Update: It's dark

Hello friends and family around the world. Here's an update from Copenhagen: it's dark. It starts to get dark around 3:30...dark by 4. By 7, you're ready for bed. And it's only getting worse. Luckily, the Danes know how to deal with the darkness: lights, pastries, and plenty of hyggeness. So here are some pictures from the past week in Copenhagen. I'm done with travel (until my parents arrive that is), and I'm embracing my adorable, dark (and often rainy) city. Get ready for a very picture-heavy post!

Christmas market flea market in Norrebro. And on the right, an adorable child in his snowsuit. It's the best thing ever to see a line of school children waddling in their snow suits. Maybe it's just me but everything in Copenhagen is extra adorable. 

So I've had trouble explaining Copenhagen to people who don't live here but I told someone the other day something that I'm going to continue using: Copenhagen is a city pinterest exploded on. If you haven't heard of pinterest, it's a website for fashion, home interior, design, recipes, crafts, etc. Here is the perfect example. It's a porridge bar (what kind of place only sells porridge, that's crazy!) and it's the coolest place ever...and super hipster and awesome.

Tivoli during Christmas is beautiful! And this year's theme? Russia! I was so excited. Here is a picture of me, in Tivoli Russian Christmas, with a hot cup of Glogg (a delicious Scandinavian mulled wine kind of drink), in heaven...and then is started raining. But it was okay because I had four socks, two gloves, two sweaters and two pants on....I wish I was kidding. If there's anything my mom has taught me, it is that being cold is the worst thing ever. 

This past weekend, the Greenhouse took a bus west to visit the Land of Legends - an archaeological open-air museum with sites from the Stone Age, Iron Age and vikings. I also got to make beeswax candles, and eat homemade candy...and laugh as Grace shared special connections with goats. Oh, and the picture to the left is a sacrificial bog! They found a preserved 2000 year old body there, rope still intact! (Cool!) 

On Sunday, Arielle and I visited our Visiting Family and together we drove to Roskilde to see the Cathedral. It is one of Denmark's three UNESCO sites and is the church were all of the Danish monarchy is buried. It was really cool and it was nice to spend the day with our Danish parents. 

Arielle and I got back Sunday night in time to make plenty of cookies for our event on Monday. Four of us hosted a "conversation cafe" event to talk about upcycling and make upcycled things. There's a very fine line between being sustainable and being incredibly cheap...sometimes I'm not quite sure what side of the line we tend to fall on. But some of people's crafts were actually really impressive and all of those tin cans, jars and ripped jeans we had been saving turned into cute Christmas crafts. (Though there's a reason none of mine will be featured in this blog post.)

I had to wake up early today to bike on over to Amager to check out some new developments with my history of Copenhagen class (clearly we're nearing the end of the course if this is what we're talking about now). I was the only one who biked because I don't have a transportation pass like most DIS students (again, running that line between cheap and green). The whole biking thing is fun and all but when it's raining and cold at 8:30 in the morning, it becomes much less fun. 

That being said, I love the city so much when I bike, it's just the whole getting on the bike thing that's hard. Last night, though, a group of us Greenhousers biked to Norrebro to a non-profit bar that was hosting an event . There was food and a speaker who owns an urban art gallery around the corner. Then we biked to Christiania where there was a really weird "Science and Cocktail" night in a converted warehouse. All of the bartenders were dressed up in science coats and the drinks were literally smoking and looked like science experiments gone wrong. They got a professor from the University of Copenhagen to lecture for an hour about biosemiotics. A lot of it was way over head but it was cool. We were all proud of ourselves for leaving the warmth and coziness of our house and it was worth it.

 This picture really has no purpose other than to brag that this is how I walk to the grocery store...awesome...I know. So between hipster porridge bars, cool modern architecture, sacrificial bogs, Russian Tivoli and Christmas lights, I'm already getting nostalgic about leaving this country. 

Happy Thanksgiving from across the pond!

Copenhagen is already in full on Christmas mode,,
something I very much appreciate. So many
Christmas markets!

How to celebrate a holiday that is not recognized at all? Well, we had not one but TWO Thanksgivings. The first was Wednesday night for the entire Greenhouse. Liz, our honorary vegan, also happened to be the kitchen captain of the night and our Thanksgiving dinner number one was completely vegan. For those who are skeptical, however, it was delicious. We had all the traditional dishes - stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, and all things good in the world. It was so great to celebrate with the entire Greenhouse. Both kitchens were in full swing. I make a great chopper and table setter. Basically as long as you don't trust me to do anything important in the kitchen, I will always be there to help. We had a huge budget for the night and we all went around and said what we were thankful for - which for everyone was the opportunity to live with such a great group of people.

Here are pictures from our Wednesday Thanksgiving!

See! I can chop things along with the best of them. Notice, by the way, the Danish flag Christmas decorations in the background. 

The second night we went just as hard with the whole cooking extravaganza. It was just our floor but I think everyone was feeling the pressure to make Thanksgiving as traditional as possible. My roommates cooked dishes that were important to them - Meghan and her Zucchini casserole, Grace and her candied yams, Lily and her bean soup (once again....I was there to help). It was delicious.



It was very "hygge" in our house. We had candles and food and Christmas music playing in the background. It was adorable. It was also our Danish SRA's first Thanksgiving. He laughed as we stuffed ourselves until we couldn't eat anymore and then compared food babies. But that's Thanksgiving! I was eavesdropping on people in my class talk about their Thanksgivings (or lack thereof) - and I feel so lucky to live in a house and have an awesome community around me all the time!

Time for more gelato? Always.

Florence was absolutely beautiful. I paid the few extra euro to get a single room which meant that for the first time in months I could close a door and be alone - that in and of itself was enough to make me the happiest person alive. I woke up, printed out my Rick Steves map and listened to his walking tour podcast (I'm too cheap for a real tour). Rick and I enjoyed a lovely 45 minute walking tour during which I savored the 1st of 3 gelatos of the day (tiramisu and cinnamon). I did my two favorite things - walking, eating, and people watching. It was a wonderful.



Molly's travel rule #1: always go to a food market because there will be free samples and delicious food - in Florence, I got a delicious mini sandwich and saw a whole lot of tripe (apparently it's a big deal here).

I don't know if I'd be able to do it for weeks but for two days, traveling by myself was, if I haven't said this enough, the greatest thing ever. I took a million pictures, I went into every shop I wanted, I stayed as long as I wanted in some places and skipped others entirely. I treated myself to a lovely Florentine leather wallet and some earrings. I didn't have to worry about what my fellow travel buddies wanted to eat. I had a wild boar and truffle sandwich and there was no one to give me a weird look, it was great. Let me eat my boar! (This is a good time to mention that the whole vegetarianism thing has not been applying in foreign countries, that would be a culinary sin).

Molly's travel rule #2: Don't pay for public restrooms, an espresso is 1 euro, why would you pay for a 1 euro potty break when you could get espresso too?

Anyways, after a beautiful day in Florence during which I soaked in my vitamin D and wandered the streets of Tuscany all day (in my defense, I did try to see Michelangelo's David but the museum was closed due to a strike), I headed to the Piazza de Michelangelo which is on a huge hill and is supposed to have a gorgeous view of the city. I helped a French family catch the bus up the hill and was there by sunset. I eventually made my way back to the hostel to pick up my suitcase for the journey onward to Siena. (On the way to the bus station, an old man started speaking to me in Italian and pointed me in the direction of the "stazione." I have no idea what he was saying but he gave me a wrapped up package that, as I walked away, turned out to be a ring - have I mentioned how much I love this country?)


I made my way to Siena where I was reunited with one of my best friends, Eve! We made quite the scene when we saw each other but it was great. We grabbed some delicious pizza and took the bus to her host mom's apartment who is adorable and doesn't speak a word of english but she cooked me breakfast and kissed me a lot - it was very Italian.



I made Eve do some touristy things with me but for the most part we ate delicious foods (I tried some Siena speciality - panforte which is a good version of fruit cake), pizza, and of course some more gelato, this time in hot chocolate. Ginna also goes to Wooster and shares a host family with Eve so we all hung out together. Siena is gorgeous! This is the view from Eve's school - what?!

It was so great to be with Eve and we had a lot of "oh my god, we're in Europe!" moments combined with some "how are we going to survive going back to Ohio" moments. After some delicious pizza and some wine, we were ready to head home to take a bath and go to bed (Carla doesn't have a shower, just a bath - I'm really living the life over here in Italy).

A sad goodbye and a 5 hour bus ride later I made my way to Milan where Meghan and I reunited,  checked out the Milanese sights for about 2 hours, decided we were exhausted after a week of traveling, ate food and watched Netflix in the hotel which her mom was nice enough to treat us to. I took a bubble bath, lounged in a robe, and enjoyed the free mini bar - once again, living the life.

This is me, so happy to be in Siena and so happy to be in the sun! Fun fact from information lover Molly: the Copenhagen city hall was modeled after the city hall in Siena. Full of facts, that's what I'm here for. 

Well anyways, I'm back in Copenhagen and after sleeping all day yesterday I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm sitting in an adorable cafe, listening to Danish, enjoying the candlelight and trying to pretend I'm a Dane (someone just thought I was - win!) I'm determined to enjoy my last month here so bank account, get ready.

My Roman Holiday

Greetings from Roma! What Turkey and Russia lacked in “Europeanness,” Italy is making up for ten fold. I am loving it. I’ve felt the warmth of the sun for the first time in a while, I’ve seen the architecture and art that was the inspiration for everything to follow and I’ve been checking quite a few items off the bucket list. 

Saturday consisted of a $35 plane ride to Milan (yayy budget airlines! I only thought I was going to die once on the flight so it really was a bargain). Then we (my floor-mate Meghan and I) took a six hour train to Rome which was actually amazing and I slept and read my guidebook (guidebooks by the way, borrowed from the Copenhagen library so yayy more money-saving even if it is 12 years old.) Arrived in Rome, found our hostel which was adorable, and I met Leilani who is Meghan’s friend from school and the person I did all of the touristy Rome stuff with because Meghan’s been here before. 

Inside the Coliseum! And to the left, we're being gladiators. 

Rome is so cool. Every single corner has some incredible ruin or historic church or monument. Our second day morning was dedicated to the Vatican museum. I’ve been told that every person has one thing that they are disappointed by in Rome. For me, it was the Vatican museum. It’s cool, don't get me wrong but you don't walk in and think WOW. Not to mention the Sistine Chapel is tiny and packed with tourists. Amazingly though, there was absolutely no line to get into the Vatican. Sometimes it can get up to be a two hour wait! November is apparently the time to go. 

When we arrived at the Vatican, Leilani and I were trying to find one of my DIS friends (we didn’t make a meeting place specific enough) and needed to get the internet to find her number. The Vatican reception staff were amazing and spent about 30 minutes trying to help us. One of them had just been to Boston and loved it and we discussed the North End and the Red Sox which was hilarious. We eventually contacted her thanks to his help...and then he gave us not only his phone number but email address too and some special pope coins. Good times in the Vatican. 

Our final night in rome, we treated ourselves to a nice final dinner and some delicious wine (no offense Denmark, but I can’t get on your level with the whole beer obsession thing). 

Today we split up and I am now resting my feet for the first time all day on a beautiful train to Florence. This may be one of the most introverted things to say but being by myself is one of the best things of all time. Did I mention that I live in a room with four people in Denmark? Yeah, this is a nice break. Not to mention after 2 DIS trips with large groups and even in a small group for a few days you begin to discover that traveling with other people can be really difficult. Travel styles can be very different and luckily, me myself and I always agree on when and what to eat, how much to spend, when to go to bed, where to walk next. So basically I had a great last half day in Rome by myself. I walked the side streets of Rome, guidebook and map in hand, I sampled some truffles, got some fresh fruit, went back to the Vatican to go into to St. Peter’s Basilica, explored some more and walked up to a park where there was a beautiful view of the city. 

It was a lovely day though it was way too late before I realize that every part of my body is sore and my blood sugar is dropping steadily. But I’ve got snacks and delicious Italian mini meals on the steps of ruins - what more could you want? Besides, I’m not vacationing, I’m traveling. There’s a difference! 

Making a wish in the trevi? Check! 

Sistene Chapel. Don't get me wrong. It's amazing and I spent a very long time on a Michelangelo project so I was ready for it. But just very crowded. 

The Pantheon was amazing (left). And (right) - a major reason I walked back to the Vatican today was to see Michelangelo's pieta which I analyzed for several months of my high school career. Yayy National History Day. 

Anyways, after a bit of a fiasco with the metro system being down, combined with the fact that I don’t speak Italian and that when I tried to put my giant backpack on I literally fell over and broke my 3 euro watch, I made it on the right train and I am headed to Firenze! 

Quick facts: 

On our first day we were literally clapped into a restaurant by a party of Italians and an "Obama" chant was then started. What a fun country. Not that I don't love the silence that is Copenhagen but it's kind of nice that people actually talk to you and smile at you.

I had so much Gelato and it was the greatest thing ever. Dark chocolate and Lemon Sage. Yumm.

Mopeds are scary. 

Hostels are the one place in the world where I can tell people I'm an anthropology major and have no idea what I'm doing with my life and not get a smirk and a "you'll figure it out." It's kind of hilarious. People are more like "wow, that's so interesting. Yeah, we're young, you shouldn't have a life plan." 

There are a lot of Churches in Rome. And the entire city is a museum. 

And it was in the 70s today! I was determined to wear a dress for my solo Italy day but wanted to make sure I’d be able to get into St. Peter’s so I just tucked in my dress and took my jeans off in the Vatican bathroom...there’s a sentence I never thught I’d say.

Highlights = weather, weather and did I mention the weather? Also the history, the awesome recognizable landmarks, the lack of lines and the realization that my life is pretty darn cool. 

Okay! Off to find some food in Florence. Ciao! 

My baby is gone

Well, I think it would be impossible not to write a blog post about this because it's pretty much all I can think about it. My Iphone was stolen this weekend. I've been to Russia and Turkey but nope, it was stolen in my darling little Copenhagen. For a while I was optimistic that it would be returned. Denial, one might call it. But today it's finally hit me, I won't be seeing it again. Tragic, maybe not but it sure feels like it. I vacillate between depression and feeling ridiculous for being depressed about losing a phone.

All of my pictures and memories are gone, I no longer have a camera, or helpful travel apps, or music for the 6 hour bus ride I will be taking on Saturday. I didn't realize how much I relied on that ridiculous overpriced piece of technology until it's gone. My poor baby is out there somewhere. I mayyyy have had an emotional breakdown in the Apple store this morning...definitely a low point of the travel abroad experience.

MollyS take Copenhagen

One of my BEST friends visited me this weekend - her name is also Molly. She is studying abroad in Spain and impulsively booked a flight to Copenhagen for the weekend. For months I've been living my own little life here in Denmark and I didn't realize how much I wanted to share it! It was so great to be able to show her around, to point out funny signs and words and take her to the jungle that is the Netto grocery store. We did all of the touristy stuff like walking on the Stroget, seeing Nyhavn, taking the mermaid picture and going to Christiania. I made her try some pickles (she ate the entire jar during her stay - if that's not a mark of a match made in heaven, I don't know what is),  some Danish pastries, rye bread and beets (basically my Danish diet). Another girl from her program is also from Wooster so we all had a bit of a Wooster reunion.

Below is a Wooster gathering in front of the Little Mermaid. And to the left, Molly is high-fiving my friend Hans. 

It was so great to have Molly here. My best friend + Copenhagen = one of the best weekends of my life. Not to mention, she also picked a great weekend to come. Friday was J-Day which is a big deal here. It's when the Jule Beer for Christmas is released. They had these trucks covered in ice where people in Blue santa outfits and white hair hats would sing christmas beer songs. It was hilarious and weird and Danish. 

Yayy Mollys together again!

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. We walked around, biked around and looked for white jewelry and neon bracelets because Saturday night was Sensation. I still can't believe I went to this. Sensation is a massive rave that tours Europe and this year the extra big one was in Copenhagen - nearly 20,000 people. So many people, all wearing white, listening to loud music and watching an incredible light show...from 7 to 3am (that's a long time). It was crazy and definitely a great study abroad experience that was made all the better because I had Molly and my Copenhagen friends all together.

Picture from the official Sensation website from Saturday night.

Sunday, we got to the train station by 9am and made our way to the airport and bid farewell for now. I got some popcorn for myself to make me feel better. Sad to say goodbye but I am so happy that this weekend worked out and that it was so great. Not to mention, I go to Italy in a week. Overall, life is pretty good right now.