Ice Bar CPH

These pictures depict in crystal clear detail our adventure to the infamous Ice Bar. An expensive - yet totally necessary - tourist attraction every study abroad student must go to once (at the very least). 

Ice Bar - a drinking establishment made entirely of ice - this includes the chairs, lamps, glasses, and tables. We made reservations for 23:15 and were kindly informed that we would be asked to leave after 40 minutes to allow another group to come in. Joy.

Classic tourist destination...classically expensive. 150 DKK (30 USD) entrance fee (recall though, it is entrance for a mere 40 minutes), which includes one drink. 

Pre-entrance we were all warm and cozy with our capes. 

Though I vaguely knew what to expect from other pictures, Ice Bar CPH was still SO cool (ha.haha). Actually though it was a rude awakening to walk in there (the 3 of us were wearing skirts with tights and t-shirts...other people had warned us to dress warmer - heed that advice!). 

Jennifer and Kelsie huddling up for warmth.

Thirsty? Just casually lick some of the sculptures...

The drink choices. I got the Twenty-Seven Carat - it was actually really good, but drinking out of the ICE glass made me shiver every time. 

We were told that we could get another drink for as long as our glass was intact. The bartender was wearing long underwear and a hat...it made me cold just looking at him. On the bright side he did give us free shots while we were casually standing the bar. Unfortunately the shots were of disgusting Danish schnapps.

So many intense sculptures. Also -- SO small. Only about 20 people are allowed in at one time. 

Cozying up with our hoods on. When I first inside I didn't have mine on, but there was a dramatic difference in warmth when I finally did. 

We all climbed behind the ice wall to take this picture.

All in all it was a really fun night. Ice Bar is worth the price - not for the drinks or the music - but definitely for the experience. If you ever look at people's pictures who study abroad in Europe, the pictures with these capes and hoods is classic. Now I can check that off my Copenhagen Adventures list (yes, we have a list). (And as bitter as I was that we had to be kicked out after 40 minutes, I was the first one out the door. My hands and feet were just so cold!)

Practice Random Beauty

Every day when I head to class I bring my camera with me just in case I feel the need to capture some impromptu moments of fun. Usually I end up taking pictures of landscapes and sunsets (which you'll see plenty of here). CPH is a truly mesmerizing city and the weather for the past few weeks has been sunny (but cold...brrr), so the photo ops have been quite frequent. I can't help but smile and appreciate being here when I look back at these pictures...

View from the train platform in Trekroner at 7:30am (when the sun was actually rising at that point...now sunrise is at 8:05am). 

Church of Our Savior. It is a baroque church and the corkscrew spire shown here houses an external winding staircase that you can climb to see beautiful views of the city.

Inside the church. It was such a sunny day, so everything was literally gleaming. 

Organs in Danish churches get more and more impressive every time I see them. They are ornate, beautiful, and HUGE. 

To light candles for people in every church I've been to you have to pay at least $1 USD (granted most times it goes to a charitable cost).

GABRIEL

The warning sign as we entered the spire to walk to the top. I laughed when I saw it, but in hindsight it was definitely needed. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it to the top without collapsing. I was huffing and puffing so much. 

The view was so worth it! View of the city harbor from the top of the Church of Our Savior spire.

Typical CPH bikers cruising along...beware of getting hit. They will not stop for you. 

One Saturday morning, Jennifer and her friend from school and Kelsie and I decided to go to a market in the city. (Think Portland Public Market except infinitely better.) These Agnes Cupcakes are infamous and Denmark - and so expensive. We each got one for later that day. I got coconut and it was absolutely delicious (though I happened to try red velvet and carrot and they were even more luscious). 

P.S. Mom & Dad...birthday cupcakes? Shipped from Denmark? Just a thought...

There were rows and rows of flowers throughout the market - I just kept stopping to take pictures and smell them all :) 

Attempt at being artsy? 

There were two market buildings. The first one had all the sandwich/fruit/dessert places and this one was chock full of fish and cheese. Needless to say the smell was a bit overwhelming.

So fall!

Some fallen leaves on a walkway I took on the way to a field study for my Intelligence, Spies, and Al-Qaida class. Couldn't resist pulling out my camera to capture this - it was such a crisp and perfect day. 

I was a bit early to another field study and was wondering around along the water...

One of my field studies for my Danish Language class was going to Christiania (check out the link - Wikipedia explains it much more eloquently than I would). I had already wandered around a few times, but the guide - a woman who had been living there since 1984 - took us to a few areas we hadn't seen before and thoroughly explained the history and current lifestyle. It was actually quite interesting and informative.

We got off the train at home and voila...absolutely stunning.

Same day as we kept walking. I never wanted to go inside because the sky was just so wonderful. 

Every year in October, Copenhagen has an event called Kulturnatten (Culture Night) where hundreds of museums and businesses open their doors to the public. We ended up going out a little late to thoroughly enjoy the cultural experience, but we did go to the DIS event which involved hot apple cider (they had just run out...oh well), pumpkin carving, and s'mores (NOM). 

When we got off the train on our way to Culture Night, we just stumbled upon this a cappella group serenading public transportation users. It 100% made our night. Not only were they legitimately very good, but they were singing awesome songs that we knew! 

One Saturday morning, Kelsie and I decided we would head into the city to check out the Botanical Gardens we had heard people raving about. The area was huge and it was perfect day to go. We ended up just sitting on a bench for 2 hours talking and enjoying the beauty. Some plants were definitely starting to die (we should have gone when we first arrived), but it was still pretty.

Reflections!

So much greenery - I just wanted to sit and stare for hours.

More reflection!

A little duck we noticed swimming across the pond as we were crossing one of the many bridges throughout the park. 

Gallivanting through the Baltics and Scandinavia

Hi all! It's been a while since my last post, but I just returned from a weeklong trip with my Public Health in Northern Europe class. We went to Tallinn, Estonia for 3 days and Helsinki, Finland for 3 days. It was an amazing trip and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to travel with - they are all so nice and we got along really well. Estonia is exactly what you would picture...cold, windy, rainy, gray (still really cool!). Helsinki was brisk, sunny, and gorgeous (reminded me so much of fall in the Northeast). 

Estonia

The night we arrived in Estonia we went to a medieval restaurant for dinner. They served us so much food. (I'm not kidding. We all unbuttoned our pants by the end of the meal because we couldn't breathe.) The first course was bread with a variety of spreads (my two favorites were lingonberries and some cheese thing). The second course was pork and chicken. And then we had cheesecake for dessert. Absolutely delicious!

Dinner wasn't provided the second night but our program assistant who travels with us and had done this program 2 years ago when she was in DIS led us to this delicious crepe place. I was under the impression that the crepes would be dessert-sized so I got a salad and this apple-vanilla crepe. Little did I know that finishing the crepe would be a huge struggle. Don't worry though. I managed. (And I even managed to help some other people finish theirs too.)

We ended up going to a karaoke bar with our program assistant and our teacher. We may have been slightly intoxicated...we sang Party in the USA, Sk8er Boi, Truly Madly Deeply, and New York City. Not to mention we helped this old man out with his singing since he was hardcore struggling the whole time.  

This is our teacher, Morten. He is so cute and Danish and has no idea how obsessed we are with him. To his credit he was trying to sing New York City and Sk8er Boi -- two songs he definitely did not know. (He loves singing and has a great voice though...our class even sings a song every morning before class starts.)

So many beautiful wool sweaters! I ended up getting one from an outdoor street market for 47 euro and it is lusciously warm (and slightly itchy). 

This is part of the wall leading to the Old Town area of Estonia. It is one of the best preserved old towns in Europe. 

My class! 

Beautiful view of Lower Town Estonia from Toompea. 

This was the first time I truly realized and appreciated that it was FALL. It were in this courtyard for a long time throwing leaves into the air and just enjoying its beauty. 

Finland

Tuomiokirkko (The Cathedral) in Helsinki. It is a Lutheran church in the center of the city. Our walking tour was at 9:30am and you could tell that it was going to be a gorgeous day. 

A statue right in front of the Cathedral of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. 

Pretty flowers!

Aleksis Kivi is a Finnish author who wrote Seven Brothers (one of the first novels in the Finnish language). 

Helsinki Central Station. We took public transportation the whole time we were there -- it wasn't nearly as nice as it is in Denmark! 

One of the dishes the Finns are famous for is reindeer. Our last meal in Helsinki was at a traditional Finnish restaurant. The appetizer was salmon soup (a little lighter than a chowder) and it was amazing. Then we had reindeer with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. And for dessert we had vanilla ice cream with berries. NOM.

The annual Herring Fair is held every October in Helsinki. Fishermen sell every type of fish you can imagine right from the back of their boats - it is the best selection of fresh fish you can find. There are also a bunch of souvenir/jewelry stands and some places where you can order a traditional Finnish meal. Wandering around and looking/smelling was quite the experience. 

This is the Finnish Orthodox Church. It is situated atop a hill and we had a beautiful view of the whole city when we made it to the top. 

Temppaliaukio Church (the Rock Church). It is a Lutheran church built into rockface with lots of natural light flooding the entire inside. It is breathtaking and definitely one of the coolest churches I have ever visited. 

I ended up getting a window seat on the flight back to Copenhagen on Friday evening. I was wide awake the entire time and enjoying the view of this beautiful sunset. A perfect way to end the trip :)