Big Ben, Parliament

Well, I finally have a few minutes (sort of) to sit down and catch up on the blog. I don't really, as I am writing in similar circumstances as my last entry - I have to get up in about 6 hours to head to Ireland. It's been an eventful 9 days, so I'll jump right in.

Our travels to Copenhagen two Saturdays ago were relatively easy and uneventful. We were first on board on EasyJet (a Southwest-type airline with no assigned seats, but instead of seating positions like B15 as on Southwest, EasyJet just has everyone board in one big, chaotic group). So we strategically positioned ourselves at the gate, and got on first. We managed to be first on the return trip as well, and on both flights we used some of our psychological expertise to ensure a row of three seats to ourselves (I would tell you how, but I can't risk our methods getting out). We arrived to rainy Copenhagen around noon, and were happily surprised when we were allowed to check into our hotel early. It was a cheap hotel, with tiny rooms reminiscent of cruise ship cabins. The rooms were small, but clean, and exactly what we needed. Plus, the hotel was perfectly located near many of the main attractions. Exhausted from our early start, we ate lunches we had packed from London and then both took a nap. We headed out in late afternoon for our first sightseeing of the trip. We walked by Trivoli Gardens (VERY close to our hotel), and peered in through the gates - it's closed for a few more weeks until the weather warms up (we were visiting at the end of the off-season, but that was fine with us since everything was less crowded, and in some instances, less expensive). After that, we continued onto to the main town square, which was nice, but paled in comparison to the Old Town Square in Prague. We walked through the Square and checked out the Stroget, which is the longest pedestrian street in the world. It was very cool, with tons of restaurants and shops. We strolled through for over an hour, scouting out potential restaurants for lunch and dinner on the trip. Around dinner time we returned to the hotel to relax for a bit more.

We were still a bit tired around dinner time, so we didn't feel like wandering too far for food - we caved and got Big Macs and fries (first mention of fries... to be continued) from the McDonald's in the nearby train station. Although there was other motivation for the decision - the city is absurdly expensive, and restaurants can be a fortune (we saw burgers at one point at the Hard Rock Cafe for about the equivalent of $35). So McDonald's was a way of saving a bit of cash. After dinner we just played some cards and watched some Danish TV (interesting...) before bed.

On Sunday we walked across town to see the Little Mermaid Statue, which is based on the myth that inspired the movie. It was very pretty, and Jillian reenacted the pose while I snapped a picture. After that, we toured one of the buildings of the Amalienborg Palace, where the Royal Family often has lived. It was simple on the outside, and had some very pretty rooms on the inside. However, the Prince and Princess who are going to move in soon commissioned several murals that were absolutely dreadful and ruined several of the rooms. We walked back towards central city through the Stroget, and got falafel and fries (second mention of fries...) for lunch. We had plans to tour the Carlsburg Brewery (the local beer owned by a famous family in the area), but we couldn't figure out the bus system in time (the brewery closed at 4... commercial hours in general were very strange throughout the city) so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner instead. We had a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Big Macs, falafel, and Chinese for our first three meals in Copenhagen... nice) which was decent - I thought it was alright, but Jillian was a big fan. We hadn't really had Chinese in quite some time, so it was a good change of pace at least.

On Monday, our last day in Copenhagen, we walked through the Stroget to the Round Tower to check out the church (simple but pretty) inside and to go to the top for an aerial view of the city. It was a nice day out, but the city wasn't particularly impressive from up top - much prettier on street level. We had plenty of time to kill before out 9 PM flight, so we decided to walk east across the river to a part of town we hadn't been to yet. There, we went to Christiania, a self-governed area commonly thought to have legalized marijuana (it hasn't). We were told it was sort of Amsterdam-esque, but when we arrived, we found it to just be a run down part of town with lots of graffiti. We spent no more than 10 minutes walking around before heading back. We picked up our Danish meal of the trip on the walk back - savory crepes, with chicken, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, and avocados (quite Danish), which were good. We still had about 3 hours before we had to leave for the airport, but we had seen just about everything there was to see, so we sat in the lobby of our hotel and passed the time with cards and watching TV. On our way to the airport, we stopped at a bakery picked up a couple of Danish danishes (a more authentic meal for Copenhagen, I suppose), which were DELICIOUS.

So overall, I really enjoyed Copenhagen. The city at times looked like Amsterdam, with several nice streets with canals and similar looking buildings lining either side. But it was different than any of the other cities we've seen thus far. Unlike Prague, which has certain small areas that are really beautiful, Copenhagen's beauty is more dispersed in individual buildings all across the city. It was incredibly expensive, so once again a big thank you to Mom and Dad for helping us, as we would not have been able to do it on our own. It was a great city and a great trip, and I'm very happy we made it there.

We came back and immediately had to dive into our last week of class. It was relatively uneventful, although surreal to be finishing despite having spent so much less time in class than we're used to. I am very glad to be done with Developmental Psych, though, and I'm glad I took it here rather than at Penn. We'll see if I feel that way after the exam, though. On Thursday we both wrote our final papers for International Security, which were due today. We did them early in anticipation of being busy once Jillian's mom, Sheri, arrived. Good thing, because we were even busier than we thought. We also did a bit of cooking during the week (our last for quite some time with all of our travels coming up), and on Thursday had chicken fingers and fries (third time...)

Sheri arrived in London early Friday morning. She wore a similar tired expression as Mama Sommers when she arrived a few weeks ago (although Sheri napped in Jillian's bed instead of mine). After class, we checked her into her hotel and grabbed some lunch at Pret (we hadn't been back since our very first day, but it was just as good as we remembered). We walked over to the British Library first, which had an impressive collection of historical artifacts: manuscripts from Jane Austen, an original hand-written copy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, handwritten lyrics from the Beatles scribbled on scraps of paper, and old copies of the Magna Carta. Very cool. After that we walked down to the British Museum, which Jilli and I hadn't been to since our first day of art history. It has an impressive collection, highlighted by the Rosetta Stone. There are also a ton of artifacts from the Parthenon in Athens, but that seemed odd to me (why is it in London?). After the museum, we headed to Russell Square for dinner at a cafe type place called Giraffe. The food was good, and I had a cheeseburger and fries (number four...) When we got back to Schafer, we hung out with George and Rosie for a bit before our long day came to an end.

On Saturday we woke up early for a trip to the Abba Museum, which was a very thorough look at the history of Abba, with all sorts of displays and interactive features. I'm not a huge Abba fan, but they did a good job presenting everything so it was interesting enough. Jillian was singing their stuff for the rest of the day.

Like any other tourists at the Abba Museum, our next stop was the Tower of London. But that transition obviously wouldn't have made sense without lunch at KFC in between. I fittingly had a "Boneless Banquet for One" box, which was boneless strips, popcorn chicken, and you guessed it... fries (make that five). Feeling light and fluffy after a delicate lunch, we toured the Tower. I remembered enjoying it back in '97 with Mom and Dad, and I did again 13 years later. Pretty impressive sense of history, although I must admit I find it hard to top the Colosseum in that regard. We then returned to our respective rooms for some brief downtime before dinner at Prezzo (the first of multiple repeats of dinners out that we had with Mom and Dad), which was good again.

Which brings us to yesterday. We set out for the Imperial War Museum, with plans to see the Tate Modern afterwards. But the Imperial War Museum had so much to see and was so interesting that we ended up spending four hours there and skipping the Tate. We had dinner at an interesting French place called Relaise de Venise - the original is in Paris, but they opened one here too. We heard about it from my friend Ibby who is studying abroad in Paris. They don't take reservations, so they suggest arriving right when they open. We were a bit late, so we waited for a few minutes - but it moved quickly and we were positioned under a heat lamp outside. Once you sit down, there is no menu - they simply ask you how you want your steak done. Then they bring salad and bread, and eventually steak and pommes frites (fancy way of saying number SIX! french fries six times in about a week! I'm french fried out.) in their "secret sauce." Once you finish your plate, they offer the second half of your steak and fries, which is served separately to ensure it is hot. It was very good, and good to have steak for the first time in a while. And given the food, it is reasonably priced as well. After dinner we capped off our French cuisine night by walking across the street to a creperie, which was actually closing down today. So we got there for the grand finale, and had fruit crepes for dessert. I had a banana crepe with Belgian white chocolate that was unbelievable. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. After dinner Jillian and I put the final touches on our papers, and then hung out with George and Rosie for the last time in quite a while. She left for home today, leaving the two of us alone in the flat. Soon, it will be empty for a couple of days.

So, finally. Today. We've made it. Today was the standard London tourist's day: we started with Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard - there was a HUGE number of people on hand to see it, which made it tough on the shortest member of our trio. But it was interesting enough. The Palace itself is pretty ordinary on the outside, I have to admit. Next up was Westminster Abbey, with the help of the free audio tour guide. Pretty impressive building, and pretty impressive collection of tombs/memorials. We spent a good deal of time there, and afterwards found a nearby Pret (there's always one nearby) for a late lunch. We then tried unsuccessfully to get into Parliament, but settled for pictures on the outside, and then pictures of Big Ben. Big Ben, Parliament. Big Ben, Parliament.

We regrouped and met up later to try and find the necessary goods for a Passover Seder, but our local Sainsbury had a limited selection, so Jillian and Sheri headed up to Camden Town to a bigger one. They got all sorts of kosher-for-Passover stuff (although none of us plan on keeping it this year), while I napped back at Schafer. We all cooked the food for the (very late) Seder, which was abbreviated and a bit surreal - but at least we had one. No french fries, I might add.

Now it's time to get ready for Dublin tomorrow. We get back on Thursday, and only have a couple of days before we leave "Monday" morning (around 2 AM Sunday night, really) for our big three week trip. It's going to be an action-packed next month or so.

Well, I should get moving. Lots to do, and not much time to do it.


Cultural Difference: Far too many people here seem to think it's socially acceptable to dye their hair a maroon-like red. And also to wear glasses with ENORMOUS black frames.