No tags yet.
Week 5 woohoo! This week was full of doing homework and preparing for midterms next week, with a fun weekend trip to Copenhagen thrown in the mix. On Monday I started the week long process of catching up on my blog posts and photo editing, which I finally finished on Thursday. I still have a ton of videos to edit, but those will come after midterms. On Thursday I did a presentation for my human rights class about how journalism reports human rights abuses. I think it went well overall, I even got to talk about my experience as a photographer for The Beacon! On Thursday afternoon I got on the bus to Dublin with four other girls in my program to catch a flight to Copenhagen.
For some reason I've been obsessed with going to Copenhagen. Not only is it cute and colorful, but Denmark is supposedly one of the happiest countries in the world! We touched down in CPH on Thursday night and took the metro to our hostel (which was very hipster looking). We set down our bags in the room and set out through the city to find ourselves a late night valentine's day dessert. We ended up going to a place called Fruitella, where I got a waffle topped with the most incredible oreo gelato.
On Friday we went to breakfast at a coffee place called Andersen & Maillard. I got the best chocolate croissant (it had chocolate ganache in the center of it) and cup of hot chocolate. After finishing breakfast we went to Rosenborg Castle and Nyhavn. We hopped on a netto boat at Nyhavn and took a canal tour of the city. The tour was so fun because I was able to see a lot of the city from the water. After we were dropped back at Nyhavn, we took the bus to our hostel and relaxed before heading to Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is one of the oldest amusement parks in Europe. It was full of incredible light displays and delicious food! We spend our night shopping around the park, eating waffles and ending with ice skating.
On Saturday we decided to pretend we were locals and bike everywhere. The infrastructure in Copenhagen caters to bikes and pedestrians just as much as cars, so it was really easy to bike across the canals and throughout the city. We started our journey by riding to Church of Our Savior, but unfortunately it was closed to tourists. We turned our bikes around and rode to the sidewalk trampolines that the city has permanently installed along the waterway. The trampolines were so fun. I felt like a kid again and I jumped for at least 15 minutes. After that we rode to Ameliaborg Palace, the Little Mermaid statue and the Round Tower. The Little Mermaid was a highlight for me because I am a huge fairytale nerd. The Round Tower was also wonderful because it gave us great 360 degree views of the entire city. After we finished our site seeing for the day we got burgers to go from Gasoline Grill (a famous Copenhagen burger joint) and ate them on the side of the canal as the sky turned pink and purple from the sunset.
Then came the most unpleasant part of the trip: the bike crash. I was riding my bike at the front of our group on a park path next to the canal when I got the bright idea to pull my phone out of my pocket and record a video of the passing scenery while I was riding. Bad idea. I got my phone out of my pocket and started recording, then felt myself start to drift into the opposing lane of bike traffic. I couldn’t regain control and clipped the shoulder of a lady biking the other way and crashed into the ground on my bike. I fell with my bike, landing on my side hard into the pavement. My chin hit the ground pretty hard and my legs were completely scraped up and now are covered with pretty gnarly bruises. I also had a small gash in my palm. A few kind joggers came over to help me back on my feet and grab my bike. Luckily the lady I hit was not hurt and she was just concerned that I was okay.
I needed to be alone in that moment, so I told my friends I needed a minute and went to sit on a bench by the canal. I was shaking pretty bad and tried to control the inevitable tears that were forming in my eyes. I called my mom and facetimed her for the next 20 minutes, crying a lot and telling her about the accident. I’m so lucky that I have a mom that will always be there when I need her.
This crash, while it sucked, was something like a wake up call for me. It shocked me into reality. This was the first time I cried since coming to Ireland, and I realized how tired I was when talking to my mom. I’ve been putting so much pressure on myself to have the “perfect” experience and go everywhere while constantly being happy. I’ve realized that moving to Ireland doesn’t mean you stop being human. I need to give myself permission to have ups and downs, to take time to rest and slow down. I need to learn more about my own energy and prioritize my alone time and focus on my mental/physical wellbeing. My mom pointed all of this out to me. (She is really smart). I’ve been feeling guilty for being homesick or having bad days but this experience is one of intense growth in a small amount of time. My development as a person isn’t linear, and I’m going to spend some time this next week being alone and reflecting on my time here. Thanks Mom, I love you.
After I pulled myself together, we rode back to the hostel (I got back on the bike!). Then, after resting, we went to a place called Desserthuset and got “Freakshakes”. Mine was oreo flavored with an entire ice cream sandwich ON TOP! It was a pretty great reward after the trauma of the evening.
On Sunday morning we went to Grod, a fancy oatmeal specialty restaurant, and got apple peanut butter oatmeal with ginger lemonade to drink. It was delicious, I love oatmeal. My roommate and I made one last stop to Nyhavn and bought some souvenirs before taking the metro to the airport. The flight was smooth but our bus back to Galway was about 80 degrees and took an eternity. Despite the discomfort we made it back safely to our flat, and although I have some battle scars, Copenhagen was unforgettable and I would love to go back one day.
(See my photos from Copenhagen on my Travel Page).