June 26th - 29th

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!!

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

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

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.

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!
This is the newest ride at Tivoli. We waited an hour to ride it. Very cool but not worth an hour of my time...Sorry it's sideways I couldn't figure out how to flip it.

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.

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 authentic 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 smoked 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. They 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 was 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

May 20th - May 26th

Sorry it's been so long. Have been crazy busy the last couple weeks.

Wednesday was a typical day. Went to see Snow Patrol with Amit last night so I slept in a little bit this morning. Went to the gym them met some friends out in the evening. Guido's favorite soccer team was playing (Wieder Bremen) and his girlfriend was in town so we all met at a bar in the Tivoli area. Lots of fun as usual - live music, too many Jager shots. You know the drill.

Thursday morning went to the gym. Was a little hungover this morning but still made it to the gym. Spent the day getting ready for Carissa and Matt's visit. Had to do some cleaning, get a couple phone calls in since I won't be around this weekend. My mom has been sick. Diagnosed with an ear infection last week but wasn't getting better. Went back to the doctor and they told her she has Bell's Palsy. It is a temporary paralysis of one side of your face. Completely treatable and will go away but definitely not fun.

Friday morning Carissa and Matt arrived!!! So excited to see them. Took them back to their hotel then went into the city for some sightseeing. Went to my favorite shwarma place then walked up the Round Tower. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest so the view wasn't as nice as normal. Walked through Kongens Nytorv then went back to their hotel so they could check in and relax. Went out around Norreport tonight. Found this crazy bar called Bank-e-rat. The whole place is decorated with weird taxidermy and really strange furniture. In one of the rooms all of the light fixtures are doll baby heads. Found a pub to eat some dinner then grabbed another drink. Wasn't a late night, they had an over night layover in London so didn't get a lot of sleep in.

Saturday morning we walked over to the Little Mermaid statue. It's really close to where they are staying so it was a nice walk for the morning. From there we walked into Nyhavn. Saw the Opera House, Amelioborg Palace and the harbor. Had a traditional Danish lunch - smorrebrod. Which is basically an open sandwich. We had all kinds of crazy toppings - pickled herring, smoked salmon, brie, some kind of pork and Matt got liver pate. It was delicious!! After lunch we took a canal tour. The weather is starting to get nicer again so it was a nice afternoon. Grabbed a coffee after the tour and ran into my friends Laura and Connie. Walked back to the train through the King's Gardens. Went out in Norrebro that night. Had dinner at this AMAZING Indian restaurant. Some of the best Indian I've ever had. Met up with my friends at Mexi-Bar. Ended up being a crazy night. too many margaritas and tequila shots. Had a blast. Carissa's stomach was sore in the morning from laughing so hard.

Sunday morning I cooked brunch at my place. Petra came over also. It was her last day in Copenhagen. So sad but she's coming back in a couple weeks to do a presentation. After brunch I took Carissa and Matt to Radhusplads. Went through the Central Station, saw Tivoli and took a bunch of pictures in the town square. From there we walked over to the Royal Library and into Christianshavn. Took them to my favorite pastry place - delicious as usual! We had a couple drinks at a bar floating in the canal then walked through Christiania. Headed back to their hotel room. Grabbed some Vietnamese food for dinner. Stayed in tonight and played UNO. It's been a crazy couple days.

Monday we went to Malmo. Carissa and I did some shopping. Did a little sight-seeing but there's just not as much as CPH. Had lunch at a place called Mello Yello. Same place I took Mandee. Then we relaxed in the park for a little awhile. We had great weather today. Sunny and only partly cloudy. Headed back to CPH around dinner time. I had to get some things done and pack for Amsterdam so I left them on their own. They went to dinner close to city center then went to the Ice Bar. It is actually a bar made entirely of ice.

Tuesday morning I had to go to class. It was the last one of the semester. Met up with Carissa and Matt at the train station. We're going to Amsterdam today!!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.arr0oe0x&x=0&y=-smv7wg&localeid=en_US

May 11th - 19th

Spent the first part of the week getting ready for Mandee's visit. Had to do a bunch of cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping - all that fun stuff. Class on Tuesday - only two more, ready to be done.

Wednesday morning - Mandee's here! For those who don't know Mandee, she was my college roommate at IU. We lived together for 3 years. So excited to see her! She landed around 9:30 AM, so we went back to my place, dumped her stuff, and then went out exploring the city. We had lunch at my FAVORITE pita place in Norreport. Yummy! Then we went up the Round Tower where you can get a panoramic view of the city. We were lucky - it's a gorgeous day. Pretty sunny and warm. After that we walked through the shopping area of the city a little bit. Showed her what a Danish department store looks like. We went into Magasin, which is pretty crazy. It's 5 floors. They have everything in there - grocery store, deli, 2 restaurants, shoe repair, home goods and ofcourse, clothes! We made it a pretty easy day since Mandee had a little jet-lag. Ate dinner at my place - homemade pizza. (I've become obsessed with making pizza lately) Went out in Norrebro for a couple drinks. Hit this place call Ol Barren. Which literally translates as Beer Bar. Nice quiet night.

Thursday we started the day in the city center. Went to see the Changing of the Guards. Usually a little more impressive, but they didn't have the marching band today. Still cool to see. Afterwards we got a couple of the free bikes and rode to the Little Mermaid Statue (my favorite..). Mandee hadn't been on a bike for a while so it was a little adventure for her. Grabbed some bagel sandwiches and ate lunch in the park afterwards. The weather was pretty chilly and overcast today. Walked through the botanical gardens. So gorgeous there and even better than last time I went. Way more flowers and trees were in bloom so it was really nice. Went over to the Royal Library (Black Diamond) next. Really amazing building right next to the water. Had a coffe/hot chocolate and a snack then walked through the library a little bit. I had never gone through the cafe but the inside of the building is amazing. The new part of the library (the black diamond) is very modern with lots of windows and light. It's directly attached to the old part which has these huge archways and marble floors. Went home to get ready to go out. I took Mandee to the Nexus club at my school tonight. It's always an interesting place to go. Got there early for happy hour. Not very busy tonight. Usually it's crazy to get in but I think a lot of people are working on finals and thesis this week. Left and went back to the city center to go to a bar called The Moose. I like it because it has the cheapest beer I've been able to find in Copenhagen. Pretty laid back night. But somehow we were out until 3 AM. Took the night bus home - that was an experience for Mandee. Although not as many crazy drunks as you get on the weekend.

Friday we went through the Central Station. Walked past Tivoli (amusement park) but didn't go in because it's too expensive. Had lunch at McDonald's so Mandee could experience it in a different country. It's pretty much the same. Walked towards Nyhaven. It was a beautiful day - warm and no clouds - so we decided to take a canal tour. It was really nice. We saw a lot of things that we had already gone to but it's always fun to be in a boat! Had an ice cream by the water afterwards. Met some friends for happy hour at Kassen. So ofcourse it was another crazy night. Way too many two for one drinks!! Grabbed some pizza next door then headed to Mexibar. Again way too many cheap drinks!!

Saturday turned out to be a really lazy day. We were both too hungover to do much of anything. Although somehow I managed to go to the gym. Still not sure how that happened. It was raining all day so there wasn't much to do anyone. Walked down to a Mexican place by my house to load up on greasy food. Went to a couple shops but then spent the rest of the afternoon sacked out watching Friends on DVD. Had dinner at my place then went to Vesterport to see a movie. I hadn't been to a Danish movie theater before. It's pretty much the same except you get a seat number. There's no sitting whereever you want. Kind of nice because I bet it's easier to max out the theater that way. Interesting... We saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. Really cute movie! Afterwards we walked around by the city hall a little bit. There was a huge car show going on. Very strange considering I don't even know any Danes that own cars. We walked towards Nyhavn again. Grabbed a couple of beers at the 7-11 (very Danish). Stumbled upon a fireworks show so that was really cool. Then called it a night.

Sunday morning went on the Carlsberg Brewery Tour. I went last week with some of my friends, but it's a lot of fun. Although last time I was there the horses weren't there but this time they did have a couple of then in the stables. I'm assuming they do something similar to the Budweiser Clydesdales. After lunch we headed to Christianshavn. We walked through the Christiania area. Which is the old hippy commune. It's pretty sketchy so we didn't spend a lot of time there. Took Mandee to an amazing bakery. The best pastries in Copenhagen. Came home and had dinner at my house. Went to an Irish bar in Kongen's Nytorv for a couple drinks. Unfortunately not much going on Sunday nights.

Monday morning we went to Malmo, Sweden. Ended up being a beautiful day. Did some shopping early in the afternoon. The exchange rate is really favorable s0 you can get things 30% cheaper than Denmark. Spent a big chunk of the afternoon relaxing in the park. Trying to get some sun but it didn't really work :( Walked through the city a little bit then found a place for dinner. We had an awesome meal. Probably one of the top ones I've had in Europe so far. I had Mahi-Mahi and Mandee had Rigatoni. After dinner we went to another place and had a couple beers. It was such a perfect day to just sit in the sun and have a couple drinks.

Tuesday morning was time for Mandee to leave. So sad!! But I'm going to see her again in a couple months when I'm back in Indiana visiting. I was supposed to go to class but when I woke up this morning I wasn't feeling well. Using the day to catch up on things. Have to be well when Carissa gets there on Friday!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.50sx78s1&x=0&y=dtz3l1&localeid=en_US

May 4th - May 10th

Monday and Tuesday - just regular days. Ran some errands, went to the gym, did my reading for the week, went to class. The weather has been crappy - rainy and cold so there's not much to do outside.

Wednesday was a good day. Went on a date. Obviously not going to be anything serious but it was a lot of fun. I met a Danish guy at a bar last weekend. Went to have a coffee, ate some pizza, watched a soccer game. It was nice to be on a date again. It's been forever!!

Thursday afternoon I met a bunch of my friends at Carlsberg Brewery. We toured their museum. Guido and Amit both had friends/family visiting so we had a big group. Lots of fun. At the end of the tour you get to sample two of the beers. Went out with Guido and his friends to watch the Bremen soccer game later. I'm almost starting to become a soccer fan! Luckily Bremen won so Guido was in a good mood the rest of the night. My friend, Laura, came to meet up with us later. Went to a touristy bar close to the city center. Live musicians playing a lot of covers, but there was a good vibe so we had a blast.

Friday was a lazy day. It was rainy and cold so I didn't go outside, plus being a little hungover didn't help my motivation. Worked on my resume and cover letter a little bit this afternoon. I've started doing research on industries I might be interested in. Have to be ready to get a job when I get home!

Saturday morning, Laura and I went to Malmo, Sweden for some shopping. The exchange rate is really favorable. It makes things about 30% cheaper than Copenhagen. It was a really nice day. The rain was finally stopped. Starting to get warm again. We all meet up later that night for drinks. Was supposed to be an easy night - couple beers and that's it. Famous last words. Started at Cucaracha Bar. Kind of strange but we got a couple of free shots. Ran into some friends of ours while walking to another bar. Went to a bar called The Moose. Lots of fun and ridiculously cheap beer. Didn't get home until it was light outside. Can't even remember the last time I did that! I'm getting too old for this :)

Sunday was obviously another lazy day. Went to the gym, talked to my mom (Happy Mother's Day!), and that was about it. Getting ready for the week. Class on Tuesday and Mandee's coming to visit!!!

April 30th - May 3rd

Thursday I had to catch up on reading for my last class. I missed it on Tuesday since I was working on my final. Went to the gym in the morning then headed to the park. There's a really nice park just south of school. I hadn't been there before but heard it was really nice. It was in the 70s today so there were lots of people out. Was able to work on my tan a little. Almost got a little sunburnt. The park was gorgeous. Lots of flowers and trees. Most of the parks are more like open fields but this one was more like a garden. Gorgeous! Met up with Petra later that night for a drink. We were supposed to go to Nexus, which is the club at school. But we got there at 9 PM and there was already a 3 hour wait. So we made an early night of it and just went to another place for a beer.

Friday I had some shopping to do. It's my nephew's 2nd birthday at the end of the month so I had to get his present. I spent an hour in H&M kids picking out clothes. Because I also decided to get stuff for my other friends' kids too. It was bad news. I felt weird because I was the only one shopping with out a child with them. Probably thought I was a weirdo. Met up with Laura and Petra later. We got some beers and sat in the park the rest of the afternoon. Laura and I went out later that night. Headed to Kassen - my favorite Friday happy hour bar. Next we went Oak Room. Drank WAY too much. Didn't eat dinner so it was not good.

Saturday morning I was ridiculously hungover. Didn't get out of bed until after lunch. Spent the entire afternoon laying on the couch. I did talk to my parents and Leslie on Skype. Then I managed to motivate myself to get to the gym. Still not quite sure how that happened but I felt a lot better. Met a group of people at Bang & Jensen's later that night. After I had a cocktail I definitely felt a lot better! It was an early night though. Definitely didn't want a repeat of Friday.

Sunday is a slow day. Just catching up on some stuff today. Planning to meet up with Laura later for a coffee. The weather is starting to get chilly again. Predicting rain the rest of the week.

April 23rd - 29th

Thursday was another gorgeous day. The weather just keeps getting better and better. Had a coffee with Leoni at New Harbor this morning. We rode our bikes in - this city is so easy to get around in on a bike. I'm going to get spoiled. She had to go to work so I grabbed some lunch and headed to the King's Garden. Sat in the grass and enjoyed the weather and my sandwich. Spent the afternoon riding around the city. Went to Rosenborg Castle and the Botantical Gardens. The Gardens are amazing. I spent over an hour just wandering around looking at all the flowers. They also had a greenhouse you could go through. One of the rooms was a rainforest. It was so ridiculously humid in there. I couldn't even take any pictures because my lens kept fogging up.

Friday morning I got up and went to the gym. Met Petra and one of her friends at the park in King's Gardens after lunch. We all had reading to do for school so we sat in the grass and snacked on potato chips and strawberries. I got a little bit of a tan. Not a bad day! Petra and I made a pizza at my place. We chilled here for a little bit. I drank a half bottle of wine. She's still on anti-biotics so I was drinking alone. And called it a night.

Saturday, same routine. Went to the gym in the morning, then the park in the afternoon. Only today I went to Faellenpark by my house. It was another nice day but pretty windy so that made the weather a little cooler. I didn't stay out as long today. Met Amit and Guido out for a drink. Went to Bang & Olsen's and a new bar called Lille Boutique. Lots of fun, had a little too much to drink of course.

Sunday I had to start studying for my final on Tuesday. Spent most of the day in the library on Sunday and Monday. Not fun but honestly I have nothing else to do, so why not? Tuesday I was at school all day (9 AM to 9 PM) working on my final. It was a 24 hour case on the US Toy Market. Luckily something I know a little about. Just glad it wasn't based on some obscure European market. Turned it in Wednesday morning. Now I'm done until June 8th! Between now and then I just have class once a week. I'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands. But I think I'll be okay.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.a4gbnund&x=0&y=s4uurw&localeid=en_US

April 17th - 22nd

Met up with my friend, Petra this afternoon. One of her friends from Prague came to visit so we did some sightseeing. Copenhagen finally put out their free bikes, so we picked up a couple of those. Rode along the water to see the Little Mermaid Statue (my favorite) and then rode around a castle. It was such a nice day we went to the King's Garden Park. Tons of people out having picnics and playing soccer. Afterwards went to grab a beer and sandwich with another friend, Ulrik. I think this was the first time I've eaten in a real restaurant since I've been in Denmark. It's so expensive that you can't really afford it. Met up with Amit later. Found this new bar called Mexi-Bar. Small but super fun. And cheap drinks!! shots of tequila were $4 and margaritas were $7 (cheap by CPH standards). Needless to say we took full advantage of the cheap booze!

Saturday morning I definitely felt the effects from Friday night. Slept in a little bit, went to the gym. Still not quite sure how that happened, but I did it! Met up with Petra and her friend later in the day for a coffee. Another gorgeous day. Went home for dinner, but then met up with everyone again later that night. Went to one of my favorite places - Bang & Jensen's. It's just a nice chill-out bar. Lots of young people, so it's a lot of fun. Made it an early night. After Friday I wasn't quite up to it.

Sunday morning all of us met up (Petra, her friend, me and Amit) and went to Roskilde, Denmark. The Viking Ship Museum is there. We didn't go into the exhibits, but they have quite a few boats out in the water to look out. Spent the rest of the day exploring the town. Very small and very dead on a Sunday. Copenhagen is usually really quiet on Sundays, but this was worse. We probably only saw a handful of people outside of the museum all day. Strange. Even though it was small they had this ridiculously big church in the middle of town. It was gorgeous but we couldn't figure out how such a big church was built in such a small town.

Monday was back to school. Went onto campus, had to print some stuff. Did my reading for class on Tuesday. Had dinner at Petra's that night. Amit cooked. Wanted him to make something Indian, but he made tacos instead. No worries, it was really good!

Tuesday I was at school all day. Went in the morning to start work on my study guide for my Marketing final next week. I'm working with a couple other girls in my class and we're splitting the work. Supposed to have it done tonight. Had class after lunch then back to the computer lab to finish my notes. Had a mini-emergency today. Petra had been having some issues with a cyst in her armpit and finally went to the doctor in the morning. They had her in the hospital ALL day. Kept telling her that she would need surgery but kept postponing it. So she was trapped in a hospital room all day with no food and nothing to do. So I headed to the hospital to keep her company. Ofcourse by the time I got there, they let her go and decided to do the procedure on Wednesday. Poor thing was so upset, so we had dinner at her house and hung out. I got a lesson in socialized medicine today! Scary!

Wednesday was a slow day. Had a lot of errands to run today: cleaning, drycleaning, gym, etc. Plus it rained so it turned into a really lazy day. Oh and Petra's procedure went great. She's much better!

April 11th - 16th

Boring week, back to normal - I miss vacation!!!

Friday night when for happy hour drinks with my friend, Lara, from Canada. Went to my favorite Friday night bar that has two for one drinks until 10. Was supposed to be an early night but we ended up meeting a friend of hers at a club at 11. Stayed out until 4:30, which I definitely haven't done since I was an undergrad. Had a lot of fun though! The club was awesome. I had been there before and they play great music.

Saturday was a waste because of Friday night. Slept until noon, went to the gym, watched a movie. That was about it. Because of the Easter holiday most of the shops have shortened hours or are closed. This started on Thursday and runs through Monday. Strange because this isn't a very religious country but they get a 5 day weekend for Easter. Needed to run some errands but couldn't get much done.

Easter Sunday was a nice relaxing day. Went to the gym in the morning, then took a long walk through my neighborhood and a park by my house. It's been amazing weather this week. In the 60s every day, you only need a light jacket. Copenhagen is a completely different city. It seems like the population has doubled in the last couple days because there are so many people out and about. it's great. It makes the city so much more fun when you don't have to bundle up and spend the least amount of time outside as possible. I've been in California too long, I forgot what that's like. Went to mass Sunday night. Not very many churches have English services and they were all at night. Another strange thing about this church. Half the congregation was Asian. Still haven't figured that one out.

Monday I started studying for my final on Wednesday. It's a 24 hour case, but I have to organize all of my notes and make sure I have everything straight. Tuesday was the same thing except I did have a class in the afternoon. All day Wednesday was dedicated to the final. We got it at 9 AM and is due at 9 AM on Thursday. Not very hard really, it was only 5-6 pages. Got up early on Thursday to make my final changes and turn it in. Then I had the rest of the day to myself. Went to the gym, ran some errands. That was about it.

April 3rd - April 10th

Link for pictures: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.cbi3keg1&x=0&y=-6na569&localeid=en_US

This is going to be a long one. Just got back from vacay and I have a lot to tell everyone.

Friday morning, my friend Amit and I left for Prague. Got there mid-afternoon. This is an absolutely amazing city. It's beautiful, tourist-friendly and CHEAP! Spent the afternoon walking around and taking it all in. There are Easter Markets going on so all of the squares are set up with booths selling food, crafts and other souvenir stuff. The main square had a stage set up and had traditional folk dancing. And the weather was amazing. I wore flip-flops for the first time in months. I was almost more excited about that than anything. Went out for a nice dinner that night then hit a couple clubs. The first bar we went to was called Chapeau Rouge. There were three levels: live music, DJ/Club, and regular bar. Very cool vibe. Then we headed back closer to our hotel and hit a club called Celnice. Lots of fun. The only problem is that you can smoke in the bars here. Actually you could smoke in all of the cities we went to on this trip. Definitely not used to that anymore.

Saturday we went to Prague Castle. Gorgeous grounds and it seems to go on forever. After lunch we took a funucular (cog railway) up the hill and walked through a park and the monastery. We met up with our friend Petra this evening. She walked us through a couple different parts of the city and gave us a history lesson. That night we went for a traditional Czech dinner. The restaurant was down in this dungeon type room and was decorated very medeival. The meal mostly consisted of meat and potatoes. Which isn't surprising. Her boyfriend met up with us later and we went to a bar in the residential part of the city. It's always good to know locals then you get to see the "real" city.

Sunday morning we got up SUPER early. President Obama was giving a public address in the square at Prague Castle. We left the hotel at 6AM. His speech was at 10AM. Petra and her bf were supposed to meet us but they overslept and went later. It took us about a half hour to get to the castle. The buses were ridiculously crowded. We were packed in tight. Once we got there it took about an hour to get through the line and through security. We had to go through metal detectors and get searched. Crazy. Once we were in then we just had to wait. They had food vendors and plenty of bathrooms so no complaints there. It was actually really well organized. The president, first lady and Czech PM came out of the castle around 9 AM and did a very brief ceremony. Then they all went back inside and came out an hour later for the actual speech. It was pretty amazing to be there. Although we couldn't actually see the president there was such a great vibe from the crowd. Everyone was happy to be there and see him. There was a definite feeling of acceptance and excitement from everyone. One of the weirdest parts of the day was seeing all of the snipers that were set up around the square. They were on most of the rooftops and you could see them through windows of alot of the buildings.

After lunch we met up with Petra again. They went to the speech also. Ran into someone they knew and got into the VIP area. She was about 30 feet from the podium. I'll post some of her pictures they were amazing. She took us outside of the tourist areas again this afternoon. Had a picnic on the grounds of a huge church that was the original site of the kingdom. Went to a traditional Czech pub that night for drinks and dinner. Had an early night because we were all exhausted from our early morning.

Monday morning we got on a train and headed to Vienna. Got there a little after lunch. We checked into our hotel and explored the city. Vienna is known for their coffee houses. We went to a famous once this afternoon and had lemonade and strawberry dessert. Yummy!! You can rent bikes really cheap here. Once you pay a 1 euro registration fee you can pick up a bike at any of the stations around the city. The first hour is free then it's 1-2 euro per hour after that. It's cheaper than public transportation. And you get to see more of the city. There was a really nice bike trail along the Danube Canal so we followed that through a big chunk of the city. Had dinner at a pub close to the water. Then stopped at a couple other bars before we called it a night.

Tuesday morning we jumped on bikes again and headed into the center of the city. Stopped at another coffee shop for some actual coffee this time. Then we went to St. Stephen's Basilica. They have a huge tower that you can go into. It gives you an amazing view of the city. One interesting thing about Vienna is that there is a lot of construction going on. While I was up in the tower I counted 13 different cranes that were all doing work on different sites. Good to know the construction industry is thriving somewhere. After this we went to the Hofburg area, which is the Royal Palace. There are also quite a few museums in this area. After lunch we went to the Museum Quarter. This is one complex that holds 5 or 6 different museums. Got there too late in the day to go in any of them, plus they were expensive. Spent some time that afternoon relaxing in the park. The weather was AMAZING this week. We really got lucky. It was a nice change of pace from the weather in Copenhagen. Tonight was our last night in Vienna so we went for traditional Viennese food - Goulash. My Frommer's guide recommended a place called the Goulash Museum. It was awesome. This was probably my favorite meal the whole trip.

Wednesday morning got on a train to Budapest. Arrived around lunchtime. This was a very interesting city. It is a gorgeous city but there is something vaguely depressing about it. The people don't seem very happy or very wealthy. We stayed outside the city center so this afternoon we went in and explored the castle. It was a huge area. Quite a few museums and beautiful churches. Plus an amazing view! Went back into the city center for a snack and probably the best lemonade I have ever had in my lift. I didn't take a picture of it and now I'm regretting it. So good I can't even describe it! Went out for dinner later that night. Tried to go for drinks but the city was pretty dead. So sad, it was our last night of vacation.

Thursday morning I slept in, then we headed back into the city for lunch. Found a really nice place on a major street. Then it was time to head to the airport. Such a great trip, had a blast and ofcourse it went too fast. I'm working on getting the pictures uploaded. When I do I'll post the link.

March 30th - April 2nd

I had my last sessions for two of my classes on Monday and Tuesday. Now I'm down to one class per week until I leave. Unfortunately I still have finals. Kind of a strange system here. They don't have a "final's week" like most American universities. Because the final is 100% of your grade they have to space them out so people have time to study for everything. One of my finals is on the 15th and the other isn't until the 28th. Hopefully it won't be bad to take the final a MONTH after class is over.

Wednesday was a gorgeous day! It got up to 50 degrees. I never thought I would be so happy to see 50 degrees! Spent the day running errands and doing a little shopping. Went out with Amit and Guido that night. Found a bar in Norrebro called Olbaren, which literally translates as Beer Bar. They served specialty beers. Of course, the German loved it! And it wasn't even that expensive - relative to other bars in Copenhagen. It was a lot of fun. The bartender was Australian and pretty much everyone there was speaking English so we talked to a lot of different people.

Thursday is another beautiful day!! This morning I turned in my first final. It was definitely not the best paper I've ever written but I should do okay. The professor likes me and the grade transfers back as a pass/fail, not a letter grade. It feels good to have one finished.

Leaving for Prague and Budapest tomorrow!! Can't wait! Found out this week that President Obama is going to be in Prague the same time we are. He's giving a public speech on Sunday so we're going to go. There's also a rumor that he's staying at the same hotel as we are. It's very exciting!!!!

March 24th - 29th

I went on a travel binge this week. Booked trips to Sweden, Amsterdam, Paris and Spain. And have a trip to Berlin in the works also. I'm going to come back broke, but don't really care!

Worked on my final paper for my CSR class most of the week. Pretty much done with it now. Only going to do one more proof-read and print it out. Turn it in on Thursday. Feels good to have one under my belt. Although I know the rest aren't going to be so easy...

Friday night I went out with Leoni. Went to a couple of cocktail bars in the city center. I also had my first experience on a bike in Copenhagen. I haven't ridden a bike in a couple months, so I was a little nervous plus I was wearing heels. Yikes! but everything went fine. There are bike lanes on every major street and cars are trained to look out for bike riders. It's actually MUCH easier and quicker to get around than with public transportation.

Saturday morning Petra and I went to Malmo, Sweden for some sightseeing/shopping. Malmo is right across the bay from Copenhagen. It's only 30 minutes by train from the Central Station. The Swedish Kroner is depressed right now, so the exchange rate is very favorable! Everything is priced about the same as Denmark, but because of the exchange it's almost 40% cheaper. Nice!! Got there around noon, spent most of the afternoon shopping, then did try to do a little sightseeing. Only problem is that everything shuts down by 4 or 5. So by the time we got to the castle we wanted to see it was 4 PM and it was closed. That's still hard to get used to.

Sunday is study day. Working on my paper and trying to coordinate the trips I have coming up. Heading to Prague and Budapest on Friday. Can't wait!! Updates on this trip next week!

March 17th - 23rd

Tuesday - St. Patrick's Day!! One of my favorite holidays. Unfortunately it is not popular in Denmark (and most of Europe) like it is in the States. Fortunately I found a fun group of people to go out with. We all met for a traditional Irish dinner - baked potatoes and salad. Yummy!! We hit a couple of Irish pubs in the downtown area of Copenhagen. The first one we went to wasn't very busy. Very strange. But the second bar had a live band and a TON of people. We had a great time. Had to make a pit stop at Burger King on the way home, but still had my traditional post-St. Patrick's Day hang over on Wednesday.

Had class on Wednesday. It was my last Corporate Social Responsibility class. We got the assignment for our final on Thursday. Pretty easy - 10 page paper, but we have two weeks to finish it. Spent most of Thursday afternoon starting on it and then was at the library most of Friday working on it also. I'm already half way done!

Friday night we went to my friend Guido's dorm for a party. It was supposed to be a costume party, but was pretty lame. Didn't stay out very late. I'm too old for dorm parties. :) I did had a little incident this evening. I made a frozen pizza for dinner before I left. So when I came home, naturally needed a snack. The pizza was gone!!! I was so disappointed. This was the first time something has ever been missing from my food. I'm assuming it was just some hungry drunk who didn't even realize what they were doing. But I was NOT happy. I had to eat rice instead. bummer!

Saturday was a chill day. Went to the gym, laundry, cleaned my room.... Guido cooked for all of us on Saturday night. He's German so he made Wiener Schnitzel. It's made of veal, so he made one with chicken for me. So I got Chicken Schnitzel. It was delicious. Headed out to a bar called Vega after wards. Lots of fun. Pictures coming soon. It's one of those clubs with several different floors. Lots of exchange students and tourists though. Every girl in the bathroom was speaking English. Strange.

Sunday was school work. I did all my reading for my Strategy class. Talked to my parents on Skype. That was about it. Back to school on Monday. Finally booked my trip for Easter break. My friend Amit and I are meeting our Czech friend, Petra in Prague for a couple days, then we are going to Budapest. Can't wait! It's funny, flights right now aren't that cheap, but you can get hotels in Europe for ridiculous prices. We booked the Hilton in Prague for $70/night. It's a four star and the third best hotel in the city. Score!

March 10th - 16th

Hi, Everyone. It's been a slow week. Spent the first part of last week recovering from London. Only made it to one class, but don't worry I have 5 next week to make up. Boo!!

Didn't have class on Thursday. Was going to spend the day sightseeing, but winter weather decided to return. When I woke up it was gorgeous and sunny. But by 2 PM it was SNOWING!! Weather in Denmark changes so quickly it's crazy. I thought the Midwest was bad, but it's nothing like this. Needless to say, no sightseeing...

Friday was a much better day, but still kind of rainy and gross. I went to the Danish Design Center. They had a really cool exhibition on light. It talked about using lighting to create spaces within a house or building, the different kinds of light and the colors it reflects. But the biggest space was focused on light pollution and energy consumption. They had a wall map showing global light pollution that was visible at night. Kind of crazy. LA was lit up!

I met my friend, Leoni, and some other people out for drinks. We went to a bar called Kissen. They have two for one drinks for happy hour on Fridays. And happy hour lasts until 10 PM. I like it! Plus it was a young professionals bar, much different than the mostly undergrad places I have been going to. Felt like such a grown-up again. And let me tell you, Danish men are gorgeous. Fun just to sit have a drink and people watch. Went to another cocktail bar afterwards called The Oak Room. Very small, very modern. They had amazing cocktails. Everything was handmade with fresh ingredients and it took about 5 minutes to make each drink. A good way to end the evening!

Surprisingly enough I wasn't hungover on Saturday. Weather was better than Friday so I went to Christianshavn. This is the area about Christiania which is the old hippie commune. Last time I was there we just went into the commune and I didn't see the other parts. It's right along the water so it is a really nice area. Some pictures below...

Saturday night was chill. Went to Petra's for dinner, then watched a movie. Nice and relaxing! Sunday was dedicated to catching up on reading, then Monday back to school. It's going to be a crazy week. I start my fourth class on Tuesday. Plus I get the assignment for the final in my Corporate Social Responsibility class on Thursday. Luckily I get two weeks to write it. Wish me luck!

March 4th - 9th

Back from London!!! So much to talk about!

I got in Wednesday night. Kathy and her boyfriend, Karl, picked me up. So good to see Kathy again! It's been 1 1/2 years. We did our normal crying, hugging, screaming in the airport. We spent the night at Kathy's that night.

Thursday morning we got up and had to run a couple errands. Then we headed to Heathrow to pick up Carissa. Her flight landed a half hour early, so she already had her bags by the time we got there. She brought along a bag of my summer/spring stuff, so it was like getting a big present!

We headed to Hammersmith from the airport. Some of Kathy's friends volunteered to let us stay at their apartment for the weekend. So incredibly nice of them to let all 3 of us stay there. Especially considering there is already 4 people in the apartment. After we dropped off our stuff we headed to the pub for a drink and some lunch. We had traditional English food - fish & chips and beer. Yummy!!!

We were only supposed to be there for lunch, but ended up hanging out there the rest of the day. We were getting ready to leave when Kathy's friends Leoni and Adam (who we stayed with) met us after they got off work. So we stayed for a couple (or four) more drinks.

Friday morning we got up and went into the city. We spent the day being obnoxious tourists. I think we walked half of London that day. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Harrod's, Covent Gardens, Hyde Park. It was a whirlwind. Luckily we had great weather so it was nice to be outside.

Met up with Leoni and Adam again after they got off work. Went to an Italian restaurant for dinner then went to a pub in Leicester Square. After that headed to a bar closer to home. Ended up having a crazy night of dancing and drinking. Finished the night at a late night Lebanese restaurant. Kathy and Karl call it the Leban-easy. Delicious!

Saturday morning we got a late start because of Friday night. Headed into an area called Camden. It's the old hippy area of London. Lot's of little shops that sell about anything you could want - clothes, jewelry, shoes, souvenirs, etc. It reminded me a lot of the Fashion District in LA only cleaner.

Carissa and I were on our own Saturday night. Karl's brother is moving to Australia so Kathy had to go to a family dinner for his good-bye party. Leoni and Adam went out with us, so we had locals to navigate. Headed back into the city to go to a club called TigerTiger. They had several different rooms with different themes : hiphop, retro, 80's, dance, etc. Ofcourse we had a blast. Had to take a night bus home. One of the weird things about London. The Underground stops running around 12:30 and there isn't any other public transportation (except taxis) until 3:30 when the night buses start to run. Strange.

Sunday was another late start. We tried to go to the Tower of London, but got there too late. But we got to take pictures of the outside. Walked across the Tower Bridge. It was another gorgeous day, so I got some great pictures. We stopped at a pub for a snack and beer. Ended up spending the rest of the day there (this was definitely a theme of the trip). Walked back across the London Bridge. The London Bridge is the most over-rated tourist attraction ever. There's nothing to it! The Tower Bridge is MUCH prettier.

Monday was our last day. Had to take Carissa to the airport first thing in the morning. My flight wasn't until 5:30 so Kathy and I had most of the day to hang out. We went to go see Abbey Road Studios. We were crazy tourists and took pictures of each other walking across the Crosswalk from the Abbey Road album cover. There were a bunch of other people there doing the same thing. We went for lunch in Chinatown then it was time to go to the airport. Easy flight except we left an hour late. Didn't get back to my place until 11. I'm exhausted!

I missed my Tuesday morning class because I just couldn't get out of bed. Had to spend the day catching up on all of my reading. busy, busy, busy - back to reality.

I took too many pictures to pick any out to post. Here's the link to all of them....
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=2hv5v1sp.7slh795l&x=0&y=sucd7l&localeid=en_US