2 year Anniversary

Ok so you're totally like "this is so weird, why is she posting on her blog from when she was abroad...that was two years ago...get over it...move on" But no, today I was feeling very sentimental about being abroad! In fact, 2 years ago yesterday, I was celebrating my 21st birthday in Copenhagen with some great new friends. I've stayed in touch with most of those friends including Mary, Matt, Arden, Greg, and Brian to name a few. It's pretty amazing to realize that I spent almost 6 months traveling Europe and yet the whole experience is so fresh in my brain. Last night, as we celebrated my 23 years of life over drinks at Gingerman - I was reminded of all the amazing birthdays we celebrated while I was in Denmark. February was an especially busy month as we celebrated Max, Nicole, Colin, Taylor and Brian's birthdays'! We also celebrated several other birthdays mainly Mary and Matt's (the only other two worth mentioning, love you both). Most of us were turning 21 which is an exciting milestone, however since we were in Europe, we could all already drink...which pretty much defeated the purpose of turning 21 altogether. In any event, it was fun to celebrate these events with new friends in new locations and start new traditions!

The CPH gang headed out for dinner for my 21st Birthday

Sparklers on my birthday dessert

Celebrating Colin's birthday at this great micro-brewery

Taylor's birthday? My birthday? February Birthdays?

Mom does CPH!

Mom arrived on Wednesday morning (April 29)....and from then on it was non-stop walking, shopping and sightseeing. We went on a canal cruise and saw all the sights from the water. We shopped and bought souvenirs and I got some Georg Jensen daisy earrings! Thursday afternoon we went to Tivoli Gardens. It was SO AMAZING to see all the flowers but we avoided the rides. It was too bad that we couldn't stay until it got dark because there are SO many lights.

Friday we spent the day in Malmo, Sweden. It was Labor Day (May Day) so a lot of the stores were closed but it was fun to see the city and explore a new place. We had a great lunch on the board walk looking out across the water to Copenhagen. Friday night was Drew's 21st birthday party and we had fun at that. Mom got to meet all my friends and she enjoyed talking to the kids. 

Saturday we walked over to the palace and had dinner in Nyhavn right by the canal. Mom left sunday morning and I begged her to take me with her. She did take a whole bag of my stuff home including lots of my souvenirs! 

After she left, it was back to the grind. I had a final on thursday and a paper due thursday as well. I've been studying at DIS today because I have my econ final on monday and the finance one on wednesday. Both will be pretty hard. 

After that...I AM DONE! I get to board my plane to the states on saturday morning. I could not be more ready to go. Copenhagen has been great, but I am ready for America. I want to see Tyler and start earning some money instead of spending all of it. 

Back from break and HATING school

The last week of our travel break was AMAZING. I was in Nice, Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome. Since I was traveling, I kept a paper journal so I will not be posting a FULL update on the blog. But here is the short hand of how the week was!

Nice:

I arrived in Nice on friday with NO wallet and NO friends. My friends weren't supposed to come until saturday night and well, my wallet got stolen in Dublin. 

Nice was BEAUTIFUL!! It is a great city and I had so much fun FINALLY using my french. 

Cinque Terre: 

We stayed in this amazing villa overlooking the water. We hiked to each of the 5 towns for the day and it was amazing. It was so nice to have some warm weather and HOT sun beating down on us. I even got a little color. 

Florence:

So beautiful and so Italian! It was fun to be in a city and explore all the culture. One of Greg's friends was studying there so we had a personal tour guide! We saw the David and basically walked the entire city. 

Rome:

I mean, come on....it was ROME! We saw EVERYTHING there possibly was to see in Rome including the Sistine Chapel, The Ruins and THE POPE! We had easter service at the Vatican. 

Overall, each city was so different and so unique. I loved all of them. 

Copenhagen is FINALLY beautiful. It is around 50-60 degrees everyday and SUNNY! It makes the city so much better. But unfortunately, I haven't been able to enjoy the weather as much as I would have liked because I have had SO much school work. It is really annoying and I feel like it's really holding me back! I just want to be able to relax and enjoy the city. 

I am leaving in about 30 minutes to go to Hamburg, Germany with my Holocaust and Genocide class. We are seeing the Neuengamme Concentration Camp and some other sites in Hamburg. I will be back saturday night. 

My mom comes on Wednesday and I could not be more excited or more ready for her to come. It will be great to have a slice of home and she'll be here for the great weather!! We will probably go to Malmo, Sweden for the day and visit Tivoli as well now that it is open! I can't wait to take her shopping on Stroget and take her on a tour of the canals. 

Only 20 more days until I get home and am reunited with America and more importantly TYLER!

Take a look at some of my pictures on Picasa!

Nice, Cinque Terre, Florence, Rome

The Irish are so damn lucky!

Ireland!

I spent the second week of my travel break in Connemara, Ireland. IRELAND IS AMAZING!!!

We spent the week at the Delphi Adventure Resort in the West Coast of Ireland. The irish countryside is so incredibly beautiful, full of mountains, sheep and rolling green hills. It was love at first sight! The adventure resort was awesome. We had amazing gourmet meals and the whole place was so cozy.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and checked into the resort. There were 8 girls in our room and one sink, talk about morning madness! That night we had this AWESOME meal of soup, salmon and apple tart with butterscotch sauce! Then we met our guides and they took us on a "bog walk" This "walk" was a 2 hour hike in the dark through 1ft deep water and mud! It was so crazy! We had JUST arrived and we were literally throw right into the mud. We all ruined our shoes and came back soaking wet. But we had a BLAST!

Monday: We woke up at 7:30am and had an awesome breakfast. Then we headed out for team building challenges at the ropes course. After lunch we went surfing, yes I said it, surfing...in March in the west coast of Ireland. It was absolutely freezing, wet suits and all. The cold water stole your breath everytime you went under. But it was a sunny day and an amazing experience. We warmed up by the fire with our books before another mouth watering meal.

Tuesday: We went for a hike in Connemara National Park. We hiked up this HUGE 1000ft mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous! I got a little nervous at the peak but it was so cool to climb through the clouds! We had lunch at the top and then made our way back down. After the hike, they took us into town for some beers and a snack. We ended the night with yet ANOTHER amazing meal.

Wednesday: We started the morning with team raft building. I must say that this was my least favorite activity because it was freezing and our raft sank and I had to be resuced from the freezing water because I was about to pass out. We went back for lunch and then headed out to the rock wall. I knew this activity was coming all week and I knew that regardless of my fear of heights, I was going to climb that damn wall. I was the second person to go. I made it all the way up with hardly any pauses! Then I had to repel down the other side. That part was hard because I had to lower myself over an edge, but I DID IT! I got over my fear and did the whole thing.

Thursday: We drove into Dublin and spend the afternoon and night there. Sam and I walked around the city and then we went on a Musical Pub crawl that night. Dublin was really fun, but I think I'm a country girl at heart.

Spring Break in Europe has begun!!

Today, I leave for my study tour in Prague and Berlin. We have a 12 hour overnight bus ride to Prague!! YIKES! Then we head to Berlin for the second part of the week. I come back to Copenhagen for ONE NIGHT to repack and then I'm off for 15 more days!! 

I am traveling all over Europe and I'm so excited to see all the cities. Keep yourselves posted on where I've been by checking this blog. I'll be adding pictures if I can! 

BON VOYAGE! 

"I'm Hungary for Budapest!"

Budapest

I just spent this weekend in BUDAPEST! It is SUCH an amazing city with so much culture and beauty. We had 2 jampacked days of sightseeing.

Monica and I left friday night. We got to the airport and when we went to check in, the Malev Airline attendant made me check my backpack! She said it was too long. I have a midsize camping backpack that is definitely carry-on sized. I was NOT happy about having to check my bag especially because it's a soft sided backpack and I didn't want it getting dirty or smooshed. Not to mention when we made it on the airplane, it was EMPTY! We had like 6 rows to ourselves with 3 open overhead bins...annoying. 

We arrived at the airport around 10:15pm and got an airport shuttle to our hostel. When we got to the place, the driver simply dumped out bags on the street and said bye. We had NO idea where the hostel was because he dropped us in front of a random door. Thank goodness a young guy walked up to the door and helped us figure out where the hostel was. 

The place was nice with a kitchen and large living room. We had a private double with a bathroom down the hall. It was a clean place and we didn't mind it. 

We met up with Max, Susanne, Jenni, Jeff and James at the flat that Max, Susanne and Jenni were staying in. We hung out for awhile and then ventured out into the city. 

We visited a couple of bars and just had a good time talking and interacting with each other. Monica caused a scene when we stole a pastry from the kebab stand. 

The next morning we all met up around 10:30 for a funfilled day of culture. We were staying in Pest so we headed over the bridge to Buda. We walked alll over the mountains and took some great pictures. The city is so beautiful and the buildings are all so ornate and unique. 

We hiked up to the Citadel which is the highest point in Budapest and you can see the statue on top of the mountain from almost any point in Budapest. It was quite an accomplishment when we got to the top. We were so lucky to have nice weather because originally it was supposed to rain all weekend. We had sun and relatively warm temperatures! 

After our hike we headed down the mountain and in search of the thermal baths. With James and Jenni's expert navigating we found our way to the metro and arrived at the baths. Unfortunately, Monica and I were stupid and didn't bring bathing suits so we were forced to rent one from the baths. 

The baths were so interesting. It's like 2 huge hot tubs filled with all kinds of people. There are massages and spas you can go to as well. 

After our baths, we were starving and craving some more kebabs. We headed back to our hostels to rest up for our night. 

That night we explored Pest some more and ended up at a club called Alkatraz. It was themed after the prison and all the drinks were so cheap! We had a good time just sitting and hanging out there for the night. 

Sunday we headed out for some more culture. Captain James led us to the Great Synagogue and we got a really great tour and learned how the temple was a huge part of the Holocaust. It was all very relevant to the Holocaust class I am taking. 

It was a super cold day and really windy but we made our way to the basilica and the House of Terror after we had a gourmet lunch that cost all of $8. 

We took a break after all the sightseeing to rest up before dinner. The boys picked a street and we started exploring restaurants for our last meal in Budapest. We found a Hungarian/Italian place that had GREAT pizza and some really interesting Hungarian food. 

We turned in pretty early after getting some pics of Buda at night. 

We were supposed to get a taxi at 5am to head to the airport but my alarm never went off and we were a bit late for our taxi, but we got to the airport with plenty of time. 

I was so sad to leave the city but SO glad that I went. It was such an amazing place and I learned so much about the city and it's role in the Holocaust. 

Studying vs. Traveling

I am booked for the next 7 weeks. I am travelling every weekend or I am having a visitor.

Last weekend, I went to Amsterdam with Jillian, Drew, Jim and Alex. We stayed at the Hotel Armada which was right on a canal. The city was beautiful and very similar to Copenhagen with lots of bikes, water and overcast weather. I visited the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank Huis and the Heineken Experience. I walked the whole city and when I got home monday morning, I was wiped.

Tomorrow night I am headed to Budapest with some new friends. I have heard really good things about the city and I am so excited to travel again. Everything is a lot cheaper there and I can't wait to see the natural hot springs! I just bought a new "camping" style backpack and it makes travel SO much easier.

When I get home on monday, I am faced with 2 research paper midterms. They are due the week after but Tyler will be here and I don't want to spend my time on school work while he is here. It is taking all the self-discipline I have to get these papers done in advance. I have already done the research and made an outline for the finance paper, but I have yet to even pick a topic for my 10 page Holocaust & Genocide paper!

Tyler comes in 8 days!!! It could NOT be at a better time. I can't wait to see him and show him the city. Having visitors, especially your boyfriend, is so exciting!

Tyler leaves thursday and I leave saturday for 3 weeks of travel. I'm really looking forward to Berlin and Prague and I know my adventure trip in Ireland will be so exciting.

On another note, Colin and I got bikes yesterday. There is a place where you can rent them and they use the profits to fix up bikes and send them to Africa. For about 2 months and 2 weeks of rental, we paid 700 DKK which is about 115 dollars. We chose to get a bike that was one level up because they were a bit nicer. I rode to class this morning and managed not to injure anyone. I'm still very slow and unsure about the rules. After a few more ride, I'm sure I'll pick it up. It is so liberating to finally have a bike because I do not have to rely on public transportation. My bus went on strike last week and it was so much more difficult to get around because the train station is not as accessible. I'm excited to explore more of the city on my bike.

Side Comment: I have finally figured out my living situation for next year. Lizzie and I found a really cute 2 bedroom place on McFarlin. It is within walking distance but now that I'm becoming such an avid biker, I really want to bring my bike to school and ride to class and maybe even venture out on the Katy Trail. Since I have to bring more stuff to school this year, my mom suggested that I rent a UHaul van and drive to school. I have already secured Tyler to assist me with this trip. It will be fun for him to see SMU and who else would I want to keep me company for a 24 hour drive to Texas?!?!

A few people have already had their parents visit and it is getting me so excited for when my mom comes in April!!

Alright, that's all for now. More when I get back from Budapest!