I am slightly ecstatic that I will be done with exams in 2 days!!! It's actually got me to thinking though... I guarantee that I will miss not only Glasgow, but college. This definitely includes the people, but I think I will come to miss studying for classes as well. If I could be a professional student, I would.
Speaking of things I will miss, I'm gonna miss the people here! (In case I haven't told you enough the last couple of blog posts)
Anyways, to further my procrastination in revising for exams, I've decided to tell you about Skye.
The Isle of Skye was probably at the top of my list of places to visit in Scotland. Fortunately for me, the GU International Society organized a trip there that included transport and hostel stay for a weekend. So, I rounded up a couple of my flat mates (Shawn from France and Jorge from Spain) and convinced them to go on this trip.
Now, to describe the weekend... Wet. Very wet. Lots of rain. Rain in Scotland no longer has any surprise factor, but it's a shame that it had to rain while I was visiting Skye.
The Isle of Skye is an island (isle!) off of the west coast of Scotland. It's probably the most popular island in Scotland for tourists (me!).
Once again, on the bus ride there wee stopped at Glen Coe. This time the colors of the glen were different, due to it being closer to winter.
We stopped for some food in Fort Williams. Fort Williams has nothing in it. Like... If I wanted to go see the city as a tourist, I have no idea what I would do. We did spot an old graveyard, so naturally I wanted to go for a walk through it. Shawn took it a bit further and decided to lay on top of one of the stone slab things...
Luckily, we got to visit the Eilean Donan Castle two days before it closed! The castle is gorgeous... Stunning backdrop with a bridge that leads to it. It would have been much nicer if it wasn't... you guessed it! raining.
Next stop was the Isle of Skye! We stayed in the second largest town on the island, in a generic youth hostel. Apparently I snore. That's the first thing Jorge and Shawn told me when I woke up. Anyways, it was of course, raining the next day. This day, Sunday, was the primary island-seeing day. The first place we stopped involved a little hike to a beautiful overlook. Hypothetically, if it wasn't such low visibility, we would also be able to see some standing stones.... But I could appreciate the view nonetheless. I spent half of the time trying to get the hair out of my face... I have some really attractive photos cause of this, such as the one of me below. It was really, really windy.
The next stop was a little closer to the coast... okay right on the coast. We were supposed to be looking at some tiny waterfall. I was much more impressed with the scenery of the coast line. Interestingly enough, there was a Scottish man going for a hike, in the rain, and incredibly bad weather. The only funny part was... HE WAS WEARING A KILT. Jorge told me that he must be a real man to be hiking in the bad weather wearing a kilt. I thought it would be funny if his kilt flew up due to the wind.
Next stop, we saw some beautiful cliffs by the sea. At this point, it was pouring rain and half the bus decided not even to get out. But Jorge and I braved the weather, and got soaked in the process.
Then we headed to the largest town on the island, Portree. There I had some fish and chips for lunch, and walked down to the harbour for a picture by the colorful buildings. Then, it was back in the bus and time to head home!
All in all, it was a good weekend. I wish I had the opportunity to go when it was better weather. I also wish I had more time to explore the island.
Adios for now! Can't believe my stay in Scotland is just about over.... :(
So, instead of revising (in American english: studying) for exams, I am writing a blog post about my trip to Aberdeen. It's long overdue, as I ventured to Aberdeen on October 22nd and headed back to Glasgow on the 23rd. I figured since before long I will be heading off to all kinds of exciting places around Europe, I had better update the blog before my small brain cannot hold all of the wonderful memories of the places I have visited.
I took off on a little trip to Aberdeen to visit a friend who goes to uni there... but I met her in Oklahoma! Jenny was on a study abroad/exchange program in Oklahoma last year, and when I decided that I'd be studying in Glasgow, I knew that I'd have to visit her.
Jenny and her friend Michelle (? sorry, my memory's fuzzy), picked me up and we drove to stunning Dunnottar castle. It was not the best weather, but hey, it's Scotland. Dunnotar is essentially in ruins, and I really loved this aspect of it. Perhaps even cooler, it is literally surrounded by ocean on three sides. None of my pictures quite capture the beauty, so I'm linking another here.
Dunnottar Castle
I think this is my favorite castle to date. After, we drove back to Aberdeen.
A quick note about Aberdeen: as my blog title implies, Aberdeen is quite grey. This is primarily because of the granite that many of Aberdeen's buildings are made out of. Also, the oil industry has played a large part in Aberdeen's more recent history. I noticed, almost immediately, the many (large) ships that were in the harbour.
Anywho, I told Jenny about how Glasgow Uni looks like Hogwarts, and she told me that she thought the University of Aberdeen looks a lot like Hogwarts!! (Do all universities in Scotland look like Hogwarts?) I got a campus tour from Jenny. She's a campus tour guide and told me that I got the condensed version without all the boring bits.
Hogwarts?
Interesting note about the library: it's new, and apparently students either love it or hate it. It doesn't quite fit in with the architecture of the older part of campus, but I liked it nonetheless. I think my architecturally inclined brother might have had more insight into the building itself, but nonetheless, it looked cool to me. I loved the way the floors were done. See the photos below to know what I mean.
Library!
7th (?) floor and looking down. Love it!
We also visited the student halls. I loved them. They seem so much nicer than where I am staying in Glasgow. For one, they have a bar pretty much on site. Jenny was friends with the guys who worked there, and I had a pint before heading back to Jenny's flat for dinner and then a night out. I really also was glad I got to meet Jenny's South African flat mate, Amy. She was so nice, and I enjoyed talking to her.
I was late to rise the next day, but once I was up, we went to a little seaside town who's name I can't remember and had some ice cream. It was so quaint, and I enjoyed pretending that it was actually summer and not cold/drizzly.
Jenny gave me a car tour of Aberdeen, which unfortunately I didn't get good pictures of....
All in all, a wonderful weekend spent with a wonderful person. Thanks so much for being such a great host Jenny! I'll have to see what I can do about getting some Sweet Tea to Aberdeen. :)
Real time update: Next week I have exams. :( But the good news is there is snow on the ground in Glasgow! And I love snow. The most perfect, beautiful snowflakes were falling earlier. I am so sad I am spending my last couple of weeks in Glasgow studying for stupid exams. I just need to pass, but I think if I go in with that mentality, I won't pass. I am going to miss so many people here...
Oh, and I almost forgot. I haven't really written about it yet.... but I'm kinda obsessed with old graveyards. I think they're really cool and I just like them. I can't exactly put my thumb on why. I would love to know more about the people buried in all of these places, and the history behind them... And of course, I visited the graveyard surrounding a church in Aberdeen.
On that happy thought, here's what's to come: blog about Isle of Skye, a Santa Dash!, and then travelling around Europe with the fam bam
So I decided to make this blog post about some random things that have caught my interest and wouldn't fit into one of the "here's a post about my trip to blah-blah-blah".
First up: My name!!!
I guess it never really occurred to me, but Whitney is a thoroughly American name. No one here, or anywhere other than America I am assuming, has the name. I have some thoughts as to where the name Whitney gained popularity... more times than I can count, I've been endearingly called "Whitney Houston". In fact, when I received a package in the mail, the smart-ass mail man said, "Package for Whitney Houston". As much as I love to think that these people are simply referring to my wonderful singing prowess, I don't think my vocal talent is quite up to par with that other (slightly more famous) Whitney... This led me to search out the history of my name. I've learned that Whitney was/is a surname that came from a place-name meaning "White Island" in Olde English. It's use as a female first name was popularized first by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002), and then boosted even further by none other than (you've guessed it!) Whitney Houston (1963-hopefully forever). (source: http://www.behindthename.com/name/whitney)
Second: the list
I know, ambiguous title. After a month or so living at Glasgow, I started a list. This list has been posted on my bulletin board, and I don't think it will ever be complete. The title of the list reads simply: "Words people say wrong", and then there's a nice little arrow to clarify that these people are "Scottish/British". (Heaven forbid I refer to a Scotsman as British). There are odd pronunciations (aluminum, tomato, etc), to words that the other simply don't use (hen, chum, lad, squint, etc), to words that take on different meanings (pants, chips, fanny pack, etc), to words that mean the same thing but not used in the US (pavement=sidewalk, crossroads=intersection, porridge=oatmeal etc).
Third: Differences between Glasgow Uni and OU
There is quite a bit of difference between the way classes operate here, and the way they do at home. First, each class has quite a few different lecturers. Each lecturer will cover a different topic. For example, in psychology we have one lecturer for memory, another for language, yet another for the experimentation techniques, etc. Second, there appears a lot less of a reason to show up to classes. There aren't pop quizzes, no clicker questions, and no blanks on slides that need to be filled in. This makes it incredibly easy for me to convince myself that it's okay to skip class (sorry again mother). Third, the structure of most classes involves assignments (typically including an essay) that will make up about 25% of your grade, and then a final exam (both MCQ and free response essays) that will make up 75% (or at least half). This is an incredible amount of pressure to do well on that final exam! And an incredible lack of pressure to actually study throughout the semester! I can imagine that it will be much harder for me to learn all of the information because I will not have studied any of it until that final exam... Ack!!! And finally, there seems to be more of an emphasis on learning and studying by one's self, aka much less hand holding. All-in-all I can't say I prefer one system to the other... they're just different.
Fourth: Day-to-day differences
the sun has been rising at around 8 am and setting around 4 pm. As I write this (4:04 pm), the sun is below the horizon
fewer people own cars, have drivers licences. Perhaps because petrol (another to add to the list!) is so expensive
which leads to this point: public transportation is SO much better! Buses go, literally, everywhere. There is a metro. Also, more people walk places.
everything comes in generally smaller sizes/portions. From things at the grocery stores (deli meat, loafs of bread, sodas) to food when out to eat. I kinda like this.
people's sense of style is much.... better. I don't know if I notice this because I go to University in Oklahoma or what. But even older people just seem to have more of a fashion sense... Makes me feel left out! ;) And Americans who are my parent's age and older are SO easy to pick out of a crowd.
Nobody wears backpacks. See above. Also note: this causes me to stand out.
This is all I can think of, off the top of my head. I'm sure there's plenty more.
Adios for now! I must say I will miss family this Thursday (Thanksgiving!!!) and Pumpkin Pie.
Still haven't forgotten about my promised "here's a post about my trip to blah-blah-blah" posts, with Aberdeen and Skye needing to be covered.
Love (quintessentially-American-in-name-only),
Whitney
Do you like my alliteration in the title of this blog post? :)
Sorry I've not updated the blog in a while! I've been too busy enjoying Scotland (as well as some films, naps, food, etc). Basically, I am just being too lazy to write a wee blog post (see what I did there? wee=small). After reading through my last blog post, which was quite exhausting, I'm gonna try and keep these more short, sweet and to the point!
Anyways, where to begin... Brianna visited me a couple weeks ago, or maybe it was more than a couple weeks. It was quite the challenge, as it always is when someone visits "your" city. I wanted to be sure her trip was worthwhile. So here's how I think I'll do this blog post, I'll start off with a play-by-play of things we did each day, followed by pictures from the various things, and then short stories about the pictures!!
Brianna arrived Tuesday Oct. 11th and left Saturday Oct. 15th.(Okay, I guess it has been a bit longer than a couple weeks).
Tuesday:
-Brianna and I meet up at the Bus Station where she caught a bus from Edinburgh
-we eat at Pinto (the closest equivalent is Chipotle), one of few Mexican places here
-drop off bags at my flat
-head to Tesco to buy food and drinks for the night
-pre-drink and then night out in Glasgow!!
Night out!!!
So a little tradition that started at my flat (now hosted elsewhere), is Tuesday night drinks followed by a night out clubbing! This night, we went to Kushion, where I had never been. My opinion that girls here don't get cold was confirmed... pretty much everyone I saw that wasn't in our group had on short dresses and high heels! Nevertheless, good fun was had. :)
Wednesday:
-I go to class in the morning
-meet up with Breeze
-we walk around the University (while Breeze hums Harry Potter)
-visit the Hunterian Museum
-visit the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
-journey to city centre and visit the Cathedral, and I am disappointed the Necropolis isn't open
-have a nice cup of coffee in a cool little coffee shop
-book tour for the next day, and call it an early night!
Part of the University of Glasgow!!
The main part of the University of Glasgow is gorgeous, and frankly, looks a lot like Hogwarts. Notice, it is wet out, a common occurrence in (especially western) Scotland.
Hunterian Museum
Perhaps this is a little gross, but it is a preserved fetus in the uterus! It is apart of the Hunterian Museum. The Hunterian Museum contains the collections of Dr. William Hunter, and has many interesting medically related things!
Kelvingrove Museum
Kelvingrove Museum is huge. Like I don't think I could see all the exhibitions if I spent all day there. These hanging heads were really cool, all of them had different facial expressions! I told Breeze to make a face, then smiled. So nice of me. :)
Glasgow Cathedral
Glasgow Cathedral is probably my favorite part of all of Glasgow so far. It is gorgeous, and I couldn't help but think of the heavens when walking through it. It is the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to have survived the Reformation. The University of Glasgow was also founded in this Cathedral in 1452!! (Take a moment to reflect on the fact that the University of Glasgow existed before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.)
Thursday:
-I skip all classes (sorry mom)! Wake up at 630 am
-meet in the City Centre at 8 am for a day tour of the highlands
-stops at:
Loch Lomond
Glen Coe and the Three Sisters
Ben Nevis
Fort Williams
Loch Ness (longest stop, includes cruise of the loch)
Pitlochry
- finally arrive home at 8ish, get ready for a night out#
- head to a club called the Arches for a Ceilidh (cay-lee), aka traditional scottish dance
- dance the night away!!!!
Our tour bus from Timberbush tours!
We spent hours in this bus travelling into the Highlands and back! The tour guide knew plenty of information (which I have since forgotten). Scotland is gorgeous! Looking out the windows, it felt like a dream. Unfortunately, none of those window pictures turned out too well. :(
Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond was the first stop of the trip! I loved how the mist seemed to cling to the mountains... It felt so mysterious and quintessentially Scottish.
Loch Ness
We got to take a cruise on Loch Ness, and we kept our eyes peeled for Nessie, but didn't spot him/her/it. This was the main destination of our tour, and we probably stopped the longest here. One of many gorgeous lochs (lakes) in Scotland!
Ceilidh!
That night, after spending all day on a tour bus, we headed out to a ceilidh. Of course, we had to get a picture with someone in a kilt! It was pretty funny, because neither of us knew what we were doing. My Scottish friend Eleanor enjoyed making fun of our attempts to do the dances correctly (in fact she's still making fun of me to this day). I lucked out and danced with an equally clueless Chinese girl! Poor Breeze danced with a very serious, kilt-wearing Scot. He didn't seem too pleased when she, and the rest of our group, had no idea what we were doing!!!
Friday:
-I wake up absurdly early to revise for a test that I haven't been studying for
-meet up with breeze at 2, who had woken up at 1 (lucky her)
-catch a bus to Edinburgh around 4
-walk around Edinburgh at night
-meet up with friends from the hostel for a couple of pints
Edinburgh Castle at night!
So, this didn't happen until Saturday, but I'm gonna go ahead and put the story here. Our Timberbush tour guide told us that there was a way to get into Edinburgh Castle for free. Of course we wanted to know how (who in the world would spend 14 GBP when you could get in for free?!). He told us that there is War Museum housed in the castle. All the museums, by law, must let you in for free. So we were supposed to go tell them that we were there to see the War Museum and they had to let us in for free. Of course, it took us a good 30 minutes (and when I say us, I mean Brianna) to work up the nerve to ask them. And when they did, they said, "Sorry you still have to buy a ticket!" LAW BREAKERS! Hahahaha. So we didn't end up seeing the castle, as I couldn't justify paying close to 30 quid for both of us to get in.
Hostel companions and us!
We met some friendly guys from France, Ireland, and Germany! We got a couple pints with them, before I complained of exhaustion (Breeze probably slept 10 hours more than I had over the previous 3 days) and called it an early night, so we could get up early the next day to explore Edinburgh!!
Saturday:
-traditional Scottish breakfast (complete with haggis)
-walk around Edinburgh:
Holyrood Park
Royal Mile
Edinburgh Castle
Princess St
Scotts Monument
Parliament
Parliament Building
The parliament building is new and quite an architectural marvel (admittedly not as cool as Copenhagen). It would have been nice to get a free guided tour, but time was not on our side!
Holyrood Park
Holyrood Park is massive with big hills. We got our exercise for the day in by climbing and hiking around the park. It's kinda Scotland in miniature because of the various features including a small loch, beautiful green hills, and gorgeous scenery.
Scotts Monument
We climbed up a couple hundred steps (256 I believe) to reach the top of Scotts Monument. At the very end, almost comically, the winding staircase got extremely narrow with very little head room. A friend from Edinburgh has said that she's afraid she'll get stuck in trying to go up (or down) behind some fat and obnoxious American (love the stereotyping).
Edinburgh Castle
This castle was PACKED with people and tourists everywhere. Unlike Glasgow, Edinburgh has more of an international feel (at least where we were) because all of the tourists walking around. Breezy informed me (multiple times) that she likes Edinburgh a lot more than Glasgow. It's kinda funny, but I almost felt offended that she said that, and felt the need to defend Glasgow. Am I turning into a Glaswegian?!? Just as long as I don't develop the strong and impossible to understand Glesga accent.
THE END!!!
As a final treat, I'll leave you with pictures of Breeze enjoying some treats that Scotland is somewhat renowned for. Fried Mars Bar and Irn Bru!!!
Fried Mars Bar!!!
IRN BRU (Iron Brew)
PS. Quick real time update!! Life is going good, just finished off pretty much the only assignments I have to do all semester. I am more than halfway through the term at Glasgow, sad to say. It's sad to me that in a little over a month I'll be leaving my friends here. Glasgow is as rainy as ever, and it's getting colder. Not gonna lie, I really want some snow. Also, it's dark by 5 and the sun doesn't rise until at least 730. Really long nights... And the days are only going to get shorter from here! :( It's too bad I don't get to experience the opposite in the summer, where the days will be much longer than "normal" (whatever normal is).
Adios from Scotland! I'll try and update with my other trips soon! (Aberdeen and Isle of Skye)
This past weekend, I traveled to the happiest place on earth. I know what you're thinking.... Why in the world did I go to Disneyland from Glasgow?
The truth of the matter is that I didn't go to Disneyland... Instead I visited the truly happiest place on earth. Aka, Denmark. I went for the weekend to Copenhagen, Denmark to visit Jeff who is studying there.
Now, I've contemplated how to write this blog post. I enjoyed playing the tourist and seeing the cool sites of Copenhagen. However, part of the experience was the atmosphere and ambiance in Copenhagen that I felt was distinct and unique compared to anywhere else I've been (Scotland, California, Oklahoma, etc). So the question becomes, how do you capture the atmosphere of a city with words?
The flight I was on had a magazine on various destinations they flew to. Of course, inside was Denmark, and more specifically Copenhagen. This magazine was sure to point out that Denmark has been recognized as being the country with the happiest people out of the entire world. Now, I thought this sounded fine and dandy, but didn't expect much of it.
Below you will find descriptions of what I did, but it's harder to capture how all of it felt. Optimism and happiness seemed to saturate the air. I found myself perfectly happy throughout the trip, despite having been exhausted the first day, and exploring alone on the second. Smiles were plentiful, and the people seemed relatively stress free. The calm happiness was practically contagious.
The first I saw of Copenhagen was some massive windmills seemingly floating above the clouds. Jeff has since informed me that this is done on purpose, as if to remind everybody entering that "We are Denmark, we believe in sustainability". It certainly worked for me, because I was immediately impressed.
The airport wasn't too hard to navigate, although it was odd seeing a language other than English as the language displayed first. Underneath most of the headings in Danish, would be another in English.
Jeff met me at the airport, and directed me a short way to the train which was a short ride away from his apartment. The efficiency of the public transportation endeared me to their system. They zone the entire system, and base prices on how many zones you travel. you receive a punch card, and punch the card for however far you travel. It is good on any sort of public transportation, be it metro, train, bus, boat bus, etc.
Initial impressions of Denmark? Lots of blonde hair. Everyone is fit. There are tons of children, everywhere. Girls wear these massive woolen scarves (which Jeff warned me about, but I didn't quite believe it until I saw it). Everyone wears coats, even when it is fairly warm (odd). There is a certain efficiency to how everything is ran in Copenhagen. Everything is seemingly sustainable and practical, but with an undeniable "less-is-more" style.
After we arrived at Jeff's apartment, which was quite nice, he immediately started pointing out the architecture. Copenhagen has this newer neighborhood, known as Orestad (I think.. Jeff, help here?), with some stunning architectural marvels. Mostly, it seemed as though they were apartment type buildings. But they were amazing! There were plenty of them, along the stretch of the metro that was near Jeff.
Pictures:
I am sure I am missing some... I grabbed these off the internet, but they do not quite do the buildings justice. The buildings are quite the pieces of art. Needless to say, I was already impressed.
The first place Jeff took me was to Christianshavn, where we climbed up the spire of a tall church that overlooks Copenhagen. there were many, many stairs in the process. I had just finished telling Jeff how much I was walking in Scotland, and then I proceeded to huff and puff my way up those stairs. It was also understandabley quite windy. I should have taken pictures, but I did try and take video. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, my camera is only capable of taking videos that are like 10 seconds long max. Here's one such video:
After, I desperately had to use the restroom. Jeff asked one of the ladies working at the church, where the nearest restroom was. She had no idea what we were talking about. It was then that I remembered that in Britain they would say toilet instead of restroom or bathroom. So I asked for a toilet, and the lady understood that. My British language knowledge proved to be useful in Denmark! Apparently, the Danes learn British English instead of American English.
Also in the area of Christanhavn, was Christiana. Christiana "is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighbourhood of about 850 residents, covering 85 acres". (source: wikipedia.org) Basically, they consider themselves separate from Denmark. In this area, there are basically no rules. Drugs on the street, etc. No pictures were allowed in the "Green Light District", where pot and mushrooms were plentiful. I didn't partake in any of these recreational activities, but did browse the various goods in the shops. I wish I had a picture, but alas, if I tried to pull out my camera I was informed that "the skinheads" would come after me. We did take some pictures once we left though...
The Christiana Flag
Bevar means preserve. At least that's what the friendly man we asked told us.
Jeff in Christiana.
The graffiti was so cool, and everywhere!!
Jeff wanted to show me an architecture exhibit in the area. It was really impressive, although I don't think I could truly appreciate it, because I don't have the knowledge of architecture that people studying it, such as Jeff, would have.
Then we headed to Nyhavn. It was across the harbor from where we were, so we hopped on the metro It's the picturesque stretch of colored houses near the harbor that mostly everyone has undoubtedly seen if they have seen anything of Copenhagen. It was really pretty, and we took pictures, but I think they're on Jeff's camera. Here's one from the internet:
I was fairly exhausted (I woke up at 330 am to catch a cab at 4 am), so I recommended that perhaps we should head back to Jeff's apartment, he could work on some of his school work and I could get some much needed sleep so that I was functional for the rest of the weekend. First we went shopping in the mall across from Jeff's apartment. It was quite odd to see everything in the "wrong" language. It was like... you could never be quite sure of what you were buying. Jeff told me he loves to make these mini pizzas, and I thought they sounded good. We grabbed some pesto and green onions and made pesto green onion pizzas! They were delicious.
The next day, Friday, Jeff had studio. That meant that I got to explore Copenhagen on my own. This was quite daunting to me... Being in a foreign city by myself sounded quite scary. Jeff had helped me out by circling places on the map that I could visit, and giving me a brief run down on some things I ought to know. We headed out a little late that morning, so although we had planned to have pastries together for breakfast, we had to forgo those plans. Jeff's studio is just off the main walking street of the city, Stroget. He left and I set out on my own.
First things first, I needed breakfast. There was a pastry place just across the street, so I grabbed a pastry and a coffee. It cost me the equivalent of $8! And so I learned a valuable lesson: coffee in Denmark costs much more than I am used to. I walked briskly down the street in search of a bench to eat my pastry, drink my coffee, and have a look at the map so I could get oriented. I found a nice bench and immediately decided that I would head to the "King's Garden" and perhaps take a nap to kill some time until Jeff was finished.
Of course, I ended up in the botanical gardens instead of the King's Garden, which was just across the street. After finally figuring out where the king's garden was, I slipped inside. The place was quite large and filled with children playing, laughing, and being adorable. In the gardens is the Rosenburg Castle. This area of the gardens was filled with tourists. I stayed away from the castle for a bit and meandered through the walkways.
Pictures:
I don't know who this statue is, but I thought it was neat.
Next, I headed next to Rosenburg Castle. There were lots of tourists snapping pictures of pretty much every aspect of the castle, and I overheard some Americans talking. It was almost nice to hear an American accent, a bit of familiarity. The building was old and pretty neat. I snapped a couple picture, and a nice lady took the only picture of me I got the entire day.
The castle is actually through the gate.
The only picture of me all day!
I wandered around the gardens a bit more before I decided that I ought to head to the Marble Church and Amaliensborg Palace, which Jeff had pointed out to me on the map.
It was a bit of a walk, but it wasn't hard to figure out the map and streets I should be on.
The Marble Church was beautiful, and it contained the largest dome ceiling in all of Scandinavia.
Pics:
In the church, there were many signs asking everyone to be silent (they were also posted in many languages), because the church was intended for prayer and worship. This struck me as funny, because everyone I saw in the church was a tourist, and was thus there to take pictures. Everyone (silently) had their cameras out, and were snapping away.
A few additional pictures:
Right across the street was Amalienborg Palace. This is considered the "winter home" of the Danish royal family. The palace consists of four palaces around a square. One residence belongs to the Queen, the other belongs to the Crown Prince, and if I understand correctly the last two are for official functions and guests. A Danish flag is flown above the residences if the Crown Prince or Queen are currently residing in their palaces. When I visited, the Crown Prince was in residence but not the Queen.
There was a Danish guard that marched around the square in quite a ceremonial procession to check upon each of the palaces. I found it quite amusing, because as they marched, a gaggle of tourists followed them around snapping pictures. They would march, and the tourists would run after them. At one point, I was just such a tourist, for I couldn't resist trying to snap a few shots.
I finally grew tired of the tourist cloud, and headed to the park right next to the harbor, behind the Amalienborg Palace. There was a good view of the opera house behind a fountain, and I snapped some pictures of that. Many like to call the opera house, "The Toaster", because of the metal grill surrounding the bottom. It was intended to be glass, but because of discrepancies between the architect and the man who payed for the building, it ended up with a much less attractive metal grill. Jeff can explain more extensively.
Fountain, and Opera house in the distance:
I walked along the harbor a bit, before finding myself once again right next to Nyhavn. I followed it until I reached some of the main walking streets. I meandered around a bit, used a public restroom (I think I used pretty much every public restroom in Copenhagen during this day), and eventually found myself off a street near Stroget at the Round Tower. I decided that I would pay the 25 kroner, and see what I could (as well as kill some time waiting for Jeff).
The Round Tower is unique because it was made so that one of the Kings (forgot which, oops) could ride his horse all the way up to the top. This was another one of those touristy places, and I was encountered many different accents and languages: Spanish, (American and British) English, German, French, etc. I walked alone to the top, where I removed a bagel sandwich that I had packed, and ate it while looking out over the beautiful view of Copenhagen.
I ate lunch, sat for about 30 minutes taking in the beautiful sight, then decided that I would head out once again.
At this point, I had already walked along the street I was on, and once again found myself near the Botanic Gardens. Despite Jeff telling me that the gardens were not worth my time, I wanted to meander through them and quite enjoyed their beauty as well as the glasshouses, despite the fact that I could not get inside said glasshouses.
I sat for a bit, people watching and enjoying the serenity. I dozed off for a bit, before deciding that I should keep moving.
I was running out of "things to do" and decided that I would find a cup of coffee and read the philosophy book I had brought . I knew of a cafe within the King's Garden, so once again I found myself walking through the King's Garden. I bought the coffee, which was quite small, and was pretty annoyed when I realized I had payed about $5 for a coffee that was pretty tiny. This just reinforced my understanding that coffee should not be bought, because it was too expensive and not worth the price.
My coffee and book in the King's Garden
I finished the coffee, read a couple chapters of Descartes' Meditations, and once again moved on.
I stopped taking pictures at this point, but after wandering through the gardens, I found myself in front of what appeared to be a free museum. I went inside to use the public toilet (another one! hooray for public toilets!) and then perused the main lobby. At this point I realized that I had missed a call and text from Jeff. Apparently he finished early! Woot! It was 4 instead of 5:15.
I called Jeff briefly (Ack! International call charges). He told me he would meet me at the fountain that he had marked upon my map.
In the process of trying to reach this point, I got a bit lost and disoriented for I ended up kitty-corner to the spot I intended to be. I finally figured out where I needed to be headed, and found myself in a park where I thought Jeff had marked the fountain.
Unfortunately, this fountain drawing Jeff had made, was intended not as the location of the fountain, but more as a reminder that I ought to meet him at the fountain. I was quite confused when I was sure I had reached the location, but was no fountain.
Finally, we figured everything out, and I met Jeff at the bakery where I had gotten breakfast, which was across the street from where his studio was.
At this point, I was quite exhausted and we decided the best bet was to head back to Jeff's apartment. We would both eat, then I could nap and he could work on school work before heading out for the night.
We had some pizzas (delicious!) once again, and I took a wonderfully fulfilling nap. Jeff was planning on meeting up with some of his friends from his "buddy system". This system pairs up American DIS students with Danish students to encourage the mixing and mingling between the groups.
The group we were to meet up with was a metro and bus ride away. Unfortunately for us, we did not realize that the same bus numbers (6A) travel in BOTH directions. We got on the bus heading in the wrong direction, before talking to the bus driver, realizing our mistake, taking the metro once again, and finally finding the correct bus.
Copenhagen allows people to consume alcohol in public, and I never realized quite how nice and useful such a law/rule would be. We bought some beers beforehand and could comfortably drink them while walking to our destination.
The "buddy group" we met up with was incredibly nice, and surprisingly mostly Americans. There was also a girl from Iceland, a guy from Portugal, and I think one or two Danes. We then headed out to a bar.
I was feeling slightly inebriated, but the alcohol was flowing and drinks were being bought for the group continuously. I wish I knew who bought the drinks, because I never properly thanked them. I had some enjoyable conversation and pointed out some things to the Danes that I didn't quite understand (aka, what the heck, why do you wear huge scarves even when it's warm). Jeff and I called it an "early" night. It felt quite late to me, around 230 am. But apparently, the average night out was until 430 or 5 am. I was quite grateful that we headed back "early" because I thought I might fall asleep standing up if we had stayed too much longer.
The next morning, we slept in until around 11. I was insistent on having another pastry for breakfast, so we bought a couple, along with a carton of orange juice, from a grocery store nearby Jeff's flat.
Jeff knew of some Cal Poly engineers, studying abroad in Stockholm, who would be visiting Copenhagen, and thought it would a good idea if we met up with them.
We meandered around Stroget, before meeting up with the group near a neat little skate park. This skate park was located near a pond/lake. Apparently these "lakes" used to enclose and encircle Copenhagen, and a few have been left in their original positions, to be found throughout the city.
We then headed, with the help of directionally gifted Justin, to Vesterbro. This is the western part of the city, and is more "ethnic" (aka asian/middle eastern). This part of the city had a bit of a different feel or atmosphere.
It was much more similar to Glasgow. The building were older, and didn't appear as touristy. The people walking the streets appeared to be locals rather than a sea of visitors. This part of the city almost felt more authentic.
It still maintained some of it's "Danish charm" however. The children were still plentiful. People still seemed to have a unwaveringly sunny disposition.
We found a couple of cool murals, before we found ourselves in an amazing children's playground. I think I must have missed out as a child, because I have never encountered a playground quite like this.
Just walking city streets
Cool mural
mural on the opposite side of the street
Notice Jeff and Justin climbing amongst the children... They're still children at hearrt!!! Also, how awesome it this playground?!?!
More of just walking around Copenhagen
We stumbled upon a small bike fair... tons and tons of people ride bikes, figures that they would have a bike fair!
After meandering around the city, we decided to head back to the flat so Jeff could work on more school, and I could take another nap. (Woot!!) That night, we had planned to head to Tivoli, an old amusement park in the middle of Copenhagen that had been open for probably a century. It was described to me as "a much cooler Disneyland".
We got to Tivoli around 8 or so (I think). We met up with some folk from Cal Poly SLO. At this point, it was night out, and the lights were really impressive. Gorgeous.
We didn't get a great picture of the front because there was some construction going on, but once inside the lights were just as pretty, if not prettier.
Out front
There were also rides, but each ride cost about the equivalent of $10, so we decided that our money was better spent in other ways.
We ended up in a beer garden, where Jeff joined his friends in drinking 1 liter of beer. I decided against this, because I wasn't sure if I had enough room in my stomach for a liter of beer. Haha.
After watching a light show, we walked to a bar. I was tired once again, and we called it an "early night". We ended up home around 230 or 3.
The final day I was in Copenhagen, Jeff and I took a canal tour that wove in and out of the canals and around the harbor. It was very informative, although of course I don't remember much of what was said. It was a beautifully sunny day out, so we decided afterwards to grab some cider and sit on the harbor. What a relaxing and great way to end my time in Copenhagen!!!
Sorry that the end of this blog post was so abrupt, but I am about to head off to Edinburgh the weekend and I wanted to get this finished!! It's taken me a good while to finally write it all, and I apologize. Expect a post about Edinburgh next! Love and miss you all!
