Yooooodelllllllllayehooooooo (my attempt at yodeling on a swiss mountain)

So here I am, somehow still alive after staying up til 4 AM finishing my portfolio. Correction: after finishing ONE of my portfolios...2 more to go! But I'll worry about those later. Right now, I need to tell you about my weekend in Switzerland...

I got to the Zurich airport at like 7:30pm Thursday and from there took a one-hour train to St. Gallen. This, of course, was after looking at the prices to see just how expensive Switzerland really is. Well, $8.50 was the lowest price for a cup of Starbucks. As some of you back home gasp and moan, I have to confess that it's even more expensive than that in the Copenhagen airport. Yeah, never will I ever complain about my $3 lattes ever again. Back to the story...Casey met me at the train station and her apartment was literally right around the corner. She had 2 bottles of wine and some Swiss chocolate waiting for me as a welcome gift! So sweet. We then went on a night walk of St. Gallen and climbed to the top of one of the biggest hills to get a view of everything. We did the same thing the next morning to see how it all looked during the day. 

One word: breathtaking. We also checked out the red street, a street in St. Gallen where everything is covered in this red material (cars, tables, fountains, everything). Of course this was a great opportunity for a photo op.

Some other places we checked out were the large abbey, the library (where you're not supposed to take pics, but I did) and the streets lined with ornate windows from way back when. 

    After our Friday morning walking tour, we hopped a train to go to Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe. Now, I'm going to be honest, I was expecting it to be a *little* bit bigger. But this is Europe, not the Amazon. We even got on a boat and went right up to the waterfall 

and climbed to the top of one of the little hills that separates the waterfall.

That night, we went out to a honky tonk. No, I didn't stutter. There was a honky tonk in St. Gallen, Switzerland. It started at 8pm and you get a wristband and go around to a bunch of different bars that all have live bands playing. I shoulda brought my cowboy boots! Actually, I don't think it was THAT kind of honky tonk. But whatever. It was A LOT of fun!

    The next morning Casey, three of her friends, and I went to the Santes Mountains, which is considered part of the Swiss Alps. We took a cable car to the very top of the mountain, where you can see 6 countries (Germany, Italy, Luxemborg, France...and I'd have to look up the other two!) There are no words to describe this, I'll have to let the picture here speak for itself. And even that doesn't show it for how beautiful it was!

      That night we had a campfire on top of one of the hills and roasted bratwurst (very good) and had some smores. We then ventured into town for one of Casey's Swiss friend's birthdays. Basically, it was an amazing weekend (what else is new?) The only thing that was not fun was getting fined 600 kroner ($120) when I got back to Copenhagen because even though my train pass was for zones 1, 2, 3, and 4, it was for 33 and 44 and not 41 which is what the airport was in. Confused? It's ok, I was too. And I had absolutely no idea. Yeah, try telling that to the train guy. Oh well, it's the start of another beautiful week...I walked barefoot on the beach earlier today, the weather is wonderful, and short-sleeves are actually a reality! 

Hanging with the Swiss, not to be confused with Sweden

Hej-hej everyone! I'm slowly surviving this week, it's been a toughie. I have my portfolio for my practicum due on Monday (15 page paper) and I'm almost halfway done with it. That's not good enough, I know, but I promise all day Sunday will be dedicated to that thing. For the meantime, I'm visiting my friend Casey, who also goes to UT, in SWITZERLAND! This is the second time in my life I'll be taking a plane by myself, and then taking a train from Zurich to St. Gallen where she studies. It's supposed to be gorgeous, but could you expect anything less of Switzerland? Didn't think so. It should be a fun weekend :)
So last night after spending the day writing a paper that was due today, I joined Mary and Danielle for quiz night at The Dubliner. We were separated into different teams and went through 3 rounds of 10 questions of just random trivia. My main contribution to the group (I was the only American in my group, two were Danes and the other was British) was knowing the answers to 'what were the first names of the Wright brothers' and 'what are the 6 weapons in the game Clue'. Oh, and knowing how many dwarves in Snow White had beards. Other than that, I was clueless. We got 2nd place out of four teams, woohoo! haha Later that night...I took the last train home and fell asleep on the train. A guy woke me up at the last stop, and I realized I was now in a pretty bad situation--no more trains running, stranded at the last stop on the A line. Great. So I called my host sister to get the number of a taxi and then waited in the cold for one to arrive. Not a smart decision, next time I will MAKE myself stay awake!
After my portfolio is turned in on Monday, the work does not end. I still have a LOT to do. But I found out I made a B+ on both my Classical Foundations and International Advertising midterms, so that's good! For now, I'm going to kick back and enjoy Switzerland, and brace myself for the crazy week to come.

Age ain't nothing but a number...unless its your 21st!

I'm 21 I'm 21 I'm 21! And no, I have not been carded yet :( And no, it's not a big deal at all here. I'll need some belated celebrations when I return! Anyways, it feels amazing to be back in Copenhagen and see that Tivoli is open, trees are blooming, and people are SITTING OUTSIDE! Who would have thought? I wish I could go outside and enjoy the weather more but I have sooooo much homework due. SOOO much. I'm talking 50 typed pages due within the next two weeks. Somehow, I will make it happen and still enjoy my last few weeks here---I'm determined! So back to my birthday...

   I got back into the big CPH Wednesday and had to leave yet again Friday evening for Amsterdam. So, needless to say, this traveling is wearing me down. Danielle and I checked into our boat hostel and hurried out so that we could ring in midnight (my bday) in the downtown area. I had a BLAST. We spent the weekend paddle-boating on the canals, exploring the Heineken brewery, shopping in the flower markets, and enjoying the sunshine that the Weather Channel had swore would not come our way (take that, weathermen!) 

Here we are about to take a canal cruise...see, not a cloud in the sky! Our flight didn't arrive back into Copenhagen until 8:30 this morning (Monday!) and we had the brilliant idea of sleeping in the Amsterdam airport...aka we didn't really get any sleep. But after class and work today I got a very nice surprise at home---thanks family for all of the wonderful cards!!!! It meant so much to me to come home and see all of these different birthday cards from the fam. And my host family cooked me a really nice dinner and even bought me a beautiful bouquet! Great birthday weekend, and now its time for an early night to bed so I'm fresh and ready to tackle all the homework I have this week....yuck

An Earthquake and An Easter on Mount Vesuvius

Greetings from Florence, Italy! I've been all over Italy in the past week and feel that it's time to share my travels with you, especially since my hostel offers free internet. Perfect! So I spent a total of 6 days in Rome (Sunday morning-Saturday morning) and, let me tell you, it was amazing. The place is like one big amusement park, everything is just larger than life and there is some sort of historical monument around every street corner. 

This is Danielle and I in front of the famous Trevi Fountain, one of our first stops. See how sunny it is? Yeah, warm and sunny the entire week! Our tour group was so much fun and our tour leaders were quirky, we had tons and tons of pasta and pizza and wine (doing as the Romans do). The only minor hitch was there was actually an earthquake our first night in Rome...well, it was 70 miles outside of Rome, but we felt it! It was around 3:30 AM and our beds and the walls started shaking; half of our tour group completely slept through it but the 4 girls (including me) in my room definitely woke up, freaked out, then went back to sleep. It was a world-known disaster though, and I can't believe it happened so close to us. 

    As far as all of the Roman sites go, you should know that I am a huge fan of the book "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown. And I made a POINT of stopping at almost every site from that book! This included...

Piazza Navona and the "4 Rivers" fountain

Church of Santa Maria del Poppolo, AND (drumroll please)

St. Peter's Basillica and Square! (aka inside of THE VATICAN). 

The Vatican was absolutely amazing, tons of people but we got to bypass lots of lines because we were in a large group, and I even got a couple of pics of the Sistine Chapel even though you're not supposed to take pics ;) 

One of my other favorites was the Collisseum (did I spell that right?) We spent a lot of time in there. I also got to run around the Circus Maximus where they used to have the chariot races! 

                                     *Cameron, Danielle, and I running Circus Maximus!*

After Rome, Danielle and I hopped on a train for Naples and stayed there for two days. We hiked up Mount Vesuvius on Easter morning, had some famous Napoleon pizza for lunch, and spent time walking around and looking at castles and parks. Sorry y'all, I haven't uploaded pics from my Naples adventures yet, so I can't show you any :( Now I'm in Florence, yet another great place (I'm under the Tuscan sun!!!), and tomorrow I'm going to Pisa before we head back to the big CPH! Traveling really wears me out, so I'm excited to get to go back for a little bit...even though Friday night I'm going back to Amsterdam for my 21st birthday. This could be trouble.

My ABCs: Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Dungens

Hellooooo out there! I'm typing this at 12:11AM and I have to wake up at 4:30AM for my flight to Rome! See how dedicated I am to this? So let me try and condense the past two weeks into one itty bitty blog post: last Sunday I went to Amsterdam for 5 days and had a BLAST! I saw floating water markets, beautiful flower markets, and of course the Red Light District...but that's another story.

My friend Amelia and I rented bikes so we could better see the city, and one night her bike broke and we got separated, then my bike broke, and I found a group of random Dutch guys who helped me and then took me out partyin'! Fun fun. 

  *playing soccer with the children at a refugee school in Holland; one of the many highlights!*

After Amsterdam, I hopped on a bus all by myself to go to Brussels. I stayed there with a girl named Sietske who I found on the CouchSurfing website (you stay for free with someone and they help you around the city). She had a really bad cold though, but gave me great bits of info. I ended up spending my Saturday touring the city with no map and just stumbling across anything and everything Brussels had to offer, which included: belgian waffle with ice cream for breakfast, beautiful old buildings, parks, palaces, and the Manneken Pis (Brussels' biggest tourist attraction; Google it). 

I even ran across a group of girls studying in Italy (from America) and one of them was from Katy, TX! How crazy is that? Then this past Sunday I flew back to CPH to meet my parents :) Mom was sleeping at the table at Starbucks since they had to wait on me...so we grabbed some coffee and brunch STAT at my fave Danish breakfast place.

                                                      *in Norrebro Park near the hotel*

We spent the next couple of days touring the city and eating food that was way too expensive (aka normal for Copenhagen) and Monday night mom and dad got to meet my host family because they made us dinner! (lamb..I know, super nice, right?) 

This week was also great because I got to take the fam to places I've been wanting to go but hadn't had the chance to yet, like Vesterbro (the red light district of copenhagen) and Ida Davidsen's smorrebrod (open-faced sandwich shop). Then Thursday we hopped on a flight to Stockholm, which is so gorgeous. The weather was beautiful and we took a bus/boat tour of the city and even stopped by the Absolut Ice Bar, the famous bar made completely of ice! Yes, we look a bit like eskimos, and yes, you can only spend about 40 minutes in there before you're frozen stiff, but it's a must-see. OK I soooo wish I could write more because there's so much more to say but gah it's late! Vi ses i to uger! (I think that means see you in two weeks)

Gettin' ready to visit the dam...Amsterdam that is

Tomorrow morning at exactly 8 AM I will be climbing onto a bus bound for Amsterdam. This wonderful way to begin a Sunday morning marks the beginning of my three-week travel break! The Amsterdam visit will be from Sunday until Friday and is part of my child development program, so my same group that went on the short study tour around western Denmark will be going to Holland. Our first stop is actually Groningen in the Netherlands...don't really know too much about it, but I guess that's part of the adventure! Friday afternoon, I'll climb on a bus bound for Brussels, Belgium all by my lonesome and explore the city for the weekend, then hop on a plane back to Copenhagen to meet my parents at the airport!! Wahoo! Right now I'm sitting at my computer (obviously) procrastinating packing and fixing to take a shower and get ready for my host mom's birthday dinner. The extended family is due to arrive at 6pm and the food is going to be deliciousssss. I spent the morning chopping up onions for the french onion soup, so a few tears went into the making of this dinner.

    So what was Brooke up to this week? Well, I'll tell ya. First of all, I had two midterms on Friday. Two, on the same day. That's just wrong. So most of my week was dedicated to studying...oh whatever, for those of you that know me, you know I mostly procrastinated. But I did have a bit of fun Tuesday because it was St. Patrick's Day, and supposedly Copenhagen is known for a 3-legged race for charity. It started at 2:30pm and it involves tying your leg up to a partner and running around Copenhagen like a crazy person to 6 different pubs and chugging a beer at each! Hey, it's for charity. 

If you look at the above picture, you'll think, "wait, why are there THREE people?" Well my friends, my partner (Danielle) bailed on me last minute, so I was tied to my friend Mary and her boyfriend Scott. Yes, three of us, tied together, hobbling around Copenhagen. Most of the time we couldn't move because we were laughing too hard!! Alright, well that's all I have to say for now, so see ya after Amsterdam!

"I'm part Irish! Well...it's just 1/16 or something, but still"

Dublin was a craic time. Craic, pronounced 'crack', is the Irish term for fun/great! Supposedly it rains alllll the time in Ireland, and we were fortunate enough that not only did it not rain, but it was sunny and warmer! So let me start at the beginning...Friday night we got to the hotel at around 11:45 and got ready to go out. We went to the Temple Bar area and had drinks at Gogarty's and The Temple Bar (yeah, the area is called temple bar and this bar banked by using that as the name of their pub...pretty clever). 

There were SO many people there for St. Patrick's Day, lots of green hats and wigs. We were shocked that the pubs all close by 2:30 because in Copenhagen it's not til 5, but then we found out its because they re-open at 10am. We found this out because we went and got us some Irish coffees the next morning :) yummmm. From there, we walked to City Hall to meet up with a tour guide for a free walking tour of Dublin (its with the same company that does the free tours of Berlin). Our tour guide's name was Conor and he had a very thick Irish accent and lots of jokes for us. He showed us all around the city, and we saw everything from Dublin Castle (and a crazy man outside playing a saw...in shorts) where we got free hotdogs for St. Patty's (aren't the Irish nice?) to Trinity College, one of the top 50 colleges in the world. Here is the Viking Memorial, with Conor on the left telling us about Ireland's history with the Vikings.

After the tour, we went walking along Grafton street just seeing all of the different shops and hearing local musicians sing and play in the middle of the street. For dinner, we later went to The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland. I was intent on having a 'traditional Irish dinner' and I found it! I had a traditional Irish stew with lamb in it that basically melted in my mouth, it was sooooo good. And, of course, what is Ireland without a Guinness to wash it down? I was a little freaked out about having Guinness, but it's actually really really good in Ireland (unlike the states...sorry, it's true). The restaurant had different currencies covering all the walls, signed by customers from all over the world. I turn around, and what is right behind me? A dollar bill, signed by people from Brenham, TX. Yes, it IS a small world.

The Temple Bar area didn't have any Irish music for the weekend since there were so many tourists, so we went a little out of the way to Cobblestone Pub, where Irish singers sit for hours and just play fiddles and sing old Irish songs. It was very like 'P.S. I Love You', minus Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Darn.

The next morning was an early one for us because we wanted to take the train down to Bray and then up to Howth, totaling an hour and a half of travel time. So we left bright and early for Bray, and it was sooo worth it. We climbed up to Bray's Head, a 40 minute incline where from the top you see Ireland.

Here's another pic that actually includes the coast in it too:

After that, we went on to Howth, a small little harbor town. We watched people feed the wild seals, ate fish and chips, and went walking around. It was a great day and an amazing weekend...I could definitely go back to Ireland in a heartbeat!! But the weekend wore me out, so I need a nap...