The Last Intellectual Day

Today was the last intellectual day of our trip. We went to Blarney Castle, Charles Fort and a small coastal town not far from Cork. Blarney Castle was amazing, it was everything I thought it would be. I was surprised at the extremely narrow stairway leading up to the Blarney Stone. As we went up the steps themselves began to get smaller and we had to turn our feet to match the length of the steps and walk almost sideways at points so we wouldn't slip. The view from the top was really awesome. I enjoyed the view, it looked at the town of Blarney and the property surrounding the castle. There was a river which was moving really fast and lots of open spaces and trees. Yes, I did kiss the Blarney Stone and now SUPPOSEDLY I'll have the gift of gab for the next 7 years or something along those lines. After exiting the castle I noticed a cave under the castle along another path. I walked in it a little ways and it got narrower and the ceiling got much lower. I wish I would've had a flash light and more time so I could've walked in the cave farther and explored where it went. Maybe I should find a torch and go back so I can pretend I am someone of importance living in the castle in the middle ages!

We then went to the Blarney Wool store and people looked at sweaters and hats. Then we stopped by Charles Fort. It was built in the late 1500's and used in a battle in 1601 when the Irish first attempted to gain their independence from England. During the American Revolution it was used by Britain as a place to keep their POWs. Next we drove to the town on the coast (I can't remember the name of the town). It was nice, we arrived when there was a low tide and by the time we left, an hour and half later, the tide was coming in prettty quick. The streets were very narrow which is typical of many medieval towns we were told by our bus driver.

Depending on time and Euros, I think this may be my last entry before I arrive back in the states. Tonight we are going back out to listen to some more traditional music at the place we went to last night. Tomorrow we leave the appartments at 9 to return back to Dublin. When we get back to Dublin we have our FREE farewell dinner in the evening then we can go explore and listen to music at the pubs. Dublin is having a city wide music festival which we are all really excited for. I might go back to this one pub where I met one of the bands who will be playing tomorrow night. Those guys were really fun to talk to. Friday we have to leave our hotel at 8 to head to the airport. We fly to Copenhagen then head for Chicago around 3pm. We'll be getting back to Chicago around 6pm and back to Luther aroun 1 am on Saturday.

This trip has been a blast for me. It has felt like an extension of Christmas break. Although I'm sad about leaving I am glad to be returning home and to Luther. It will be nice to start my next semester and get it done with. I will be seeing most of you all very soon, take care!

Three Lectures= A long Day

Today we went to the University College Cork and attended three lectures today. The first one was on viking settlements on the Faroe Islands the next one was on viking remains in Dublin. The last one was about the vikings coming to Ireland and the people here before them. The lectures all kinda blurred together today because I was really tired and the first two were back to back. The last one was interesting because the guy was a historian and knew so much about the vikings, it was incredible. He knew the Old Norse and Old Irish languages. When I saw Old Irish I mean really really old. We had almost two hours between the 2nd and 3rd lectures, so we all went to the student center and had some lunch and some of us played Hearts. After the thrid lecture we all went our seperate ways, some went to the markets and some went back to the apartments. We really didn't do much of anything today, just the lectrues.

Tomorrow we go to Blarney Castle, I'm really looking forward to that. Yesterday we went to Cobh (pronounced Cove. Cobh is the old Irish spelling) and saw the museum for all the Irish who emmigrated from Ireland. They also had sections for the Titanic and Lusitania, since Cobh was the last port of departure for the two liners. It was really interesting and the weather was great. It rained at first but then the sun came out and when it bounced off the water is was blinding. We also saw a memorial for the victims of the Lusitania at a cemetary just outside of town. It was a sad thing to see and the rain added to the mood of the event. Before leaving Cobh we stopped by St. Coleman's Cathedral. It was very interesting, but seemed like all the other churches I've seen while on the trip.

Last night we all went to a pub to listen to bluegrass music. It was interesting, until we met some Austrailians....then it got more interesting. The one girl was traveling around Europe and had been here for 6 months already. She was extremely loud and annoying. She was with some of her guy friends traveling around. They were also kind of loud. They were told a few times by the bartender to quiet down or he'd kick them out. We left shortly after the second warning because they were talking with some of us and we didn't want to be associated with them and get kicked out.

Tonight we are going the the same pub and listening to a different type of music, I don't remember what style they have tonight, but I'm looking forward to it.

Cork and a Crappy Space Bar

Today we left Dublin for Cork. It was about a 5 hour trip, but we stopped in Waterford for an hour to see a museum and get some food. The places we are staying at are appartments. They are really nice and the best part is that they come with a washer and dryer!!!! I've never been so excited to do laundry in my life, my clothes were starting to smell!! Waterford was a nice city by the river; it was also the first viking settlement set up in Ireland and it was called Vaterfjord. They didn't deviate much from the old nordic name when they wanted to change it!

The computer I'm typing on has an uber hyper sensitive spacebar and is making typing fairly hard so i apologize if there are large spaces between words and sentences, i'm tired of go ing back every two letters to correct it!

A bunch of us found a grocery story and picked up some food to help us survive the next 4 days here in Cork. Since we are living in appartments we have to provied our own meals for breakfast lunch and dinner . The appartments are very nice and spacious. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable than being in a small hotel room. In a way it reminds me of being in the cluster back at Luther. We didn't do much today because once we arrived in Cork we were on our own so I don't have more to type regarding the trip except the fact that I need to get caught up on my journal entries! I'm about 4 or 5 days behind.

Best wishes to all of you from Ireland!

Chillin in the Country

Yesterday we ent to Kilmanham Jail. It was built in the last 1700s and closed in the 1920s. The jail was very interesting and had a unique presence while we were there. It was really cold and damp and in a was kind of eerie. The jail was used to hold many of the leaders for Irish independence in the early 1900s. We got to see the hanging room, the Victorian Wing (which was amazing and spooky at the same time. In a way it reminded me of a giant birdcage), we saw the stone yard where the prisioners worked, and where the main 14 leaders of the IRA were executed. That part of the trip was very somber for me. There was a light rain while we were at the jail which added to the mood of the whole compound. In the museum part of the jail there was a section called ''Last Words'' which had the last words written down by the 14 leaders of the IRA.

After that we went to the Guinness Storehouse and went on a tour. The tour was self guided and ended up in the 'Gravity Bar' on the 7th floor of the building where you got a free pint of Guinness. mmm-mmm, it was good! Later that night we went on a literary pub craw to three different pubs that were famous for being mentioned in famous Irish works or where famous Irish authors spent their time. It was really fun. The two leaders acted out different parts from different works outside of the pubs. They were really good at what they did.

Today we went to Glendalough out in the country. The scenery there was breath taking. Glendalough is an ancient monastic city by two lakes in a beautiful valley. We went on a tour of the small city then had 45 minutes to walk around the trails. I took so many pictures of the lake and scenery. After that we went on a tour of the country side on our way back to Dublin. We stopped at this one spot at the top of a very very steep cliff that looked out over a lake which was surrounded by mountains. We were very high up. I walked as close to the edge as I could with out slipping to get some nice pics. Some of the girls on the trip really did not like that some of us guys were getting so close to the edge. After looking at the pictures, I think it was worth hearing them yell out that we were going to slip and fall down the side of the mountain.

Tomorrow we leave for Cork and are making a stop at Waterford to look around and rest. Waterford is famous for their crystal. I am glad to say that right now there is no cyber pervert in the cafe trying to meet women, which in a way I am glad for and also wish he was here so I could hear some interesting conversation.

A Jolly Old Man

Last night we went to the other National Museum at Collin's Barracks and saw the Sea Stallion (I think I mentioned that in my last entry). It was pretty interesting. Then we attended a lecture about viking ship archeology by a man who headed a big dig in Denmark. We found out the Ambassador of Denmark was there and we met him afterwards. He was a very jolly man with a somewhat high pitched voice and a very large belly, if he had a white beard he could be Santa! Not many of us enjoyed the lecture because we weren't familiar with the region he was talking about.

Today we went to a small interactive museum about Medival Dublin. It was really fun. They had some chainmail to try on your head, a bucket helmet that was very heavy and some other stuff to look at and mess around with. Then we went on a guided tour of Christ Church Cathedrial. That place was very amazing to look at. There was beautiful stained glass and interesting tile work. I saw so many things made out of gold. The whole experience was just amazing. The whole time there was a man playing the organ which was huge. In about 20 minutes we are leaving to look at a jail that I THINK is from the middle ages. After that we have our literary pub crawl and I think everyone is going on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse either tonight or tomorrow.

So the guy three computers down from me is on his phone talking to women and asking them if they can meet up with him. He might be a modeling agent or just a cyber stalker pervert. In the last 20 minutes I've been here he's talked to about 5 women. He has different profiles pulled up and he keeps telling them they have sexy voices and is wanting to know if they can wear something pretty when they meet up with him. Right now he's talking to a girl from Cuba and he's telling her he can speak spanish so now he's talking to her in Spanish. This guy is crazy!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Some of the stuff he's been saying has just been hard for me not to burst out laughing at! I don't think I can take this much longer, I'm gonna start laughing soon! I love the big city!

I think that's enough typing for me for now. I hope everyone is having a good day!

The No Name Entry

Today we went to the Irish Museum of Natural History. We looked at the exhibit on vikings and walked through the treasury. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs in the museum. The treasury has The Cross of Kong in it. That thing is very impressive. Supposedly, in the center there is a crystal that holds part of the True Cross which Christ was crucified on. Up until recently, it was considered one of the most important relics in Ireland and maybe the world. In a few hours we are leaving to go to the other Museum of Natural History in Collin's Barracks to see the Sea Stallion then have a lecture. The Sea Stallion is a reconstruction of a viking ship that was found in Roskilde. They built a reconstruction and sailed it from Roskilde, Denmark to Dublin last summer and are going to sail it back to Roskilde next summer.

Last night I tried my first real pint of Guinness, I enjoyed it. It was different than the American beers and much better! In Ireland when someone orders a Guinness they fill it up to an inch below the rim then let it sit for a few minutes to let the nitrogen escape then they top it off. I was able to listen to a few songs by two gentlemen who play traditional Irish music. They were really good and I enjoyed it. Mickey, Marv's wife, asked them to play the song Molly Malone because she thought that we should hear it since it is a very important song to Dubliners. I really liked that song and encourage everyone to find a copy of it and give it a listen.

We leave for Cork on Sunday. We are all really excited to leave the city and see the countryside. After being in Cork for a few days we come back on the 24th to Dublin. That day there is a city wide music festival that will have started on the 23 and goes until the 27th. We are planning on walking around on the 24th and get as much of the music in as we can before we leave the next day.

Well, my time is low and I'm out of stuff to write so I'll wrap this entry up. Hope all is well for everyone!

In Dublin

So I'm in Dublin now. It's raining....surprsise there huh? I only have about 8 minutes left on my time on the computer so this one is going to be brief. We had a lecture this morning on Irish culture which was interesting. In about an hour we are going on a tour of Dublin and get to see some castles and cool churches from what I've heard. It's nice to have people around that naturally speak english and you don't have to ask them 3 times to repeat themselves, haha. Later tonight we are going to a play and I get to see the pub where the guys from U2 usually hang out when they are in Dublin. That would make my trip if I could meet one of them! I think I'll be there quite a bit these few days I'm here! Well, I have other stuff to do in these next few minutes and hopefully I'll be able to make it here every day to update this, but don't count on it.

Last Day in Oslo

Today was our last day in Oslo. We went to Frogner Park and the Ski Museum. The weather today was foggy, misting and ICY! There was ice all over the side walks and getting around was pretty difficult. The park is a huge open park with a bunch of statues along a walking path. The statues in the park all make up a work called 'The Circle of Life'. It was interesting to see these statues because they were all nude. I don't really understand why so many sculptures have to be nude, what's wrong with clothes? The statues were also in some very interesting poses. One statue showed a man throwing a baby in the air, holding one on his shoulder, one in his hand, one at his feet and one being punted by him. Yes, I said punted. At the other side of the walk way there was a big platform with more statues around it and stairs leading to the top with a column made up of more naked bodies twisted together. All I can say was that was a very interesting park with some very interesting statues. In the park is the most photographed sculpture in Norway. It is of a small child throwing a fit. I took a few pictures of it just to up the number of times it has been photographed. I've done my part in helping its popularity grow!

After that we went to the Ski Museum. It is underneath the current ski jump. That sucker is HUGE!!!!!! Since it was foggy we had a hard time seeing the top of it and the arena where everyone watched the crazy/brave ski jumpers. The museum was very interesting, it showed the evolution of skis from viking time to present. The ski jump was built in the early 1800's. There were some 3D diagrams of the ski jump and the changes it has gone through and empty space for the new version which is supposed to be completed in 2011. We wanted to go to the top of the jump and get pictures but it was too foggy to see anything from up there. After we had some snacks in a cafe we noticed the fog was beginning to lift. We went out and could see the whole arena and, still covered in a thin fog, the top of the jump. It was too late for us to go back in the museum and check it out. But from where we were standing (midway down) it was still very high up and a LONG way down! I really wish it would have been clearer so I could have gone to the top and snapped a few photos, that would have been amazing!

Today is our last day in Oslo and we leave for the airport tomorrow around 11:30 am. We are flying back to Copenhagen then have to catch another flight to Dublin 45 minutes later. We should arrive in Dublin around 6 pm. While we are in Dublin we gain an hour of time which will be nice in a way. I'm so thankful that I have been given this opportunity to come on this trip. I have seen and learned so much since I have been here and have enjoyed the people on the trip. They are all really awesome people.

More Museums

So today we went to some more museums, surprise there huh? We went to the Henrick Ibsen and Resistance Museums today. Henrick Ibsen was a very famous Norwegian playwright during the late 19th century. The museum is his apartment in Oslo. I really wasn't that impressed with it. I guess I just didn't want to walk around his apartment. There was also a section on street level with some of his medals and awards and facts about him. It just really wasn't my thing and was happy when we left.

After that we went to the Resistance Museum. That was really awesome! It was all about the underground Norwegian resistance forces during WWII. There was a lot of stuff in there for the somewhat small building it was in. There were old radios they used, some of the first unerground newspapers and weapons. They also showed how they hid their information such as rolls of film in the heels of their shoes and radios disguised as cameras. It was illegal to have a receiver and a death sentence to have a transmitter while the Nazi's were in power. I got some really cool pix there. There was so much there than I have time to type. If you want to know more ask me....it was way cool.

Hope all is well in the States. This is a short post because I wrote alot in my other journal today and am wanting to go to bed soon!

Oh wow, that was...depressing

Today we went to the Munch Museum, Antiquities Museum and The National Gallery. When we left today it was cloudy and raining, so that set the mood for seeing works by Eduard Munch. For those of you who don't know a lot about Mr. Munch a lot of his work is very depressing to look at. At the Munch Museum we saw one of the copies of The Scream. I also saw a bunch of paintings about death, sickness and some landscapes. I read that 'Death of the Bohemian' is one of his more famous works after 'The Scream' and some other ones. The Bohemian one shows a man sitting on a bed slitting his wrist and his soul leaving his body. Sounds like an uplifting piece doesn't it? There is strict security there now because not too long ago there was an art heist there in broad daylight. The theives stole a copy of 'The Scream' and some other very valuable works. Also due to the heist they took down so many works. Marv said that when we arrived there we would see many paintings and wood cuts. There were no wood cuts and Marv said there wasn't even half the amount of works as there were last time he was there.

After we saw Munch we caught the subway to the Antiquties Museum. I enjoyed walking around there. We saw a few rooms on the vikings. There were lots of swords, chainmail and spearheads to look at. They also had some of the equipment the blacksmiths used and stuff they put on the horses when they rode them. In the Medival portion we saw MANY crucifixes and wooden church portals with some amazing wood work. Those people were talented! At one point I turned around to walk back out of one of the rooms and saw Jesus on the cross and the two robbers who were cricified with him by the ceiling; it was very interesting to see that. They were fairly large which was neat.

After walking around there we went to The National Gallery and saw more paintings. I wasn't too excited to go there. I'm really not a fan of Impressionist art and saw a LOT of that today. There were a few landscape pieces that were just beautiful to look at and seemed so real. One piece that stuck out to me was called "Oden's Hunt" (I think). It had Oden leading an army of Valkyrie and Thor raising his hammer in the middle of the charge. It was a very big piece and was probably my favorite.

For those of you at Luther, I saw Sarah Mauk a little while ago tonight. We walked around the train station and mall and talked. She had to catch a train back to school around 5 so I got to spend a couple of hours hanging out with her which was fun.

I cannot believe that we are almost done with the Oslo portion of our trip. We leave Oslo for Dublin Tuesday afternoon. We'll be spending about 10 days there then our trip is over.

A peaceful/folky Day

Today we went to the Noble Museum and looked around at the displays that were there. I didn't enjoy it that much, the first floor was full of exhibits about how different people are/were being oppressed. The second floor was all about the previous winners. There was one room that had a small screen for each of the winners surrounded by light up rods. When someone stood in front of the screen it displayed a brief overview of what the person did. It seemed like I was in an alien spaceship, that was cool to see. Then we found out that the shrimp boats were selling shrimp and Professor Slind was extatic. It was really funny to see how excited he was about buying a Liter of shrimp. Some other people in the group bought some bags and we ate them later.

After the Noble Museum we went to the Folk Museum. It was interesting to see the different types of houses and buildings people lived in in Norway during the 1800's. There were so many buildings out side to see. Then, inside there was a section on clothes. It was interesting to see what people in the 1800's wore. After we left some of us walked around the harbor area again and looked at the shops.

There is a line forming behind me so I think I should end this post. I'll try my best to write more tomorrow, that should be more eventful. Hope all is well in the good ol' US of A!

A Whole Lotta Ship

Today we went to three museums. We went to the Viking Ship Museum, Kon-Tiki Museum and the Fram Museum. The Viking Ship Museum was my favorite of the three. It is a part of the University of Oslo. They have two VERY big ships, the Osenberg ship and the Goksberg ship (I'm not quite sure of the spelling on the last one). The Osenberg ship is the bigger of the two. It's size and the worksmanship on the helm just blew me away. The top of the mast was only about 3 feet from the ceiling wich was maybe 90 feet high. Not only were these ships tall but also very wide. The ships were mainly originals with some newer pieces added on to make them appear complete.

The Kon-Tiki Museum was my least favorite of the day. It was about Thor Heyerdahl, a famous Norwegian scientist. He sailed a reed raft from South America to Polynesia to prove that Native South Americans could possibly be the ones to have settled the area. I wouldn't have cried if we didn't go there, kinda bored me.

The Fram Museum was interesting though. It was about a couple of guys from Norway and their explorations of the North Pole. I'm drawing a blank on their names right now. One guy was the first person to reach the North Pole and another guy they had a portion on had a theory that the ice shelf drifts and wanted to prove it. His ship was there and that sucker was massive...more massive than the viking ships obviously. This ship was three stories tall and extremely wide. It was shaped like an egg so the pressure of the ice wouldn't crush it. You could also walk around inside the ship, the space in there is very small and cramped. We got a picture of our leader at the wheel with his captain's hat....it's pretty funny!

Today the sun started going down around 2:30 today! That's really crazy!! Tomorrow I might be going on a bus ride around the water front after we go to the Noble Prize museum or hall or whatever it's called. Later this week we get to see the palace and, get ready for it..........one of those HUGE ski jumps! All of us are really excited for that! I want to take an inner tube down that. That could hurt though, but would be very fun! I hope all is well back in the States.

Oslo baby....continued

So when I ended my last entry we were getting ready to go out to eat and had a reservation to keep. We ate at an Indian place which was very good....but expensive. Oslo is the most expensive city in the world! The prices here are pretty much twice as much as in Copenhagen, crazy! Our hotel is the Comfort Hotel Børsparken and it is VERY nice. The rooms are much bigger than the ones in the Absalon, and have actually been worked on and don't have decor from 1950. I actually don't feel like I'm going to be dirtier after showering anymore. The shower is a cylinder but kind of lacks in space, so showers could be interesting. I have a feeling I'm going to run into the sides quite often!

Tomorrow we are going to the Viking Ship Museum just outside of Oslo. I'm really excited about it. It is supposed to be bigger than the one we saw in Roskilde. Later in the week we are going to the Antiquities Museum and the Resistance Museum from WWII. Those should be very interesting days. We are also going to an art museum with lots of painings by Edward Munch (The guy who painted 'The Scream'). I'm not looking forward to that visit as much but still think it will be interesting.

I've decided that I really like Olslo...A LOT. I was dissapointed that when we went through customs we didn't get our passports stamped. I guess they only do that at your point of entry into Europe and not when you go from place to place. Our hotel has free Norwegian Waffles in the dining area from 3-7 PM. We had some today and they were amazing. I think that may be my dinner while I'm here. I still haven't gotten used to the keyboards here and it is getting difficult to type! All of us have agreed that we enjoy Oslo more than Copenhagen. Even though we aren't in the top notch neighborhood, it is still much better than Copenhagen. The view from my window looks over some trees at a huge mountain with many houses on it and looks cool at night. I really want to go and look at the fjord around here and hope I can find time and people to go sometime.

Well, I'm going to head off to bed and get my beauty sleep so I can look pretty while walking around the museum. Oh, one last thing! I don't remember if I mentioned this in a previous entry but the people here are very in shape and seem to walk everywhere. I also don't think I've ever seen a city with more bikes than Copenhagen. Even in January there are so many people riding their bikes, it blows me away!

Oslo baby!!!

So this entry is going to be brief. We left Copenhagen this morning around 11:30 and arrived in Oslo about an hour later. The first thing I saw when we came out of the clouds was a forrest of tall pine trees covered with snow! It was so amazing. Oslo actually has snow compared to Copenhagen. We walked around the city and it is beautiful so far. What surprised me was that at 4:30 tonight it was already dark out! Hopefully I'll make another entry tonight when I'm not so rushed.

Last Day in Copenhagen

Today is our last day in Copenhagen. We went to Roskilde and Trelleborg which are two very important sites for people wanting to learn more about Viking life in Denmark. Roskilde is the home of the Viking Ship Museum. They have many reconstructions of viking ships in a couple of different buildings. Trelleborg is an old viking fortress from abround 1000 AD (I think). It was amazing to see. They had a replication of a viking hall outside the fortress and I think all of the foundations for the buildings inside the fortress. The fortress is in the shape of two circles, one within the other. The walls of the inner fortress are very high and the guide said they would have been MUCH higher than today due to erosion. There also is a very speep and deep moat surrounding it. The weather today was very strange. First it was cloudy, windy and rained for a little bit, then stopped, then picked up again on the way to Roskilde a few times only for a couple of minutes. When we got to Roskilde it was half sunny and half cloudy, no rain and pretty windy. When we arrived at Trelleborg it was windy and light rain. Then it was just crazy with wind, sun, rain and clouds. Denmark has very interesting weather! I enjoyed the sites very much and took lots of pictures.

Our guide also took us to an old viking settlement a ways from Trelleborg and to a church a little farther. They were so interesting to visit. The church was built in the 11th Century and had some very nice fresco paintings in the entry way. We were sight seeing from around 9 am until about 5:30 pm, we were all very tired! Some of the guys and I originally planned on going to Sweden while the rest of the group went to a ballet, but we voted against it because we were all too tired. Well, I would write more but there is a man pacing behind me anxiously wanting the computer and I've been on here for a while so I better let him use it. Tomorrow we head off to Oslo!

Why Muslims have a hard time integrating in Denmark

Yesterday we saw the changing of the Royal Danish Guard at the palace. We left the hotel around 10 after 11 and it was a 30 minute walk from the hotel. While we were walking I was trying to figure out where we were by remembering the sites from the bus tour we took the other day. That didn't work; I was so lost. We finally made it to the palace and had to wait for a while until the new guards arrived at noon. They were led in by a band and marched around the square then did their ceremony for changing. They had to walk around and releave each guard at their post. It was very interesting.

After we saw that, we went to an art museum for the afternoon. It is the best place in Northern Europe to see Ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. The guys I was with and I stayed for about 2 hours then headed back to the hotel. Maybe in my next post I will put some pictures up of random sites.

Today we went to the University of Copenhagen to have a lecture on Norse mythology. It was a general overview and very interesting. The professor who gave the lecture kept saying how the Danish of today celebrate holidays the same way the vikings did, with pork and alcohol. One of his quotes about that was, "...and I guess that's why Muslims have a hard time integrating." It was really funny. After our lecture was over we were told we had the afternoon to ourselves. A group of us walked around "The Street" as it is called here. It is a very long street, maybe 2 miles long, lined with shops and places to eat. It is a very interesting place to walk around and look. I think a few of us are going to eat at the kabab place down the street again, we all seem to like it. Well, I hope I have more interesting things to talk about in my next post. Hope all is well for everyone back in the States!

The First FULL Day

Today was our first FULL day in Copenhagen. Not long after my post from last night, a few of us went wandering around a little more. We ended up heading through the Red Light district, which just so happens is only a few blocks away. Those 10 minutes were...interesting. We were almost out of the district when these two men came up behind us and kept saying 'coke', I'm pretty sure they didn't want a Coca Cola. We told them we didn't have any coke and didn't want any. They followed us for about a half block more then were gone. That was a very interesting part of our journey that night. We then continued to walk along the pedistrian shoping area. We walked almost a mile and a half along there and turned around because all of the shops were closing or already closed.

Today we went to the National Museum and looked around for a while. The viking section of the museum was closed for reconstruction so we didn't get to see that stuff. I spent most of my time in the Middle Ages section and took a lot of pictures. Then we headed out on a tour of the city on a bus. We saw the statue of the Little Mermaid honoring Hans Christian Anderson. We also saw the royal palace and the changing of the guards. The weather was really overcast today and rained for a part of the day. 7 of us went to eat dinner a while ago and it started to snow while we were walking there. The place was a nice Shish Kabob place which was cheap. I'm going to head out and sightsee some more with people. 9:10 at night seems to be an odd time to sight see but that's what this trip is about....taking in all the sights you can whenever you can!

First Day In Copenhagen

So, Today is the first day of my trip. We left Chicago around 10:15pm (US time) and arrived in Copenhagen a little after 1:15pm (Copenhagen time and 5:15 am US time). The flight was just under 8 hours long. I was unable to sleep at all while on the flight. Right now it is 6:50 pm and I am VERY tired. I have been up for almost 34 hours straight. Some guys and I went to a pizza place for dinner a while ago and had the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet for a reasonable price. Tomorrow morning we are going to a Viking museum at 10 which should be really interesting. From what I have seen of the city so far I enjoy. It seems like there is so much to do and see here. I cannot wait until our free afternoon tomorrow and wander around with people for a few hours. We are staying at the Absalon Hotel while in Copenhagen. I guess it was named after the guy who settled Copenhagen way back when. The hotel has free internet access, the catch is that it only has one computer for the whole place. This keyboard is really different than what I am used to....I cannot find the apostraphe key anywhere on here. Hopefully I will have time for more posts while I am staying here.