Denmark

So today we were heading to our next destination...Copenhagen, Denmark. We had slept over the night before in Stockholm as our train was departing from Copenhagen around 10am.

Day 18, Monday
Surprisingly after sleeping on a boat in a bay of the Baltic Sea I did not feel sick. I woke up bright and early to pack my bags and head to the train station. It had rained a bit the night before but thankfully it had stopped so I didn't have to make the trek in the rain! I check out from the hostel and started on my way. It was actually really pretty walking along Gamla Stan in the morning when everything was still relatively quiet. The only downside to this walk was that it made me quite hungry and as mentioned before, I ran out of money :( Love these student budgets.
I met up with Amanda at the train station since she bussed there and we caught our train to Copenhagen. We had windows seats with a huge table and we would eventually catch up on some sleep while on the 5 hour train to Copenhagen. I remained awake for the majority of this trip but was definitely awake crossing the Oresund Bridge from Sweden over to Denmark. I even met a friend on the train, Fernando, as he helped me get my luggage down without impaling anyone.

Fernando ended up coming with us to our hostel (after the dilemma with Amanda at the train station) which was nice since I would have someone to sight-see with. Amanda was to hang out with her friend (unaware of this before), so I had some company for most of my Denmark stay. Our hostel legitimately looked like a hotel, it is huge with tons of floors and is a skyscraper compared to the rest
of Copenhagen.

After getting settled at the hostel we met up with Fernando and eventually Amanda's friend was there as well. We all headed out together and went to meet up with some more friends. We ended up getting pizza for a ridiculously low price that was the best tasting pizza I have ever had (okay I lied, pizza in Montpellier, France is still better but this came pretty close). From there we decided to go to a bar. I didn't drink anything at the bar but beforehand I had a tallboy of Carlsberg, just because it's from Denmark haha. I didn't stay at the bar too late because Fernando and I were planning on getting up really early to start off our sightseeing day so I left by myself and found my way back to the hostel.

Day 19, Tuesday
So today was to be the main sight-seeing day for Copenhagen. Me and Fernando met up at around 7:45 so that we could start the day at 8. We first headed to the train station for breakfast and for him to reserve his train for the following day. It was here that I had wienerbrød... aka a danish. Yes, a danish in Denmark.

Amalienborg Palace

From the train station we packed our remaining buns and headed towards some of the nearby palaces (Christiansborg, Amalienborg, etc.). There are so many in Copenhagen! We even got pictures with the guards at Amalienborg Palace(who were rude to others but let us take a picture and chat with them)! We headed towards Vor Frelser's Kirke which has a giant spire at the top which you can climb...on the outside! When we first arrived it was closed so instead we decided to head to Christiania in the Christianshavn part of town. Christiania is a very hippy part of town that considers itself a free community (or anarchist) with about 1000 residents from what we heard. There are no laws, only rules.. and the number 1 rule: no photography or they will get rid of the camera. The reason for this, the main street used to be called pusher street... where there were all kinds of drugs in the open air as well as prostitutes and other kinds of illegal stuff. Nowadays Copenhagen has been more strict on them so there is no longer hard drugs but soft drugs can be bought and I'm sure if you wanted other stuff, they could find someone for you. It was the sketchiest place I have ever been to haha. Tons of bonfires, stray dogs, and people pretending to do something so that they can yell at every tourist with a camera.

View from Vor Frelser's Kirke

After leaving Christiania, in which there is a sign welcoming you back into the EU, we headed back to Vor Frelser's Kirke. The interior of this church was really beautiful. There was a gorgeous organ as well as cherubs by the alter. Even though Fernando is not a huge fan of heights I convinced him to take the climb with me as there was a promise of the greatest view of the city... and it did not let us down! You could even see the Oresund Bridge that takes you back to Sweden... the same one I took to come from Stockholm and the one I met Fernando on!

Nyhavn

Gefion Fountain

After seeing the amazing view from Vor Frelser's Kirke, we headed towards the water, where we would eventually follow it to the world famous Little Mermaid. We first visited Nyhavn which is a colourful harbour. The houses that border it are painted bright colours and it reminded me of Bergen in Norway. The people were very pleasant and the borders of the harbour were lined with restaurants and ice cream shops. From Nyhavn we continued along the water and along the way we stumbled upon the famous Gefion Fountain. This fountain tells the tale of Denmark's legend of how Zealand (the area where Copenhagen is) was created. Apparently the Gods Granted Gefjun all the territory that she could plow in one night, and so turned her sons into Oxen and plowed all that is now Copenhagen. Like the Trevi fountain in Italy, the Gefion fountain is considered a wishing well, so I made a wish and tossed a coin in the fountain. I hope my wish comes true (edit* it did)!

From the Gefion fountain we were able to easily find the statue of the Little Mermaid. Even though I love the Little Mermaid and pretty much anything relating to Disney and Hans Christian Anderson, the statue gave me the same impression as the Mona Lisa did when I first saw it. It was a definite must-see but SPOILER ALERT: It's super small and not a huge thrill. Apparently it just got back from a trip to China so anyone who had previously visited this within the last year saw a fake statue of it.

From here we walked along one of the main streets till we found Rosenborg Castle. It was really pretty on the outside and had a residence beside it that was huge, not to mention the MASSIVE garden (Kongen's have) in front of it. Although the BEST part about Rosenborg Castle is the fact that it actually has a moat around it! How cool is that (see photo at right)?!

After 10 hours of sight-seeing we decided to head back to the hostel. On our way back we went to the same pizza place again, and got lost for a bit but were able to figure it out eventually haha. We did some shopping (and by we I mean me), but it worked in our favour as we missed a flash downpour.

When we got back to the hostel we decided to nap for a couple hours and then meet up again. We were supposed to meet up with Amanda and her boy (or so we thought) but they never showed. We waited for 6 hours from the time we thought we were meeting up and by 11pm we decided we were going to go out clubbing on our own. I then decided I was going to be pulling an all-nighter as the next day I was going to fly out early to see Amsterdam. Our night was very eventful and we met some pretty cool  Copenhagen teens who showed us a good time. Definitely plan on meeting up with them again someday!


Day 20, Wednesday
Today I took a quick detour by plane to the Netherlands. For my detailed bog entry for that day see my Netherlands post!

Day 21, Thursday
Late Wednesday night I arrived back in Copenhagen after my brief visit to Amsterdam. This morning I allowed myself to sleep in haha. After doing 10 hours of sight-seeing on Tuesday, pulling an all-nighter, and doing even more sight-seeing in another country yesterday, I decided I would give my body a rest. Amanda was m.i.a. so I was by myself which actually worked out perfectly. Fernando and I gelled really easily in our interests but being free to do my own thing actually worked out in my favour.

I went out and bought another wienerbrød for breakfast. They are so delicious! From here I decided to go back and do some of the places I loved and some places that I had missed on Tuesday. My top priority was going to see Frederik's Church or the Marble Church. It is absolutely stunning inside with an amazing altar and domed ceiling with paintings. From here I decided to go back and visit Nyhavn. It was a very picturesque place and I loved mingling with the locals. I was recommended to try some homemade ice cream and to remember to ask for "guff" on it. Best advice any local ever gave me on a food recommendation. It is a pink marshmellow mixture that tastes like heaven, on top of the delicious homemade icecream!


After coming back to the hostel I met a new roommate, Danny, who I eventually would walk around with at night. While I was packing up all my stuff for my flights home the next day, Amanda had popped in (hadn't seen her since Tuesday morning). She only came in quick to pack her stuff and check out early as there was apparently some confusion with flights and having to stay at the airport...Regardless me and Danny had a great night roaming the streets and trying to find food haha.

 Day 22, Friday
Today was the end of my Nordic European trek :( Amanda was already out of the picture at this point as she apparently spent the night at the airport the previous night. I packed up all my stuff and headed to the train station. My new friend Danny, from the hostel, came with so that I could show him the amazing deal they had at the convenience store for food (hooray for student budgets that go far!). From here I left Danny and the city of Copenhagen. I will FOR SURE come back to this city as it was by far one of my favourites from this trip!

The train ride to the airport was quick and I was able to take a quick 15 minute power nap. This airport was much better than the Helsinki one and I even got through without any problems (including my cheese from the Netherlands). I was going to be flying back to Reykjavik, Iceland in order to make a transfer to fly into Toronto. I slept the entire flight, and woke up just as we were about to touch down which was a first (although it was a short flight). Flying in to Iceland definitely was as exciting, and scary, as the first time 3 weeks ago. It is very weird descending very close to the water and then landing in a barren land covered with black and brown, and MAYBE the odd lichen or moss.

 The wait in Iceland was not supposed to take long but we ended up being delayed by 1.5 hours due to a late flight from the UK or the Netherlands coming in. During this delay I was able to buy some last minute gifts for my family such as Icelandic Schnapps made from Lichen as my Mother's Day gift to my mom. I figured schnapps with really lichen in the bottom would be something different.When we finally started boarding the plane to go to Toronto I noticed there was a private jet with very bright and colourful decals on it with people getting on and off. This private jet belonged to Iron Maiden for the current tour they were on. People were pretty excited at the sight of it, even I'll admit it was pretty neat.

The best part of the entire trip back was when our plane was flying over Greenland. I was actually able to see Greenland in the daytime as well as features of it's landscape. The photos I took over Kulusuk, Greenland are amazing and only makes me want to visit Greenland even more! On one of my next trips I definitely will visit! When our plane was over Canada I decided to catch a quick sleep as I was to go back to Ottawa after arriving and did not want to be jet lagged. This was the end to an amazing trip, and the introductory taste to going back and visiting some beautiful places!

Netherlands

Unfortunately time and money could only afford me a quick day trip to the Netherlands. It was originally to spend the day with and re-meet my cousin and her daughter but as complications came along I ended up touring Amsterdam by myself. In all honesty, I loved being able to explore on my own, with my own schedule and destinations and meeting the many generous and welcoming people who helped me in any way.

Day 20, Wednesday

One word: Adrenaline. That is what I was running on as I had not gone to bed from the previous night... clubbing with Fernando at a bar in Copenhagen up until I took a train to Copenhagen airport to catch my flight to Amsterdam. The flight was very quick but during the descent I finally got to see some of the features that my parents had constantly talked about in their many trips to this country/city. First off, when descending you get a glimpse of it's below sea-level status with the many waterways as well as the dense population along its edges.

As soon as I arrived at Kastrup Airport, I had trouble finding my way to the express train that would take me to downtown. This mall is very confusing. It has a mall in it. Talk about airport shopping. I eventually did some airport shopping before I left include some stroopwaffels and cheese for the parents.

In the canal beside the famous Anne Frank Huis (right)

The first thing I decided to do upon arriving in downtown Amsterdam was a canal cruise. As I've been told by so many people, there is no better way to experience this city than doing at least one of these cruises. The boat tour showed us all of the main sights along the canal. I thankfully got a seat in the back so I had a nice breeze as well. I took so many photos along the cruise it was hard to remember what each picture was of. It was a great first thing to do in order to get my bearings of the city and to choose what I wanted to see more of.

After somewhat knowing my way around the city I decided to go off on foot. I headed in the direction of a famous pannekoeken place that I had been told about. The walk to this place was actually quite beautiful (see right photo). Pannekoeken was a must as it is a staple of my Dutch family and I wanted to see if my family's recipe (in particular my Oma's recipe) could compare to the ones in the capital of this country. The journey to this restaurant crossed many canals which offered gorgeous views of the houses, the bikes, the boats and of course the canal itself. Needless to say the pannekoeken was amazing, even though I only ordered the plain jam one. At this restaurant I also tried Poffertjes as I had heard my parents talk about them before and they were delicious (picture on the right).

From the Pancake Bakery, I continued along the Singel Canal to make my way to the Bloemen market. The Blomenmarket ended up being really amazing. This is the place where all the deals were as well as tons of flowers, cheese and other goods. I even bought myself a Netherlands soccer zip up haha. Just to feel a little bit more Dutch lol.

After the Bloemenmarkt I had a  croquet at Van Dobben, famous locally and abroad for their croquets. It tasted amazing, like everything else I had tried here. Van Dobben was located very near to the national monument and Dam Square. This is a central part of Amsterdam as the Royal Palace is located here as well as the famous Amstel River.

Red Light District

From Dam Square I headed toward the ever-famous, Red Light District. This place is not as sketchy during the day time and I was flying back to Denmark in the evening so I decided that light or day, I had to visit. When walking in to the Red Light District from the area by the train station you actually find some restaurants advertising the Green Light District and special coffeehouses for smoking pot. There were a lot of people smoking pot that I think I may have gotten second hand high, which gave me a headache. Yes, there were alleyways with half naked, or pretty much naked woman trying to lure you in to the buildings, and yes, there were sketchy people here but it was fine. I found it ironic that some of the borders of the Red Light District are different churches.


After leaving the Red Light District I headed back to the train station as I had learned shortly before that, that my "second-cousin" Diana, or something like that, was going to meet me at the airport to see me off. I had not seen Diana since she came with her family over to Canada to visit us back when I was 5ish. Now she has a daughter, Jasmine, and she is pregnant with another! It was weird at first since I don't have any huge memories with her but it was definitely interesting and fun to re-meet her and her daughter. She is the one who convinced me to smuggle cheese through 3 countries (Denmark, Iceland, and Canada) to eventually get back to my parents. I hope I will get to see her again in either Amsterdam or go visit her in Egypt!


1 day in Amsterdam was definitely just a taste for the city and I know for sure that I will be coming back here in the near future!

Sweden!

Next location: Stockholm! Even though Our trip to Sweden started in my previous post as we arrived late on Friday and stayed at the Jumbo Stay Hostel. This is the official start to the Sweden post as we were able to explore Stockholm from this day forward.

Day 16, Saturday
So today was our first official day in Stockholm as yesterday we were technically in Arlanda by the airport. Our bus took us to the main train station and from there we eventually found out the right place to take a metro to for our next hostel. We took the bus to Zinkensdamm, apparently a posh area of town. The trek to the hostel seemed far but the green gardens and colourful flowers that lined the streets made up for it. Our hostel was near the Zinkensdamm soccer stadium and inside were several different teams practicing. After leaving our stuff in our room we headed out to Gamla Stan.

Slottskyrkan- The Royal Chapel

Gamla Stan was absolutely gorgeous. In comparison to what we last experience in Helsinki, this DEFINITELY tops it. The older buildings, the palace, the tiny streets, everything seemed so historic and stuck in time. The cobblestone streets were really nice to walk on, minus my choice of flats as I felt every cobblesone, my bad. We found our souvenirs at a really great price and I even had Swedish gelato (Stracciatella) that was to die for. We took photos in front of the palace which faces the little bay and to my surprise I saw a female guard. I have never seen a female guard for a royal building before so I snuck a shot of her. We also took photos with the side guard before we entered the Royal Chapel. It was absolutely gorgeous! Even the entrance to the Royal Chapel was gorgeous but none of my photos could even compare how gorgeous it actually was unfortunately.

We went to bed early that night as we were going to have to switch hostels again the next morning. I talked a lot with another woman who was in our room. She was a geologist from England and she was so nice to talk to. She had a lot of insight into the field and possible venues for work pertaining to my interests.

Day 17, Sunday

The ship hostel (right) with Gamla Stan in the background

 As soon as we woke up we headed towards our next destination. We took a bus to get to it but it was not very confusing. Our next hostel was to be the af chapman af Skeppsholmen. This is a former ship that was originally made in 1888. It was a super cool experience to know that our hostel was going to be us sleeping on this boat. It also had great views of Gamla Stan and specifically of the royal palace.

After we dropped off our stuff we went to a little dock and finished eating our breakfasts. I took some photos and just relaxed by the water. The view was really gorgeous if I have not stressed that enough already. The bridge walking from Skepssholmen to Gamla Stan was really pretty as we got great views of the harbour on both sides.


From here we skipped the old part of Gamla Stan and headed toward the newer part of downtown. When we got there we went in to a huge H&M, as it is from Sweden. We did some minor shopping and headed towards an international food festival. There were mini booths from all over such as perogies from Poland, cheese from the Netherlands, crepes from France and barbeque burgers from Australia. From here we found a music festival that was going on. There was a young singer on stage who apparently is the Swedish version of Justin Bieber. The tweens were going crazy. When I asked one who he is, she told me: "He sings Lady Gaga, and he looks like he's 18 but he's only 14! OH MY GOD I LOVE HIM!". Obviously those are requirements in order to be talented.


We left the downtown and headed back to the older Gamla Stan in order to go on a boat cruise. It was really nice even though we didn't have window seats. We sat beside a family that actually lives right near where we departed and even though they have lived in Stockholm for many years they had never done the tourist sight-seeing boat cruise so they actually provided a lot more information to us which was great.

Radhus

After our boat cruise I really wanted to go see the radhus which is where the other Nobel Prizes are given out other than the Peace Prize (which is in Oslo as I previously mentionned). It was right along the water, which is not a great indicator as Stockholm is tons of small islands surrounded by water haha. Again, the view was stunning. There was a Stockholm horse in the middle of the court yard area, which apparently Stockholm is known for as they are everywhere. My poor camera took a tumble at one point as Amanda accidentally dropped it :( So in some of my photos if I forgot to move back the cover for the lens it will block part of the lens :( 
I came so close to putting my feet in the Baltic Sea as well but Amanda did not want to come down to the little water area so I didn't try as the current was too strong and there was nothing to hold on to...next time I'll do it and take a picture to prove as I always do!


From here we walked back through Gamla Stan to get to the ship. I completely ran out of money so I knew I needed sleep so that I could carry the 55lbs that was my backpack and purse all the way to the train station the next morning to catch our train to Copenhagen.