Min adresse

"My address"

For those of you wondering what/requesting my address is so that you can send me wonderful letters and we can become pen pals (ahem Hillary) it is:

Sara Hodgins (obviously)
Arne Jacobsens Allé 11F 4TH C
2300 København S
Danemark

No pressure guys ;-P

Seventeen in Kraków

In my Danish language class there were three Polish physicists: Marcin A, Marcin F, and Andrzej. I don't know how it all came about but they ended up planning on going back to Poland and so several of the people from my language class and several of the people that we have met along the way decided to join them. In total we were seventeen people.

3 Polish, 3 Russian, 2 Brazilian, 2 Canadian,

2 from the UK, 1 Austrian, 1 Dutch, 1 Hungarian,

1 Slovanian and, 1 Swiss in the Malmo Airport

For being so many people, we actually stayed together for the majority of the trip. On our first full day in Kraków we went on a free walking tour of the city. Afterwards we went back to the Market Square and had a coffee, explored, and some of us shopped. We went for dinner at a Polish restaurant and the majority of us got a very Polish meal! There was about seven different kinds of meat, and a few potatoes. It was so good but I think that I got my fill of meat for the next month.

Market Square

The meal of meat

On Thursday we went to Auschwitz. It was a very sobering experience. It's hard to explain what we saw and especially writing about it on a blog wouldn't do it justice. We spent most of the day here. We left the hostel at 9.30 and got back around 15.30. Our hostel was about a five minute walk from a supermarket and that supermarket was across from Wisla River which Wawel Castle is on. So we had a picnic lunch there which was absolutely beautiful and refreshing.

The railway that brought people to the extermination camps

Picnic lunch in front of Wawel Castle

That night for dinner we split up and several of us went to a vegetarian restaurant in order to counter-act the mass amounts of meat that we had eaten the night before! I never thought that I would be able to be a vegetarian, but if all of my meals were this elaborate and delicious (and cheap) then I think that I would be able to survive!



At 6.15 the next morning several of us met Andrzej for a tour through the forest and some bird watching. The weather was absolutely amazing and the scenery was beautiful. We saw a fortress at the top of one hill, a zoo, the highest point in Kraków, and the "three nuns" (a legend of three nuns fleeing who prayed to God to save them from their enemies and so he turned them into rocks). It was a beautiful walk, and 5 hours later we returned to the hostel to meet Marcin A who showed us around the city and took us to Wawel Castle.

The legend of the three nuns

Bell tower in Wawel Castle

And finally on our last day in Kraków several of us met Andrzej again for a picnic breakfast in the park and flying his new kite. It was an acrobatic kite which I had never actually seen before (only read about it in the Kite Runner) and it was SO much fun! We spent over an hour there laughing and running and playing with the kite. Afterwards we all went our separate ways: home; shopping; walking around the city; and myself and two others went to the National Museum. They had a little bit of everything there: contemporary art, Polish art, and Polish history all the way from medieval to 20th century. And there were even opportunities to try on old armour!

And finally we had to leave Kraków (and the sun) to come back to København, but not before everyone bought cheap food and other necessities!

I'll be back!!

Jeg bor i en lejlighed

"I live in a flat"

I realized that I have been living here for almost three months and have not yet talked about where I live!

I live in a kollegium (dormitory) about 6km out of the city centre. It is called Signalhuset (however when pronouncing it you don't fully say the 'g' or the 't' and stress the 'a'). It has 72 apartments each with space for four people, however some of my friends only have two or three people in their flats. Aparently it was originally built for families but was too expensive and far from the city that no one was moving here and thus it was converted to student housing.

I live with three other Danish students. They are great; it's really nice living with Danes because I get to meet a lot of other Danes, can practice my Danish, and they are a great resource if I ever need help!

My room mates: Silas, Naja, and Esben

We share the kitchen and living room. I have my own room and share a bathroom with my female room mate Naja. My room is pretty big and VERY white! White walls, white ceiling, white (sheer) curtains, white dresser, white chair, white night stand, and a black desk. This took some getting used to at first seeing as I moved from a red and yellow room. I have since (cheaply) decorated it with scarfs, jewellry, and free post cards that I have found around the city so it is cozy.

The shared living/dining room

My room

Danish bathrooms are interesting. There is no separate area for the shower - it is all continuous tiled floor and so the water spreads throughout the bathroom and after showering one must squeegee it dry so that mould doesn't grow.



Another interesting thing about the kollegium is that it is 6 different sections (A through F) and they are not connected on the ground floor or on the inside but instead connected through a balcony on each floor running outside of the rooms. Luckily I live on the 4th floor and on the side without the elevator so no one walks by my window.

At være turist

"Being a tourist"

I love living in Copenhagen, but just because I'm living here doesn't mean that I can't be a tourist in my own city!

Throughout my stay here I have seen quite a few of the sites:

1. Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid)

It's true that she is little - she is actually 5.5ft like me but since she is such a popular monument I would have thought that she would be bigger. I thought that she was amazing but she will be moving to Shanghai in April for the World Expo.

2. Carlsberg Glyptotek

The famous Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen created his own personal art collection. This exhibition (free to the public every Sunday) has a little bit of everything: mummies and things from ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman sculptures, contemporary Danish and French art, and ancient Mediterranean art. It is amazing that one person could accumulate so much in his lifetime.

Outside of the Glyptotek

Some of the Egyptian displays

3. Carlsberg Brewery

Carlsberg is probably the best beer in town. They offer a self guided tour through the brewery, a room full of beer bottles, the stables where the horses are kept, and Bar Jacobsens where most of our time was spent. With a group of more than 15 people, entrance to the brewery is 40kr (as opposed to 60kr) and includes two free beers at the end of the tour - I have never seen so many types of beer in my life. There was even one that tasted like Cola.

4. National Museum

The National Museum is the biggest museum in Denmark, all about Denmark. It follows Danish history through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, all the way to present day Denmark - there is even an exhibition on Christiania. They also have a room full of the cutest, most detailed doll houses I have ever seen! There is also an "Ethnographical Collection" and antiques from the Middle East and Egypt which I have yet to see, but admission is free!

One of the "doll houses"

5. Christiania

Denmark's own little Amsterdam. It is a colourful little city of about 850 residents in the middle of Copenhagen. In the 1970s after the army had moved out of the barracks, people took it over and it became a little hippie town. It has created a lot of controversy here in Copenhagen with the residents and the politicians. It wasn't until 1994 that residents paid taxes. It is really a cute area, but unfortunately I have no pictures. Several of the rules include:

1. No pictures

2. No running

3. No bulletproof vests

4. No hard drugs

5. No guns

This is actually in the National Museum, but it used to be in Christiania!

6. Rundetaarn (Round Tour)

This is located right in the center of the old city. It is a nice little tour with a circular ramp leading to the top. There is a great view and apparently on a sunny, clear day you can see to Malmö.

7. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

This is actually just outside of Copenhagen in northern Zealand. It is a huge museum of modern art - when I was there they were having their exhibition of "Colour in Art" and "Homo sapiens sapiens". I went a few weeks ago with about 30 international students. We enjoyed an outdoor picnic in the negative seven degree weather which was lovely.

8. Nyhavn

This is the popular postcard picture! It was actually the first tourist attraction that I saw. I went here before I had even moved into my flat. It is now a picturesque little area, but during the war time it was a common spot for the navy to dock and spend their time.

And there is still much more for me to see.......

Jeg kan godt lide ride min cykel

"I like to ride my bicycle"

Before I went to Italy, I had ridden my bicycle twice. The tires were a little bit flat so I borrowed my roommates tire pump and accidentally let all of the air out of my back tire because the nozzle didn't fit the valve. Oops. So I was relying soley on the metro. However on March 6 my monthly pass ran out so instead of paying 320kr (about $60 CAD) I decided that I needed to fill up my tires and start biking.

This proved to be a little bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I returned from Rome on Monday March 8 and risked not having a pass on the way to class that night. On Tuesday I stayed in and had a relaxing evening with my friends. It turns out that while I was gone, two of them got caught on the metro without a pass and had to pay a 600kr (about $115CAD) fine. I:
a) didn't want to get caught and have to pay that; and,
b) don't think that I could lie about my name and address in order to get out of the fine like one of the girls did.

My roommates told me that there was no bicycle repair shop (and thus tire pump) anywhere near to where we lived. So, on Wednesday morning I took my bike with me to the metro so that I could bring it into the city to get the tires pumped up. I went at 8.30, however bikes are not allowed on the metro from 7.00-9.00 and I had to get to class so I was forced to leave my bike behind, flat tires and all.

Wednesdays are my busy days; I have class from 9.15-11, 13.15-4, and 17.15-20 so I was unable to pump my tires up. But in my evening Danish language class, one of the German exchange students told me about a bicycle repair shop close to where we live - looks like the exchange students know more than the Danes!

Bright and early on Thursday I went to Aarhus (the second biggest city in Denmark) and didn't get back until Sunday evening so again, no time to pump up my bike tires. Finally, this morning, after about a week of excuses and failed attempts to fix my bike, I left my flat a little earlier and walked to the bike shop, pumped up the tires, and biked to class.

Surprisingly, it only took about 37 minutes to get to class - it's quicker than the metro! It may sound silly, but it felt so liberating to be biking around the city! It was very empowering to know that I could go wherever I wanted and didn't have to wait for the public transit (and that I was faster than the public transit). And it also felt very Danish. They have special bike lanes, special bike lights, and special machines to count the number of cyclists passing through the city.

This picture is a few weeks old; now the weather is beautiful and sunny and there is NO SNOW!

After class, on my way back to Amager, I was biking during the 'rush hour'. It felt so strange, biking next to dozens of other cyclists. I had always seen them, but never actually been with them. It was like we were some sort of gang - all 20 of us stopping at the light and while we were waiting another 15 join us, and then all 35 of us all start cycling at the same time. It is really an amazing cultural experience!

When couchsurfing in Rome

I loved everywhere in Italy but I think that Rome deserves a little extra description!

Daria and I arrived at midnight on March 4 and our host took us our to Cube, a real Italian club full of Italians dancing to popular Italian music. It was a really fun night and something we would have never done had we not couchsurfed.

Couchsurfing was really great in Rome - I really felt like I lived there! On March 5th after a fairly uneventful and rainy day, our host invited us to join him to Castelli Romani. We went on a coach bus full of Italian students from BEST (a group for students studying Engineering, Economics, Architecture, etc) to Castelli Romani. It is famous among the locals for the amazing food and homemade wine. Our group filled the small restaurant and we ate and drank until close! The meal started with bread, meat, cheese, olives, stuffed peppers, and wine. And the main dish was pasta carbonara and wine. And dessert was biscuits and wine. It was a lot of fun and a good opportunity to meet other Italian students.

Daria and I with a star from Big Brother (basically Italian survivor)

With Sofie outside of the Pantheon

Our next host, Nico, was amazing! He gave us tips on what to see and informed us that all national museums were free this weekend because it was Women's Day on March 8 (something that doesn't exist in Canada but it really should). Daria and I, along with Sofie (another couchsurfer from Malmö Sweden) went to Castel Sant'Angelo's in the morning and then to the Jewish quarter in the afternoon. We met Nico on Isola Tiberina (a little island on the Fiume Tevere) for a lunch of pizza and wine. He brought his guitar and we sang the Italian song that he taught us:

Ma che ce frega, ma che c'importa

Se nel vino c'hai messo l'acquo

E noi glei dimo

E noi glei famo

C'hai messo l'acqua non to pagamo

Pizza picnic

It was the perfect, relaxing afternoon in the sun! After lunch though we said goodbye to Sofie who had to fly home that afternoon and hurried on to see Foro Romano (the Roman ruins) before it closed...actually we got there after it closed. After a heated discussion in Italian, some begging from Daria and I, and an awesome Irish man's help, the three of us were allowed in! We laughed, took pictures, and did cartwheels.

Nico took us to see Circo Massimo afterwards which was a place for entertainers to go and for athletes to compete in the past. We decided to do a little entertaining while there.

The guys in the background are entertained.

And finally, the perfect end to a perfect day, we ate homemade panzerotti with Nico's housemate Marcones. Marcones actually couldn't speak a word of English and Daria and I not a word of Italian. That didn't stop us from having conversations though; hand movements help a lot.

Rome is beautiful. Luckily I threw a coin into the Fontana di Trevi so I'll be returning one day.

Italy in five words...

In Canada, the universities have reading week, and in Copenhagen my university also has a week holiday (March 1-March 5). I decided to extend my holiday a little bit and missed a class on Wednesday February 24, and a class on Monday March 8, in order to go to Italy for 12 days.

I went with my friend Daria, from Russia. Since there was just the two of us, we decided to try something a little bit different: couchsurfing. Basically it is an opportunity to stay (for free) with people who actually live in the city that you are going to. It is a great way to experience the city like a local and really learn about the place you are visiting. You sign up online and then can search others profiles in the city that you want to go to, and when you find someone you like, you write to them and ask if you can stay with them and they say yes or no!

We flew into Milano and were picked up at the airport by my sister's husband's mother's cousin - so my relative (kind of) and stayed at his bar-turned-house in Soriso (an hour outside of Milano). On the 28th we went to Mestre (just outside of Venice) where we spent two nights and had our very first couchsurfing experience. On March 2nd we went to Pisa, and then early on the 4th we went to Florence for the day and made it to Rome by midnight to catch the last bus of the night! We stayed with two hosts in Rome, each for two nights.

Italy is a beautiful country! I definitely want to go back and visit the friends that I made and to see everything again. I loved everything about Italy: the food, the people, the climate, the landscape, the music, the wine!! Daria and I decided that if we could describe our trip in five words this would be it:

1. Eating: the food was amazing! We ate gelato, pizza, panzerotti, bread and cheese, pasta, risotto, lasagna, sea food, cakes and cookies, more pasta, more pizza, more gelato. We also drank wine, coffee, cappuccino, espresso! And our hosts gave us some great recipes to bring back to Denmark.

Daria and I eating gelato outside of Milan

Nico (my host in Rome), his housemate Marco, and me eating home made panzerotti's

2. Climbing: we climbed to the top of something in every city that we went to! In Milan to the top of the Duomo; in Venice to the top of Campanile di San Marco; in Pisa to the top of the Leaning Tower; in Florence to the top of the Campanile di Giotto; and in Rome we climbed Pincian Hill and Castel Sant'Angelo.

Florence

Italy from the top of Castel Sant'Angelo

3. Missing trains: we decided to travel through Italy via regional trains. Since they were regional (ie. cheap) they were never direct. So from Milan to Venice we got on the wrong train, from Venice (to Bologna to Prato to Florence) to Pisa we took a train in the wrong direction (only one stop) and then missed our train in Bologna. We actually caught our train to Florence, but from Florence to Rome we missed our train by 10 minutes and had to wait 2 hours for the next one. And finally from Rome to the airport we stood in front of our train as the train officer refused to open the door and thus we missed yet another train.

Daria and our Venecian host Marco wondering how we took the wrong train

4. Laughing: two girls travelling through northern Italy - enough said!

5. Couchsurfing: it was my first time couchsurfing but I LOVED it!! I met some amazing people and had some great experiences doing things that I otherwise would have never done!