If you guys don't mind, I'm gonna skip the part where I usually make excuses for why I haven't written for the past four weeks. Instead, I'm gonna go ahead and recap a whole lot of stuff in as short as possible. Lots of stuff = no times for games. Or maybe just less games. There will probably still be games. Yeah, definitely expect games.
I've opened up my handy dandy calendar in order to go back and see what I have to recap because - let's be honest - I don't even remember the last time I blogged. Whoops.
Looking at my calendar, I realize I've travelled a lot in the past four weeks. In order to expedite this recap, I'm gonna break up this post into the cities I travelled to and mostly skip discussion on class and what my in-betweens have been filled with.
Amsterdam
WOW WHAT AN AWESOME PLACE. This city is beautiful, the canals were unbelievable, and the weather happened to be amazing the weekend I was there. It was also Halloween, which meant a swarm of American students, as well as students from all over Europe. My cousin Steve (hi Steve!) has lived in Amsterdam for quite a few years, so I got the chance to visit him and go around the city the first night, even with his broken leg. Other highlights of this trip included the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, the "I Amsterdam" sign, and of course, Van Stapele Koekmakerij, home of the world's best cookies. They were, in fact, the best cookies I've ever eaten in my life. Wow. Just wow.
Barcelona
After a week more of class, I took my last 10-day excursion with some friends, beginning with Barcelona. Within 10 minutes of getting off the plane, Barcelona became my favorite European city (but mostly because of the 75-degree weather). Barcelona is truly a city that never sleeps (which meant neither did we) and it has this unbelievable energy to it. Highlights of this trip included Park Güell, Sagrada Família, and Camp Nou for an FC Barcelona game. At the game, we sat sixth row behind the goal by the corner. It was amazing, and we got to witness one of the greatest goals of the year by Neymar, only about 100 feet away. Absolute craziness.
Florence
We technically spent the longest amount of time in Florence (four nights), but we had one full day trip to Rome. Florence was also breathtaking, and the weather was great while we were there. Highlights included Il Duomo di Firenze, Museo Galileo, nearly everly gelato shop we passed, and accidentally watching Pope Francis drive by in the pope mobile. Most Italians didn't seem to be that enthused by the pope's visit, mostly because it was just a normal Tuesday afternoon and I guess Rome is a little too close to Florence for a visit to warrant a large freakout. Georgetown has a villa right outside Florence in Fiesole and although we didn't get a chance to visit, we did get to hang out with maybe 30 fellow Hoyas in Italy. 'Twas a great time.
Rome
Although this was only a day trip (and we accidentally misread the time of our 5:50 am train, causing us to miss the train and forcing us to rebook it for 8:30 am), we stuffed in as much as we possibly could. Highlights here included the Sistine Chapel, the Courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica (because the line to enter was maybe 1,000 to 2,000 people long), the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. I visited Italy about 10 years ago with my family, but it was a bit disorienting visiting again as an "adult." Regardless, I loved Rome the second time around just as much.
Geneva
When originally planning trips, I had pushed for either Geneva or Zurich because of how beautiful I had heard Switzerland is. However, I also completely spaced on the "most expensive cities in the world" thing. Our trip became a combination of lots of walking and attempting to save money. Let me say though, Geneva is actually one of the cleanest, nicest, most racially/ethnically diverse cities I've ever been to. Highlights included Jet d'Eau, the United Nations, and the Red Cross Museum. I essentially only spent money on food, but still somehow spent the same amount as I had in every other city I've visited. Expensive was an understatement here.
So, that's my travel recap and those will be my last cities of this European whirlwind (save for an 8-hour layover in Oslo on my way back to New York for the end of the semester)! I would like to take a brief moment to pay homage to all those lost in the attacks in Paris, Beirut, Nigeria, Mali, Egypt, and more. Being in Europe while this crisis has been going on is definitely a frightening thing, but the solidarity expressed by citizens both around me and globally has been tremendous. I was planning on traveling to both Paris and Brussels, but I've cancelled both of those trips and I'll be remaining in Copenhagen for the remainder of my time abroad.
In brighter news, two of my siblings (Anna and Tony) have been visiting me in Copenhagen this past week and I've been their tour guide while they stay with me. I've gotten to revisit a lot of tourist spots around Copenhagen with them, as well as some spots I haven't yet visited, like Tivoli and a castle in Helsingør (about 45 minutes north of the city). It's been fun and I'm happy to have family around me!
Today officially marks three weeks until I return home to the states. I'll try to keep you all updated on my last few weeks in Copenhagen in the meantime, but I can't promise anything. I'll be home before you know it!
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