Sensation

The Danes don't celebrate Halloween like we do at home. Being abroad you quickly realize that the rest of the world does not revolve around America and our (sometimes ridiculous) penchant for celebrating everything possible with candy and costumes. Barring the tragic lack of Reese's Pieces and pumpkins in my life, however, I really don't have too much complaining to do on this Halloweekend.

Just because the Danes don't know how to trick-or-treat doesn't mean that they don't know how to celebrate. Black and orange were replaced this year by bigger and whiter things in my life, namely Sensation White. Sensation is an all white rave/house/dance event that travels throughout Europe and attracts 40,000 Copenhagen-ers each year. My friends and I bought our tickets in August and after two months of waiting were absolutely not disappointed. Along with fratty Americans and blast-from-the-past friends from all over we dipped our faces in glitter and danced to dubstep until we forgot what silence sounds like. One lost voice and one missing shoe later and we are all alive on yet another rainy, gray Sunday in Amager. Hooray!



In other news, I somehow managed to pass my Danish oral midterm on Friday without too much trouble. I had a grand back-up plan to just answer every question with flotskum (whipped cream) or nej tak (no thank you) but luckily (or unfortunately?) I didn't have to implement this plan B. Now I'm off to pack for our two week travel break during which I'm headed to Rome, Florence, Venice, and London with two friends. To everyone in New England buried in snow before November has even begun, I hope this all makes you smile and not want to build an igloo to slowly perish in. I know, my.life.is.tough.

Amsterd♥m

I just got back from THE FIRST REAL TRIP I'VE EVER PLANNED ALONE - a wonderful weekend in Amsterdam with two good friends. Note to mom and dad: thank you for planning vacations for the past two decades of my life. I can now fully appreciate the hard work that it takes just getting three people through the airport and onto a flight never mind the whole navigating a new city/finding restaurants/doing touristy things part.

Luckily our trip went smoothly and we all made it home in one piece. We stayed in Durty Nelly's hostel (we only book the classiest) which was located above an Irish Pub in the heart of the Red Light District. Somehow we managed to make it there at eleven on Friday night and soon discovered that - barring the whole prostitutes-next-door situation - we were in a great location for exploring the city. I don't think I've ever packed so much walking and sight-seeing into forty eight hours but here is a lazy attempt to recount some of the things we did and saw:

-Waterlooplein Flea Market
-Bloemenmarkt floating flower market
-Relaxing in Vondelpark
-The Bulldog - Amsterdam's first and most famous "coffeeshop"
-Van Gogh Museum
-"I Amsterdam" sign
-Consuming absurd amounts of Gouda cheese 
-Bakeries, cafes, outdoor food markets, and more bakeries
-Shopping in the "nine streets" district
-Carnival in Dam Square
-Lots of good people watching

Canals

Gouda, Flowers, and Fruit

Alter-ego-ing

Overall it was an amazing, if not tiring, weekend and I think Amsterdam now tops my list as my favorite city I've visited so far. Next up: Rome, Florence, Venice, and London. The two-week countdown starts today!

Lazy Sundays

Ok so it isn't Sunday (or in fact even close to being Sunday) but right now all I can think about is how much I wish this most glorious day of the week would roll around. Though Copenhagen basically shuts down on Sundays, this time has provided some of the best opportunities for wandering and adventuring around the city. Last weekend a few friends and I headed to Nørrebro, a neighborhood north of the city center, in search of a flea market we had heard about. Alas, we never found said flea market but the day wound up being wonderful regardless. We stumbled upon some cool coffee shops and art galleries, walked around Assistens Cemetery, and gawked at many a dipster (aka Danish hipster).

The prettiest cemetery I ever did see (and burial place of Søren Kierkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen)

Trendy Danes drinking even trendier beverages

AND KATY PERRY!!! 

(Just kidding - but the uncanny resemblance was too great not to document)

Madrid!

Last Saturday I left my humble abode in Copenhagen to venture to the sunny Spanish capital of Madrid with my positive psychology class for our week-long study tour. Unfortunately my trip didn't quite start as planned. Staying out until five am the night before, almost missing my flight after falling asleep watching an episode of Gossip Girl, and getting halfway to the airport before realizing I had forgotten my passport were not exactly what I had in mind. But fear not - I made the plane and managed to catch up on some sleep despite Iberia Airlines' miniature seats and soundtrack of Spanish elevator music.

Our class of 32 stayed in a hotel in the city and got around either on the metro or by bus. The academic component of our itinerary was pretty underwhelming but the trip overall was full of amazing sightseeing, cultural activities, and food. Each of these things was made infinitely more interesting by our tour leaders - two 30-something year old teachers whose ambiguous sexual orientations and obvious desire to re-live their college years provided constant entertainment. I should probably be more concerned that I spent last night dancing and singing karaoke at a seven floor discoteca with my teachers but I guess that isn't weird here...(?)

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to see a bullfight at the Plaza de Toros. In addition to being an important historical and cultural tradition in Spanish culture, bullfighting is beginning to be done away with in many parts of Spain so this was likely my first and last opportunity to see one.

 

 

Other highlights of the week for me were walking around the Retiro Gardens, seeing Picasso's Guernica at The Reina Sofia Museum and Goya's Black Paintings at The Prado Museum, wine and tapas tasting, and a Flamenco dancing workshop with a sweaty, mullet-sporting, high-heel wearing Spaniard named Pepe.

 The Retiro Gardens and Crystal Palace

Wine Tasting and Tapas

 

Pepe - I wasn't lying...

 

Tivoli

Despite the fact that I haven't opened my backpack in days and am running out of clean underwear (I'm seriously struggling in the whole domestic duties/organizational department right now), I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and spend my Saturday afternoon at Tivoli. Built in 1843, Tivoli is a combination of beautiful gardens and theme park - the second oldest in the world - located right in the center of the city. After making a quick pit stop for meal-sized free samples of Indian food my friend Kat and I ventured over to the park. Side note: I have become a connoisseur of food samples and can happily direct you to all of the best free bites in the city. My favorites include the Torvehallerne marketplace and Illum bakery (they don't know me at these fine institutions yet but I am seriously considering disguises...)

Anyhow, after paying the $18 dollar entrance fee we spent a few hours walking around the park. It was the last day of the season before it reopens for Halloween and Christmas so there were plenty of overeager foreigners snapping pictures (me) and cherubic Danish babies in expensive strollers for me to feast my eyes on. I've been wanting to take some pictures of the baby carriages here but haven't quite figured out how to negotiate the creepiness factor yet. Stay posted.

Unfortunately the rides cost $15 dollars each so we decided to just try one. I think we made a good choice as the swings we went on gave us a view of the entire city from above. Slightly nauseating but well worth it. Here are a few pictures that will make you never want to return to Six Flags New England.

Week in Pictures (2)

Some Highlights
-Walking around Nørrebro, an ethnic (mostly Middle-Eastern) neighborhood northwest of the city center
-Spin class (see previous post)
-Being part of the shenanigans and festivities surrounding the Danish parliamentary election
-Ordering my first coffee in Danish
-Proving that my $5 Walmart umbrella can stand up to the miserable wind and rain
-Acquiring magical powers: I am officially able to accurately predict the weather every day. It will rain, it will be windy, and it will be sunny.
-Lunch at The Raw Tribe
-Starting the overwhelming process that is booking my two week travel break (so far this includes flights/trains to Rome, Venice, Florence, and London)

Cycling

I am embarrassed to admit that after almost a month in the biking capital of the world I have yet to brave the city streets on two wheels. In an effort to fulfill my desire to do as the Danes do, however, I am taking baby steps towards realizing my biking dreams. This is how far I have gotten:

 This morning I attended my third "BikeFit" class at the local gym I joined. I enjoy these classes more for the people watching than the burning sensation in my thighs and the smelly, still-hot-from-the-last-person-who-wore-them shoes. Picture this: a tight-bodied 30 something year-old instructor pumping club music and yelling at a room full of sweating and yet still somehow beautiful Danes. I thought I was in really good shape until the gorgeous, extremely pregnant woman next to me started cranking up the resistance on her bike while politely wiping her brow. Note to self: stop wearing gray t-shirts to the gym.

Lucky for me I can't understand the instructor's inspirational pep-talk and am thus blissfully unaware of how hard I should actually be working. I sort of just sit in the back and stand up when everyone else does. So far I've learned that the word "tempo" directly translates from English and am getting pretty good at counting backwards from four. My Danish teacher would be proud. This morning as I watched the hour tick by (note to self number two: don't sit facing the clock) I couldn't help but wonder why spinning is so popular here. Do they not bike enough outside already? Hobbling out of class in my spin clogs, though, I will say that I feel one step closer to getting my cycle on overseas.

Next step: conquering the great outdoors

ARoS in Aarhus

I spent this past weekend in Western Denmark as part of the short study tour component of the positive psychology program. Besides having a really bad cold (which was bound to happen sooner or later), I had a great time getting to know people in my class and seeing another part of the country. The academic part of our weekend - Yes, I am supposed to be learning something here other than how to navigate a bakery menu - was overall pretty interesting and enjoyable. We visited a bank that has consistently been voted the best place to work in Denmark, spoke with a sports psychologist, and took part in a workshop at Kaospilots. Kaospilots is definitely worth reading about - I swear I didn't just post the link to show off my newly acquired blogging skills.

We had some time on our own one day to explore the ARoS Museum, an art museum in the city of Aarhus. The museum itself is architecturally really cool and features "Your Rainbow Panorama," a permanent installation by the artist Olafur Eliasson on the roof. The circular walkway is suspended above the museum and is made of glass in all colors of the spectrum. It was selected in 2007 as the winning proposal in a competition to convert ARoS' rooftop surface into a work of art.

The museum also had some other cool exhibits...

"Your Atmosphere Color Atlas"

"The Inverted Panorama House"

"Unk" - Tony Oursler, "Boy" - Ron Mueck, "My Friend Alexa" - ??

Sweden!

This past weekend I went to Sweden with about 45 other students on a canoeing and hiking trip organized by DIS. We left on a ferry early Saturday morning from Helsingør in Denmark and spent the first morning canoeing down Ronne A through the countryside and a few small towns in Sweden. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera on this part of the trip so you'll just have to trust me that it was beautiful. From there we drove to the STF Vandrarhem Jonstorp Hostel in Kullabygden about forty minutes away. I am thinking that this probably shouldn't have been my introduction to the world of hostels. It was more like a bed and breakfast owned by a woman and her son (? - I think...I hope...). The rooms were extremely comfortable and homey and they cooked us delicious meals and generally just took wonderful care of us.

Saturday afternoon we drove to Kullaberg Nature Reserve to hike to a driftwood structure called Nimis. The structure was built by the artist Lars Vilks with 75 tons of driftwood but the work is officially owned by Christo and Jeanne-Claude of landmark-wrapping fame. It is essentially a massive labyrinth of mazes and towers that lead down a cliff-side to the water's edge. Nimis' existence is not sanctioned by the state (Vilks has quite a history with the Swedish authorities) and to make a long story short, the piece of art is now part of a one square kilometer area known as Ladonia. Fun fact - Ladonia is now the world's fastest growing micro-nation with 13,000 citizens and counting. It is free to become a citizen but if you have higher aspirations you can pick yourself a title, pay twelve dollars, and join the Ladonian nobility. Unfortunately they already have a queen - she is from Chicago.

The coolest part of our trip to Nimis was that Lars Vilks was actually there working on the structure when we visited! We got to talk to him a little bit and it was really interesting to hear about the concept behind Nimis and the process of building it. He even had a bodyguard outfitted in a bullet-proof vest as apparently there have been multiple assassination attempts directed towards him.

Saturday night we had a barbecue and bonfire at the hostel and headed to sleep pretty early. On Sunday we drove to another part of the Kullaberg Nature Reserve where we spent the day orienteering and rappelling. We lucked out with beautiful weather all weekend and spending the day outdoors away from the city was so refreshing. I wish I could do a better job describing how gorgeous this area was but I am just going to let the pictures do the work for me.

 

This trip exceeded all of my expectations and was definitely some of the most fun I have had since being here. I got to see a new country, meet great new people, and explore a beautiful area. And as if this wasn't enough, they surprised us on the way back to the ferry with a stop at the most adorable, fairytale-esque cafe called Flickorna Lundgren. The bakery is over 70 years old and famous in Sweden for their vanilla heart pastries. Yum!