It's Been Real, Copenhagen. Tusind Tak.

The weekend before Dublin and the weekend after Dublin were spent doing last minute things in Copenhagen that we hadn't gotten a chance to do. And of course just appreciating the city itself! 

Our first stop was the Carlsberg brewery. Carlsberg is a Danish brewing company founded in 1847 that brews not only Carlsberg beer, but also Tuborg. These are the beers that we pretty much always get when we go out to bars in Copenhagen. They're good, but not anything crazy special. 

This is a wall with all the major logos that Carlsberg has used over the years to advertise its beers. 

Carlsberg brewery houses the largest collection of unopened bottles in the world. The total collection includes 20,765 bottles. Needless to say this picture only captures a small portion of them. The bottles were of every type of beer, in every language, and in every style of bottle you can imagine. 

One of the signs of Carlsberg is the swastika. Though it is not used as much anymore given its more recent meaning, the company was sure to put up these Explanatory Notices anywhere that a swastika was depicted in the museum.

I.e. right under this display. 

I wish I had a poster of this! 

Polar Bears represent :) 

A replica of the Little Mermaid...perhaps more beautiful than the actual one? And about the same size. 

The brewery included stables with real live horses! 

The last glimpse of the stables/museum area before entering the gift shop.

After the gift shop, we went up to the bar to collect our 2 free drinks. When we walked in we were met by all these bottles to smell which showed us all the aromas involved in making Carlsberg beers. This is only a handful of the beers produced by Carlsberg, but you can see there is a wide variety of aroma combinations that make each one unique. 

On the Saturday before leaving Copenhagen my friends and I decided to treat ourselves to a rather expensive, but delectable brunch at Cafe Norden on Strøget. It was well worth it. This is a picture of the delicious hot chocolate we sipped on before our meal arrived. The little cookies were so yummy!

NOM. It was a lot of food. I got fresh fruit, pastrami, rye bread, freshly made white bread, salmon with mayo, jam, a berry smoothie, banana cake with a chocolate covering, and eggs and bacon. It was delicious. By the end I really didn't think I was going to be able to move and do all the shopping we had planned on doing after brunch...

So pretty! 

We were walking to the Christiania Christmas Market and had to stop to take a picture of this scene. It was too perfect - the water, the buildings, the Christmas heart, and the Christmas trees. 

After a long day of shopping, we needed a break before going to Tivoli. Where did we go to wait? DIS obviously. This is a picture of me saying goodbye to all the Danish books that people had turned in. 

Tivoli! The rides are open in the winter as well, but the real attraction are the Christmas markets strewn throughout the park and the beautiful lights. 

Pretty lights!

Every year Tivoli is decorated according to a different theme for the Christmas season. This year it was Russian-themed.

They made a replica of Saint Basil's Cathedral. One of our friends who actually went to Russia said it was really quite similar. Regardless, it was so pretty. We just stood and stared for a little while trying to appreciate it. 

Michaela, Janelle, and I in Tivoli. It was absolutely freezing the day we went and when we walked out I could not feel any of my extremities. Brrrrr! 

Tivoli was kind of the equivalent to the Christmas mall scene where you could go sit on Santa's lap and ask for presents. However, this was far more elaborate and I seriously contemplated waiting in line so I could get a picture with Santa. (Never actually happened though.)

We also went out to dinner on Saturday at a restaurant called Tight. I'm usually not a big burger person, but it was the only single course meal you could order (and therefore the cheapest). It was honestly one of the most delicious burgers I have ever tasted in my life. And the accompanying potatoes were equally as amazing. Yummm :) 

After Kelsie and Jennifer had left on Sunday morning, I headed into Roskilde to wander around one last time and to try to see the inside of the Roskilde Domkirke. Unfortunately, it was closed so I could only snap pictures from outside. On the bright side it was a beautiful day and this picture ended up turning out really nicely. 

To add to the perfect weather, I stumbled upon this marching band who was playing Christmas songs. Made my afternoon. 

As if the beautiful day and marching band weren't enough, this wonderful sunset greeted me on my final walk home to my apartment from the train station at Trekroner. I couldn't help but stop to take a picture...

In my last few days in Copenhagen I was able to eat at delicious restaurants, wander around the city with my friends, finish all my Christmas shopping, and reflect on my study abroad experience. There are too many things to talk about to include in this entry, so stay tuned for a final post that encompasses all the things I do and don't miss and some of the (many) things I learned throughout these past 4 months. 

Finals week? Nah...final trip instead! Get at me Dublin.

On Monday December 12th I had my first (and last) final. Approximately 5 hours later I was on a plane to Dublin, Ireland with Jennifer and our friend Ilana. We landed late at night, checked into our hostel, figured out our plans for the next couples days and then headed to dinner.

It was pretty late when we finally made it to O'Neils, a classic Irish pub. I ordered a Thanksgiving sandwich (nom), Jennifer got another sandwich, and Ilana got lasagna. And of course we had our choice of wonderful beers as the tap above us depicts. Jennifer and I had our first Guinness in Dublin! 

The restaurant itself had a great atmosphere and when we were done eating we went upstairs to listen to some live music by these two young men - they played some fun songs, including a Mumford&Sons cover. All in all a great first night.

On Tuesday we decided to do a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher, which included a 2.5 hour bus ride (leaving at 7:15am) from Dublin and then a bus through areas of Galway and then through Doolin. Our first stop was the house of the guide's grandparents. The plan was to take a walk around their farm and then have some warm apple pie inside the little house above. So quaint.

Our walk around the farm was not as pleasant as we had imagined, however. Not only was it absolutely freezing, but the wind was so strong that it legitimately blew us over a few times. The "gentle brisk hike" advertised did not even begin to cover the bitterly cold 30 minutes we were outside. 

Ilana, me, and Jennifer looking over the fields in Doolin. Absolutely stunning. Not my hair - completely uncontrollable due to the wind.

On the way to the Cliffs of Moher the bus stopped at this site. I honestly don't remember it's significance, but I do know that when we got outside it was hailing a little bit and I saw snow on the ground for the first time! 

After some long, windy roads on the bus we finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher. The visiting center had closed for the day because the winds were too intense. Since we were on a separate tour, however, we had nothing to do with the center. Our tour guide said the visibility was perfect, but it was just super windy. He just kept saying, "All I'm going to say is that it's really windy. Be careful out there folks." How reassuring. (Also it's not like we signed a liability form or anything...)

It was 100000% worth it for this view. Taking the pictures was hard because we kept getting blown back but every once in a while it would let up. The clouds were stunning and I have never seen the Atlantic Ocean with such intense waves. Definitely of the most amazing natural wonders I've ever seen.

Every direction we looked the sun was hitting these areas in such a beautiful way. 

After a little while the sun kind of disappeared though and we were getting too cold so we headed to the bus. Snapped a picture of this warning on the way down. 

Because we didn't get as long at the Cliffs as most other groups who go on the tour due to the winds, our tour guide let us stop at this other spot to see another glimpse of the ocean and cliffs. The sun was starting to go down and it was so cool to see it fromt this point of view. 

On our way back to Galway to catch the bus to Dublin, our tour guide stopped at various places just to talk for a minute about local customs or wildlife. This is a picture through the bus window of alpacas! They look so cute, but are quite vicious apparently. As we were driving away from this area the tour guide casually said into the microphone "Ok. Bye bye alpacas..." Ilana and I were cracking up thinking about how many times this tour guide must go through the same thing each year and how he has to find ways to entertain himself while doing it. 

When we got dropped off in Dublin, we were met by this wonderful sight as we crossed the bridge back to our hostel. Though Dublin was touristy, there were not that many touristy things to do there. I think the only way to describe it is as a very livable city.

No visit to Dublin is complete without hitting the Guinness factory. On our last day we walked there from our hostel. We wandered through the museum for a few hours and eventually made it to the top floor where we could pour "the perfect pint of Guinness" and then drink it.

We were given thorough instructions on how to pour the beer and as you can see we are all concentrating very hard to make sure it's perfect - we really wanted that certificate! 

You hold the glass at a 45º angle and fill it until the bottom of the word Guinness on the glass. Then you let it sit until it is dark. Here we are waiting for the gas to rise and the beer to turn to the deep ruby red that characterizes a Guinness. 

We had to top them off just right. 

And we succeeded! I plan on framing this certificate :) 

One of the other places we went to in Dublin was a park called St. Stephen's Green. We happened to go on a gorgeous day and we just wandered around taking pictures for a while. The sun was shining, everything was green, and it was generally beautiful.

Ireland was a great place to visit and I would love to go back to Ireland to explore more thoroughly. And of course I would do the Cliffs of Moher tour again in a heartbeat. Anyone in? 

Kicking Back in København

After Thanksgiving, things got pretty crazy in terms of homework and group projects and such, but my friends and I still found time to experience some classic Copenhagen adventures...

My visiting family and I took a trip to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, one of the finest collections of international modern art. We walked around for a few hours and then had a delicious buffet lunch at the museum canteen - they never fail to spoil me when we go out! I was quite lucky to have them.

This was a replica of a structure that was supposed to be built somewhere (it was a while ago and I don't really remember the full story). Regardless, it was stunning. It's hard to tell from the picture but as it got darker the lights were much more pronounced and it lit up the whole garden area of the museum.

A fun, cute statue close the previous structure.

Andy Warhol strikes again! I had gone to the Arken Museum, another Modern Art Museum, with them a few weeks before and the feature exhibit had been of some of Andy Warhol's work. 

Just some statues in the museum. The main exhibit was works by Paul Klee and the Cobra group sought inspiration from children's artwork (click here for more information).  

Strøget, the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, was decorated with lights and hearts for the Christmas season. Walking out of class when it was already dark (aka every day in November and beyond because the sun set so early) was far less depressing with all these lights everywhere. The Danes really know how to hygge the city up in the dark, cold winter months. 

One of the many Christmas markets around the city that are opened for the month of December. Think of a holiday fair, but smaller and less overwhelming (and much more expensive). I bought a lot of Christmas gifts here for friends (and not to mention quite a few things for myself). 

Every year a Christmas Tree is erected in Radhudsplasen and it is lit by Santa. We were lucky enough to take part in this wonderful tradition. I was expecting Santa to flip a switch or something but what actually happened was far more exciting. Take a look at this picture and the next couple to see the progression of the Christmas tree lighting. 

Oooooo

Ahhhhh

So pretty!

Santa is magical.

Officially lit. Thanks Santa!

On December 4th, all of the Danish classes attended a FC København football (soccer) match at the stadium in Copenhagen. The game was against Arhus, a not so exciting matchup. The game was still fun though and during halftime we ate classic Danish hotdogs. We were even going to get beer, but it was so cold outside that we decided to get hot chocolate instead...best decision ever.

Though there weren't that many people at the game on the whole, there were two groups of extremely dedicated FC København fans on either side of the field. They had synchronized chants, movements, dances, songs, scarf waving -- you name it! It was incredible to see such intense fans wearing all the same thing and cheering with such heart for a game that was not all that important. They even lit a fire in the middle of the stands as all the players walked out and they sang the national anthem. Wicked cool.