The Lang's Come to Denmark

It's been a while since my last entry.  Things have been pretty crazy over here!  Tons to do before the two week break starting this Sunday.  But before I leave, I have to recap the week that the family spent in Copenhagen!

They arrived on Sunday October 8th and I met them at their apartment that afternoon.  It was situated right on the canal across from Nyhavn, such a great and central location.  As expected, they were pretty exhausted from a long night of traveling, but we rallied and took a walk around northern Copenhagen.  Our first stop was the Little Mermaid statue, which I hadn't even seen yet myself.  We continued along the water and ended up stumbling upon the army barracks that I had previously been to with my Holcaust and Genocide class.  Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

While I was in class the entire next day, they visited Kronborg Castle.  It was raining and the castle was closed... But at least the drive was pretty.  I met up with them after class and we drove to Jorgen's for dinner at my house.  We walked in the door and were unexpectedly greeted by the Jorgen, Tina, Else, Kim, and the three kids, Casper, Signe, and Silje.  They all came over to meet my parents and Kristen, it was so nice of them.  I really couldn't ask for a better host family!  Dinner was amazing and we had a great time, I'm so glad everyone was able to meet.

On Tuesday, we drove to Arhus, which on the mainland of Denmark called Jutland.  We didn't really have any plans of what to do and figured we'd find things once we got there, but that proved to be a little more difficult that we had anticipated... We drove around for a while, then stumbled upon the Arhus Museum of Art.  It was really bizarre, and we all came to the conclusion that the Lang family doesn't do the whole art thing.  After the museum, we found a really good chinese buffet (yes, they came all the way to denmark to eat chinese food) and drove home.  Kristen and I went out that night to Kulor bar and had so much fun!! Here are some pictures from the day in Arhus...

How is this art??

We spent the whole next day in touring Copenhagen.  We walked around Nyhavn, watched the changing of the guards at Amalienborg Palace, visited the Marble Church, and got locked into Rosenborg castle...  We had just crossed the moat to get onto the castle grounds and all of a sudden an alarm went off inside.  This is where the royal jewels are kept, so it was kind of a big deal.  A bunch of army guys came running from everywhere and the whole place went lockdown for about a half hour.  It was defintely an experience!

LOCKDOWN!

After my classes were over on Thursday, we drove about a half hour to Malmo, Sweden.  There is a HUGE bridge that connects Denmark to Sweden that was built about 5 years ago.  After a little difficulty getting some swedish money, finding parking, and figuring out where to go, we walked around downtown Malmo.  We explored the main city square called Stortorget, Lilla Torg, St. Peters Church, and a pretty park just across from downtown.  We ate dinner at a cute little Italian Restaurant, and then returned to Copenhagen for the night.

 

On Friday, we spent the whole day with Jorgen.  Since he found out my family was coming to visit, he had been talking about taking us to the white cliffs.  We drove about an hour and stopped to see one of the many bridges in Copenhagen to take some pictures.  Jorgen also offered my mom and dad a beer, at 11:30 in the morning, HA! 

We then made our way to the limestone cliffs.  After descending 600 steps, we made it! It was absolutely beautiful, I've never seen anything like it.

The hike back up those 600 stairs was pretty brutal, but Jorgen was waiting at the top with beer in hand...  After an exhausting hike, Jorgen suggested a local restaurant for lunch with amazing food.  My mom and I had pork sandwiches with beets, which were so delicious!  It was such a fun day.

We returned to the apartment around 5 and had to rally for culture night!!  Once a year, Copenhagen opens up for this huge event called Culture Night.  It goes from about 5pm to 5am, and all the tourist attractions including museums, churches, palaces, castles, literally everything in the city opens up for the people of Copenhagen.  There were TONS of people out in the city, Stroget especially was packed.  We started off at the Opera House, where we snuck into an opera show and got in trouble..   Then we went to Christiansborg Palace to see the ruins that date back to the 1100s.  After walking around Stroget for a while, we climbed to the top of the Round Tower.

the Opera House

Climbing the Round Tower...

and we made it to the top!

And that was the last night :(  My parents made breakfast for Kristen and I in the morning and then they were off to the airport and back to Maine.  I can't believe how fast the week went by!  But we had a blast together and I'm so glad I got to show them around Copenhagen.

And now in two days I'm off to Greece, Rome, Naples, Positano, Barcelona, and Paris...  Two weeks to travel all around Europe with Mallory and Collin, life is good :)  CANNOT WAIT!!!

What an amazing week!! Just returned from 6 days traveling in southern europe to Vienna, Austria and Budapest, Hungary.  We boarded the plane to Budapest Sunday afternoon and  landed around 4pm.  After a little bit of exploring, we made our way to the hotel in the middle of the city. 

That night, we took an amazing dinner cruise on the Danube River, which separated the city of Budapest into the 'buda' and the 'pest' side.  We were welcomed aboard with a glass of champagne and bottle of wine for each table.  It was a buffet style dinner with delicious Hungarian food, and yummy dessert!  While eating, we enjoyed the gorgeous views of the city while listening to a violin trio aboard the boat.  None of us could believe we were actually in Budapest, cruising along the Danube, eating a gourmet meal, and looking just out the window to see some of the most beautiful sights we had ever seen. It was unreal  Here are a few pictures!

The next morning, we left the  hotel reallly early for our first academic visit to the National Center for Spinal Disorders.   The first day was pretty packed with stuff to do. Right when we left the Center, we made our way to the Szent Laszlo Hospital and learned about the many forms of pediatric care offered in Budapest. Both tours were 3 and a half hours so it was a longggg day, we were all dead on trip back to the hotel but had to rally for a 2 hour walking tour around the city.  Our guide brought us to some pretty cool spots, including the 2nd largest synagogue in the world and the roman catholic church. 

                                      

                                              

After a long day of walking and touring,  we decided it was necessary to experience one of the main attractions of Budapest.  At 7:30, we made our way to szechenyl spa!  It is a huge facility with 5 outdoor heated pools in the center courtyard of a beautiful building.  People from all over the world come here to swim and enjoy an incredibly relaxing experience.  Words simply don't do it anyyy justice, check out the pictures below. It was AMAZING.

                                     

                                     

We returned to the hotel around 10, still having not eaten dinner.. Starving, a group of us walked to an Italian restaurant and enjoyed another delicious meal at 1030 at night.. We had such a fun time together. And the night still wasn't over, we had to go out and see what the night life was like! Although it was a Monday night, we found a club that was INSANE, it was even better than a Saturday night in Copenhagen.  There were 9 different themed rooms, with a ton of dancing and even some karaoke, and of course we had to sing a few songs :)

                                      

Woke up tuesday, yet another early morning, and made our way to the hospital for cardiology in Budapest.  We put on some white coats and booties and got to walk into the room where an open heart surgery was going on... And I didn't even pass out!  It was a really cool visit.

We had a few hours after that to explore the city on our own.  After some sightseeing, souvenir shopping, and a quick lunch, it was time to get back to the hotel and board the train to Vienna!  Budapest was absolutely amazing. From cruising on the Danube to swimming in the world famous baths, it was by far one of the coolest I've ever been.  Definitely worth coming back someday.

                                       

The next morning, we got on the train to vienna and slept for the entire 3 hour ride.  We arrived at the hotel, ate dinner, and slept.. Not a very eventful first night in Austria.  Finally feeling refreshed and rested in the morning, we made our way to the Leopold museum, known for its Viennese art.  Not a huge fan of museums/art but we saw some cool paintings and were followed around by a pretty hilarious guard who took her job waaay too seriously.

                                        

                                            

                                                                                                   
After that, we grabbed a sandwich in the main square and sat in a park while enjoying the beautiful weather. It was soo nice out! Made it kind of hard to sit through two academic visits at hospitals later on.  AmberMed provided healthcare for the uninsured and FirstLove specialized in family planning.  It was really interesting to compare the healthcare and insurance options to what we have in the US.  After the visits, we went out all together for a delicious dinner and a night out in Vienna.

Thursday was another early morning for our last academic visit to a sleep research facility.  We hung out in Vienna for the day and after dinner, we headed to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the city center.  It was such a pretty building and an amazing performance.  We all ended up staying together after the show and went out to a bar close by.  I also met up with my friend Jim who graduated from Gettysburg a couple years ago and is now working in Vienna.  It was a really fun night!

                                   

                                   

Friday was our last day in Vienna. We had to do group presentations in the morning presenting our research questions that relate to the study tour.  In the afternoon, we went to Schonbrunn Palace, a former summer residence that is one of the most important cultural monuments in the country.  After walking around the gardens and taking lots of pictures, we went on a guided audio tour through the palace.  Lunch was delicious, again, it was just like chicken parm so I was happy! I miss american food.. And for dessert, we went to an apple show and watched the whole process of how to make apple strudel!  They gave us the recipe so I'm going to try to make it for my host dad when we get back. 

                                    

                                    

And that's my trip to Budapest and Vienna! Now the Lang family takes on Denmark, should be a fun week ahead :)