Today is exactly how I want to remember Denmark: 65F, sunny, minimal clouds, and happy Danes drinking Carlsberg and Tuborg on the canal of Nyhavn, Kongens Nytorv, and Strøget in Copenhagen and now "barbecuing" and eating outside on the deck overlooking the rolling hills of bright green crops and yellow flowers in Farum with my host family.
Absolutely perfect way to end this adventure.
Tomorrow is the day that, as the Avett Brother's sing in a song, "Carolina one day, someday, I'll come home"
PS- This past month has been a blur. More updates on travels to come... as I can get around to it!
Showing posts with label Denmark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Denmark. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
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).
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!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
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!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Dansk Musik
Last night I went out with my host brother in Copenhagen and it was a night full of hygge, laughs and long waits for public transportation! The night began unexpectedly (as I had no plans of going out) at a truly Danish band party hosted by a Danish college and ended with a not-so-happy-non-English-speaking-taxi driver and a lovely Danish couple that I shared a cab with since it was raining too hard to ride home (at 5AM, mind you). It's even a longer story than that, so I won't type it all out... but to my friends and family- feel free to ask me about it, it was pretty humorous :)
So tonight both my host sibs came over for dinner (they no longer live at home) which was great because I hadn't even met my host sister yet because she has such a crazy schedule of school and work this semester. She asked me tonight if I think it is weird or if it gets annoying that all the music over here is in English instead of native languages and honestly, after hearing Danish 24-7, it's kind of a relief to hear something familiar! My host family has introduced me to some great new Danish and European bands...
The Baseballs: A German-rock coverband that takes top-40 pop hits and turns them into rock-n-rock 1950's-esque songs. I love it! They are even coming to Copenhagen at the end of April but (un)fortunately, that's the weekend I'm going to Paris. It's a hard life, I know! (wink, wink!)
The Baseballs: Umbrella (Originally by Rihanna)
Alphabeat: A great Danish pop band with 6 members, both male and female and they take influence from retro 80's melodic pop with British influences as well.
Dúné: A Danish rockband that is inspired by 70s punk, 80s pop and 90s indie rock, and mixed all together, they call their style indielectrock.
For the first time ever, iTunes has completely disappointed me in my quest for Danish music. I usually don't go too far past mainstream stuff so that's probably why but I would have thought that they would still have some albums since these guys are so popular in other parts of the world! I guess that means I will just have to take it back to like, 2002 and actually go to a music store to purchase an Alphabeat album!
This post is kind of all over the place and I attribute that to my lack of sleep today, excitement for study break, and having too much to blog about!
So tonight both my host sibs came over for dinner (they no longer live at home) which was great because I hadn't even met my host sister yet because she has such a crazy schedule of school and work this semester. She asked me tonight if I think it is weird or if it gets annoying that all the music over here is in English instead of native languages and honestly, after hearing Danish 24-7, it's kind of a relief to hear something familiar! My host family has introduced me to some great new Danish and European bands...
The Baseballs: A German-rock coverband that takes top-40 pop hits and turns them into rock-n-rock 1950's-esque songs. I love it! They are even coming to Copenhagen at the end of April but (un)fortunately, that's the weekend I'm going to Paris. It's a hard life, I know! (wink, wink!)
The Baseballs: Umbrella (Originally by Rihanna)
Alphabeat: A great Danish pop band with 6 members, both male and female and they take influence from retro 80's melodic pop with British influences as well.
Dúné: A Danish rockband that is inspired by 70s punk, 80s pop and 90s indie rock, and mixed all together, they call their style indielectrock.
For the first time ever, iTunes has completely disappointed me in my quest for Danish music. I usually don't go too far past mainstream stuff so that's probably why but I would have thought that they would still have some albums since these guys are so popular in other parts of the world! I guess that means I will just have to take it back to like, 2002 and actually go to a music store to purchase an Alphabeat album!
This post is kind of all over the place and I attribute that to my lack of sleep today, excitement for study break, and having too much to blog about!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Countdown.
Countdown until Spring Break begins: 9 Days
Countdown until the boyfriend arrives in CPH: 18 Days.
During the first week of SB, I am going to Rome with my Classical and Renaissance Rome class where I will be visiting the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, Forum Romanum, Colossum... the list goes on and on but those are just some of the highlights! I fell in love with Italy last fall when my family went to Tuscany and I can't wait to go again!
Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, you are sure to visit Rome again so of course I will be doing this!
I will return from Rome on Saturday and will pick the bf up from the CPH airport on Sunday! I want him to experience where I've been living for the past few months so we will be spending part of the time he is here in Copenhagen and the other part in London.
I haven't decided exactly where I will take him, but a couple of things that I can't wait to show him are Nyhavn, CPH Zoo, National Museum, the Royal palace, and introduce him to the Danish culture that I've been talking about so much!
In London, I hope to do all of the classically English things like take a double-decker bus tour, eat fish and chips, ride the London Eye, go to afternoon tea, visit the British Museum and Tate Modern!
No matter what we do, I will just be happy to have him here with me... like having a piece of home with me for a week!
Countdown until the boyfriend arrives in CPH: 18 Days.
During the first week of SB, I am going to Rome with my Classical and Renaissance Rome class where I will be visiting the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, Forum Romanum, Colossum... the list goes on and on but those are just some of the highlights! I fell in love with Italy last fall when my family went to Tuscany and I can't wait to go again!
My bro & I in Cortona, Italy
The whole gang in front of the leaning tower of Pisa
Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, you are sure to visit Rome again so of course I will be doing this!
Trevi Fountain at Night!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fontana_di_Trevi_by_night.JPG
I will return from Rome on Saturday and will pick the bf up from the CPH airport on Sunday! I want him to experience where I've been living for the past few months so we will be spending part of the time he is here in Copenhagen and the other part in London.
I haven't decided exactly where I will take him, but a couple of things that I can't wait to show him are Nyhavn, CPH Zoo, National Museum, the Royal palace, and introduce him to the Danish culture that I've been talking about so much!
In London, I hope to do all of the classically English things like take a double-decker bus tour, eat fish and chips, ride the London Eye, go to afternoon tea, visit the British Museum and Tate Modern!
No matter what we do, I will just be happy to have him here with me... like having a piece of home with me for a week!
Heath & I showing our Wolfpack pride before a football game, Fall 2009
School Daze Soccer Break
This week and next week are absolutely filled to the rim with group projects, papers, and tests. This is because on March 26th, the two week spring break begins! I couldn't be more excited for the day to arrive... but that's another post all together!
Luckily, my Danish language and culture class provided me with a fun experience before all the madness began! A Sunday evening soccer match between F.C. København and Brøndby IF. DIS students tend to be fans of FCK and they won 2-0!
Luckily, my Danish language and culture class provided me with a fun experience before all the madness began! A Sunday evening soccer match between F.C. København and Brøndby IF. DIS students tend to be fans of FCK and they won 2-0!
FCK Fans showing support before the start of the game
FC København fans spell out KBH in the stands
Brøndby IF fans setting off flares in the FCK stadium..
Glad I wasn't sitting over there! It looked intense!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Leg Godt!
Last weekend, I went to Western Demark and Northern Germany (more specifically, Vejle, Jelling, Billund, Sønderborg in Denmark and Flensburg in Germany) with my European Business Strategy class. We went to several towns for cultural visits and two companies, GumLink and Lego.
GumLink is a B2B company, developing and manufacturing gum products for branders and retail chain companies. Lego was amazing. I remember my mom always getting Legos for my brother when we were little and I sometimes played with them too, but the company visit really just won me over. The name, Lego, was created by a combining the two Danish words, Leg and Godt (which means "Play Well" in English) to create the name, Lego. Lego has had some rough times the past few years and almost went bankrupt, but they were able to recreate their strategy and focus on what they are good at, which is the classic Lego block. Now they are focusing on their core products and beginning to do well again.
The office had legos everywhere. From huge legos outside, to lighting and pictures made out of Legos and heck, reception area of the building was a Lego! The employees business cards were even little Lego men! The man that showed us around the grounds gave me his little lego man business card because I asked him to look at it and he just let me have it! We toured the packaging facilities and it was so efficient! Having a little bit of a background in Six Sigma, I was thrilled to see it in action... away from the banking world. I asked our "tourguide" what system they used and he said they hired an external consultant to make their processes more lean and were able to drastically reduce their processing times. The whole time at lego was so exciting! I felt like a kid again, even though I was learning about a company and its strategies! All in all, Lego is great... and everyone should go out and buy a set to remind themselves of their childhood! :)
Here are some pictures of Lego:
And here are some pictures of the rest of the trip... before my camera died! The cold really zaps camera batteries!
GumLink is a B2B company, developing and manufacturing gum products for branders and retail chain companies. Lego was amazing. I remember my mom always getting Legos for my brother when we were little and I sometimes played with them too, but the company visit really just won me over. The name, Lego, was created by a combining the two Danish words, Leg and Godt (which means "Play Well" in English) to create the name, Lego. Lego has had some rough times the past few years and almost went bankrupt, but they were able to recreate their strategy and focus on what they are good at, which is the classic Lego block. Now they are focusing on their core products and beginning to do well again.
The office had legos everywhere. From huge legos outside, to lighting and pictures made out of Legos and heck, reception area of the building was a Lego! The employees business cards were even little Lego men! The man that showed us around the grounds gave me his little lego man business card because I asked him to look at it and he just let me have it! We toured the packaging facilities and it was so efficient! Having a little bit of a background in Six Sigma, I was thrilled to see it in action... away from the banking world. I asked our "tourguide" what system they used and he said they hired an external consultant to make their processes more lean and were able to drastically reduce their processing times. The whole time at lego was so exciting! I felt like a kid again, even though I was learning about a company and its strategies! All in all, Lego is great... and everyone should go out and buy a set to remind themselves of their childhood! :)
Here are some pictures of Lego:
Notice the lego ceiling!
This picture was completely made out of Lego men. Legit.
Lego Lights. I wish they sold these and I could get them for my apartment!
Lego Light Up-Close
Lego Fun.
Giant Legos outside of the Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark.
And here are some pictures of the rest of the trip... before my camera died! The cold really zaps camera batteries!
Me in Lejle, with an EliSabeth cup! They never have these in America... it's always spelled Elizabeth! So Wrong! Finally, it's spelled right! ;)
Typical (and beautiful!) Danish architecture in Lejle
The art in Lejle was... creative and interesting?
IDK what to think about this. Please just note the starving-looking ones and the big lady on top of a starving one. I'm sure it has some great history and significance behind it though?
Denmark's birth certificate, one of the two Jelling Stones.
Dybbøl Windmill.
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