shopping across europe & other important things

Amsterdam-ed

2009-12-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

Okay so Amsterdam, the epitome of sin nestled in one of the more beautiful cities I've been to. Coffeeshops (that sell weed but no alcohol), bars (that sell alcohol), cafes (that sell coffee and no weed), crazy college students, expensive munchies, and prostitutes in windows are everywhere!! It was crazy! Really unfortunate for me, i went to Amsterdam with 3 girls that don't smoke weed, are light weights when it comes to drinking, and only wanted to go to museums... not my choice of people to go to a Amsterdam with, but i tried to make the best of it.

The first night that we were there we went on a pub crawl around the city, but the party poopers didn't want to finish the crawl so by 2 am we were back in the hostel mildly drunk, and they were satisfied while i was disappointed. The next morning, we waited an hour an a half in line to get on a bus to the Keukenhoff Gardens (the big tulip garden) and then took a half an hour bus ride, with me sitting on the stair entrance of the bus, to the gardens. It was not my choice, but in their defense, it was beautiful. The tulips were in full bloom and there were literally millions of them. EVERYWHERE!!! pretty great. Of course, i bought a large beer as soon as we got there to take the edge off, and we walked around for the better part of the afternoon. When we got back to the city i made it a point to make sure that i got to a coffeehouse to buy my space cake and joint. it cost me 13 euros for both so i was pretty stoked.

The day after that was museum day... yay. We went to the van gough museum which was pretty cool, and normally i would have been interested but i was itching to try that space cake. (side note: the original starry starry night was on display and was wonderful up close). Seriously though, i had no idea van gough had that many paintings. it was insane! Anyway, so on the way to the Heineken brewery, i started eating my space cake. I ate half of it and we went into the brewery. the whole tour was 12 euros which was pretty cheap considering that they gave us 3 beers. I was happy. By the end of the tour when we were drinking our beers, i was extremely crossfaded to the point of no return. Perfect, because i was beginning to get annoyed at one of the girls and that definitely took the edge off. I ate the other half of my space cake (MISTAKE!!) and then we walked back to the tourist district to eat. Getting there was a struggle and the other girls were definitely not happy with me, but hey, i dealt with that damn bus ride the day before so they can tolerate my ridiculousness. I felt like the devil in the middle of 3 extremely christian/catholic girls. wow. anyway. We ate ribs for dinner and then went back to the hotel because we were tired so we passed out at 10pm. That space cake was still going strong at 10 (
7 hours after i ate it), so i got a great nights sleep.

Our last half day in amsterdam was for souvenir shopping which i love, and i bought some great stuff for my friends. unfortunately everything got misplaced between there and home so they never got it! sorry guys! For a last crazy hurrah (not really) we walked through the red light district with crazy condom stores and transvestite prostitutes in the windows. I felt like i should be shielding their eyes or something! Being back in Copenhagen was such a relief. I don't do well with spending extended amounts of time with girls, especially pure and innocent control freaks like the ones i went to amsterdam with. Don't get me wrong, i love 2 of them, but the 3rd was an entirely different story. I was about to scream and she didn't even know it.

*Apologies for this rant-ish blog, i am still just a little disappointed in my amsterdam trip.

small interruption

2009-11-29T02:48:00.001-08:00

So this isn't exactly a part of my travels, but bear with me.

I've been thinking lately how old we are getting! Voicemail greetings are changing and getting professional, pictures are disappearing from facebook, and relationships are becoming unnecessary and nonexistent. Where did the last 3 and a half years go? I think the lack of relationships is a testament to the fact that we don't really need them anymore, and we don't need them to define us. We're perfectly fine on our own, and I really have to say that I like that a lot. Not to say that I wouldn't love to have someone wait on me hand and foot, but I don't need that anymore, and I don't need the security. It's really nice. Maybe its a senior year of college thing, who knows?

All I do know, is that we're graduating next year, and that's a pretty great thing.

"Hold your own. Know your name, and go your own way..."

Hellooo Istanbul!!

2009-10-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

After a week in Paris of expensive food and shopping, I was ready for a cultural experience. 10AM Sunday April 5th, we boarded a plane to Istanbul, Turkey, and although i was ready for a cultural experience, i was not quite prepared for the awesomeness that is Istanbul. Upon arrival in Turkey, we were greeted by our tour guide that would remain with us the entire week. His name was Koray, and bore a striking resemblance to American actor Vin Disel. Koray quickly became part of the family with his borderline inappropriate jokes, and definitely inappropriate contact, nonetheless, he added a great deal to the experience.

That night yielded some 30 exhausted students that still wanted to have a great time in Turkey, so after a group dinner at a Muslim restaurant and some delicious pomegranate juice, we retired to a bar in the Tourist area of the city, for some beer compliments of our teacher.

Day 1.
Now, since i am writing this 5 months after the fact, i can't exactly remember which day we did what, but i do remember most of the activities, so bear with me (I am also checking my events with my friend Josh's blog, so it should be helping with my accuracy). For our first day in Istanbul, our wonderful teacher, Jakob (who is the epitome of a danish man) thought it would be a great idea for us to take a cruise of the Bosporus straight. Although we nearly froze to death, it was wonderful to see the splendor of the homes on either side of the straight, something that i did not expect to see in Turkey. After some apple tea below deck, we docked back on dry (and warmer) land. Following our tour, we ventured into a run down neighborhood just a couple blocks from the tourist center of the city to listen to a lecture on immigration in Turkey. The neighborhood was something that one would expect to see in any "slummy" neighborhood, with cable dishes and laundry hanging from every orifice. Following the lecture, we went to visit a beautiful shopping mall, that was possibly more beautiful than any that i've seen in the states. Oh if only i had time to shop around :( Its hard to believe that 20 years ago, there were absolutely zero shopping malls in turkey.

That night we had dinner at a traditional Turkish restaurant, complete with Turkish music, and a not so traditional belly dancer. Dinner was delicious (i opted for beef instead of the whole fish that most of the others ate), complete with a bunch of little starter dishes of vegetables, spreads, and cheeses, and of course tons and tons of wine. By the time the belly dancer appeared, most of us were feeling pretty good from the wine and she began to pull us up to dance with her (guys first of course). By the end of the night, everyone had danced with her, including our teacher, and the director of the entire study abroad program, Anders, who is a wonderful 70 year old danish man. After our dinner, we retired to an irish pub owned by a man from Jersey, down the street from our hotel for more drinks (and shots compliments of the owner of the bar). The bar turned into a club just for us, and we danced the night away with Jakob and Koray. As if the dancing and drinking wasn't enough, a few of us went to a hookah bar down the street to wind down from the excitement and relax. And so with new friends, and a new found appreciation for all night hookah bars, we tucked into bed for a few hours, before an early morning.

Day 2.
Tuesday was a pretty boring academic day, as we were led around to various mosques and synagogues by a crazy woman that was pretty difficult to understand, and who insisted that a woman named Elizabeth played a large role in the bible. Now i didn't pay the best attention in bible class in high school, but im pretty sure i would have remembered if there was anyone named Elizabeth in the story. Anyway, not the point. the mosques and synagogues were beautiful and Istanbul has a tremendous amount of religious history (clearly), and the mixing of cultures has truly made it a unique place.

After lunch, we went to smoke some hookah with local college students, to learn a little more about Turkish culture. After the hookah and conversation, we joined a few of the students for dinner at a wonderful little restaurant at the very top of a building in the middle of the tourist district. Side Note: many restaurants and clubs are located at the very top of buildings, and offer beautiful views of the city, one just needs to know where to look in order to find these venues. After a delicious dinner of some kind of turkish food that was fantastic :) we went to a bar (again at the top of a building) and had some interesting shots (one of them even had a piece of cinnamon coated apple to wash it down) AND.... ABSINTHE. Now i had heard about absinthe and like an idiot scoffed at its power. So as i was downing a beer, my shot was brought out. The waiter began by dousing a sugar cube with absinthe and setting it on fire. when the sugar was burned down, he poured the rest of the absinthe into the cup and lit the entire shot on fire. As soon as the fire burned out, i was told to take the shot. Well, i was in for a treat. The burning liquid tasted like licorice and was extremely potent. Me being the clumsy person that i am, proceeded to fall down a flight of marble stairs, bruising my entire butt, and hand, PERFECT! After the bar, we migrated to another club for dancing, and of course, more drinks. the club was filled with Turks and the music was Turkish and absolutely wonderful. Oh and might i add that this entire time, our tour guide, Koray has been accompanying us :)

Day 3.
Wednesday was filled with sightseeing. We visited the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, and the Topkapi Palace. All of which were beautiful. The Hagia Sophia is an architectural mystery as to how it has remained standing all these years, and it is said that the next big earthquake in turkey is going to destroy the mosque, but that remains to be seen. The inside of the Hagia Sophia was filled with mosaics and both christian and muslim icons. On the other hand, the Blue Mosque contained no icons and was filled with blue and white intricate paintings and expanses of beautiful carpet. the atmosphere in the blue mosque was very serene and relaxing and it almost made me want to get on my knees to pray. The Topkapi Palace was very impressive and relaxing. the palace opened up to views of the Bosporus Straight, and housed the jewels and the harem of the Ottomans.

After dinner that night, many of us were feeling pretty tired and instead of going out, we opted for a couple of chill drinks at the corner pub. Josh and i also took a walk to see the Hagia Sophia at night, and it was so beautiful to see the minarets light up against the night sky.

Day 4.
Thursday was our last, and my favorite day of the trip. After a couple of early morning lectures, we got to visit the Grand Bazaar, and trust me, you have not experienced shopping at its utmost craziness until you have visited the Bazaar. Imagine hundreds of vendors, many of whom sell the same products, yelling at you in accented english "pretty lady, you chinese?" "You korean?" "Yes please, come here please." Talk about overwhelming. I ended up buying some beautiful turquoise rings (Turkey is known for turquoise), some bracelets, pashmina scarves, spices, and bowls decorated in the blue and white paint fashion. I expected the grand bazaar to be filled with low quality goods, and while some of the stuff wasn't good, much of it was high quality, and relatively cheap, FANTASTIC! Following the excitement of the bazaar, some of us went to the Cemberlitas Hamam for some relaxation. The Cemberlitas Hamam is a genuine Turkish Bath, complete with hot stones, complete nakedness, and fat turkish women scrubbing your body. Although it was a bit awkward at first to be lying on the stone completely naked, it quickly became extremely relaxing as we became more comfortable in our nudity. We were washed by the turkish women, relaxed in the hot pools, and got waxes. After our relaxation, it was time for our last night in Istanbul.

Our final dinner was at a beautiful restaurant (again in a restaurant that gave us beautiful views of the city), 4 courses of absolute bliss, and lots and lots of wine compliments of our DIS director. Dinner was delicious, and we opted to spend the rest of the evening in the restaurant turned club, dancing the night away with our teacher and tour guide. Jakob was a surprisingly wonderful dancer and proceeded to swing the girls around all night. We took in the beautiful views of the city we had come to love in its entirety, and went back to our hotel satisfied and very sad to be leaving the next day.

All in all, Istanbul treated us very well, with the wonderful food, and even more wonderful people. For the record, Istanbul was the only place that i had visited that had truly made me feel like i was in someplace distinctly different from the rest of Europe. The question of Turkey's inclusion into the EU was of course, unanswered, but we gained an appreciation for Turkey, and everything that it has to offer. But perhaps the most lasting impression of the Turkey trip was the wonderful friendships that i made with the other students.

Creepy Paris

2009-04-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

March 28, 2009

Approximately an hour and a half after i FINALLY got on my train to Paris, second fail. Ready for it? I got ripped off by a cab driver and ended up paying 40 Euros for a 10 minute cab ride. Thankfully that was the last fail of the day, but still, not a great way to start off a week in a really expensive city. Anyway i checked into the "hotel" we would be staying at for the whole week, which turned out to be just an expensive hostel. i won't say it was an upgraded hostel, because honestly ive stayed in cleaner hostels, but still, we were only there to sleep right?

while in paris, we saw the sights, took a bike tour of the city, and attempted (and failed) to find a really great bar. You'd think that in the "City of Lights" there would be fabulous bars everywhere just teeming with college students right? Wrong. The best night that we had in paris was when we finally found a bar with some life to it, and we ended up playing a drinking game with a couple parisian boys and one boy who was french with an english accent. Strange. However, our 2AM hostel curfew prevented us from having a really crazy night, which i guess in retrospect was kind of a good thing.

Anyway, let me get to the title of the blog. If you have ever been to paris, then you know all about the creepy people that are basically everywhere. From the women dressed in hijab asking "speak english?," to the creepy man that followed us for a whole block trying to talk to us, to the men trying to scam you into a friendship bracelet, to the homeless people EVERYWHERE, and finally to my personal favorite, the drunk homeless man with no teeth that took a cigarette right out of my mouth just as i was about to light it. And can i just mention that this man did this IMMEDIATELY upon my departure from the catacombs which was filled with dead bodies?? COME ON!! i mean really? did that happen? it did. FML

All in all Paris was a good experience, i bought a purse from the flagship Louis Vuitton store on the Champs Elysees, i rode a bike around the Eiffel tower, put my hand in bird shit, got a cigarette stolen out of my mouth by a crazy person, experienced the french "hospitality," and ate at many a sidewalk cafe. But seriously now people, what is paris, compared to Istanbul? Upon my departure from paris i was so excited for my week in Istanbul, but i would be pleasantly surprised by just how fanstastic it really was.

Delirium in Brussels!!

2009-04-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

Mar. 22, 2009

Setting off for our long study tour and 3 weeks of straight traveling on a crisp Sunday morning at 8AM. Our European Politics and Society group loaded the bus and prepared ourselves for a 10 hour bus ride to the Hague or Den Hagg. For those of you who don't care for European politics, the Hague houses the most important international courts, including the ICTY which we got to visit. The ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) was an interesting place, made more interesting by the fact that one of my friends on the tour with me is Croatian and filled us in on the intricacies of the war in the Balkans (crazy stuff, let me tell you). Anyway after less than 24 hours in the Hague, we set off for Brussels which was 3 hours away and at the time seemed less than exciting, but of course, as with most things, i was wrong.

Mar. 23, 2009
BRUSSELS or Bruxlles is a beautiful city, that is definitely underrated. And lucky for us, we get to spend the next 4 days in this amazing city, that houses the most amazing bar that i have ever been to. It is called DELIRIUM and will be the highlight of the entire trip. How to describe Delirium... 2004 different kinds of beers, 24 different beers on tap, beer paraphernalia on the walls, lots of cigarettes, and 2 Belgian boys. Basically, it was fabulous, and we got drunk there every night for the equivalent of 20$ due to beers with 9-11% alcohol. YUM. But besides the beer and the boys, Brussels is also home to the institutions of the European Union. Every morning we woke up at 7 and were shuttled to various institutions to listen to lectures about the different areas of the European Union (really interesting topics, made less interesting by the fact that i was hung over and exhausted). We visited the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the US representation to the EU, NATO, the permanent Danish representation to the EU, the permanent Swedish representation to the EU (the hottest guy lectured us), and had a political actor interview with a lobbyist.

Besides the multiple lectures each day, and the fact that i was running on 4 hours of sleep each night, we partied at Delirium and drank amazing beer. My personal favorite was called Karmelite and although i don't know all the intricacies of beer drinking, it was wonderful and tasted vaguely of caramel (obviously). Delirium also had amazing fruit beers that girls would love as well as their own house beer which was potent and yummy (Delirium Tremens). My friend and i also met a couple of cute belgian guys at the bar named Olivier and Antoine. Brussels turned out to be the perfect place to meet a guy, because what could be better than kissing in the middle of the Grand Place after a night of great beer? Absolutely Nothing.

On another note, Belgian Waffles are every bit as good as people say they are and even better when they're fresh from a stand on the side of the road topped with strawberries and cream. BUT the only thing better than eating a belgian waffle, is eating it while walking around Brussels and admiring the beauty of the Grand Place (pronounced with a french accent).

After 5 days in Brussels, i was ready for paris, at least i thought i was. I got to the train station 2 hours before my train left because i wanted to be sure that i would not be late. I got to the ticket counter and the man at the counter said "we have a problem." 4 words one never wants to hear when traveling in a foreign country and on a time schedule. He told me that i could either retrieve my train tickets in Paris or from a store in a mall about 10 minutes away. How was i supposed to know this when i booked my ticket on a site that was in french and required me to translate everything??? So i got in a cab and went to the mall, but the store was closed and wouldnt open for another half an hour, at which point i would miss my train. So i got back into my cab (the cabbie wasnt nice at all) and went back to the train station, paid 15 euros for absolutely nothing and went back to the ticket counter to ask the man what else i could do (after waiting in a long line). My only option was buying another train ticket. So for another 43 euros i bought another train ticket, but the upside was that i could get a refund for my original ticket if i called the company before 11:30 (it was 11 at the time). It seemed like a good plan at the time, but lo and behold, the number did not work and the result was a train to paris that essentially cost me 86 Euros, basically over 100$. rough times. Might i add in that this entire time i was trying to hold back tears because of my frustration?? Yikes. Anyway, i made it onto the train and into paris on time. Success!! which was of course temporary, my next fail would come approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes later... stay tuned.

The first 2.5 Months

2009-04-11T03:50:00.000-07:00

Today is April 11th, and I have been abroad for almost 3 months. My blog starts today, but before I recount the past 3 amazing weeks, I think i need to retrace my steps a little. I arrived in Copenhagen or Kobenhavn on January 18th, and stepped into 20 degree weather and freshman year all over again. Now anyone who knows me, knows that freshman year and first impressions aren't my strong point, but i was determined to make friends and be more outgoing. My living situation here in Copenhagen is not the greatest, and my first impression of my Danish roommate was disappointment. He is a 28 year old black man with braces who is completely aloof and is definitely in the arrangement for the rent money. My mom describes him as an arrogant prick, if that helps at all.

Anyway, fast forward a few weeks and i have made amazing friends and am having an okay time. I have gone to a number of swanky bars (taking advantage of the fact that i am allowed to drink), kind of expensive restaurants, but done absolutely NO shopping... WHAT?? but still, Denmark is so expensive (20-30% more expensive) if i went shopping and had to eat, well, i'd be eating a lot less and losing weight. Actually that sounds like a pretty good idea at this point.

They say that the stages of studying abroad are 1) an adrenaline rush 2) slight depression & homesickness 3)acceptance of the situation 4) complete and total fun. Whoever made that up, was definitely right. After the initial adrenaline rush, i was homesick and tired of the cold weather and dreary rainy days, not to mention the rude cashiers at the supermarkets. Luckily by the time the depression and homesickness really set in, my mom was about to arrive (feb. 20, yes just a month after i left). Mom and i had a good time eating and drinking in copenhagen and shopping like crazy in London. When in london, we basked in the luxury of hearing english spoken everywhere, shopped like crazy people, and watched Grease the musical at the picadilly theatre.

Fast forward a few more weeks and i have a danish visiting family! A visiting family is basically just like having a host family, but you dont live in their house, and you see them every so often for dinner. My visiting family consists of an older couple with grown children and another boy from DIS. The man, Jimmy, is a wonderful scottish man who moved to Denmark to be with a danish woman (vibeke). They are such nice people and so welcoming, and exactly what i was hoping for with my visiting family.

That was just my overview of my time in Denmark, minus the nitty gritty details. I can't remember all of the little things, but there are a few that stand out in my mind. The Danish boys are tall, cute, and kind of shy and reserved which just goes to show that the Danish are hard to get to know (fact). The sandwiches are fabulous but still expensive, there are no starbucks in Denmark except for the one in the airport, flights out of copenhagen are expensive, the Danish get nicer and more helpful as the weather gets better, i don't like scarves at all because i feel like they are choking me, 5 flights of stairs is standard, Denmark is not very handicap accessible (there isn't an elevator in my building, which come to think of it will make it VERY hard to get my suitcases down at the end of the semester), DIS curriculum is a joke, teachers with great accents are just fabulous, american Tv shows are a season behind on danish tv, and most importantly, i don't like having to cook for myself every night.

Anyway, that was just my overview of the past few months, now... onto the craziest 3 weeks of my life.