A call for true unity.

This day has been a historical day of momentous proportions. From the peaceful crowds in the metro stations, waiting hours just to get through the gate, to the millions of people waiting patiently on the mall to view the most inspiring speaker in decades. Today was special. And I was there to see it all. Like the millions of locals and tourists, I was in the midst of it all. Despite my close proximity to the people around me, my nose barely kept warm as I inched forward in the mobs of Silver Ticket holders. We went one way and then another, finally reaching the security gate to see no lines and more crowds beyond the gates. Everyone staking out their spot close to the Jumbo trons and close to their neighbor. I don't settle easily when it comes to events like this--not that any of the Nsync concerts I attended could ever compare in size or importance to today's event--but I do know how to move through a crowd. As a party of one and with a camera in hand, I slid through the rows of gleaming, ecstatic Americans, to find the perfect spot. At approximately 11 am, 5 and a half hours into my journey, I found it. A Jumbo tron in plain view, a view of the Capital that only people in the Purple section thought they had, and a slight view of the official motorcade driving up to Capital Hill. Yep, all the parts were there, but it still seemed surreal. 'O-BA-MA' chants echoed across the Reservoir and continued all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. Excitement literally filled the frigid air with warmth and compassion. Although not physically touching, I felt as though everyone around me were holding hands, united in the wait for Obama's arrival and to witness the History that was well overdue.

Shortly after planting myself and eating my granola bar full of chocolate and peanut butter, the Important people arrived. Little Sasha and Malia prodded down the stairs pushing their hair out of their face and trying not to stop smiling. Michelle and Jill arrived looking like best friends. All the past presidents entered looking relaxed and relieved they were not in the spotlight today. Sadly, many people 'boo-ed' when Former President Bush came on camera, reducing that great positive energy until...Joe Biden and Barack Obama made their way through the halls of Congress and onto the stage to accept the call to duty and address their nation. President Obama's speech was inspiring because it was honest and direct. He was speaking to me, and to everyone around me, not just to those who sat atop the crowds next to him. It gave me chills as the crowd went dead silent to take in every word he said. Echoing from the speakers behind me, his words traveled to the tip of the Washington Monument and fell like a light snow upon the faces of those below; bringing joy, tears, and encouragement to all who looked up the hill from the Lincoln Memorial, through the sky to New York, LA, London, Mumbai, the Gaza Strip, and even Afghanistan, showing the world that not only are we strong and well-led, but we are united, just as this world should be.

Although many celebs were in town this weekend, we were all there for the politicians, especially the new First Family, of course. Yet, it was refreshing and humbling, to run into George Lopez on the metro in this morning. That encounter and the shows performed throughout the weekend truly show the unity and equality this country needs to get through the current trouble and the problems ahead. I think we can do it. I think we will be fine because we have a great leader and a plethora of talented, committed, and loving Americans.

And in the spirit of unity, I enjoyed a few warm libations with my fellow Americans at a DC classic, Clyde's.

A great day, exhausting, but definitely worth it.

A special thanks goes out to my Uncle Tony for the opportunity of a lifetime!

Lots of Love,
Emily

State side.

Hi again,

miss me?

So I'm home now...it's been 2 weeks since I have seen Europe and most importantly, Copenhagen. It was tough at first. Jet-lag really got me really confused and in a constant daze for a few days (daze... ;) ). But now I am back into my routine. I have an unpaid internship at a non-profit in D.C. called Bread for the City. They provide free food, clothing, medical, legal, and social services to low-income d.c. residents. I go there three days a week and do anything necessary for the development department. Right now...that means I'm getting postcards ready to send out for an event in July. But I will also be working with clients and maybe even writing on their blog. If you want more information about the organization, let me know!! I love it so far. It's a very well-managed organization and we serve thousands of d.c. residents a day. So that is me now...working...looking for something to do that pays on my days off...and enjoying home. But I have yet to update you on my very last (and quite busy) life in Copenhagen. Here goes...

Bornholm:
Me and 100 of my closest DIS friends all took an overnight ferry to Bornholm...we saw the sunrise over the island as we approached at 6am. DIS organized it and provided us with all the necessary biking tools. We started our bike journey after breakfast at the hostel. Up the hill all ten of us embarked on the Wilderness trail which was supposed to take us through the huge forest in the middle of the island and then to the town just below our town by lunch time....it was a little different then we expected. We did see plenty of rolling hills, golden gardens, and round churches, but the forest itself was almost like a maze. We ended up making a wrong turn a couple of times....which may have been my fault...but luckily the locals were very willing to pull over and direct the 10 lost bikers to the closest bike trail. I did fall while trying to take a picture...but I only suffered a few bruises :) We ran into goats, ducks, dogs, Londoners, and attempted to take part in eating their famous smoked herring. Rock and pebble beaches ran the coast all the way home each day...I even braved the cold Baltic water to go ankle deep on the second day! But after the forest and getting lost the 1st day we finally found our town of interest--svaneke! It is a gorgeous little fishing town (as most of the towns are) and we had some lunch...not smoked herring (town specialty)...but definitely fish...they were out of herring. We finished off our tour of the town by walking to the big rocks along it's coast and enjoying some soft ice (like frozen yogurt but better) by the town center. We let our butts heal a bit before getting back onto our bikes...but dinner time was early so we braved the pain and took off. Up the main hill and then pretty much smooth sailing until we met a huge up hill....that's where we broke down a bit and 10 became two groups of 5...and when Carrie and I saw a beach...that group of 5 became 3 and the two of us decided to take a few stops on the way back. We took extra advantage of a robe swing and another beach before reaching the hostel just in time for dinner, beers, chips, and a sunset. We all crashed early that night. Sunday, our last day there...our group shrunk a lot. It was just me, Jes, Meghan, Norrell, and Alex. We took the trail that headed up towards the top of the island this time. We stopped for all tourist sites, cliffs, church on top of the island, ruins, and lunch in the northernmost town. We also gave ourselves a nice break during hills...we were hardcore the previous day and biked all of the hills (except one). We ended the day with a dip in the Baltic, showers, soft ice, dinner, chips, beers, and another beautiful sunset. We got on our bus to the ferry and were back in Copenhagen just in time for 8:30 classes! (How convient!) I went home to rest and may have missed a few classes in the process...but at least I had a great time :)

Festivals! and Park adventures:

May was created for parties in Denmark. I went to a huge May Day event on May 1st in Faelledparken (huge park in my neighborhood) to support social unions! I started the day with Annette and her union at their head quarters in Fredricksberg. Caitlin joined us, as well. We had breakfast and a few morning shots of liquor to go with the pep speeches in Danish and the many songs and dances we all sang and danced to together. I got to wear my hat and vest again. We marched from the headquarters to the park holding a huge sign that said 'Hop Hop Hop, lønne dan skal op!' --jump, jump, jump, salary is going up!. So fun to chant and clap to with our red clapping hands. Usually most residents of Copenhagen spend the day in Faelledparken, drinking, eating, enjoying music and speeches...but this year it poured. So we huddled in the union tent until an important speaker came on. Caitlin, Sara (from soccer came, too!) and I met up with Annette's daughter and some of her friends to explore the park and wait for the sun to shine. It finally showered us with some dryness after about 3pm....granted the day started at 9am...so this was near the end of my day out in the park...but we had a blast dancing to the free concerts before the sun went down.

A few weeks after, the park played host to 'Festival' a Brazilian parade/circus that had women and men dancing in the streets in beautiful sequence, huge feather and revealing costumes. Everything ended in Faelledparken (where all the rides and games were) on Sunday evening. The line of dancers ran for a few miles. It was amazing. Kim (my neighborhood buddy and soccer teammate) and I, along with Laura (from my floor) and Le (a dane from our soccer team) all enjoyed the park during the day for some hardcore studying. We set up a couple of blankets...food in the middle...and spent about an hour on studying. Instead, Le, Kim, and I planned a rough route for our u.s. cross-country road trip. We plan on doing a 4/5weeks trip from California to Chicago through many south western parts, kentucky, maryland, nyc, boston, and chicago...with many place in between. July is our target month. It will be my lovely fodbol ladies: me, Kim, Sara, Le, and Rachel...with the possibility of a few more danes...but it's a long and expensive trip...so we understand if not too many danes are up for it :). We got a pretty good plan written out that day in the park and sometime before the summer ends...hopefully we will make it more concrete. (I'm open to comments/suggestions about the trip...don't hold back!)

Other than park visits and soccer things I was either doing homework, at my volunteer center, or wandering the city. The last week was crazy. I made eggplant parm for Annette and Par, had three exams, a soccer game, and said goodbye to a lot of people while also welcoming my family for our family vacation! After some really great last nights out with Jenna, soccer ladies, and my sisters, I said bye to DISers...one of many goodbyes.

My last friday while school was in session happened to also be the day the fam arrived. They were quite jet-lagged from the airport until three days later....so I did not attempt to do too much site seeing in Copenhagen. We went on a canal tour our first day, took a family nap and then went out on the town for dinner and bars! Our second day in Copenhagen was on bikes. We saw all of the tourist attractions by the water...the palace, the little mermaid, the marble church, and so much more. I also had to pack up to move out the next day...so we did lunch at my place and went out to dinner at my favorite vegetarian buffet place, RizRaz. I moved out the next day and we had dinner at Annette and Par's house. We enjoyed Copenhagen for a few more days before heading to Berlin. Before Berlin, we went to one of my mom's company's furniture factories north of the city and to Hamlet's castle in Helsingør, beautiful and the backdrop for many of the bell girl jumping pictures.

In Berlin, we stayed in old East Berlin near Charlie Checkpoint and Alexanderplatz. Lots of site seeing and just getting a feel for the city and the history of everything that happened there. We spent one night in Dresden, Germany after Berlin. In Dresden, every building looked as if it had just been hit by a bomb. Very dark and dirty but still lively. We went to the top of the Church of Our Lady which sat in the center of the old town square. After dinner we witnessed a remarkable event. A large portion of the destroyed center of the city was replicated and was dedicated on the evening we were there. The story of how the allies (we did it..) bombed Dresden near the end of the war was reenacted through fireworks and an orchestra (flown in from new york). My parents met a brother and sister from Munich who came up just for the event. They were children during the war. Overall, Dresden was very interesting and so unique next to the other cities we went to. We almost missed our stop, too. On our way out of the train my mom and dad got off first and Hilly, Maddie and I all reached the door a few minutes after them. We got to the door and tried to push the open button but it wouldn't go. A woman behind us who had just got on the train said very sincerely, "It's too late. You can't get off." So instead of ignoring her...we freaked out and started to hit the door and told our parents to get the conductor...he finally came and opened the doors with a bit of a sour attitude. Oh well...we got off at least. :)

Our second to last stop was Prague. We took a train from Dresden to Prague and my dad filmed the whole ride...if you stop by our house someday soon you will probably catch a showing of our family movies. Prague was beautiful...just as I had left it. We walked about 10 miles to the castle and toured around it. We enjoyed many wonderful dinners, an international meal the first night for Maddie's birthday, a jazz club dinner the second night, and dinner across the Charles bridge looking over the river the last night. We ran into Ryan Eickel from maryland while we were there! (He's a friend of Hillary's from high school who was studying for a few weeks in Prague). We took him to dinner across the river.

Our last two nights in Europe were in Copenhagen...at my request. We went up to Lousiana Museum of Modern Art to take in the art and the beautiful location along the øresund. We ate dinner in Nyhavn and I was able to meet up with Le and Astrid (soccer) one last time. I finally got to the beach at Amager Strand my last morning. I hoped it wasn't farewell...but just a see you later kind of goodbye. I think I will vi ses Copenhagen some day soon.

Thanks for keeping up with me on my travels. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog but now I may need to end this particular blog since I am not actually in Europe anymore. I may start another one someday...but I will let you know if I do.

Thanks again.

God Bless.
Emily

p.s. I'll try to post some more picture links soon!

one month left. (sigh)

Hello all,

this will be a short post. I am nearing the end of my time here in Europe...one month from today I will be on a plane home :( But the problem is, I already feel like I'm home. But I can always come back, right? I did throw one coin into the Trevi Fountain (for a speedy return to Rome)...I just wish Copenhagen had a fountain like that...

Well, I'm off to finish my last two papers...then I'm going to focus my time on spending very little time indoors (studying) and more time in the beautiful, sunny weather that has finally arrived in my little city. I'm off to Bornholm, Denmark this weekend for a bike tour of the island. I'll try to update when I get back...I heard it's beautiful there.

Strike update: FOA (the nurses union) and many childcare and bus drivers are currently on strike. My visiting mom is the go to girl for her office...she tells which nurses who is working and who has the day off to strike. So she's still working, but totally involved in the strike. We walked together with her union during a women's parade celebrating 100 years of women having the vote. This Thursday (International Labor Day) I will be participating in her union's breakfast gathering and then walk with them to the central location where live music and tons of people on blankets in the grass will be all day. (I intend to be apart of that part of the day as well).

Life here in Europe is very good.

Miss you all!

Em

XOXOOXOXxxoxoxoOXXOxoxoXOx

pictures from spring break

hey everyone,

so, with final papers and sunny days...I find it very difficult to find time to update this blog....especially to write about my spring break....so I thought I would post the links to the pictures and a small re-cap of the trip instead of writing huge entries about everything I saw.....

Prague:
Fairy Tale city, went with my study abroad school, we had various company visits, all relating to the EU and international business strategy. We also left 12 hours late because an intern told the bus company the wrong time of day for pick-up, so all 40 of us spent the night in a hotel near the airport...hoping that our school would be able to fly us to Prague instead of drive all day the next day....but they were unsuccessful...so the bus showed up at 7am, and we were in Prague by 9pm. Lost one full day for exploring, but as you will see in the pictures, we covered a lot of ground in the remaining days. I met up with a friend from Fordham who has been studying in Prague, Diana and she showed me the best beer to get there....Kovel (the dark one)...very smooth and light. Great city, beautiful, relaxing, and unreal.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095280&l=03d5c&id=10908428
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096151&l=6af98&id=10908428

Berlin:
Loved it. Didn't see enough. Again, this was with my school...so we had a company visit and some planned activities...it was raining when we got there, and we took a bus tour in the rain at night...so some of the pictures are a bit dark. This whole city is under construction and it's huge and not well populated. Most people who work in the city moved out to the suburbs after the wall came down...so its very deserted in some places, but apartments are cheap in the east side and development is always happening. You will see some pictures of Tacheles-an old department store that was turned into a self-organized artists studio, art gallery, and a few bars. I loved it. So unique and interesting. I bought a few posters and a small crab made from aluminum and a small stone. The east side of Berlin and Mitte (middle) are the lively spots, artsy and upbeat. I will be returning to both Berlin and Prague with my family (mom, dad, hillary, and maddie) when they come to visit for two weeks in may. I'll be sure to see more of the historical sites with them. Such a huge city, I think I'd have to live there for a few years to see it all.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096152&l=32ea6&id=10908428

Milan:
Awesome city. We (my travel buddy and I...Joy) did not get to see nearly enough of this city. We only stayed one night and half of a day. We met up with another Fordham study abroader, Trisha, who came out for aperitivos with us...buy one drink and then you have access to the buffet of small foods...pastas and appetizers. Delicious and such an affordable way to eat dinner on a budget. We had our first gelato in Italy at the Il Duomo square... I got hazelnut (sooo good!). Joy and I also experienced our first slice of pizza in Italy here. Again, delicious, so fresh. Milan was very cute with small winding streets and tall buildings....tons of shopping and big parks. Next time, I'll have to spend more time on the shopping streets.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096153&l=d61d4&id=10908428

Cinque Terre:
Heaven on Earth. Along the Italian coast. In the Liguria region. Amazing food, amazing wines, fresh herbs and sweet flowers coated the hills and a sweet aroma filled the air, vineyards everywhere, orange tree orchards and lemon tree groves lined the hillsides. We walked from the first village to the last village (well...the first to the fourth...and then the next day from the fifth to the fourth). Cinque Terre means the 5 lands. It was a breath taking area and one of the most relaxing and physically beautiful places I've ever been to. All there is to do is walk, or swim....along with eating, etc. But no need to buy a lot of souvenirs or go out on the town every night...because there is only one bar in each town... all you have to do is relax and hike.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096157&l=df861&id=10908428
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096254&l=cabfb&id=10908428

Rome:
We arrived in Rome after a nightmare trip from Cinque Terre to Chieti. Chieti was a quick stop for us....we were supposed to watch one of the most beautifully done Good Friday processions in Italy. 100 violins playing and a candlelit procession up and down the streets of Chieti (up on a hill). Well...we first boarded a train to a layover station...two hours, no problem. We arrive and wait an extra 30 minutes at the layover station because of delays....then we board our overnight train which is overbooked and we forgot to ask for seat reservations. So Joy and I both found seats, then we were kicked out of them by the people who reserved them...ended up standing on the train for most of the trip, arrived in Pescara for our last switch to a shuttle bus to Chieti, got off in Chieti and realized a half hour later that I left my backpack on the bus...So we sat in the only coffee shop open at 5 am and waited for the bus to make another round...apparently it didn't come back around, so we waited until the train station opened and talked with the man at the desk (in small doses of spanish and french)...whatever we told him seemed to work because he had us get on a train to sulmona (the last stop for the shuttle bus) and as we were making our way to see if my bag was in the bus...and if it was unlocked, the conductor asked us if we were the girls going to sulmona to pick-up a lost bag....we must have stood out with our huge suitcases. The conductor turned out to be very useful....he got the bus unlocked and we found my bag in the front seat, unharmed. As a bonus, Joy and I enjoyed the amazing mountains surrounding the city before heading back to Chieti.

To make an already long story shorter....we found out that the procession for Good Friday wouldn't be happening until after dark...so we took a two hour bus so that we could check into our hostel in Rome before dark. The hostel in Rome is a story in itself...but we decided after the hour ride outside the city and the 20 minutes bus ride to the hostel village...it was not gonna work. So we treated ourselves to a recharging night at the Hilton, we got room service and watched tv. It was great. Just what we needed after a crazy, 24 hour trip to Rome. The rest of the weekend went really well. We ended up staying at my Uncle Tony's friend's house near Vatican City. His name is Phillipe (Gregory) and he works for the U.S. Embassy in Rome. We had amazing meals and ever-flowing wine from the moment we arrived to the day we left. It was great to see Tony and we even went to Easter Mass with the Pope on Easter Sunday together. For our last two nights, Joy and I had a hostel booked....so we explored more of Rome from our new location. With Easter weekend...a lot of museums and other cool things were closed...so we had to fit a lot of things in at once on the tuesday after Easter and the day before we left....but we covered a lot of ground and even had time to shop and get gelato. Amazing city, loved everything about the Vatican city and all of the ancient ruins. Definitely want to go back someday soon.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096392&l=98b4d&id=10908428
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096420&l=9c4d9&id=10908428

Paris:
The place I want to live very soon....I loved Paris. The eiffel tower is so beautiful in person, the streets and rows of townhouses are so skinny and fashionable. It felt like home. I saw the city from the streets and from the tops of different buildings and places of interest. I also met up with a Fordham girl here, as well, Nuriya, who has been studying in Paris since September. It was great to see her, we went to dinner a few nights and shared a few drinks afterwards. I will be coming back here soon....I'll be looking into my options.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096420&l=9c4d9&id=10908428
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096950&l=6e755&id=10908428


Enjoy the pictures. Don't hesitate to let me know if the links don't work.

Love you all. A copenhagen update will be coming soon.

Spring is finally here!!

Hugs and Kisses,
Emily

spring fever.

old entry...forgot to post it in mid-April.





The sun shines everyday!!! I've been back in Copenhagen for about 3 weeks and the sun keeps coming up earlier and staying out later. It's lovely. My first week back went by very fast because I was recovering from the flu and I had to catch up on a lot of reading. That weekend I went to the a modern art museum called Arken, it looks like a ship and sits next to the coast. Annette took me. We saw an exhibit with oil on canvas paintings from Skagen, Denmark. It's located at the most northern tip of Jutland (main land of Denmark) and it's where the two different waters meet. The paintings were originally thought to have been artists capturing normal everyday life, but later on, people found out that the subjects of the paintings were paid to pose. But they were still really pretty. There was also an exhibit of a British artists paintings. One painting was a large black circle, 3-d like...as we got closer to it we found out that it was made up of dead flies. After exploring the rest of the museum, we had some hot chocolate and relaxed before heading back to Annette's for dinner.



That Tuesday I went to see a Russian Ballet, Eugene Onegin, at the main theater in Kongens Nytorv. The stage was so gorgeous. Huge, overdone but very elegant drapes, simple and delicate costumes. The queen even came to see it!! It was her birthday the day after...so we all figured she took a night for herself before her big day. I went to see her at her winter palace the following day, as well. (We're best buddies now). All the kindergarten classes around Copenhagen and all the study abroad kids (and tourists) make it out to see her. At noon, the guards changed and then she makes her way out to her balcony for a few hellos waves. She came out about 6 times...each time she was prompted to enter and exit the balcony based on the guards band. Her husband, youngest son, his fiance, and his two sons all accompanied her on the balcony for the many waves and thank yous to the crowd of prideful danes and their mini-flags. The most exciting part of the morning was when the band played the tune to the Danish birthday song and we all sang 'HURRA, HURRA, HURRA' at the same time. (The only part of the song I can remember).

In other news, my fodbol (soccer) team will be starting to play more games from here on out. We had a fun 'Grass Party' a few weeks ago...buffet, boys and girls team and fun club bonding games....but it was all in German/Danish...since the Grass party has something to do with German traditions...not too sure about all that, but I had everything translated to me. We have a few games before the American girls (incld. me) leave. The team is about 20 some girls (Danes and Americans) we practice together at a huge field in Christianborg. Tons of Clubs practice there. Our boys teams also practice there, we have 7 different teams of boys in the club. The girls team is split into two teams on game days...a 7-a -side team and an 11-a-side team. (11-a-side playing on a regular field and 7-a-side playing on a smaller field). I've missed many practices because of class...but I hope to make the games which are on odd days. It's been a great experience so far, I've met some great girls and boys who have taught me a lot about soccer...something I hadn't played since middle school. Also, I found a friend from soccer who lives in my neighborhood, we've been going to our neighborhood park on the weekend and for festivals. It's so nice out all we want to do is just 'study' on a blanket in the park all day. But papers call us away too often from those thoughts...we will definitely go to the park more before we leave.

Today, I walked with Annette from Fredricksberg to Center City in support of women's rights in Denmark and in celebration of women having the vote for 100 years! We went as a part of Annette's union of nurses and childcare workers (FOA). Her union is on strike now so we had some pretty cool outfits for the march. We wore bright yellow vests (construction worker vests) with reflectors, buttons, a hat that said 'more money now' --in danish-- and a shirt that said that and 'more hands'--in danish. We were decked out! We also passed out information to onlookers and threw packets of mints to everyone we could. We ended in the main square where a big concert was already in progress. Annette took me to Tivoli while we waited for her favorite artist to come on stage. Tivoli is an amusement park in the middle of the city. It's enchanting and it's where Walt Disney became inspired to create Disney world. They have rides, a concert stage, fountains, a mini royal family and mini-royal guards who have a changing of the guards and walk around the park twice a day, and restaurants and everything compact into about 4 x 5 city blocks. We hung out and ate some snacks...and we watched as the mini princess and prince arrived via boat to their carriage and then were greeted and escorted around the park by their guards. All made up of kids...It was like a mini-Copenhagen...with really cool rides.

I'll have to go back soon :)

That's all for now, final papers, final exams, and soccer games/socials will take up my time from now on...I'll try to blog about it.

Take care and thanks for reading!

Vi ses!
Emily

Back in CPH.

Hello all,

I'm back from my spring break and I have no idea where to start. I saw so much in so many places, heard so many different languages and learned how to use spanish in every country. I don't have time right now to write about my entire trip---so here is a quick summary to keep you happy until I can get to the full story.

Prague was so beautiful. Everything there seemed unreal because it was so perfect. The sun was shinning and there were tourists everywhere...so it felt a little like Disney World (in a good way). Berlin was really cool. The architecture and the feel of the city seemed to be centered on uniting two opposite worlds, old buildings with war marks were standing next to newly designed buildings of glass exterior. The art scene in East Berlin was awesome, kinda underground but very visible. Milan was awesome, I only stayed one day/night though...so I didn't get to see as much of it as I would have liked. Berlin, too...I wish I had a few more days to explore. But Milan had amazing gelato and great dinner options (aperitivos!) plus a huge Cathedral that looked unreal. Cinque Terre was surreal because the weather was perfect and every little village/town sparkled. I hiked through all five towns and enjoyed the smell of fresh herbs and sweet flowers. It was so beautiful and relaxing---definitely needed a break on the Italian Riviera. Cheiti/Pescara was a bit of a nightmare to get to, but once we got there we were very surprised to find no coastal shore but mini alps (will explain later). Rome was a bit rough around the edges because of a few problems with our hostel...but once that was over, Rome was fantastic. We went to Easter mass with Pope Benedict XVI in Saint Peter's square (pouring rain though...), saw the Basilica and the Vatican Museum, and so much more! Paris was my favorite. Since I was born on Bastille day (french day of revolution) I've always had a bit of a bond with the city...but now its official--I love Paris. I didn't run into too many snobs or rude people-so that made my visit even better.

There you have it. My trip in a nutshell....there is so much more to say...so check back soon :)

Happy belated Easter to all! And I hope all of you are doing well!!

XoxoXOXox

Ciao,
Emily

the London Bridge is not falling down.

Long time....

Two weekends ago, (feb. 22) I went to London for the first time. I stayed with my friend from home (Neeta) and also met up with one of my friends from school (Liz). I had so much fun seeing them and seeing as much of London as possible in the short amount of time I had! So, I left Copenhagen on Friday and took the 15 minute train ride to the airport...in less than 3 hours, I was in London! Europe is so cool. Anyways, my first stop before exiting was obviously baggage claim, even though it was just a weekend I still needed to check my bag because I was bringing liquids. As soon as I came out of the main terminal my bag was making its way around the conveyor belt. Everything was going great so far....then I stopped at the passport station. No line for U.S. Citizens! (Not surprising when you look at the pound to the dollar...$2.00 for every pound! yikes). So I went up to station number 17 and handed the man my document and passport. I filled everything out except for the address of where I was staying.....something a)I thought I didn't really need since it was only for two nights and b) I didn't know cause I forget to ask that before coming. So the passport guy gave me a bit of a reality check as I stood there looking like a ditz because I had no idea where I was staying, but I did have an e-mail telling me how to get to the tube station closest to Neeta's place....so...I handed the man my e-mail and he filled in the missing information. Luckily he humored me a little bit and thought the fact that I had no idea where I was going was funny...and just let me get by with a warning about always knowing the address of my destination in case of emergency, etc. I thanked him a lot and went on my way. I found the exit and was very excited to have to go through the welcoming area (like the one in LoveActually) where people are lined up along a pathway waiting for their passenger to walk through the doors. I found the tube and hopped on the Piccadilly line towards Cockfosters. The first thing I noticed were two Americans dressed in shorts and Arizona State t-shirts. I pretended to be European and tried not to make eye-contact. (Actually...I sat pretty close to them and really wanted to ask where in the States they were from...but the train was crowded, so I assumed Arizona or the mid-west because of their accents and sat quietly).

An hour later, I reached my stop, Kings Cross. I went up the escalator and realized I was actually in London. There were people everywhere, moving quickly, in all different directions. I saw a dozen red double decker buses fly by the station before I figured out how to get to Neeta's dorm. The cabs are old cars and everyone was driving on the left! The buildings were all different sizes and designs. Short, gothic style apartments next to huge blue and purple glass skyscrapers. I couldn't quite place the feeling I got from London had until Neeta said it's an 'in-your-face' kind of town. It's kind of a mix between New York City, Boston and D.C. New york for the fast-pace and high-fashion, boston for the big parks and in-your-face attitude, and D.C for the confusing streets and government stuff. Granted I only spent about two days in London, I could tell that the city didn't try to be charming. Everything is as it is, or as it has been for a very long time. Buildings face which ever direction they like and the streets seem to purposefully zigzag through the city.

As for my visit, on Friday night, Neeta made me dinner (which was delicious!), and we went out to an awesome Jazz Bar called Troy. They had a live band playing hip, upbeat jazz. They were great, and the drummer was only 18! The place was packed but we stayed through the first set before meeting up with Liz and her friend, Nick, who was hosting her. After the Jazz club, we all walked along Brick Lane looking for a cheaper and not so crowded place to go...but we soon found out that a place like that didn't really exist around that area. The bars also seem to close pretty early, like 12 or 1230, unless it's a chain bar. Neeta took me to an area called Angel to check out a few places, but a lot of things were closed. So we made our way back and stopped at one last bar before heading home for the night. The next day we went to Borough Market, an outdoor and indoor fresh food and restaurant market. It was packed and smelled so good. It was near the London Bridge/Tower Bridge, so I got to see that! Neeta, Liz, Nick, and I all ate in the middle of the market at a really cute garden restaurant. Then we walked along the London Bridge Walk to the Tate Modern Museum. Neeta and I saw an exhibit on Juan Munoz, a sculpture who likes to play with the viewer's comfort zone. In one particular part of the show, he filled an entire room with 100 sculptures of men who resemble people from Asian descent. All the men were scattered around the room in clusters, facing each other and looking like were talking to each other and having a great time doing it. None of the men had feet....but the point of the room was to make the viewer feel uncomfortable as an outsider, from the Asian race and physically from the conversations going on between the men. The whole show was really cool---check him out!

After the Tate, we went to Harrods Department store to check out 'high-tea'. We found out that is was extremely expensive (like 80 bucks for tea, cookies, and cucumber sandwiches). So we went for pizza instead. The pizza was amazing and the head chef actually sang while he tossed the pies...he even had a c.d. you could buy. Then Liz insisted on having ice cream, so we kind of shared some sort of sundae. Harrods is huge, expensive in every room, but definitely a place to see. You have to walk through about 4 different 'luxury' rooms to get to the food court, including the jewelry area. The whole store sparkles (except for entrance by the people who were protesting Harrods’s because they sell Fur)....but besides that, the store was full of excessive and unnecessary luxuries, and really good food. On our way back to Neeta's we stopped at Regent's Park...but it was after dark and seemed to be locked or something, so we just looked in from iron gate edges. Neeta made dinner again, fantastic as usual! Then we headed out to Covent Garden, a very crowded hot-spot for bars and shows, it's the theatre district. The streets were cobble stone and people were everywhere. There is a huge market area in the middle of the area with a bunch of cafe bars with balconies around the edges. We found a little bar with some really loud live music and then we walked around the area a bit longer but most places were closed. We ended up walking to a huge square with a large fountain and the National Portrait Gallery and took some touristy pictures. London is so lit up at night. On Sunday, we went to Breakfast in Angel at a place called 'The Breakfast Club' ---yep, it's modeled after the 80s classic movie--and we had some good old American breakfast (french toast and pancakes). So good. The sun finally came out on Sunday...but sadly I had to catch an afternoon flight, so I missed most of it. The worst part of the whole weekend was not being able to exchange my 2lbs for 20 kroner....they told me I didn't have enough to exchange because they would be charging me a fee, too, so I had to spend it. Oh and the swedish kids (i asked them where they were from in danish!) next to me on my flight thought it was funny to get up everytime I started to fall asleep...making me wake up and move my legs for them to get by. Finally, I put my tray table down and read instead...I really showed them...they didn't get up anymore during the flight :).

I've learned some important travel tips from my trip to London: 1. always have the address of your destination handy, and 2. never try to sleep on a plane when sitting in a row with energetic kids.

I'll keep those things in mind as I go on Spring Break. On Saturday the 8th of March I will be taking an overnight bus to Prague, then to Berlin for a study tour. Then on the 17th of March through the 30th of March I will be traveling with a buddy from my program to Milan, Cinque Terre, Chieti, Rome, Naples, and finally, Paris. I will try to update my blog along the way....but I can't guarantee that I'll have internet access.

So, Farvel for now, I'll be back in April!

Emily