Last few weeks in CPH

As you can tell by my lack of postings, I have been keeping myself busy the past month! Spring is officially here, and Copenhagen is now the land of BBQs, lazy days in the park, and sunbathing to ditch the pale scandiavian winter skin.

Following my trip to London, my last big destination of the semester was Rome April 13-17. Unbelievable city. I won't go into much detail, but I have to admit this was one of the greatest cities I have ever seen. Every time I turned a corner there was another ancient ruin or historic sight to witness. The vatican, the coliseum, the ancient forums, pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain...Rome is a city overflowing with rich treasures and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to experience it. My pictures I've posted go into more detail, so have a look :)

Since then, I've been enjoying my time in Copenhagen and taking in all the city has to offer. Springtime in this city is delightful —the Danes are itching for the sun after the dreary, gray, depressing winter weather in Copenhagen. People no longer run inside to escape the rain--the days are long, the outdoor cafes overflow with people sipping iced lattes, sunbathers sprawl in the parks, and the city is a constant buzz. We have been doing a lot of grilling, biking around the city, and we have even made it to the beach a few times! I too have caught the spring fever.

Last weekend my friend Hannah made the trek over from the Netherlands for a visit--it was wonderful showing her my city. We made a bike trip to Helsingor, Denmark with some friends from Copenhagen. We followed the scenic route by the sea side, wound our way through some forests, and stumbled across some Danish countryside before arriving 3 ½ hours later in Helsingor to explore the Krongbor “Hamlet” Castle. Although the exterior of the castle was quite impressive, the inside was a bit disappointing; especially for the entry fee we paid. Overall, though, the trip was wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing Denmark by bike 

We also spent some time exploring the free town Christiania. Christiania is an old military barracks that was established by squatters in the early 70’s and now serves as a symbol of the tolerant liberalism of Denmark. Tucked away in the outskirts of Copenhagen, Christiania’s 1,000 inhabitants live freely in a refuge of peace and alternative lifestyles. There is no buying or selling of land and when someone leaves the community, the members get to decide who will move in their place. While Christiania remains under enormous pressure to become “normalized”, they serve a strong role in entertaining tourists in Copenhagen. In the springtime the place is swarming with people taking in this mysterious free world that most are so unaccustomed to. It is a tangle of ramshackled homes bursting with character, outrageous graffiti, hippies, hidden gardens, appealing architecture, cafes, music and much more. There is, of course, always a party in Christiania and you will find people drinking and stumbling the streets no matter what time of day.

While the community does pay taxes to the government, they still face tremendous pressure to give up their free town and assimilate into the rest of Copenhagen. They have fended off pressure in the past, so only time will tell if Christianian’s will keep their Freetown. In the mean time, it’s a nice afternoon escape from the city life.

This afternoon I did a bit of exploring in the city of Roskilde, Denmark, the hometown of my Danish mentor from my university, Cathrine. She introduced Clair, Megan and I to her city, home, and family and played tour guide for the day. Roskilde is home to The Viking Ship Museum in Denmark, and although we opted to skip the 75 DKK entry fee and spend our day in the sun instead, we were able to get a look at the Viking ships outside the museum and spend some time in the gift shop looking at all the Viking trinkets for sale. We also visited Cathrine’s old highschool and spent time discovering quaint villages with the most adorable homes I have ever seen. They were pulled directly out of a story book:) We stopped at the Roskilde Cathedral where all the Denmark Royalty are buried and took a long hike from the harbor, along the sea and fjord, and through the forest.

We ate a wonderful Danish dinner with her family at her home, and after dinner we took a tour of Roskilde by car! Haven’t been in one of those in quite some time  We stopped at some beautiful deserted beaches and saw some real Danish countryside before heading back for some dessert. It was a wonderful day.

As my time abroad winds to a close, I have been doing a lot of thinking as to what this whole experience has meant to me. In all honesty, sometimes it feels like it didn’t even happen. The novelty of studying abroad sort of fades after the first few weeks and then the whole idea of living and studying in a new place becomes not so new anymore…which is how it becomes home :) Before coming abroad I hadn’t much of a clue as to what to expect, but I never would have imagined Copenhagen would become so special to me. I look back on the past semester, and I really have made a home in this city. This study abroad has been such a fleeting, truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that is gone before I had time to prepare myself for the end. I am beyond excited to be with my family and friends again, but I still have to prepare myself mentally for the culture shock of going back to the US!

I will forever cherish the memories I've created, the friends I've made and the times I’ve shared with them. Each person has influenced me in some way or another and I’ve grown in so many ways because of my experiences here.

BUT, I’m not done yet! I still have a week and a half left to enjoy here--time to soak it all in :)