02 November 2014
What an amazing last week! I traveled with two other Cal Poly study abroad students to 3 different countries, 4 cities… using 3 planes, 2 trains, many busses, and 6 tired feet. Trica, Roxy, and I got up on Tuesday, October 28 at 3AM and took the night bus to the Stockholm Central Train Station to catch our very early morning train to Copenhagen. After our lovely 5 hour train ride through the Swedish countryside, we arrived in Denmark! City number 1! It was absolutely beautiful. We saw some funny things while we were there. For instance, there is one area called Christiana that basically allows free trade of marijuana. It’s quite the hippy place. Tricia had been to Copenhagen before, so she was our guide. I would have documented that area for you, but there were signs everywhere saying strictly no pictures. In addition to seeing Christiana, we also saw a beautiful view of the city from the parliament building, and walked around the main touristy parts of Copenhagen. The first picture you’ll see is at Nyhaven which is the typical Danish buildings along one of the popular canals in the city. Then, while at the castle, we saw the changing of the guards.
We continued to explore the streets of Copenhagen. The picture below is one of the churches we went to. We also saw a castle! I jumped for joy… obviously! It is called the Rosenborg Castle. It isn’t in use as a residence anymore, and actually hasn’t been in use for quite some time. It now houses jewels and serves as a place for military training.
I think the absolute coolest thing that happened in Copenhagen is that we ran into Cal Poly students. I knew one of them because we had Women and Gender Studies together last winter. We walked by them in the parliament tower, and they overheard our American accents and recognized me. It was such a cool surprise! It turns out 3 of them are studying architecture in Germany, and one of them is interning in Sweden but living in Copenhagen. We thought we would see the end of them in the tower, but instead we ended up bumping into each other multiple times throughout the day. I thought it was so cool, so I tweeted it at President Armstrong from Cal Poly, and he responded! See below! Cal Poly love really is all over the world <3.
By the end of the day we were so exhausted. We decided to refuel for our evening flight to Dublin, Ireland with a lovely Danish Danish :P See what I did there? hehe. Anyway, I got the Danish version of a Kanelbulle… I’ve now tried every Scandinavian version of the Kanelbulle… and they’ve all been delicious.
On Day 2, we woke up in Dublin, Ireland before the sun came up. We took a bus 3 hours “outside of the city” to the countryside… aka we drove across all of Ireland… and ended up in Galway! We did a whole day long bus tour of the countryside, lots of ruins, the coast, and the Cliffs of Moher. It was drop dead gorgeous. Castles left and right. Cemeteries, burial sites, and old forgotten homes. I can attempt to describe the beauty in words, but pictures are so much better! Oh, just to note, of course we took a coffee break in between sites, and since I don’t drink much beer (sorry Guinness), I decided that my to pay homage to my Irish ancestors, I would drink an Irish Coffee… and damn was it good.
Now, the Cliffs of Moher get their own special section. I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life… and I’ve spent time in a lot of beautiful places in nature. Hugging the Atlantic ocean, the cliffs take the harsh winds and bus loads of tourists like it’s nothing. The Cliffs were the site for filming scenes in both Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as well as The Princess Bride. I am sure you will recognize the scenes when you see these amazing photos.
Day 2, down… Day 3, SCOTLAND! We woke up again before the sunrise in order to fly in plane #2 to Edinburgh, Scotland. If you thought the last two cities were beautiful, prepare to be amazed! Luckily on this excursion, we had some site seeing and bar suggestions from my dear friend Hannah Muldavin who studied at the University in Edinburgh last fall. We had an absolute blast exploring Princes Street (shopping), the castle, Royal Mile, and the nightlife.
On day 4, we were traveling back to Stockholm…. but we had a long day ahead of us… and it was Halloween for goodness sake. So I did what any sensible American college student would do… I wore bunny ears all day. Woop woop!
I am so proud of us for visiting so many cities in so little time. We were exhausted, but we pushed through and still managed to celebrate in some way every day. It was so much fun traveling as a group, and I am happy I got to know them better on this trip! One last note about Edinburgh: Last week I said that Bergen was my favorite city to visit. Unfortunately Bergen has now been brought down to #2 as Edinburgh takes the top spot. Its beauty, its history, and its entertainment make it #1. I would say it’s tied with Stockholm for favorite city in Europe. Maybe if I spend more time in Scotland, I’ll be able to make a better decision. The next couple weeks will be spent studying, resting, and embracing my new course schedule. I will make sure to update you all, but I will be keeping my feet (mostly) on the ground in Stockholm. Love you all <3
