Copenhagen

Hi!

This past week was Thanksgiving, as you know, and I was so sad about spending it in England away from my family. It is a strange thing to be in a country that doesn't celebrate the glorified Thanksgiving feast. I had to endure endless tweets and pictures of my Nana's cooking, courtesy of Carter Denton. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty painful working on my final papers and going to class when everyone was at home enjoying their turkey...something I haven't had since I left! However, after my Dad lovingly told me to suck it up and reminded me how lucky I was to be here, I knew he was right. Not only did I get to spend this Thanksgiving in beautiful Bath, but my program set up a Thanksgiving dinner for us that was actually really nice. ASE hires culinary students to put the dinner on for us. Their homework is to research American Thanksgiving and try to mimic it as well as they can, which is a pretty cool idea! I am so happy they did that for us because I may have actually cried in my kitchen that night trying to cook some pasta...that would have ended up overcooked, per usual.So overall, I am SO thankful to have had this semester abroad and thankful for my amazing family and friends.

Anyways, this past weekend I went to Copenhagen, Denmark with two of my friends, Nora and Emily. I've wanted to visit CPH ever since my good friend Savannah studied abroad there last semester. She sent me an amazing list of things to do while there which was so helpful! Our first day, we found a map and made use of the suggested walking tour around the city. We saw the famous little mermaid statue and walked through New Harbor, which is the canal lined with all of these colorful apartments. It was a beautiful part of the city, and I can imagine it is even better on a warm, sunny day (which, sadly, we never got).

New Harbor

Emily and Me

In front of the Little Mermaid

We then arrived at Amalienborg Castle just in time to see the changing of the guards. We had no idea there was a changing of the guards, but the fact that we showed up right at 11:55 made it look like we had planned it perfectly! It was neat to watch as it was far less crowded than the one at Buckingham Palace. After finishing up our walking tour, we headed to Freetown Christiania. On our way there, we stumbled upon this Church with a tower that you can climb. Since climbing towers has been a common theme of mine this semester, we decided to do it. They were the most narrow little stairs I have ever seen, but once we made it to the top, it was totally worth it. We got a great view of the city!

Changing of the Guards

After climbing the tower, we headed to Christiania which was one of the weirdest/coolest places I have ever been to. There are only 3 rules in Christiania: 1) No Pictures 2) No Running 3) Have as much fun as possible. So, as I found out, Freetown Christiania means you can freely buy and smoke weed all around the area, and I'm assuming that's the only reason one would visit. Of course I couldn't take pictures of it, but it was actually a really cool little village with a lot of food and retail vendors. It is called the "green light district". I'll let the rest of that remain a mystery...

After Christiania, we went to TIVOLI. It was one of the coolest places I have ever been. It is basically a huge amusement park situated in the middle of the city that is up year round. Since it was late November when we visited, the whole park was decorated with christmas lights and it was so beautiful! Apparently, Walt Disney was inspired by Tivoli and used it as his example to create Disney World. It was a little pricey (like everything in CPH...) but it was so worth it! We spent the evening walking around and taking it all in. We even splurged and bought a ticket for one ride, which was a blast.

On Sunday, it POURED all day :( So that put a little damper on our adventures. We made the most of it though! We had an amazing Danish buffet brunch, then headed to Rosenborg Castle, which, as castles go, was a little on the smaller side and not nearly as impressive as some that I have seen in England. After touring that, we headed to, where else but the Carlsberg Brewery! I had never been to a brewery before, and since I love Carlsberg so much and needed to escape the rain anyways, we decided to go. It was really neat to learn about all of the history and learn how beer is made - I had no idea! After our tour and about two pints of my favorite European beer, we headed to the Danish National Museum to, again, escape the brutal rain that was coming down.

The massive bottle collection at the brewery

Nora and Me at the Brewery

Overall, I loved my trip to Copenhagen! The Danish people are very, very good looking. The Kroner is the weirdest currency I have come across. In order to find out how much USD I was spending, I had to divide the amount by 6. So strange!

It was a great trip! Now, I am done with classes and just enjoying some day trips around England this weekend before my program heads to Stratford-upon-Avon this weekend. Shakespeare's birthplace...I'm a little nervous! It will be something different at least. I can't believe that classes are over and my placement at the elementary school is over. On my last day, I got to teach them a lesson all on my own and it went so well! I am going to miss them so much!

Until next week,

Sara xo

Our trip last weekend to Cardiff, Wales

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!