Dragør

On Saturday, Mischa, Stef, and I biked to the southern part of Amager to the cute little coastal town of Dragør. It's NOT pronounced at all like the way you'd think it would be pronounced, so don't even try. It was a 15 km (ish) bike ride there and it took us about an hour.

First, we climbed on top of these fortresses to get a view of the ocean. It was a super windy day.

Then we parked our bikes inside the town center and went for a little walk. It's honestly the cutest, most quaint little town that I've ever seen. It's a very old place and all the houses are painted sunshine yellow. The narrow cobblestone streets tell a story of their own.

We stepped inside a little coffee shop for a little pick-me-up before embarking on the hour long journey home. Hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles really does the trick on a windy day.

On the way home, the chain on Stef's bike fell off about 6 or 7 times. So we kept stopping and going and stopping. It was pretty frustrating! Mischa got his hands all dirty, but it was no use. We finally gave up and took turns pulling Stef along on the bicycle. It was hard work, but at least she got a free ride.

Having a good bicycle in proper working order is so important for getting around Copenhagen.
About a month ago, my chain started being really stupid and kept on slipping. So Stefan came over last week and helped me fix it. He sort of took it apart and positioned the wheel back more. I don't really understand what he did, but I'm just glad it works. 

I'm back to riding : )

House Guests and Couch Surfers

Easter break is over now. I've had more than a week off school again and I only have one class this week. It would've been a good opportunity to do more traveling, but I decided to stay and enjoy Copenhagen.

Over the past month or so, we've hosted many guests and a few couch surfers. With 6 girls in one apartment, there's always something going on. It's a busy place with people coming in, staying, and leaving all the time.

Stefan was one of our first house guests. He's danish and lives in Copenhagen, but him and a room mate decided to do a room switch for a couple of days... just for fun.

Then came Mert, our first ever couch surfer from Istanbul:

He works as an airplane steward and stayed with us for 2 nights while backpacking through Copenhagen. Stef and I showed him around the city. It was great because it forced me to go out and do stuff, when I would've otherwise stayed at home and wasted time.

Then we hosted another couch surfer for one night. His name was Sebastian. He's a photography student traveling through Europe by hitchhiking, backpacking and couch surfing. This is his website: http://sebastiandahl.com/
I only chatted with him briefly, but I think his travel stories are pretty amazing. He trades his photographs for kindness from random strangers.

This week, Stef's friend from Australia came and stayed with us for 6 days. His name is Mischa and he's living and working in London England right now. Mischa is actually Zev's brother (the guy we stayed with in London, England). It was really great to meet him because I had heard so much about him already.

Mischa is a cook. He's been making us amazing food all week!!! He's actually going back to London today. I'm really going to miss the great company and excellent meals.

Anyway,
It's been raining for the past few days, so I've been mainly stuck at home.
I can never get any work done in this apartment, so I've really got to get to the library.
Like now.

Essays and Libraries

Summer on our living room wall

I have to settle down and get going on these two essays before the weather gets any nicer. 

At my home university, grades are made of several different assessments. Usually, there's nothing worth over 40%.  It blows my mind that each essay is worth 100% of my grade for each course! It's kind of frustrating because I'm not sure what they expect. The structure and format for the essays are different. They give us an exam date... but we don't actually write an exam. The exam date is the date that our essays are due.

I finally found a really good library for studying. It's right across from my campus. I've been there twice already this week, but I haven't gotten much done yet. At least it's a start...

I'm really glad that Sara is here with me. It's nice to have some one from the same home university that's in the same faculty and taking the same courses as I am. We're both in the same situation, so we have each other to rely on.

Canadians! Sara and I at a Cafe

A Sunday Without Sun

This is the bridge connecting Christianshavn to central Copenhagen. 

I wish you could ride off straight into the sky and land anywhere in the world. 

The other picture is one of the Amager beach park. We biked there last week. There's a 2 km long artificial beach island that was added to the original shore line.

Goodbye Winter

Okay, so according to my mom... I haven't blogged for 3 weeks now. And she really wants to know what's going on in my life. So this is for you, mom:

 In these past three weeks, life has changed from winter to spring in Copenhagen. I didn't know that it was possible to love this city even more. The canals are no longer frozen, out door seating for restaurants have emerged, and all the city people have come out of hibernation. There's so much to do and so much to see. I've even stopped wearing tights underneath my pants!

 I would totally ride this crazy furry viking bicycle. Love it.

 At my new favorite cafe after visiting the little Mermaid again.

I have dinner together with my flatmates and friends multiple times a week. We take turns cooking up a storm in the kitchen. In celebration of Stef's birthday, we even had a "dessert dinner" where everyone had to make one dessert. We had banana bread, brownies, ice cream cake.... etc. It was AMAZING. I feel like I've gained so much weight, but I refuse to go on a scale.

Grocery shopping for yet another dinner : )

Last weekend, I went on a trip to visit Kronborg Castle, which is a little north of Copenhagen in a city called Helsingør. This castle is the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet. Then we took a ferry over to Helsingborg in Sweden, where we walked around and had dinner together.

 In the courtyard of Kronborg Castle

In Sweden, climbing some stairs for a view of Helsingborg

Tomorrow, I'm going to Malmö (Sweden) with 2 friends just for the day. 

A brief summary of Dublin

I'm finally back in the CPH. It feels so good to be home again. I left Copenhagen when it had frozen canals and piles of snow. It's been 11 days. The ice is melted, the snow is gone, and the sun is out and shining. It's about TIME, weatherman.

My week long break from school is over and I head back to class tomorrow. But before that, let me just update you on my absolutely fantastically ragingly fun time of a trip to DUBLIN. Mode of transport? Train and ferry.

Stef & I stayed with my good high school friend, Kristine. I haven't seen her since... last summer I think? Anyway, she's studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. RCSI for short.

In Dublin...........................

 We visited the Guinness Storehouse. It's this huge self guided tour and when you finish it, you end up on the top floor. This is where the Gravity bar is. It's got the greatest panoramic view of Dublin. See below:

Okay, truth is... I actually hated this beer and I'm only pretending to drink it to look cool. It's really bitter and heavy. I'm more of a Carlsberg girl. There, now you know my secret. Shhhh....

This is the Kilmainham Gao (jail). It's opened to the public as a museum now. Historically, there were some important people that were kept here.

Last words from condemned men and women. I can't even begin to imagine.....

On a brighter note, we took a train to a little fishing village outside of Dublin called Howth. The weather was beautiful. Other than the winds by the beach side, the whole place was still, quiet and beautiful. You really get a sense of inner peace. We spent a morning walking along the cliff side.

We only got 3 nights in Dublin. Our last night was spent at Kristine's College's event: ballad night. I was told that it would be a great party, but I really had no idea what to expect. Low and behold, it was a night organized by the school for student bands to perform in their lecture hall and for our future doctors to relax and let loose with cheap beer and good company:

Lecture hall by day... Stage and party room by night. Everyone was loving it. 

Me and Kristine.

Alright. That's all for now. 

Hello out there! 

How's Canada? (or where ever you are)
How were your midterms?
Does Columbus like his diet food yet?

What are you doing this summer?

Sometimes I'm torn between wanting to stay in CPH for ever and wanting to go home. Today was an important day. It's my one year anniversary with my boyfriend and I wish so badly that I could be home.

I need to do some readings + homework now.

At least biking to class will be so much easier now that the snow's gone. 

Toodles.

Update

Stef and I shared this single bed for 7 nights in London. It was pretty cozy and surprisingly comfortable.

This is our host  Zev and his awesome art.

This was dinner on our first night and yes, it was delicious. 

In Berlin, I did the whole stay-in-a-hostel-be-a-tourist thing. It was heaps of fun. 

However, I think you get so much more out of traveling if you are lucky enough to have friends already living in the city. You get to really experience what life is like in that particular corner of the world. It's so much more cozier than staying at a hostel.

In London, Zev was absolutely amazing and set us up with a map, directions and favorite places to visit. He pointed us to the nearest grocery store (Tesco!), let us use his kitchen and fridge, and left us his keys when we needed it.

Now, I'm in Dublin. Stef and I are staying with Kristine - a good high school friend of mine. She's been studying here for 3 years already. She has the cutest little apartment right near the center. More on that later...

Tomorrow, we're heading out of Dublin to explore Howth - a picturesque coastal line. 

 

Aussies in China town in London

I missed the funny story being told in this photo...

but them aussies really have a sense of humor and a knack for shortening words.

i.e. I'm devo (devastated), having some brecky (breakfast)

I really enjoyed the afternoon. It's always fun when you're in good company and having half price bucket sized cocktails during happy hour. It should be happy hour every hour.

Also, I finally got my bangs/fringe cut straight. I've always wanted to try this but I was too chickenshit to actually do it. There's something about traveling and living out of a backpack that's so liberating... so I thought... why not?

Tower bridge & me & blue skies & coffee in the morning... yum

The quintessential London photo

...rain, double deckers, and red phone booths...

Yup, this is London...

London Soho

Welcome to Carnaby Street.

This is the morning rush to work in Soho. Nine o'clock Monday morning.

The perfect weather for the first day of Spring..