tiger. Wanted to grab a coffee in a cafe somewhere. On the way home I got caught in the rain. I didn't even think to bring my umbrella or anything with me. Needless to say I was a little damp when I got back to my room.
Wednesday was another day of rain. Although it was off and on all day today. Went down to Kongens Nytorv this morning. I wanted to do a little shopping. Spent some time in H&M. Found a dress for my birthday next week (yay!). Grabbed some lunch in a cafe by Nyhavn. After lunch I met up with Amit and we went to the National Museum. I haven't been here since my first month in Copenhagen. I thought I had seen most of it but didn't realize how big it is. We spent a couple hours there and then grabbed a coffee at Baresso after. Luckily the rain had let up for a little bit so we could sit outside.
Thursday I decided to return the dress I bought for my birthday. Took a look at the bank account and it wasn't happening! Met up with my buddy Maja for lunch. We went to my favorite falafel place. Yummy!! I make everyone go there! Just chilled out the rest of the day. Watched 90210 and Friends in the common room. Watched The Wrestler tonight. That movie is a little intense! Been watching a LOT of movies this week.
Friday - rain again. Looks like it's going to rain all day today. Cleaned my room this morning - Leslie gets here tomorrow! Can't wait! I did have to go to the grocery store and dry cleaners this morning also. Was supposed to go to Tivoli with Amit again today. But if this rain keeps us I'm not leaving the house again.
Tuesday I did a little workout in my room. I brought my resistance bands along and they've come in handy. My hip is still bothering me so I haven't been able to go for a run. Ran some errands this afternoon. Needed to return some things to Tiger. Wanted to grab a coffee in a cafe somewhere. On the way home I got caught in the rain. I didn't even think to bring my umbrella or anything with me. Needless to say I was a little damp when I got back to my room.
Wednesday was another day of rain. Although it was off and on all day today. Went down to Kongens Nytorv this morning. I wanted to do a little shopping. Spent some time in H&M. Found a dress for my birthday next week (yay!). Grabbed some lunch in a cafe by Nyhavn. After lunch I met up with Amit and we went to the National Museum. I haven't been here since my first month in Copenhagen. I thought I had seen most of it but didn't realize how big it is. We spent a couple hours there and then grabbed a coffee at Baresso after. Luckily the rain had let up for a little bit so we could sit outside.
Thursday I decided to return the dress I bought for my birthday. Took a look at the bank account and it wasn't happening! Met up with my buddy Maja for lunch. We went to my favorite falafel place. Yummy!! I make everyone go there! Just chilled out the rest of the day. Watched 90210 and Friends in the common room. Watched The Wrestler tonight. That movie is a little intense! Been watching a LOT of movies this week.
Friday - rain again. Looks like it's going to rain all day today. Cleaned my room this morning - Leslie gets here tomorrow! Can't wait! I did have to go to the grocery store and dry cleaners this morning also. Was supposed to go to Tivoli with Amit again today. But if this rain keeps us I'm not leaving the house again.
Monday, June 8, 2009
June 5th - June 8th
Friday I spent most of the day at the library. I have my last final on Monday and need to start getting ready. Not too much studying to do. It's open book and open note. Just need to get my notes in order and be ready. Met Amit tonight at Tivoli. It is the amusement park in the middle of Copenhagen. Also, the second oldest amusement park in the world. The first oldest is also in Denmark. Fun fact for everybody today! It's a gorgeous park. Very reminiscent of Disney World. Lots of landscaping and very family friendly. A couple big rides but not like a Six Flags or anything like that. Went on a bunch of rides. The cool thing about this park is that you get amazing views of the city when you're up on the rides. Started to get chilly when it got dark. We were both FREEZING!! Can't believe it's this cold in June. It was in the high 40s tonight. Crazy! Lots of people out too. On Friday nights there is always a concert. The band tonight was from Sweden and sang in Swedish so I didn't really get a lot out of it.Saturday I spent part of the day studying again. In the afternoon I went for a run and did a little workout. I don't have my gym membership anymore so I'm trying to improvise. Met some friends out for drinks tonight - Connie, Mertaza and Amit. Met at The Moose for a couple drinks to start. One of my favorite bars because it's cheap! Denmark beat Sweden today in a World Cup qualifier game. Needless to say there were lots of drunk soccer fans out tonight. Lots of fun though. Everyone was wearing their red and white. After The Moose we went to a bar called Din Nye Ven. Just another hole in the wall student bar. But it was a lot of fun. It was supposed to be an easy night but somehow I managed to be out until 3 AM. Funny how that happens :)
Sunday was another study day. Spent the majority of the day at school. Just finished up some reading that I hadn't done during the semester and trying to organize my notes a little more. Talked to my mom this afternoon and made a couple other phone calls - Leslie and my aunt Ginny. Kind of a slow day unfortunately.
Monday was my final! Excited to be done with it. Had to get up early this morning to get to campus. Started at 9 AM and it was 4 hours. We got a case then had to write an analysis based on our coursework. Pretty straightforward. I got done with plenty of time to go. Afterwards I grabbed lunch then came home. Ran some errands this afternoon - post office, cleaning, updating my blog, etc. Staying in tonight. I was supposed to meet Amit out for drinks but I did something to my hip and it hurts to walk. Hopefully if I stay off of it I'll feel better tomorrow.
This is my last full week in Copenhagen. Leslie gets here on Saturday and then I'm spending the rest of my time here traveling. Only 3 more weeks until I'm back in the states!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
June 2nd - June 4th
It's a slow week so I actually have time to up date this blog in a timely manner.
Tuesday was another gorgeous day. Slept in a little this morning. Had to run some errands this morning and spent most of the afternoon at the park. The weather is starting to cool down and they are expecting rain later in the week. But today was still nice, if a little cloudy and windy. Didn't even think about sunscreen since it was overcast and I was only out for an hour or so but I had a pretty red back when I got home. My tan is going to be completely messed up by the time I get home. My arms, chest and upper back are really tan because I've been wearing tank tops and strapless dresses. Unfortunately my legs and especially my stomach are winter white!! I guess that's what happens when you don't lay out at the beach in a bikini!
Wednesday morning I had to go to school for a little bit. Working on getting all of my financial aid paperwork in order. Had a bit of a rough start today. Was walking through one of the buildings on campus and didn't realize there was a step right behind a door I was going through. I bit it and sprained my ankle. It didn't swell up or anything but it was sore the rest of the day. Had to put some ice on it later and self-medicated with advil. Then as I walking to the metro to go home, my sandal broke. It was completely unwearable. So I had to walk in one sandal to a nearby store to buy some shoes to make it home. Let me tell you, you feel like quite the weirdo walking around a store with only one shoe on.
After I finally made it home I got an e-mail that the grade for my marketing final had been posted. Let's just say I didn't do as well as I expected. So I started freaking out because it looked like the grade wasn't going to be high enough to transfer back to USC. Yikes!!! So I immediately started freaking out and sending e-mails left and right. First I e-mail the secretary to verify that the grade was right. It couldn't be that low, right? Unfortunately it was. Then she tells me that I can't re-take the exam because according to CBS it is considered passing. So then I start e-mailing USC to find out what I can do. Worst case scenario I have to take an extra class when I get back to the states but then I also have to pay for another class. Fortunately I run into Leoni who explains to me that USC has the OLD grading scale from CBS and that the grade that I got IS considered passing. Thank the Lord!! I was about 15 minutes from a full blown panic attack! It was definitely a crazy day.
Thursday morning I headed to school to start studying for my final that's on Monday. I get there only to find out that the school website is down and I can access any of the files that I need to prep. Basically I had nothing else to do so I went into the city center and went for a walk. In a couple weeks I'm not going to see it again so I'm trying to take advantage. Went for a run later in the day. Starting to get chilly again and it rained a little bit today. What happened to the 80 degree weather??? Itching to get back to California where the weather doesn't change every 20 minutes.
Tuesday was another gorgeous day. Slept in a little this morning. Had to run some errands this morning and spent most of the afternoon at the park. The weather is starting to cool down and they are expecting rain later in the week. But today was still nice, if a little cloudy and windy. Didn't even think about sunscreen since it was overcast and I was only out for an hour or so but I had a pretty red back when I got home. My tan is going to be completely messed up by the time I get home. My arms, chest and upper back are really tan because I've been wearing tank tops and strapless dresses. Unfortunately my legs and especially my stomach are winter white!! I guess that's what happens when you don't lay out at the beach in a bikini!
Wednesday morning I had to go to school for a little bit. Working on getting all of my financial aid paperwork in order. Had a bit of a rough start today. Was walking through one of the buildings on campus and didn't realize there was a step right behind a door I was going through. I bit it and sprained my ankle. It didn't swell up or anything but it was sore the rest of the day. Had to put some ice on it later and self-medicated with advil. Then as I walking to the metro to go home, my sandal broke. It was completely unwearable. So I had to walk in one sandal to a nearby store to buy some shoes to make it home. Let me tell you, you feel like quite the weirdo walking around a store with only one shoe on.
After I finally made it home I got an e-mail that the grade for my marketing final had been posted. Let's just say I didn't do as well as I expected. So I started freaking out because it looked like the grade wasn't going to be high enough to transfer back to USC. Yikes!!! So I immediately started freaking out and sending e-mails left and right. First I e-mail the secretary to verify that the grade was right. It couldn't be that low, right? Unfortunately it was. Then she tells me that I can't re-take the exam because according to CBS it is considered passing. So then I start e-mailing USC to find out what I can do. Worst case scenario I have to take an extra class when I get back to the states but then I also have to pay for another class. Fortunately I run into Leoni who explains to me that USC has the OLD grading scale from CBS and that the grade that I got IS considered passing. Thank the Lord!! I was about 15 minutes from a full blown panic attack! It was definitely a crazy day.
Thursday morning I headed to school to start studying for my final that's on Monday. I get there only to find out that the school website is down and I can access any of the files that I need to prep. Basically I had nothing else to do so I went into the city center and went for a walk. In a couple weeks I'm not going to see it again so I'm trying to take advantage. Went for a run later in the day. Starting to get chilly again and it rained a little bit today. What happened to the 80 degree weather??? Itching to get back to California where the weather doesn't change every 20 minutes.
Monday, June 1, 2009
May 27th - June 1st
Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Amsterdam. Had a little bit of trouble getting to the hotel. Nothing major just seemed like everything that went wrong did. Plus it was raining which didn't help when we were trying to read street signs. But we finally made it. One of my friends from school, Alan, met us in Amsterdam. He had been traveling all over Northern Europe the last week so he made Amsterdam his final stop. Because of the ordeal getting to the hotel we all needed a drink. Went to a nearby bar and had a couple drinks/shots. Found this a
uthentic Dutch restaurant to have dinner at, called The Pantry. Had this tray of random smoked fish - herring, shrimp and eel. The eel was actually really good. Probably my favorite of all. Just tasted like smoke
d fish. Had a couple drinks after dinner then wandered into the Red Light District. That was a very strange experience. Kind of odd to see prostitutes everywhere. Grabbed a drink here but because it was a Tuesday all of the bars closed at 1AM. Finally found a late night bar called Pinocchios. Had to head home after that. Alan had an early morning flight so he went straight back to the airport.
Wednesday was kind of a crappy day - rainy and cold.
We got pancakes in the morning. Dutch pancakes are much different than American. They're thinner and are as big as your plate. They also put toppings on them almost like a pizza. Yummy!! Went to the Van Gogh Museum in the afternoon. They had an exhibit on the Starry Night painting. Van Gogh is my favorite artist so I loved it!! Great afternoon. Headed to the Heineken Brewery next. It was an awesome tour. There is a lot of stuff to look at and it's really interactive. We all got Heineken bottles with our names on them. After the tour we went to Rembrandt Square. Found a restaurant to grab some dinner - La'Opera. After dinner we went into a pub and watched a soccer game - Barcelona v. Manchester United. Crazy game - the whole bar was packed and everyone was into the game.
Thursday the weather finally got nice. Very sunny and warm outside. We grabbed breakfast at our hotel then went on a canal tour. There wasn't a guide it was a recorded message in 3 or 4 different languages. Hard to understand so we didn't get a lot of the history but an hour on a boat on a nice day is never a bad thing. After the tour we got more pancakes. They're so good - we're obsessed. Then
we went to the Anne Frank House. Very sad to see how they had to live and what they went through. The museum is very well done. Walked around through different parts of the city after that. Went through the Flower Markets and the Torture Museum. Guess which one was Matt's idea? Had dinner at an Argentinian Grill. Lots of food and Sangria - perfect. Went into a couple different bars by our hotel. First went into a Whiskey Bar. I don't think any of us ordered whiskey though. Then went to a place called Surprise Bar. Very sketchy but kind of fun. Later when we walked past we saw the bouncer literally throw someone out. Weird.
Friday was the nicest day of our trip. We went on a Countryside Bicycle Tour. We drove through the city a bit then out into the country. Went past a working windmill then they took us to a Cheese Farm. Lots of yummy cheese to taste. T
hey also had wooden clogs for sale. Our tour guide took Carissa and I up into the attic. The barn cat had just had kittens. They let us hold them - only a couple days old, didn't even have their eyes open yet. Headed back into the city and grabbed lunch. Walked into the Central Market. Lots of crafts, food, candies, and that kind of stuff. Found this amazing little cake place. The cakes they made looked like art. Very cool and very delicious! Went back to the hotel to get ready to go out. We were all stuffed from the cake so we just had shwarma pitas for dinner. Went back to Rembrandt Square. Hit a couple of bars there. Carissa and Matt stayed up all night because they had an early flight in the morning. Luckily I got a couple of hours in.
Saturday morning headed back to CPH. Spent the afternoon organizing my life again. Did some laundry, cleaned up, caught up on e-mails, etc. Didn't go out tonight - I was exhausted. As soon as my head hit the pillow I w
as out!
Sunday I went to the Copenhagen Carnival with Amit and Connie. It was HOT today. Probably in the high 70s or 80s. The hottest day I've had since I've been here
. The carnival was a lot of fun. There were about 6 different stages and tents set up all over the park with different kinds of music - samba, world, african, reggae, etc. Lots of dancing and exhibitions. At the end of the day there was a big parade. It was nice to have a relaxing day in the sun again.
Monday is a holiday in Copenhagen but I'm spending the afternoon at the computer lab. Still working on my resume and cover letter. Plus had to catch up on this blog. Lots of writing to do!!
Amsterdam pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.724q55oh&x=0&y=uffehg&localeid=en_US
Carvnival:http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.7ro6igdt&x=0&y=-843429&localeid=en_US
uthentic Dutch restaurant to have dinner at, called The Pantry. Had this tray of random smoked fish - herring, shrimp and eel. The eel was actually really good. Probably my favorite of all. Just tasted like smoke
d fish. Had a couple drinks after dinner then wandered into the Red Light District. That was a very strange experience. Kind of odd to see prostitutes everywhere. Grabbed a drink here but because it was a Tuesday all of the bars closed at 1AM. Finally found a late night bar called Pinocchios. Had to head home after that. Alan had an early morning flight so he went straight back to the airport.Wednesday was kind of a crappy day - rainy and cold.
We got pancakes in the morning. Dutch pancakes are much different than American. They're thinner and are as big as your plate. They also put toppings on them almost like a pizza. Yummy!! Went to the Van Gogh Museum in the afternoon. They had an exhibit on the Starry Night painting. Van Gogh is my favorite artist so I loved it!! Great afternoon. Headed to the Heineken Brewery next. It was an awesome tour. There is a lot of stuff to look at and it's really interactive. We all got Heineken bottles with our names on them. After the tour we went to Rembrandt Square. Found a restaurant to grab some dinner - La'Opera. After dinner we went into a pub and watched a soccer game - Barcelona v. Manchester United. Crazy game - the whole bar was packed and everyone was into the game.Thursday the weather finally got nice. Very sunny and warm outside. We grabbed breakfast at our hotel then went on a canal tour. There wasn't a guide it was a recorded message in 3 or 4 different languages. Hard to understand so we didn't get a lot of the history but an hour on a boat on a nice day is never a bad thing. After the tour we got more pancakes. They're so good - we're obsessed. Then
we went to the Anne Frank House. Very sad to see how they had to live and what they went through. The museum is very well done. Walked around through different parts of the city after that. Went through the Flower Markets and the Torture Museum. Guess which one was Matt's idea? Had dinner at an Argentinian Grill. Lots of food and Sangria - perfect. Went into a couple different bars by our hotel. First went into a Whiskey Bar. I don't think any of us ordered whiskey though. Then went to a place called Surprise Bar. Very sketchy but kind of fun. Later when we walked past we saw the bouncer literally throw someone out. Weird.Friday was the nicest day of our trip. We went on a Countryside Bicycle Tour. We drove through the city a bit then out into the country. Went past a working windmill then they took us to a Cheese Farm. Lots of yummy cheese to taste. T
hey also had wooden clogs for sale. Our tour guide took Carissa and I up into the attic. The barn cat had just had kittens. They let us hold them - only a couple days old, didn't even have their eyes open yet. Headed back into the city and grabbed lunch. Walked into the Central Market. Lots of crafts, food, candies, and that kind of stuff. Found this amazing little cake place. The cakes they made looked like art. Very cool and very delicious! Went back to the hotel to get ready to go out. We were all stuffed from the cake so we just had shwarma pitas for dinner. Went back to Rembrandt Square. Hit a couple of bars there. Carissa and Matt stayed up all night because they had an early flight in the morning. Luckily I got a couple of hours in.Saturday morning headed back to CPH. Spent the afternoon organizing my life again. Did some laundry, cleaned up, caught up on e-mails, etc. Didn't go out tonight - I was exhausted. As soon as my head hit the pillow I w
as out!Sunday I went to the Copenhagen Carnival with Amit and Connie. It was HOT today. Probably in the high 70s or 80s. The hottest day I've had since I've been here
. The carnival was a lot of fun. There were about 6 different stages and tents set up all over the park with different kinds of music - samba, world, african, reggae, etc. Lots of dancing and exhibitions. At the end of the day there was a big parade. It was nice to have a relaxing day in the sun again.Monday is a holiday in Copenhagen but I'm spending the afternoon at the computer lab. Still working on my resume and cover letter. Plus had to catch up on this blog. Lots of writing to do!!
Amsterdam pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.724q55oh&x=0&y=uffehg&localeid=en_US
Carvnival:http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.7ro6igdt&x=0&y=-843429&localeid=en_US
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