den shambly begyndelsen.

i think it's finally time to start talking about travel break. i say "start" because travel break covers two weeks of unforgettable adventures with the wonderful brittany bailey and will absolutely not fit in one post. also, the first 36 hours of the trip deserve their own entry. so here begins the first installment.

 the first two weeks in april were given to us as a sort of extended spring break. DIS offered some organized trips that a lot of people took advantage of, but i think the majority of students planned their own european tour. because we love each other and each thought the other would be a fantastic travel buddy, brittany and i decided to travel together. after tons of deliberation and extensive research, we finally settled on a travel plan that both of us were ecstatic about. our two weeks would be split between two countries. the first week would be in spain with three days in madrid followed by three days in barcelona. for the second week we would fly to italy for two days in rome, one day in florence, and two days in venice. from venice we would fly to copenhagen and crash hard.
needless to say, we were pretty pumped for our journey. most students opted for more of a complete european tour with one or two days in tons of major european cities. brittany and i both valued the opportunity to get to know a country relatively well so the idea of spending more time in one place appealed to both of us. since we both have a background in spanish, spain and italy seemed like logical choices. also, after months of darkness and frigid days, we were ready for some time in the south of europe.

after tons of midterms and last-minute assignments, our break finally arrived. on the morning of april 2nd, we set out on our journey with andy, our large shared suitcase. we took the metro out the airport, checked our bag without incident and went to board our flight. our first stop would be madrid with a connection in geneva, switzerland before arriving at our final destination. we got on the plane in high spirits and couldn't wait for our arrival in spain that evening.
we passed the time during our layover in switzerland playing cards, enjoying sparkling conversation, and purchasing swiss chocolate. at this point i was still on my lenten fast from desserts and sweet things, but i didn't miss the opportunity to add to my international chocolate collection.
when it started getting closer to our departure time, we rechecked andy, went through security, and sought out a departure screen for our gate information. since it was more than an hour before our flight and easyjet doesn't post gates until an hour before departure, nothing was listed. so we sat, read, journaled, and waited for more information.
with an hour until our flight, we went and checked the screen for our gate. oddly, nothing was listed. we went to the information desk and asked if they knew what gate we were flying out of and they said they didn't currently have any information but that they would let us know when they knew something. we went back to waiting and got up periodically to check the screen. when there were only 20 minutes left until take-off, we began to get a little worried. finally the flight board showed "more information at 9:30" which was about when our flight was set to leave. we figured this meant our flight had been delayed and since we had no further connections, we weren't too concerned about a late arrival. however, when 9:30 came and went without an update, we got a little suspicious. since our arrival in the waiting area, they had cancelled virtually every out-bound flight and all other flights were delayed. eventually the sign changed to read "more information at 10:30", so we continued to sit and wonder what was going on. 10:30 came and went, 11 rolled around, and our flight was officially cancelled. trying to stay calm, we made our way to baggage claim with the rest of the stranded passengers to reclaim andy and make our way to the easyjet help desk. during our 45-minute wait in line, we gathered that there was a strike in france which had ultimately prevented planes from arriving in switzerland which meant there was no way to get everyone out of geneva. i eavesdropped on the spainairds behind us in line and gathered a few ideas to get us out of our predicament and commiserated a little bit with students trying to get home or travelling to see family. positive outcome: an opportunity to practice my spanish.
we finally got our turn with the easyjet agent who looked exhausted at this point and felt quite comfortable telling us so. we asked him if he could book us on another flight to madrid. he could, but not until april 13th. considering the complex travel plan we had already established, that wasn't an option. he attempted to reroute us through london but there weren't enough seats. after relaying this information to us, he promptly just stood and stared at us. in an attempt to find an alternate solution, we asked if there was a train we could take to spain. he curtly replied, "yes" and required further probing as to how we would go about securing seats on said train. at this point it was midnight so he informed us that the ticket counter would be closed but we could show up right when it opened the next morning and likely book a train for 200 euros. considering the amount of money we'd already poured into travel and hostels for the rest of our travel break, it seemed we had no choice but to suck up the extra expense in order to save the dream.
we asked where they'd be able to put us up for the night. he replied matter of factly that we needed a new booking to be given a hotel. insert a good bit of grumbling about budget airlines and rude/largely unhelpful airline employees here.
we rolled andy up the escalator, found a good patch of floor, and plopped down for the night. before journaling and going to bed, we made a game plan: wake up at 5am, make our way to the train station, buy train tickets, try to get back on track. then i broke my lenten fast and ate some chocolate since it was the only food we had on us and we hadn't eaten much in the way of dinner. i think swiss chocolate deserves a great deal of credit for keeping morale high.
we passed the next three hours rather restlessly on the airport floor and were rudely awakened by someone driving a floor cleaner about a foot from my head at four in the morning. we groggily got ourselves together, ate some chocolate for breakfast, and began to make our way towards the train station. the doors to the train portion of the airport didn't open until five so we spent some time standing with the rest of the miserable, stranded people waiting for the revolving doors to start spinning. when they finally opened, we had trouble figuring out how to get to the station.

this still might be my favorite photo of the trip.

after carting andy up and down flights of stairs and going outside the airport to re-enter the terminal and get some help, we finally figured out that we had to take another train from the airport to the train station. we were less than pleased at this point with two-ish hours of sleep under our belts and a seemingly endless barrage of challenges. but at least we had completed step one.
step two: buy train tickets to madrid. the ticket counter at the train station didn't open until six, so we did some more loafing until the station employees showed up. after some waiting in line, we finally got a chance to talk to one of the most helpful swiss people we met during this incredible fiasco. the travel agent found us the cheapest route from geneva to madrid and gave us a detailed explanation of the five trains we'd have to take to get from switzerland to spain. it was a pricey affair, but we sucked it up. again, for the sake of the dream. however, we realized that the train from barcelona to spain was single-handedly responsible for jacking up the price of the whole journey and after a brief conference, we decided it was in our best interests to scrap the madrid portion of our trip and just stop in barcelona. since we were ultimately going to end up there at the end of the week, we decided to just go straight from the train station to the hostel we had booked to see if they had any room to keep us for a couple extra nights. plus we liked the idea of not having to travel again for another five days. so we opted to purchase only the first two tickets on our journey. the last two would have to be purchased during our layover in montpellier, france. we were desperately hoping there'd be space on the train. thankfully, at this point we were too exhausted to be stressed out.

tired and apathetic. so it goes.

feeling much more calm with a plan and train tickets in our hands, we grabbed some breakfast and headed to the platform to await our first train to lyon, france. while we waited, we met some lovely pakistani professors en route to large political/economic conference. we chatted american politics with them and enjoyed their company before boarding the train. once on the train, we journaled for a bit and then crashed hard. i honestly remember very little of the trip from geneva to montpellier including the transfer in lyon. tiredness blackout.
once our train arrived in montpellier, we headed straight away to the ticket counter to buy the rest of our tickets. there was plenty of space on both of our remaining trains and we got a student discount so the rest of the journey only cost us 40 euro. praise the Lord. we breathed a huge sigh of relief and decided to venture out into the city with andy to find some lunch since we had a relatively long layover.

keeping it together.

at this point i decided to put my contacts in and change my clothes to make myself feel a little more like a real person. we were disgusting. and i smelled awful. but i did feel better with a clean shirt and a skirt on.
we happened upon an adorable french bakery and purchased some delicious sandwiches and a baguette for a ridiculously low sum. the sandwiches brie, tomato, and lettuce on an olive baguette. YUM. things were starting to look up.
after one more train transfer, we were on the last leg of our journey, traveling across the french/spanish border and into barcelona. to get in the spanish zone, we spoke spanish to each other the entire train ride. the spanish version of girl and boy scouts overran our train and we enjoyed being serenaded with spanish camp songs. looking out the window and experiencing the vitality on the train, we were already falling in love.
once we arrived in barcelona, we managed to purchase some metro passes and made our way to the hostel. little did we know it was located on the top of the hill. and that spanish streets change names at every curve. so we carted 20 kilos of andy around while getting lost in a spanish neighborhood. we eventually stopped to ask a group of runners for directions and they pointed us in the right direction. we got the impression this happened a lot. since as we approached them dragging a giant suitcase they asked, "youth hostel?"

the beautiful (but rather wet) patio at our hostel.

we entered the hostel, explained our predicament to the polish girl working the reception, and asked if she had any room for us. i think we both almost cried tears of joy when she told us she had exactly two beds left for the night in the same all-female dorm room. she said people had been calling all day asking for a room but it hadn't worked out either because they needed too many beds or needed beds for males and females. we thought it was pretty obvious that God was watching out for us. and to top it all off, the same beds were open for the next night AND we wouldn't have to change rooms when our previous reservation kicked in. yesssssssss.

a room with a view.

after checking in, we found ourselves in urgent need of a shower. so we took the most glorious, satisfying showers of our lives. we were staying in an eco-friendly hostel but we ignored the infinite number of signs telling us to conserve water and took some relatively lengthy showers. it felt like coming back to life.
we got some directions to an internet cafe from reception and ventured out to notify our families of our safety and to relay the events of the last 36 hours. on our way to the cafe, we stopped at a small tienda and got some eggs, vegetables, and apples for our breakfast the next day. the hostel had a kitchen and we were pretty excited about the opportunity to cook ourselves real, healthy food. this particular tienda ended up being a regular stop on our trips to and from the metro and we developed an extremely pleasant relationship with the owner. ahh, barcelona. therapy for the weary, traveling soul.

and so began our two weeks of adventures. we proceeded to have a fantastic time but nothing nearly as thrilling happened. which we honestly didn't mind.

next time: our five days in barcelona. here's a sneak peak.

kærlig hilsen,
kati

amsterdam.

so now, after another obscenely long delay, it is time to talk about amsterdam.

just some young ladies, sitting in a shoe.

 over a month ago, i ventured to the city of aggressive cyclists and space muffins with my dear roommate taylor and our friend elise. took the night train again and became friends with a lovely swedish couple. i had another experience this weekend that confirmed my great appreciation for the swedish. they look very similar to danes, have many of the same habits, but want to get to know you much more aggressively than any other dane i've met. this particular couple chatted us up for a great many hours and shared some swedish easter soda with us. and then showed us pictures of their children and pets on their iphones. then took a video of all of us in the train car. sweet people.

we we we so excited.

once our train rolled into the station, we hit the ground running (errr...rolling. bah. pun.) with a bike tour. our guide took us all over the city, showing us all the major sights. honestly, i think bike tours are the most awesome thing. i can't rave about them enough. they're fun, they're a quick way to see all the major sights, and they give you a good understanding of the lay of the land. i think i'm going to be a lifelong advocate.
i was told amsterdam is a city best enjoyed by wandering the canals, so wander we did. and we had our first taste of dutch cheese. holy canoli. the stuff is unreal. and this coming from a girl who usually wants to implode after eating dairy.
we bought tickets online for the anne frank house (BEST DECISION EVER.) so we got the skip the line. absolutely the best way to go. it requires you to show up at a specific time but saves you one to two hours of miserable line time.

the museum was incredible. so powerful. very well done. the tour takes you through the house as it was when the frank's were hiding there and you're guided by plaques with just the right amount of text and large quotes from anne's diary on the walls.
the tour ends in a room with some general frank family paraphernalia and world war II artifacts. then you're ushered into a room showing a video highlighting modern day forms of discrimination. the whole experience is very sobering and extremely educational. i absolutely loved it. i just read the diary of anne frank this weekend. finally got my hands on it from the DIS library. that girl just reaffirms my opinion that society underestimates the potential of young people far too frequently. sure, she had her whiny, self-centered moments, but she also wrote with a level of introspection and philosophical understanding well beyond her years.

nomnomnom.

i don't like posting pictures i didn't take, but i found this one far too moving not to share it with you. this is otto frank in the secret annexe after the war. i had to buy a postcard of it.
the anne frank house is conveniently located right down the street from the pancake bakery. and we were in need of a pick-me-up after the museum. nutella and cherries on a whole wheat pancake? don't mind if i do.

the next morning we made our way to the van gogh museum but stopped along the way at the i amsterdam sign on museumplads for a photoshoot. insider tip: at 10:30am on a sunday morning, there's virtually no one at the sign. our pictures contained minimal amounts of randos. donecheckdone.
again, we got our tickets ahead of time for the van gogh museum. another wise decision. zipped right in there and began perusing. fabulous museum.

ALL THE FLOWERS.

i heard a lot of mixed reviews in the weeks leading up to the trip. some people think it's great but others are pretty disappointed because it houses very few major works. instead, it includes some of his earliest pieces to give complete coverage to his progression as an artist. i thought it was phenomenal. i left feeling like i had a greater understanding of van gogh's art instead of just having looked at famous stuff.
we found our way to some lunch after the museum, did some more wandering, visited bloemenmarkt (the most famous flower market in holland), and lounged in vondelpark until it was time to make our return to the station. however, we didn't board the train before stocking up on bread, jam, and three wheels of dutch cheese. it made for a lovely dinner.

 a special shout out/shower of thanks to my high school friend monique. this fine lady studied in amsterdam last spring and stayed for the summer so she provided me with a rather extensive list of things to do during my brief time in the city. i feel i can safely say her suggestions made our time what it was. thanks, monique!

now enjoy a few more photos of amsterdam. because we all know how much i love weighing my posts down with pictures.

that's all, folks.

kærlig hilsen,
kati

p.s. before we left for this trip, sweet taylor had a birthday. there was a fine little shindig in celebration and an impromptu photoshoot in our matching outfits. i feel i would do both of us a disservice if i failed to share at least one of the products of said shoot.

we decided this one looks a little like a birth control ad.

ok, now i'm really done.

poznan og berlin.

now that i'm back from two weeks of traveling in spain and italy, it's time to finally get around to sharing the details of my trip to poznan, poland and berlin, germany. i've spent the day editing photos so i could make this post. get excited.

the first week in march every DIS program went on their long study tour. essentially this is an extended version of the trip i took to western denmark earlier in the semester however we travel quite a bit farther. for example, some groups went to turkey and italy. we stuck to northern europe.

our trip started in poznan, poland. most of the tour group had a pretty blase attitude about going to poland when we left denmark but by the time we headed to berlin, everyone was pretty impressed. the first point to poland was our hotel. ridiculously luxurious. and fabulous breakfast. no sugar added french jam in tiny jars. i may or may not have slipped four or five into my bag before leaving.

since we took a bus from copenhagen to poznan (12 hour ride. blech.), we arrived around dinner time. we all went out for the first of many fabulous meals. here i took the first of a series of pictures i've titled "the desserts that weren't". since i gave up desserts and sweets for lent, i satisfied myself by photographing the heck out of my food.
the next morning we had our first academic visit: shadowing in a gynecological hospital. a couple doctors took us on a tour of the wards in the poznan university gynecological hospital and even took us into patient rooms to explain the birthing process in poland. we were a little surprised that they just took a group of four of us into a patient's room without asking permission. their response to our concern was that since this was a university hospital, the patients were used to it. i'm taking that to mean choosing to be treated there involves consenting to be used as an educational tool. still weird coming from such a regulated American system.
interesting things i learned about giving birth in poland:
1. since the country has universal healthcare but no money, most women just have nitrous oxide to kill pain during childbirth.
2. while you may see the same doctor throughout your pregnancy, you're not guaranteed that they'll be their when you actually give birth. you're stuck with whoever's on duty and it's illegal to pay your doctor extra to come when you're in labor.
3. about 30% of deliveries in poland are c-sections. as of 2010, 32% of US births were c-sections. the ideal percentage for the health of mothers and babies is 5-10%.

part of our tour included peeking into an operating room in which a c-section was being performed. we got to stay and watch. way cool.
after our academic visits, we had a group activity called the "urban awareness exercise". fancy name for sight-seeing scavenger hunt. we spent a couple hours traipsing all over europe seeing things like city hall, the parish church, the franciscan church, a palace, and a handful of other sights. fun way to see the city and a great opportunity to take a bunch of pictures. my favorite part might have been when our group took a bit of a break to explore an open air flea market just outside the city center. found a giant container of my favorite instant coffee for half as one a third the size would cost in denmark. i love markets.

after the market, we gave up on the tour (in our defense, it was pretty chilly.) and got a cup of coffee. generally this wouldn't be worth mentioning. except i had my first european cappuccino (now that i think about it, it was actually just my first ever cappuccino. but still.). it was delicious. here is a photo with which i hope to pay it tribute.
the next day we had another academic visit to the university pediatric hospital. here they had a ward for virtually every pediatric specialty imaginable except orthopedics, dermatology, and ophthalmology. we spent our time on the gastrointestinal ward and got to watch an edoscopy for the placement of a feeding tube in the duodenum of a patient with krohn's disease. i was asked to hold his arms down during the procedure since patients have a tendency to try to pull the scope out when it triggers their gag reflex. the poor kid was 11 but, due to the malnutrition caused by his illness, he wasn't any bigger than a six year old. when he came in for the procedure, tears were rolling down his cheeks silently. he was a trooper but i was definitely shaken by the experience.
after the hospital visit and some time on our own in the city, we got back on the bus and drove to berlin. before i move on to talking about berlin, i have two more things to share about polish healthcare.
1. the government is trying hard to emulate the danish system of universal coverage gated by general practitioners but it's failing miserably, mainly due to a lack of funding. i've been surprised to learn that doctors aren't among the highest paid professionals internationally. in poland they receive very little money. each GP gets an allotment of money for each patient at the beginning of the year that he or she is expected to use to cover all treatment costs and the upkeep of their practice. the remainder is their salary. in order to take home more money, many GPs will refer patients to the hospital without running tests because they know the hospital will have to cover the tests if they don't. the problem is that hospitals also get an allotment of money every year and when it runs out, they can't get any more. last year most hospitals ran out in october and could only treat emergent cases for the rest of the year. needless to say hospital employees harbor a good bit of hostility towards GPs.
2. for some reason i assumed that all of europe was highly developed and home to all kinds of state of the art facilities. i was surprised to enter polish hospitals with wooden doors and bad lighting and really old machinery. even in denmark hospitals seem pretty old. even the doctors' dress is a little antiquated. going to the hospital in the US is a really unique experience. i had no idea how unique until i came to europe.

alright, on to berlin. this portion of the trip was fantastic. it was all incredible but i really liked berlin. the sheer number of things to do there was pretty overwhelming. i didn't even do a third of them. i'd love to go back someday.
since we essentially had three full days and packed a whole lot into them, i've opted for a list format so i can organize my thoughts more effectively. also, because i love lists.

1. visit to the german heart institute. this was our first academic visit. the heart institute is a private foundation that does research, clinical treatment, and offers international aid. one of their main research areas is cardiac surgery. this is where most new procedures for heart surgery are developed. people come from all over the world for surgery here. they also do quite a bit of r&d on VADs. in terms of international aid they fund the treatment and travel of patients from third-world countries. there's also a ronald mcdonald house affiliated with the hospital. the institute is in it's 26th year of operation. i only know this because i was given a copy of their 25th anniversary commemorative book. this thing is the size of a textbook. the jury's still out on whether or not i want to forfeit suitcase space to bring it home.

2. the ritter sport chocolate world. a large group of us ventured over to chocolate world during a block of free time. the big draw initially was the make-your-own chocolate option. pick milk or dark chocolate and three mix-ins. like the coldstone of the chocolate world. i ended up not making my own chocolate because i was already a little overwhelmed with the incredible variety they offered in the store. they have 29 kinds in the "permanent" collection in addition to five or six organic flavors and seasonal varieties they cycle through. brittany had introduced me to ritter sport earlier in the semester and i fell in love with the relatively cheap, high quality chocolate. it's about $2.50 a bar in copenhagen. it's 85 euro cents from the source. AWESOME. needless to say i purchased an obscene amount of chocolate which i'm proud to say has remained untouched. saving it for an international chocolate party with the fam. get excited, mom.

3. berlin symphony concert. just as classy as it sounds. went out for a delicious dinner (tomato, mushroom, goat cheese, pine nut, and spinach pizza) followed by an evening of fantastic music. even the venue was phenomenal. they just don't make buildings as fancy as they used to.
4. academic visit to the center for anatomy. apparently this is where human dissection for scientific purposes began. we were given a brief lecture on the history of dissection and then led upstairs to the cadaver room. they gave us a short tour of the room and then set us loose. we spent about an hour playing with hearts and lungs and brains and kidneys and stomachs and intestines. you name it, i've probably touched it. it. was. so. cool. and no one passed out. apparently we're all on the right career track. sadly, no pictures for this one. i know you're disappointed.

5. bike tour of berlin. this was my first bike tour and i'm hooked. understandably so since it combines two of my loves: exercise and learning. i did one in amsterdam and planned to do one in madrid that ended up not happening (spoiler alert.). it's hands down the most fun way to see a city and actually learn about what you're seeing. in amsterdam we found it to be a really strategic way to start the trip. helped us orient ourselves and gave us a greater appreciation for what we were seeing when we walked on our own afterwards.

the berlin tour was led by an adorable english girl and took us to the sight of the largest nazi book burning, checkpoint charlie, hitler's bunker, the memorial for the murdered european jews, the reichstag, and much more. along the way we stopped to take pictures while our guide gave us concise and interesting information about each of our stops. at our checkpoint charlie stop she pulled out some sidewalk chalk and drew us a diagram of what happened in germany after ww ii. made me want to take a class on the history of germany after ww ii. so interesting. before we left on the tour, it was freezing and rainy. most of us weren't going to go but then when we saw the bikes with animal-shaped squeaky toys on the handlebars, most of us changed our minds. we were rewarded with sunshine 45 minutes later. so glad we went.
6. dark dinner. i have to admit that i was initially very apprehensive since my only other exposure to dark dining was when in rome. for those of you who have not seen the film, please pause to watch the following video.

immediately after this, "hilarity" ensues in the form of many dropped dishes and bruised shins. i was understandably concerned. however, this was probably one of the coolest things i've done in my life. the waiters and waitresses are all visually impaired persons, not socially awkward people wearing night vision goggles. they guide you through the restaurant using their own strategies for navigating the world. you're not told what you're eating because you and your table mates are supposed to discuss and come to your own conclusions. they give you funny poety as a clue before hand but it's not very specific (e.g. the poem said "sign of aztec masculinity". i jumped to the logical conclusion: animal testicles. it was avocado.). afterwards they give you the menu and you check your answers. it was a surprisingly comfortable experience. every so often a door would open and accidentally let in a little light and i honestly felt like they were invading my dark time. it was so interesting to see (not literally) how your other senses were affected by your lack of vision. we all kept talking over each other because we didn't realize how much of conversation is visually. we take a lot of cues from when it looks like someone's going to say something that i hadn't really noticed before. i'd love to do it again. way awesome.

7. the reichstag. made a visit to the german parliament building. not much to say about it except that it looks awesome. on the top is this crazy dome with a ramp spiraling up around the outside leading up and a pillar made of mirror panels in the middle. it's kind of a trip.

8. the east side gallery. this was the last stop on my trip before boarding the bus back to copenhagen. awesome art. such a great way to redeem the space. as i walking beside it i had one of those "i can't believe i'm here" moments. what a privilege. i also signed it twice. i'm obviously one of the cool kids now.

and that, if you've stuck with me this far, concludes my account of my trip to poznan and berlin. probably the longest entry in the history of the world. i had planned to edit all the pictures from the trip AND blog about it before 1pm. it's 4:30pm. so it goes.

next time: my weekend trip to amsterdam with elise and taylor. until then, here's a teaser.

kærlig hilsen,
kati

kvalitets tid.

last night the gang and i took the five love languages quiz. in each language of love you receive a score out of 12. for quality time, i received an 11. which meant that the events of today made my soul infinitely happy.

first, brunch with becca and brittany.

then a bike ride to the beach in amager.

it might have been miserable and windy. so we hunkered down behind a small knoll and did some spooning to stay warm.

the afternoon was spent watching away we go, reading, and napping and then becca and i made a feast from what we could scavenge to clean out the fridge since we'll be gone for two weeks.

topped the evening off with a showing of mona lisa smile and a brisk bike ride home.
i'm a happy camper. and i haven't even left for spain yet.

kærlig hilsen,
kati

for tidligt.

it appears my celebration of spring may have come too soon. or at least with too much enthusiasm.

i resolved to not wear pants theoretically forever and began by wearing shorts today. the high was projected to be about 54 and it was sunny. so theoretically, not a terrible idea.
but then there's that whole wind thing that's so big in this city...

thankfully becca sent some blankets and an air pump home with us in preparation for our sleepover with brittany and maria tomorrow.
they came in handy on the trip home.

lesson learned.

kærlig hilsen,
kati

forår.

i know you've all been eagerly awaiting my next installment about my trip to poland and germany, but i feel the need to interrupt regularly scheduled programming in celebration of spring.

today i wore a skirt without tights and left my coat at home. i strolled around a park with my dear friend becca and the sun was shining. and there were flowers.

we sat on a bench and ate lunch without wearing mittens.

what a lovely day. hooray for spring!

this post is also a celebration of the two additional pages of editing techniques included in the updated version of picasa.
life is good.

oh, and it's 6:30pm and the sun's still up.
spring has made it across the pond.

kærlig hilsen,
kati

bruxelles.

the next event in my study abroad saga? a trip to brussels to meet up with my dear friend c-ray!

c-ray has been in france since fall of 2011 teaching english. when i found out i was officially studying abroad, we decided to meet up in belgium because:
1. it is in between denmark and france.
2. neither of us had been there before.
3. they have waffles.
so a few weeks before our agreed upon weekend, i purchased a eurorail pass that would allow me 6 days of unlimited travel in germany, denmark, belgium, luxemburg, and the netherlands. by taking the night train, i could save myself money on a hostel and technically get two days of travel for the price of one since the pass only counts the morning after the night train as a travel day. so take the night train i did.
there's something romantic about traveling by train. however, since it was a night train, i missed out on all that gazing out the window at the european countryside. on the other hand, i was able to befriend a dutch man moving back to the netherlands from denmark. he was a computer programmer who had been working in spain and then denmark for a cumulative total of 10 years. he was finally returning home and was excited to leave denmark. apparently the danes are little too private/not sociable enough for him.
we ended up chatting for about five hours until we decided it was about time to go to sleep. unfortunately, i got off the train while he was sleeping and we never exchanged names, so he'll be forever preserved in my mind as the nameless stranger who helped me pass the time on the train in a very enjoyable manner. something romantic about that, too.
when i arrived in brussels, i went immediately to the ticket counter to try to purchase a return ticket. i got my ticket to brussels in copenhagen but they were unable to sell me a return ticket on the night train because it appeared to be sold out. the woman at the counter advised me to wait and try to purchase it in brussels instead since they sometimes limit the number of tickets that can be purchased at other stations leaving some available for domestic purchase.

unfortunately, the train was still sold out so i ended up having to buy a ticket for travel home all day sunday. unfortunate to lose a day to the train, but i was glad i just sucked it up and got the ticket. i think it ultimately made the weekend less stressful and caused me to take full advantage of saturday since it was the only day i'd have in the city.
and take advantage we did. we had such a refreshing and enjoyable time together but we certainly packed a lot into it. by the time we found each other and dropped our luggage at the hostel, we were both pretty hungry so we grabbed a map and headed towards kebab street. after a bit of meandering and stopping to take pictures, we eventually found a little indian restaurant. it was my first indian food in over a month. deeeeeeelicious.

after lunch we hit the museum of musical instruments, a fun and relatively extensive museum full of...pretty much just instruments. when you enter, you're handed a pair of headphones which you then plug in to the many headphone jacks throughout the museum. since the plaques were all in french, i pretty much just flitted about, listening to didgeridoos and harpsichords for about an hour and a half.

then we moved on to the royal art museum, the attraction c-ray was most interested in. it was absolutely one of the most fantastic museums i've ever been to. the art was beautiful but i was almost more impressed with the way in was arranged and presented. the whole museum was just very aesthetically pleasing. also, c-ray may have contributed quite a bit to my enjoyment of the museum. as a classics major with extensive knowledge of church history, he was able to explain what was happening in pretty much all the paintings we saw. you know how much i love learning. beautiful art + a free education from a wonderful friend = totally worth the three euro i paid to get in.

having been in brussels for about six and a half hours now, it was high time for some waffles. the extremely useful map we got from the hostel suggested a cafe in the city center for cheap waffles so we headed over to check it out. waffle with chocolate? wise decisions.
however, in case that wasn't indulgent enough, we decided to try a street waffle as well. it cost about half as much and we both actually thought they tasted better, too. so many waffles. so much love.

we spent the rest of our evening meandering about the city as the sun set. after dinner at a halal restaurant, we decided to go to the top of a parking garage to try to see the atomium, one of the major draws for me in brussels. unfortunately, the view of the atomium was lame. but the view of the rest of the city definitely wasn't.
since we couldn't see the atomium well from the garage, we decided to make the trek out to the end of the metro line to check it out. usually you have to pay to get in and see it but having gone and stood in the parking lot outside and had my fill, i'm not sure why you would. perhaps our entrance fee lets you travel to the top of the sculpture. there's a restaurant in the highest ball.

the statue is a representation of a 9-atom iron crystal. it was built for a world's fair some time ago and is adjacent to mini-europe, another big attraction in brussels which sadly didn't open until march (we were there the last weekend in february). the statue was incredible at night. the lights made it look stunning. i think i still would have thought it was cool in the daytime, but at night it was crazy cool.

and with our excursion to the atomium, we concluded our adventures in brussels. the next morning we had just enough time to enjoy breakfast at our hostel before i was off to catch the train. it was a brief trip, but so good for my soul to spend time with my dear friend.

and so concludes the record of my first european trip by myself. i don't think i could have asked for a better first experience. things i learned?
1. trust the street food.
2. the brits make delicious diet coke with cherry.
3. riding a train all day by yourself is mind numbing.

not even a week after this trip, i boarded a bus to poland for my long study tour. until i can say more about that, enjoy this long-exposure photo of brussels at night.

kærlig hilsen,
kati