Copen Just Fine

A Holly Jolly Tivoli Christmas

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:21:00 -0500

This afternoon I checked one of my final things off my checklist: visit Tivoli Gardens at Christmastime. Although it was a short visit in the midst of finals, it was as beautiful as ever. We strolled through the gardens, admired the Christmas lights, played with Santa’s reindeer, watched a light show, enjoyed some hot chocolate and danish æbleskiver (yum!), and tried not to freeze our fingers off in the bitter cold. The Danes really do love Christmas.

Let it Snow

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 10:42:00 -0500

Study? Nahhh

And for some laughs…

From Our Home to Yours

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 04:49:00 -0500

Merry Christmas from the Ravnsborggade Family! Last night we invited all of our Copenhagen friends plus more to Holiday party in our home. We wanted to make the evening extra special and enticing (there were, after all, many different parties to choose from- Danes love Christmastime), so we spent two whole days decorating the house!

Complete with traditional gløgg (I know I keep talking about it, but it is just so good!), we set up a photobooth for the party. Here are some of the highlights from the night:

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Daily Dose of Exploring

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 04:31:00 -0500

With less than a week left (eeek!) we’ve taken full advantage of exploring this city we have called home for the past four months. Yesterday, after a morning full of arts & crafts and Christmas decoration (post to come) we spent the afternoon exploring our neighborhood or Nørebro. We winded our way through the back streets, around the Christmas tree markets, and then through the cemetery to find the grave of (who else but) H. C. Andersen!

I ended my afternoon with a last minute wrapping paper and Santa hat run to Tiger. The city sidewalks were busy sidewalks, dressed in Holiday style.

In the air, there’s a feeling of Christmas.

FCK

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:38:00 -0500

Geez you guys have foul minds…I’m talking about FC København! Last night we enjoyed a little Thursday Night Football (soccer) courtesy of DIS. It was a big game, for FCK had to beat Steaua Bucuresti (of Romania) in order to maintain a spot in the Europa league. The coach even asked us fans to “create a hell”!

Ok…that’s not actually me…but I did get one of those awesome scarves!

They ended up tying the game 1-1, so unfortunately it was pretty anti-climactic. It was still an awesome experience, though. I’m so happy I was able to enjoy a football match while I was here (even if it was from the nosebleeds)!

Winter Wonderland

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:31:00 -0500

If you follow me on instagram (and if you don’t my username is cflight), you have probably noticed that it has turned to winter in Copenhagen- or Snowpenhagen as we like to call it. Usually it doesn’t snow in Denmark until January or February, but it has already been snowing here since last Friday afternoon! It has given this already Christmas-fied city an even more magical glow. Danes have retreated in to cafes to enjoy the seasonal gløgg: a delicious warm mulled red wine.

Here are some pictures from my walk to school this morning: the doorstep of Kristin’s host family’s home, and my walk across the Nørrebro bridge. And yes, that is the height of the sun at 1:00pm…its peak today…

Yet, despite all the ice and slush (they don’t plow nearly as well here as in Vermont), the Danes continue to bike on as intensely as ever.

We’ll frolic and play, the eskimo way, walking in a winter wonderland.

'Tis the Season (for Cappuccino)

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:39:40 -0500

Our weekend sort of went like this: breakfast (cappuccino), Christmas market, coffee break, Christmas market, dinner, Christmas market, cappuccino, repeat.

For our Sunday morning coffee break, we went to the famous cafe Demel. Despite the crowd, we managed to walk in and find 6 seats at the bar! Aside from the coffee, everyone (but me) got some sort of delicious pastry. I don’t know how they let me get away with it, but they each let me sample theirs! My friends are the greatest.

I could not ask for a better last trip to the semester. To see more pictures of Vienna (including those of the most incredible hostel I have ever stayed it- we had our own loft for heaven’s sake!) click here!

Christmastime is Here

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:32:38 -0500

The Christmas markets were spectacular! I’m not sure how much I can say about them without giving away my christmas gifts… There were ornaments on ornaments, Santa decorations, delicious apple punsch!, and winter hats galore. There were 3 big Christmas markets that we went to, but even just the streets were merry. We even ran into a llama! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

As pretty as they were, though, they became so much more spectacular at night when all the Christmas trees were lit up and “Holly Jolly Christmas” is playing in the background. If you ever have the chance to go, I highly recommend it.

I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me! Plus, I gotta bring all these presents back!

Oh, and P.S. I’m winning the freebie gift this year- you ready Linda!

First, some culture

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:22:49 -0500

I went into Vienna with completely no expectations- my cousin Will filled be in about the music, but that was about it. Our trip to was planned solely to go to the Christmas Markets (you’re welcome family!). One of the cool things about Vienna, though, is that there are huge, monumental buildings everywhere you look! So, while enjoying the ornaments and Santa decorations, I was able to check out some of the Opera houses, churches, and town halls!

What a Flight (Pun intended)

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:12:59 -0500

For those of you curious about Friday’s flight…

On Friday I left for my last trip of the semester: Vienna, Austria for the Christmas markets! We were so excited to go that we even left for the airport early (luckily). When I got to the airport, I wasn’t able to check-in, so I went to the counter to ask what was happening. Turns out they had canceled my reservation (although they still managed to charge my credit card…).

The airline thought that someone had entered the last name “Flight” as a joke when they were buying the ticket online, so naturally they canceled it.

Thankfully they were able to get me a ticket on the plane. And then (an awesome surprise) they flew me home first class! Seat 1F baby! Probably the only time I’ll ever see that combination on a ticket.

Norway? Yesway!

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 05:59:00 -0500

After a great night of live music (fabulous cover band on the boat) and karaoke, we got off the boat Saturday morning around 10, so we had 6 hours to conquer as much as the city as possible. We started with the Olso Opera house, then followed a suggested walking tour through the center city passing by the Parliament building, Royal Palace, Nobel Peace Prize museum, Town Hall (where we walked in on a day of Norwegian Christenings), and the Harbor. We also hit some street markets on the way.

After enjoying a nice PB&J picnic, we made our way to the National Gallery, where we enjoyed some warmth (!) and got to see Munch’s famous painting: The Scream.

It was a very fun (and very quick) weekend! And, the biggest accomplishment of all was that no one got sea sick despite being an extremely rough trip back.

For more pictures from Oslo, click here!

I'm on a boat

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 05:50:00 -0500

One trip that definitely marks the DIS (Danish Institute of Study Abroad) experience is the Olso cruise. So Friday afternoon, 7 friends and I boarded the Crown of Scandinavia for a 17 hour boat ride across the North Sea and through the Fjords.

Norway is known for being the most expensive country in the world- just look at the Big Mac Index- so we backed enough food to feed a small army. I have never eaten so many PB&Js in my life!

Happy Thanksgiving(s)!

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 05:42:00 -0500

Not only was I able to celebrate Thanksgiving this past week, but I was able to celebrate it twice!

Wednesday night my Ravnsborggade family celebrated a nice dorm Thanksgiving. I, of course, helped to decorate the table! We cooked up the most delicious stuffing ever (props to Aimee and Mia), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green beans, cranberry sauce, corn, ham, and our Thanksgiving chicken! Turkey’s are pretty non-existent in Denmark…

Our chefs deserve a complete round of applause, for I was still full when I started to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday!

Thursday my friend Kristin invited me to celebrate with her host family and 20 of their Danish relatives! I took the train to Roskilde (where she lives) after my class on Thursday…yep still had class… and immediately started streaming the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I was not going to miss that just because I was in Denmark! Plus, it was fun to introduce the tradition to her Danish family.

I also helped with the apple pie! It wasn’t as good as Gammie’s, but it didn’t turn out too bad! Or everyone was just being nice…

I truly am so thankful that I have such great friends whom I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving(s) with. It was one that I won’t ever forget.

Oh Hot (amster)Dam!

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 15:08:00 -0500

On Friday it was time to say goodbye to my parents, and meet up with my friends in Amsterdam! I didn’t arrive until Friday night, and it was a pretty cloudy day on saturday, so I didn’t take too many pictures. It was an interesting city, though. All the canals reminded me of Venice, while the architecture almost reminded me of Belgium (I’m not an architect wiz though, so don’t quote me on that!)

Amsterdam is a pretty small city, but we made sure to check out the key sites- Anne Frank’s house (It was a really heavy museum, but I actually enjoyed the tour), the Iamsterdam sign, walked down the Red Light District (during the day) and peaked into a “coffee shop”.

Wow, another week gone by! Don’t stop reading my blog yet, though! I still have a few fun trips planned (in and out of CPH) AND my attempt to help cook Thanksgiving dinner..

For the rest of the pictures of Amsterdam click here!

Oh, and Andrew- I suppose you can have my seat at the Thanksgiving table, but you better give it back for Christmas!

Story Time!

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:53:00 -0500

Alright, brief intermission (sorry m&d):

Have you ever heard the story of how my parents got their bathroom artwork? No? Well, they always had wanted a nude painting for over the bathtub (must be the french roots), but the museum staff were on strike the day they were in Paris, so they could never get Jean-Auguste-Dominique’s painting of the the Turkish Bath (okay, the poster not the real painting).

So, (I’m not actually sure of the time line here, but we’ll go with a year or two) A year or two later they were flying back from San Tropez (poor them) and planned to have an hour and a half lay over in Paris so they could quickly take a taxi to the Louvre, run in, grab the poster from the book shop, and take a taxi back to the airport.

But turns out they had never actually seen the original Jean-Auguste-Dominique, only posters from around the city. Hah!

Anyways, our final day in Paris was a mission to find the Turkish Bath in the Louvre. Look familiar?

We did squeeze in some other touristy sites during our week in Paris (The Rodin Museum for example), so you can find all the rest of my pictures here!

The picture start about half way down the album, the one where my mom stepped in something, well, not so pleasant.

Farm of Versailles

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:42:05 -0500

Day three in Paris we took the train out to the Palace of Versailles, where the royal family and government ruled from Louis XIV until they were run out by the French Revolution. It also housed the one who let them eat cake: Mary Antoinette. The Palace of Versailles was and still is a symbol of absolute monarchy.

While the palace was cool and all, we had more fun wandering the gardens. I should mention that Map boy (aka Curt) was struggling this trip in Paris (he’ll blame it on the jet lag) so it took us a little while of getting lost in the garden until we found our destination- the Hamlet House.

It turns out that Versailles was also home to a sort of petting farm! Ok that last part might be exaggerated (I don’t think we were supposed to pet the animals). But there were farm animals!

I’ll leave out the animal selfies to save myself from embarrassment..

Le deuxième jour

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:29:31 -0500

Day two in Paris we strolled through the Luxembourg gardens, across the Love Lock bridge,

and finally made our way up through Montmartre to the Sacré-Coeur Bascilia (Jackie- we thought of you the whole time! Go Pioneers!).

Despite the treacherous steps it takes to walk up (Dad wouldn’t let us take the lift, can you believe it!) Montmartre is an extremely cool area- it looks just how you imagine Paris should look. It used to be the artsy district of Paris, but as it became a tourist haven the artists mostly moved out. They have definitely left their mark on the area, though.

And (my favorite) there was another incredible view of the city of Paris (despite the no sun thing).

After another café stop, we met up with my mom’s college roommate! She took us to the Crêpe street, where we had savory crêpes for dinner, and sweet ones for dessert. And some cider. I definitely got in touch with my french routes.

Paris is always a good idea.

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 14:12:44 -0500

Well our third and final travel week is over, and flew by quicker than you can imagine. I can’t believe I only have 4 short weeks left until I come home- lets not think about that now, though!

I spent this past week in Paris (god forbid) with my parents, and the occasional friends and college roommates we happened to see (the sun was not one of them… haven’t seen sunlight in over a week, but that’s a different story…) Having all already been to Paris, we gave up most of the touristy stuff to stroll the streets and enjoy our café crème the French way (long endless hours sitting outside street cafés).

We did managed to see some sites, though. Our first day in the city we visited the Musée D’Orsay which I actually enjoyed! I guess I learned more than I thought in that art history class last year…

We also saw Lady Ella sing!:

Okay…not the real Ella Fitzgerald, but she was pretty darn good!

Tillykke med fødselsdagen!

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:06:08 -0500

Another fødselsdag (birthday) past for this guy. I can’t believe this picture was taken when he was my age… And now were in Copenhagen, years later, celebrating with a few beers at some strange Danish bar.

Earlier in the night, we sang happy birthday in two languages. My visiting family invited us over for dinner and I was excited to share some danish traditions with my parents. Birthdays are a big deal in Denmark, and include many danish flags, hyggeligt candles, and a laekkert (delicious) cake- which i helped to make!! Yup, Casey can bake now, watch out Cara!

It has been a fun few days in Copenhagen with my parents! It has been very exciting to show them what has been my home for these past months. Tomorrow we leave for Paris for the week, so that should also be a blast! I’ll get to use some of that DS french I learned once upon a time (shout out to Mrs. Witzburg and the rest of the DS french gang).

Jusque-là!

Sensations

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 08:21:56 -0500

This post is not really as cultural, but I couldn’t go without posting it! Last night was Sensation White- one of the most wide spread techno raves. These concerts aren’t really my scene, so I wasn’t sure what to expect when we arrived. It was so much fun though! We dressed in all white and spent the night dancing and fist pumping to the beat. The concert actually originated in Denmark, so the entire city was excited for it. And, I swear the entire American population quadrupled. I even found some Midd Kids!