At 6 am on the May 17th, myself along with 60 other exchange students left on a 2.5 week trip to take on Europe. We arrived in Berlin that evening. The next morning had a short guided bus tour around Berlin stopping at the Berlin wall. The wall had the coolest painting on it. We continued to the jewish memorial, are final tour stop. The jewish memorial was neat but eerie. Especially when we got to walk around in it. A Berlin tour guide standing at the memorial explained that no one really knew what the design of the memorial symbolized as the designer refused to give a straight answer. Some thought that it was created to resemble the graves in the jewish cemetery in Prague, but there were also many other views. Afterwords we were free to walk around and see the sights of Berlin. Several exchangers and I headed straight for the nearest Starbucks before heading off to see the sights in Berlin. It was the first Starbucks latte we could get without a ten dollar price tag attached to it. Following the coffee break we were off to Checkpoint Charlie, the entrance to the American sector of Berlin when it was divided post World War II. We snapped a few pictures and continued on our way. We walked past the Parliament building and a Soviet Union monument of some kind. It was all in Russian, so I really have no idea what it was. On our travels we ran into another group of exchangers on a bike tour through the city. It was a strange looking bike that had some resemblance to an octopus. There was a few seats left, so we joined them. The tour took us through a huge park in Berlin, past a monument to Beethoven and Mozart, memorial to the homosexuals prosecuted during the Nazi regime and to an amazing chocolate museum/store. The Brandenburg Gate and Parliament building and TV tower had been built entirely out of chocolate.
The next morning we began driving to Prague. We stopped in Theresienstadt. It was still the same eerie, somber place as it was last time. This time, however, I visited a part of the complex where 60,000 jewish prisoners had lived and been guarded by a single soldier. Prague was the next stop. When we arrived that evening, we went up into the city for a few hours to walk around and experience the night life. The next morning we had a guided three hour bus tour around Prague visiting Prague's cathedral and castle. We also walked across the Charles bridge. After we were allowed once again to explore the city. After a delicious lunch we visited the yellow market, the old square in Prague (where the two huge churches are) and cafés. That evening Natasha, Esther, Erin, Sarah and I went to the biggest dance club in Europe. Five levels of dancing floors! It was insane but a lot of fun.
The next afternoon we arrived in Vienna at the Schönbrunn castle, which was actually just a summer house. I guess they have a bigger and better castle elsewhere. That evening about 35 of the 60 exchangers, myself included, decided to accompany Glen, our tour guide, to a Mozart concert. It was amazing! We were in an old, beautiful church in Vienna hearing Mozart. Life doesn't get much cooler than that. The next morning we had a short guided tour around Vienna before we were free to explore. Natasha, Sarah, Andrea and I went to a free art museum and chilled for a while before finding a Starbucks. I ended the day sitting in a park eating the best apple strudel i have ever had in my life.
It was an 8 hour driving day to Lido de Jesolo, our Italian, our ocean side destination for the day. We drove through the winded our way through the majestic Italian alps in northern Italy into valleys covered in vineyards out to the Mediterranean Sea. We had the evening to relax in Lido and visit the beach. The next morning we took a boat into Venice! The first thing we did when we arrived was take a gondola tour through the canals. What a beautiful city! We spent the rest of the day walking through the narrow, cobble stone streets seeing the city. The following day, we spent the entire day on the beaches of Lido relaxing in the sun and warm water of the Mediterranean.
We departed from Lido and headed to Verona. We spent a few hours in Verona visiting Juliet's balcony and eating at a local pizzeria before driving to San Remo for the evening.
The next morning we drove to Monaco. Wow! This city had money. Our first stop was the church where famous actress Grace Kelly was buried. We then visited Monaco's "castle." It reminded me more of a castle that one would see at a theme park in Orlando. We walked around the city seeing the gardens and catching a little Formula 1 racing. We then drove to Avignon, France. We walked around Avignon for most of the day seeing the city including the papal residence when the Pope also lived in France. After the purchasing of baguettes we headed back to the hotel.
The next morning we were on the way to Paris! That afternoon I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time as we drove into Paris, and Natasha and I proceeded to listen to the only French techno song on my iPod. After dinner, we enjoyed an evening cruise down the Seine River. The next morning we were given free rein to tour around Paris. Myself and two other exchangers, Brett and Alyssa, started the day by climbing the stairs to the top, well almost the top, of the Eiffel Tower. The views from the top were spectacular. I could see the Seine River winding through Paris as well as places like the Sacré Coeur and Arc de Triomphe. After our adventure to the top of the Eiffel Tower, we had a cheap but amazing picnic in the Champ de Mars right in front of the Eiffel Tower. Our view:
After lunch we took the Metro up to the Arc de Triomphe. We snapped a picture in front of it and walked down Champs Elysees. Brett, Alyssa, and I ended up walking the entire Champs Elysees to the Lourve. We met up with Esther, Erin, and Esther's French exchange student friend, Sara at the Mona Lisa. Sara is totally awesome! She showed us around the Louvre and took us to a cosy Parisian café afterwards. We then walked down to the Notre Dame since Brett, Alyssa and I hadn't seen it. For dinner we once again picnicked in Champ de Mars. The next day we returned to the Notre Dame, so Alyssa, Brett and I could go inside. It was absolutely breathtaking! It's hard to believe that people were able to build something that magnificent without modern building equipment. Following the Notre Dame, we walked around in the Latin quarter and had lunch at a restaurant there. I tried snails and mussels, which tasted fine but had a weird texture to them. The lunch was fantastic even though one of the fondue pots lit our table on fire and earned the remark, "Well that was a fondon't," from Andrea. After lunch Esther, Brett, Louis, Sarah and I found the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and spent a solid few hours in there. I'm pretty sure it's the coolest bookstore in the world. Esther and I thought we had died and gone to heaven. The last evening in Paris we had dinner once again in the Champ de Mars. Unfortunately it was not as warm this evening, so after about an hour we ended up hanging out in a café. The three days in Paris were the most amazing part of eurotour, and it bummed me out that we didn't have another day there. However, that is my reason to make a return trip.
The last few days of the tour were a blur. We spent one evening in Bruxelles eating Belgium waffles and walking around the city. The last day of the tour we had 5 hours in Amsterdam, which was enough time to take a cruise in the Amsterdam canals and walk around the famous red light district. The following evening we were once again in Denmark. It was the most amazing 18 days of my exchange filled with memories and people I'll never forget.
Originally I planned on this entry only including only eurotour; however, I am so slow at updating this blog that I can now include what I've been up to over summer break. Well about 4 days or so after I got home from eurotour I was traveling to Copenhagen to visit my mom's host family as well as my mom, dad, and brother. It was such a fun trip! I spent one evening visiting with Camilla before I met Lene, my mom's host sister, in Copenhagen. We spent the day together walking around Copenhagen seeing the Little Mermaid, Amalienborg Slot (castle), Christiania and the U.S Embassy. That evening Lene and I had coffee with Gitte, Lene's sister and my mom's other host sister, and her children. It was very cosy and nice to see them again after 3 years. The next afternoon, we had lunch out in Ølstykke with Hans Henrik and Etly, my mom's host parents, for the first time in 3 years. I also got to see my parents and brother after an entire year. The best part of this for me was I could speak Danish this time, so Hans Henrik could only tease my brother in Danish this time :) I had dinner with my family and Camilla's family the same evening. Then Connor, Camilla, some of her friends and I went up into Copenhagen. It was the first time that Connor and I got to experience the Copenhagen night life, and it was a ton of fun. That morning I took the train home to Hjørring.
The next afternoon I left for the start of the Limfjord tour with the 30 Rotary exchange students living in district 1440. The first day we got to go trail riding on Icelandic horses around the farm that we were staying at. It was so much fun even for those that fell off there horses. The next morning we started sailing on Limfjord. We sailed most of the day and spent the night at Jesperhus campground. We also visited the Jesperhus gardens, which were located nearby. It started raining so Esther, Erin and I went back to the campground, bought coffee and cake and chilled. Following dinner we bowled for about an hour at the campgrounds bowling alley. The following morning we sailed most of the day to another Danish city on the fjord. On the way we stopped off at a beautiful island for lunch. We walked across the island to a spot that apparently has spectacular sunsets. When we arrived at our final destination, we had time to set down our stuff before we headed out to one of the national parks of Denmark. We had about a 30 minute walking tour through the beautiful nature before we reached our dinner spot. We grilled with the local Rotarians before returning to where we were staying. The next morning we sailed to Fjerritslev. We stayed at the local camping ground and gave a presentation to the local Rotary club. We spent our last evening of the tour together drinking coffee and relaxing. The next morning we visited a boat builder close to Fjerritslev that restored the classic fishermen's boats. Then we had lunch at the home of one of the Rotarians before continuing to Nibe. Nibe was the last stop of the Limfjord tour, so after dinner we had to say goodbye to our fellow exchangers. It was an amazing last Rotary get together and sadly the last time that I will probably see most of these people. It's hard to believe just how fast the year has gone.
When I returned to Hjørring last sunday, my parents were also there. They came to my Rotary presentation on monday along with my host families to hear about my year in Denmark. It went really well, and at the end of my speech my host club gave me a beautiful pair of Danish earrings. On tuesday, I took my parents to Hjørring gymnasium, and my counselor Hanne Boel showed them around the school. Afterwords I showed them around downtown Hjørring, and we had coffee with Esther, Erin and Nova. That evening they had dinner with the family I am currently living with. This thursday was Sankt Hans Aften, which is a Danish celebration of the summer solstice. Part of the tradition is to have a bonfire and burn a witch, not a real person, and send her to Bloksbjerg, a mountain in Germany. After dinner with my first family, we went out to Lønstrup for the Sankt Hans bål (bonfire). We watched another witch sent on her merry way to Bloksbjerg before we headed home. Yesterday my parents and I had dinner with my second family. It was a very special and exciting opportunity for me to share the places and people that have been a part of the most amazing year of my life with my parents.
Next I'm headed off to the Nibe music festival and I'm sure plenty of other adventures before I leave Denmark in a month. Until next time, vi ses!
