Europe – Page 2 – Archived Travels

London + Oxford

Day One –

Ivanna and I arrived in London, the first city of our European tour. We had our AirBnB neighbor Michelle help us find our keys. We then very sneakily changed in the garage since the actual room wasn’t ready for check-in. After dropped off our luggage and freshened up, we headed off to London Eye. After this, we went to see the crown jewels at the Tower of London. As the tortuous exhaustion of jet lag kicked in, we scarfed down Strawberry Spritzes and Toffee Cake at Coppa by the Thames River before heading home and crashing at 8pm.

Day Two –

The next morning, we walked towards St. Paul’s Cathedral and grabbed breakfast, where we discovered bacon was different across the pond. Once our tummies were full, we went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, where we lit candles for loved ones before climbing 300+ steps to reach the Whispering (Dome).

After the morning exercise, we walked outside to play connect four at the Trafalgar Square. I accidentally crushed a man’s ping pong ball when it rolled of his table. It was tragic and embarrassing. Regardless, we proceeded to play ping pong after he and his friend left. After our second morning exercise, we headed over to see Westminster Abbey. We walked on Charles Darwin’s grave (as well as a lot of dead people). We FLIPPED OUT when we saw the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary of the Scots.

Once we left, we stumbled upon a little square for the private school near Westminster. After this, we walked around St. James Park and saw Buckingham Palace and attempted to find the gardens. Next on the agenda was Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare Globe. We had seat that stood RIGHT beneath the summer sun. We were BOILING. Intermission was sweet respite. After burning in hell for a few hours, we went back to our room to prepare for dinner . We ate at the Crusting Pipe at Covent Garden and shared Rosé

Day Three –

Our old friend from sleep-away camp, Katya, demanded we visit her in Oxford SO we took a bus out to pay a visit. The ride was beautiful (Ivanna got motion sickness though 😦 )! Oh! By the way SOMEHOW LONDON WAS CLOUDLESS FOR THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE THERE except until we arrived to Oxford. Once we met up with Katya, she showed us around her campus. She was SO KIND and bought us our lunch. She was even MORE KIND to introduce us to Pimm’s, an amazing British summer drink. Then, we checked out the Botanical Gardens. Absolutely gorgeous!

After we ate, Ivanna got a piece from the map store. We walked through a park and stumbled upon an intense rowing match between universities. We walked through the event for a good hour before saying our goodbye’s and going home. Ivanna and I had a small dinner and much Pimm’s at the Dog House while playing Durak. We ended our trip in London to see King’s Cross and Platform 9 3/4. Ivanna’s childhood dreams had been fulfilled!

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is an absolutely vibrant city. I booked my tickets out of complete spontaneity! I had three days to kill before I went off to Norway and my friend Raquel was already heading to this ciudad bonita, so I thought, “Why the hell not!?”.

Coming from such a cold and cloudy Denmark, the Spanish sun was beyond refreshing. During my visit, the whole region of Catalonia was stirring for independence. Despite the violence that came with the protests, my experience was hardly disturbed. I did stumble upon a peaceful, joyful demonstration – I later discovered it was in favor of sticking with Spain. There was also “Si” flags draped over every balcony in the city. It was a rather unique time!

I spent my first day in Barcelona alone. I made the decision to come a day earlier than Raquel so I could have some “me” time! I first wandered Las Ramblas for a tattoo. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any artists available that day. How sad :,-( Then I made my way over to Park Guell, which looked SO MUCH like the Hills of Los Angeles! I wandered through the park for an hour or two. I ran into a dog walking couple and stuck with the oldest dog, who was straggling behind. Afterwards, I enjoyed a sangria that was much larger than I was expecting. I made sure to finish it and went on to my next adventure tipsy.

I ended up at the David Bowie exhibit at the Design Museum. It was a beautifully curated exhibition. I can’t believe I went through the whole thing and only realized one of his pupils was bigger than the other until the end. Duh! After this, I stopped by the chapel in Sagrada Familia. I lit a candle for Michael. I ended the night roaming a square whose name I forgot before heading home.

On day two, I spent my last hours alone sketching away in the Picasso museum. Afterwards, I welcomed Raquel. Our first order of business was go to the beach! And so we did! It was a tad chilly – after all, it was October, but we didn’t care. Tons of blanket and beverage peddlers combed the beaches with their discounted offers. Raquel and I said no to all of them and laughed “mojito fresh” to each other when we learned that their mojitos might not be as fresh as they say.

We remained on the coast for our meal. We had amazing tapas and sangria at a restaurant called FOC. It was too delicious. 10/10 recommend. Seriously go!!! After this, we went to Park De La Ciutadella and roamed the lively area. Then, something strange happened. *cue x-files music* We and hundreds of people were locked in the park? We had to squeeze through the fence to get out. We never found out why that happened.

On day three, I slept in (because of a loud snorer and a loud ambient-music listener) while Raquel and our newest addition, Sarah explored the city. We went to the aquarium, rowed boats in the park, and then met up with Raquel’s college friends. We went to the amazing square where I discovered los pinchos, a concept of eating similar to tapas. Ugh, it was incredible! After we handed in our toothpicks to pay, we hiked up a huge hill to see Lorde – or as the Spanish fans say Lorday! She was fantastically angelic. A perfect way to end my trip!

Here are some more photos from my trip for your viewing pleasures:

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The Netherlands

When I first visited the Netherlands, it was an absolute dream. Everything was green and warm! The Italian pizza and pasta here are to die for ( I honestly think it’s better than actual Italian food) and the gelato is mmph! too good. Friendly cats wandered the streets and happy dogs sat by the dinner table. Biking was incredibly dangerous, but almost falling into a canal didn’t stop me and my friend, Ivanna, from navigating Amsterdam the right way.

Here is a recap of my first time in Netherlands during the summer:

Day One –

We Arrived in Amsterdam and checked into our AirBnB. We checked out bikes and enjoyed our most comfortable bike ride through Vondelpark. We then ate at Vondelpark3 (something like that). I had the best Gnocchi along with a Heineken. Ivanna had crustacean soup with berry Heineken (she did not receive spoon until end). We were also surrounded by so many dogs. Ugh! Heaven! We discovered the people were so nice they give blankets when you were cold during dinner.

We then rode around for ice cream and ended up getting some from Monte Pelma. We explored De Jordaan and pet many cats. We then went to a “coffee shop”, met a parrot, and I humiliated myself when didn’t know how to roll a joint. We smoked Lemon Haze and headed home.

Day Two –

We ate decadent pancakes at Mook Pancakes and shared a glass of watermelon juice. We learned the difficulties of biking when we trekked to the Van Gough Museum. While we were there, we also got to see Parisian printmaking of the 1900s. Afterwards, we went to the Rjiks Museum, but we were tired and in too much pain (ass) to enjoy the museum. Instead, we made memes of all the pieces and held a contest to see who could find the most dogs.

After this, we made our perilous journey towards the center for money exchange. After the stressful experience, we skrrted out of there to return to De Jordaan. We spent five years searching for food. Eventually, we found people to lead us to incredible pizza near Monte Pelma (which we got more ice cream at hehe). We walked around for shopping. This time we purchased Strawberry Haze. We then biked back to room to shower. Afterwards we ate at Edel and drank alcoholic Cranberry Punch. We ended the night with a smoke session at Vondelpark

Day Three –

We decided to sleep in (well deserved). We returned to Vondelpark where we finished off our Strawberry Haze. We found this beautiful enclave and were in awe…until we saw the open condom. We then followed the river to find a willow which we climbed. Ivanna has some not so graceful footage of me getting past the trunk.

After a delightful morning, we walked through Leidsplien to the Bloemen Markets. Then we made our way through the Red Light District. We got ready for dinner cruise and were bougie on it with Brazilian couple we had met. At the end of the night, we saw the famous prostitutes. They seemed unbothered, haha.

In regards to my second visit, I went during a much colder time. However, returning to my favorite city in Europe was wonderful. I revisited some of the places Ivanna and I stumbled upon over the summer, but unfortunately, I was on a study tour so my group moved pretty fast. We went to SO MANY museum and studios.

In Amsterdam, we visited –

FOAM Photography Museum
Frame Publisher Studios
Stedlijk Museum
Anne Frank House
EYE Film Institute

In Utrecht, we visited –

Clever Franke Offices (so cool!)
Centraal Museum
Miffy Museum

In Rotterdam, we visited –

Markthal
Studio Spass
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam
Fenix Food Factory (had some bomb ass pita!)
viewed Loving Vincent

below are pictures from my second visit to the Netherlands:

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Denmark

“Livet må forstås baglæns, men må leves forlæns.”

Life must be understood backwards, but must be lived forward

In the month of August 2017, I began my journey abroad in Europe as a student. With a big red suitcase and an even bigger smile, I’ve taken with me an emotional baggage that has given me a unique experience. Despite the grief that has followed me to these unknown lands, I have learned, I have laughed, I have cried, I have discovered, I have spent (sorry mom), but I have never regretted.

In Denmark, culture is a little different from American culture. I’ve compiled these points into a concise list:

Couples always exhibit PDA – but the wholesome kind, especially hand-holding
Literally everybody has babies, and all the babies smile
Danes do not use sauce in pizza pies (tragic)
At the supermarket, it is important to set down the dividers on the conveyor belt…or else
Bike lanes. Bike lanes. Bike lanes.
Danes are humble about their success
Danes possess an accent that resembles (as the Swedish say) a potato being lodged in your throat
One similarity: Danes are just as crazy about Christmas as Americans are!

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By now, I know Copenhagen like the back of my hand. Shoutout to the 2A bus for always coming in clutch. Shoutout to Lagkaghuset for providing the best pastries ever. Shoutout to Netto for satisfying my munchies. Shoutout to the Metro for only going two directions. Shoutout to the architects for building such beautifully modern buildings. Shoutout to Paper Island for having the best food. Shoutout to Christiansvahn just because it’s my favorite stop on the way to my apartment. Shoutout to Tivoli for always ringing in the seasons with fun and festivities. Shoutout to Amagerbro for being my home for the past three months.

With that said, let’s get into the highlights so that those who want to visit this magical country can have some guidance –

Activities –

Tivoli Gardens
University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden

Nightlife –

Pumpehuset
Meatpacking District

Museums –

Nationalmuseet
University of Copenhagen Geological Museum
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Frilandsmuseet

Food –

Nyhavn
Paper Island (Permanently Closed)
Torvehallerne Copenhagen
Noma