Volcano... What!?

In case you haven't heard... A volcano erupted in Iceland and basically, all flights in and out of Europe were canceled  over the weekend (since last Thursday) but on Sunday, some airlines made test runs and a few more flights were completed without harm (from the volcano ash) on Monday. I just read that now, a new cloud of ash that has spewed from the volcano, heading towards the UK, and possibly posing a renewed threat to air travel... but some countries are still moving forward with plans to fly a little more in the coming week. This is crazy! The situation is changing so often which makes it very difficult to keep track of what's going to happen next!
Tons and tons of people have been displaced and even stuck in Europe and I am really hoping that it will be safe to fly by Friday because I am supposed to be going to Germany to visit a friend and attend the Stuttgarter Fruehlingsfest (which is a spring bier festival that includes 2 liters of beer and half a chicken, haha.) and then to Paris next Thursday. Obviously I don't want to fly if it isn't safe but it is just so frustrating because I have been looking forward to these trips all semester!

Volcanic ash from the eruption that is being blown over Europe and keeping planes out of the sky.

A Royal Affair

Perhaps you know or maybe you don't, but Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, which (in a nutshell) means Denmark has a royal family.

Friday April 16th, marked Queen Margrethe II's 70th birthday. Every year on her birthday, the Queen steps out onto her balcony of Amalienborg at noon and waves to the people in the courtyard. Since this was an even year birthday, she rode in a horse-drawn carriage from the Amalienborg Palace to City Hall on Strøget (the walking street in Copenhagen).

Crowds trying to get into the Palace courtyard to see the Queen... it was packed! I couldn't get through!

Danish flag :)

Danes like to use the Danish flag to celebrate!

Holding a Danish flag under the Queen's birthday sign!

Getting ready for the Queen to pass in her carriage...

Police! The Queen must be close!

The Queen is next!

Queen of Denmark and her husband, Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark!!!

She went by so fast!

Fountain near my school that had golden apples in it for the Queen's birthday!

It might be hard to see, but on the left hand side of the statue at the top of fountain, there is one of the golden apples being pushed up by the force of the fountain water! This was the craziest tradition! No one ever takes the golden apples... I guess out of respect to the royal family? I'm not sure but there is no way those apples would stay there all day if this were in a tradition in another country.... especially the US!

Regardless, it was so cool to see the Queen so close and experience such a unique Danish tradition!

Copenhagen and London with Heath!

For the second week of my spring break, Heath came to visit me and we split our time between Copenhagen and London. We had such a wonderful time and saw so many great places! I was soooo happy to see him and get to spend the whole week together! I am glad that he came later in semester because now it isn't that long until I come home... Don't get me wrong, I am having a blast abroad, and I still have a handful of fun trips planned... but North Carolina is home and I finally feel ready to start this next phase of my life in Charlotte, no regrets and no "I wish I got to.... while I was still in college." Having Heath see what my life has been like here meant so much to me and I am so happy that I have such a great boyfriend that will travel across an ocean to visit me! :)

 Velkommen til Danmark!

 First Danish meal? Danish hotdogs!

 We tried to make it to the Carlsberg Brewery for a tour but were too late! But that's okay, because their slogan is only "Probably the best beer in town" haha

 Nyhavn!

 

First pub in London!

Yummy Sticky toffee pudding!

Classic English telephone pose

Heath wanted one too :)

London Eye!

(with Big Ben in between our heads!)

Tea Time at the National Gallery

Outside of Buckingham Palace before the changing of the guards ceremony

Royal Guard band that played "Sweet Caroline!"

Heath and I were amused since James Taylor is a NC native!

BEAUTIFUL Daffodils in a park beside Buckingham palace.

So happy that it is finally Spring!

Heath on the Tower of London Bridge

Heath at Heathrow, ready to get back to CPH!

Can you spot Heath?

Oh, you know... just biking around the royal palace in CPH!

ICEBAR! Brrrr

Heath & I in the Icebar!

My Roman Holiday

I had the pleasure of spending the first week of my Spring Break in Rome, Italy. In preparation of my very own Roman holiday, I watched William Wyler's Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn. I love Audrey Hepburn movies so watching this one before my trip just seemed like the perfect idea! I got to see many of the sites where the movie was filmed and absolutely loved Rome!

I could outline every detail of my trip but that would take forever and I think pictures are more fun... so here they are!

PS- If you get my blog by e-mail, the pictures probably won't show up in the email so you will have to click on the link in the e-mail, which will send you directly to my blog website.

Outside the Vatican wall, entrance to the Vatican Museum

St. Peter's Basilica

This looks like a sculpture in uptown Charlotte called "Disco Grande"

View of St. Peter's Square from the top of St. Peter's Basilica

Me in St. Peter's Basilica

Colosseum!

Me inside the Colosseum

Inside Forum Romanum

Pantheon

Ruins of Ostia

Angel of Grief in Campo Cestio

Baths of Caracalla

Mouth of Truth

Gelato on the Spanish Steps

Castle of Angels

And don't worry... I threw my coin into the Trevi Fountain so one day, I'll definitely be going back to Rome!