Hej:First Day in København

Copenhagen Airport

In planning my trip to Ireland, I figured that while I was there, I should take advantage of the proximity of Dublin to so many other great European cities. While I studied abroad, I managed to see a small snippet of five other countries: Edinburgh (Scotland), Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France), London (England), and Madrid (Spain). In reality, I could've (and should've) ventured to more of a variety of places, and even to more countries since it would've been so much cheaper and I had so much time.

But now that I'm limited to two weeks of vacation and needing to start in the US as a base, I needed to really utilize my time that I was spending. So there were talks of a mini-trip, one or two countries over the course of 3-4 days (I wasn't going to give up too much of my time spent in Ireland). And luckily Shannon was all for this idea, having a goal of hers being to visit as many countries as she is old (24 countries by the time she's 24) and she was almost falling behind. (My fact about Shannon that I tell EVERYBODY is that she's been to every continent, that includes Antarctica). So we set out to find the best option for a short break and landed on Copenhagen, since Denmark was on her list as a place she had never been. So let's get to the mini-trip shall we...

We were already enthralled and impressed by Copenhagen when we landed at the airport. Beautifully designed chairs and hardwood flooring (not to mention the famed hot dogs have a stand before customs).

We took the what I suppose you would call the metro, to the stop closest to our hostel and I proceeded to walk us in the wrong direction. In case you were unaware, Danish is a confusing language. Also getting lost will become a common theme during this vacation, along with hot dogs and hurting feet.

We eventually figured out where our hostel was, Generator Copenhagen, and FYI, it's not that hard to find. I would highly recommend a stay at Generator, I know they're spotted around Western Europe (Dublin, Barcelona, Berlin, etc.) and they're some of the nicest that I've stayed at with ample sized storage for your luggage under your beds, reading lights, key cards, outlets at every bed, and a really good breakfast for not very much. The only downside we encountered during our stay was an odd (and seemingly angry) couple who were in the bunks across from ours and the massive school group that was there but neither particularly hindered us aside from lack of seating and needing to be quiet at odd times just to be considerate.

As we arrived mid-afternoon, we had hoped to get a hot dog from DØP before trying to tackle one of the sights. Little did we realize that Mondays are days on which things tended to be closed or closed early on, so we ended up missing the infamous hot dogs, but did make it just in time to visit the Rundetaarn (round tower), which gave us spectacular views of the city, and some history before we ended up settling for shwarma close to Tivoli (this was our first debacle with using the Danish Kroner, it's hard okay?)

While the views from the top were amazing, the highlight of the day for me was walking down Stroget (the main pedestrian shopping area), and looking to my left to see my beloved waffles from Brussels. We had continued walking to dinner, but OBVIOUSLY we stopped on our way back to the hostel and I was over the moon! I believe my Instagram photo caption referred to the waffle as "the love of my life".

I'll leave you with a picture of the love of my life waffle while you wait for Part 2.

Until then,

-J

Returning to the Emerald Isles

They say that upon kissing the Blarney Stone, one is granted with the gift of gab (or a load of blarney). In 2009, in the pouring rain, I kissed that stone and I must say that whenever I return to Ireland, the gift of gab goes into overdrive.

Blarney Castle, Cork, Ireland - 2009

I flew out of Detroit on a Saturday morning (we're talking early morning), and before the shops at North Terminal even opened I had made friends with two flight attendants on their way back from Paris. On my flight to Boston, I sat next to a man who grew up in my town, went to the same school as my older brothers (no longer in existence), was friends with my mom's boss and who had Big Sean and Charlie Sheen at his wedding. We talked the entire flight and I wasn't even mad about losing out on the sleep I had intended to get.

Then came an 11 hour layover in Boston, where I finally decided to check my bag through and also where I spent a lot of time wandering the terminals and watching "Call The Midwife" on Netflix (and asking everyone waiting in the queue at AerLingus if they had ever been to Ireland). But all was well when I boarded my flight to find that because I had changed my seat assignment, I was now an end seat in a completely empty row of four. The glory of being able to possibly spread out while I slept!

Then I decided to help out an elderly woman who was struggling with her entertainment system. That, however, turned into six hours of talking with the retired Irish nurse, Ethna. Mind you, I had wanted to get some sleep during this leg, but she eventually saw that and I got a quick nap in before breakfast and deplaning. At customs, just before we went our separate ways (E.U. vs. everyone else), we exchanged information and shared a quick hug.

And although I spent the first half of my week with my friend, Shannon, I had a lot of alone time during the second half of my trip where I ended up having conversations with various strangers on the streets and in my hotel pub. It actually got to the point where I was telling Shannon on how I had complimented this girl on how beautiful her hair was as we walked down the street, and she told me it was weird to be so chatty in a place where you don't know that many people. (Her roommate was on my side with the compliments).

While at home, I tend to be less outwardly social, especially with strangers, my trip brought out a different side of me. My aunt said it was probably because I was somewhere where I felt happiest and I couldn't contain my joy. I think that may be true.

I definitely am a different person while travelling, a better person I think. And by the time I was back on American soil, that chatty person had drifted away (although it may have been due to the THREE security checkpoints I had to go through upon landing at Boston Logan).

They say travelling makes you a different person, but are you a better or worse version of yourself on vacation?

Until next time,

-J

A Quick Update

It's been nine months since we've posted in this little blog. Nine months is a long time, a lot can happen, a lot can change. So here's an update.

Our last post was back in September, and I mentioned that I intended to return to Dublin for my birthday in March and I did. With my third trip under my belt, I'm fully prepared to gush more about my lovely Dublin some more, as well as my little side trip I took with a friend.

As for H and I, together as a duo we've been attempting to expand our knowledge of different areas of Detroit as often as we can. Posts on that to follow.

I'm hoping to post regularly, although I'm not committing to a schedule because we know that won't work. I should have a new post up very soon. So eyes peeled.

Hoping to win back your hearts after months away,

-J