Hey everyone! All of a sudden I only have 2.5 weeks left in Copenhagen. When did that happen? Oh yeah.. I did travel throughout various European countries for almost a month.. Speaking of that, I'll give a quick recap of my travels.
I left in the second week of March with my core class on migration and traveled to Bulgaria for a week. The trip is fully planned and paid-for by DIS as a part of our program tuition. All the academic programs went to different countries for their study tours, for example, the architecture class went to Norway and Sweden, the political science program went to London and Berlin, etc. I'm really glad that we were able to experience Eastern European culture, though, and see how it compares to Western Europe. During the day we often had lectures or tours, and then the evenings usually consisted of delicious dinners, lots of wine and good conversations. We spent two days in Sofia, the capitol city where the airport is, went to the European Commission office to talk to them about the country's recent accession to the EU, talked to experts on the Roma community, and then visited a Roma community ourselves and spoke to an NGO that works there. We then traveled to Rila, a rural town deep in the mountains, where we stayed at a large and well-renowned monastery, and learned about the importance of Eastern Orthodox Christianity to Bulgaria. We spent one morning hiking a mountain nearby, which was really refreshing. The last city we visited, which was also the sunniest and warmest, is Plovdiv. No more scarves or mittens at least! Here we went to an ethnography museum and a local mosque to learn more about their national identity. We also met up with some Bulgarian university students and had a splendid dinner one evening with them, complete with traditional Bulgarian dance entertainment.
After Bulgaria, I was set to travel to Istanbul on an overnight bus from Plovdiv, until my friend who I was supposed to travel with, got sick and flew home to the states! I was a little hesitant about going there alone, especially without speaking any of the language, but I had already booked a hostel and had a plane flight out of Istanbul 3 days later, so I ended up going forward with it. My travel story from Plovdiv to Istanbul is a fantastic and terrifying one, and only to be told in person. If you ask me, I will gladly enlighten you on this crazy day. Anyway, I eventually made it to Istanbul and met 4 American girls at the hostel who graciously let me explore the city with them for a few days because they were there for the same amount of time. I had lots of fun seeing the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and going to the Grand Bazaar and Egyptian spice bazaar. One day we took a ferry to one of the Princess Islands and biked around there for the day.. it was incredibly beautiful!
From Istanbul, I flew to London, the same day that the G2o summit began. It was really exciting, with the protests and security vehicles around. I went to one of the protests- a peaceful one at Trafalger square- where there were anti-war and nuclear disarmament speeches and posters everywhere. My favorite part was the beautiful chalk art that various people were drawing on the sidewalks. What I really did in London, though, was find as many gluten-free delicacies as I could! I ate gf fish and chips one evening, got various cakes and brownies from little places, and ate my first restaurant gf wrap. I also saw some modern art, caught up on sleep that I didn't get in Istanbul, and chatted with various people at the hostel in the evenings. One evening I was sitting talking to three different guys from Scotland, Belgium, and France! The hostel was approximately a million times nicer than the one in Istanbul, so I really enjoyed being able to cook my own meals and actually have some privacy in my room.
Next I flew to Milan where I met up with Andrew!! It was so great to see him and have some good sibling bonding. We spent one night and day in Milan where we saw the fantastically enormous Duomo and ate some good Italian food before taking a train to the small town of Monselice, close to Padua. Here we got to experience small-town Italy and actually be some of the only tourists in the town. I really got to practice my Italian here. At night we ate at a pizza place where the only gluten-free menu items were seafood dishes! So that ended up being the most money I have ever spent on a meal! It was worth it though, and we made the most out of the meal by chatting and relaxing over some white wine for a while. The next stop was Venice! We were there on the weekend so there was a crazy amount of tourists there, but we still got to admire the canals and gondolas, and sample more pizza and gelato. After two days in Venice, Andrew flew back to Sweden and I had an morning and afternoon to kill before my next flight, so I bought picnic food at the grocery store near the hostel and went into the city of Venice and sat in a park, soaking up the warm sunshine (a little too much actually). I got some reading done and was pink but happy when I took the bus to the airport.
My last stop was Rome, where I realized I was out of money! And by out of money I don't just mean no euros in my pocket, which was also true, but I mean no dollars in my checking account. I sent a quick and desperate email home, but due to the time difference I had to spend one day in Rome peniless. My hostel was a little far from the city, but you could get there with a one euro bus ticket and another one euro metro pass. But I literally had nothing. So my food that day consisted of a bag of peanuts from the Venetian airport and some Bulgarian chocolate that I meant to take home with me... So I had no other options but to spend the day at my hostel. Oh, and across the street from the hostel was the beach. So I had to read and relax on the beach on a warm sunny day in Rome. Tragic, huh? Well don't feel too bad for me, because the next day I had some cash (thanks mom and dad) and went into Rome where I saw the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and all that good stuff. This was the last full day of my travels, and though I really enjoyed seeing all the various cities, I was very ready to be back home in Copenhagen.
The day after my return to Copenhagen, I got to hang out with my beautiful sister for the afternoon! It was a very happy reunion! I even splurged on some tulips from a flower stand, only to realize that she probably wouldn't want to take them on another plane flight to Sweden later on that day. She had a 6 hour layover in Copenhagen before flying to see Andrew, so we went to the center city for a bit and then the beach where we exchanged stories and lots of laughs. I sadly said goodbye to her but looked forward to spending time with her four days later.
Now I've been back in Denmark for 3 weeks or so since travel break and I'm enjoying the springtime that has finally arrived! I've almost forgotten that I went about a month in Copenhagen without seeing the sun. Unfortunately, I've also developed a serious cold lately, leaving me stuffy, coughing, and tired. My rental bike was also stolen.. Despite these minor setbacks, I'm really thoroughly enjoying these last few weeks here. I have had so many papers and projects due lately, but that is soon coming to an end. Next week is the last week of classes and then I have a week of finals where there's lots of free time! I already have plans to go to the city's theme park, Tivoli, with friends to see a concert, enjoy more picnics in the city's parks, and spend some time with my roommate Signe before I leave. Oh I'm also going to Oslo, Norway tomorrow to see Eileen!! I'm really looking forward to that. Well I'll blog again soon, and I mean it. Happy May Day!
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