Weekend in Edinburgh!

This weekend, I finally ventured out of Scandinavia and headed to Edinburgh, Scotland! I was a little nervous about my first solo journey out of country and the travel stress did not disappoint. Even though I left with plenty of time before my flight because of a delayed metro and long walk to my terminal I showed up to security with 40 minutes before my flight departure. After having to spring through the airport to the last gate in the last concourse, I was forced to pay 300kr (about $60) to check my backpack because apparently on Easy Jet you're not allowed to have a backpack and a purse. The excitement didn't end when I got to Scotland because the border control almost didn't let me into the country. I think I looked so confused and pathetic that the guy just felt bad for me so he let me by. Good thing I get my Danish Residence Permit on Monday so in the future I can avoid all similar drama.

Once I got into the city, I met up with Nick and we headed to dinner and then I got to experience a night out with his two roommates. It was actually so much fun! 

Friday we walked around almost the entire city starting with Greyfriars Cemetery where JK Rowling walking to get inspiration for the names for some of her characters! I was freaking out just a little. 

Then we grabbed some lunch and walked up to see the Castle which has been around in some form since the 12th century and sit almost exactly in the middle of the city. The castle itself is absolutely beautiful and so are the views of the city down below.

After the castle, we wandered through the city some more seeing the new town which is more of the shopping area, the rest of the old town, and through the old college which has been around since 1789. The University itself was founded in  1582 and is the sixth oldest University in the English speaking world. It's crazy to think that this school is significantly older than America. 

Friday night we just hung out at the apartment eating Indian take-out and watching the Rugby World Cup. On Saturday, we did some more exploring starting by hiking up Arthur's Seat which just so happens to be a dormant volcano. I was so lucky to have such beautiful and sunshine filled weather. I was expecting gloomy, rainy weather like we've been having in Copenhagen. 

After the hike, we just walked through the National History Museum where they have Dolly the sheep! As a science nerd, it was so cool to learn about the genetic research that was previously done at the University. Saturday night, I met up with my friend Zoe and we sat at a pub and watch some more rugby. I can actually say that I like and understand the sport now! All in all, it was a pretty fantastic weekend and made me more excited to explore Europe for the rest of the semester! 

Love, 

Sweden for the Day!

This weekend was a pretty great one! Not only did I get to celebrate a friend from home's birthday Friday night, but I went to Malmö, Sweden Saturday during the day and went to a outdoor concert at Tivoli for the night!  To start off the weekend, I headed into the city around 5pm to meet up with my friend for dinner with some of her friends from class. We then went back to her dorm to get ready before going out to celebrate. It was such a fun night! Because we were taking the train to Sweden the next day, we didn't stay out too late.

Saturday morning we woke up early(ish) and headed into central station to buy our tickets for the train to Malmö. We had a little time before the train left so we grabbed coffee and a breakfast sandwich to take with us. It blows my mind that to get to another country it cost less than $25 and is a shorter train ride than it is to get to my homestay! I'm definitely still getting used to how small and easily travel-able Europe is. I mean the population of Denmark is smaller than that of the state of South Carolina just to put things into perspective.

Anyways, once in Malmö we went to Starbucks to get some wifi and figure out where we wanted to go for the day. The first stop was St. Peter's church (Sankt Petri Kyrka). I absolutely love the gothic style architecture of the churches here. The contrast between the stark white arches and the gold alter is so intricate and beautiful. There was also a really cool area in the back of church with some gravestones and a painted ceiling.

From there we headed to the King's Park where there some motes, a beautiful flower garden, windmill, and castle (Malmöhus Slott)! While from the outside the castle was underwhelming, it was only $2.50 to walk through the castle halls, multiple museum exhibitions, small aquarium and natural history exhibit. There was an exhibit on the white busses and how the castle was used as a Red Cross headquarters during World War 2. It was a very interesting part of history that I hadn't really learned about before.

After the castle, we headed back into the shopping area to get some lunch at the Swedish version of Chipotle (it was incredibly delicious) and shop around before taking the train home. That night, we went into Tivoli Gardens for what turned out to be a mini music festival with a bunch of different Scandinavian and European artists like Zara Larsson, Christopher, Joey Moe, Too Many Lefthands, Little Mix, and Kygo! It was so so much fun! There were thousands of people there all dancing and enjoying the music. Definitely a great end to a really fun weekend!

Love, 

Århus and Odense

Just a warning, this post is really long and filled with an overload of pictures. This past week at DIS was Core Course Week which means that each core class takes a three day trip to somewhere closer to Denmark and then has two days in Copenhagen for lectures. For my psychopharmacology class, we went to Århus and Odense in western Denmark. After waking up at 4:45am to get to the train station on time and then waiting for our bus for over an hour, we were finally on the way. Our first stop in Århus was a talk about clinical psychopharmacology and how patients are treated in Denmark. The lecture was really interesting, but it was hard to pay attention because we were all tired and hungry. Next, we stopped for lunch and then headed to Århus Universitetshospital Risskov which was founded in 1852, is the oldest psychiatric hospital in Denmark and is still working today. We toured the museum which talks about the history of the hospital and then had a guided tour through the Ovartaci Museum. Named after a schizophrenic patient who lived at the hospital for over 50 years, the museum houses his expansive art collection and art from other patients.

 It was really interesting to see another side of the psychiatric disorders that we will learn so much about this semester. Typically, the disorders are only learned about from a biological and clinical perspective so it was unique to see the patient's perspective. After the museum, we checked into our hostel in downtown Århus and had some time to walk around before dinner. For the second biggest city in Denmark, I was surprised at how much smaller it was than Copenhagen. We went to the nicest place for dinner, where they gave us bread, beef tenderloin, and a brownie with ice cream for desert! It was delicious. After dinner, we all walked around the town and sat by the canal to drink some wine and hang out before turning in early because we were all so tired and had to be up early the next morning.

Tuesday morning we headed back to Risskov for two more lectures at the University of Århus about behavior research being done on rats with schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder and brain stereology with the brain bank. They lectures were really interesting and it was cool to hear about research currently being done on these disorders. After, we were able to go to the ARoS Museum of Modern Art. The museum is most famous for its rainbow panorama which signifies the difference between heaven and hell. It was such a fun way to look at the city and we took full advantage of taking fun pictures including a nice collection of awkward solo shots! After ARoS, we walked around the town before heading to Odense!

After a two hour bus ride, we finally made it to Odense! We checked into the hostel and had some more time before dinner. I was a little nervous about staying in a hostel but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the rooms and the breakfasts at both places. I roomed with the same two girls at both places. It turned out that I had mutual friends with both from Richmond and Mount Vernon! I am constantly amazed at how small the world really is especially within the college community. For dinner, we went to a local brewery and had a delicious burger and after we walked around the town and went to an Irish Pub to hang out. We were able to stay out a little later and keep getting to know each other which was really fun!

Yesterday morning we had a delicious breakfast at the hostel and then headed to the University of Southern Denmark for a talk on research being done on possible genes involved with schizophrenia. It was really cool to hear about genetic research, something that I am extremely interested in. Odense is famous for being the hometown of Hans Christian Anderson, the man who wrote the Princess and the Pea, the Ugly Duckling, and the Little Mermaid just to name a few. After a delicious traditional danish buffet lunch at a restaurant called the Ugly Duckling, we went through his house and the museum. It was really interesting to learn about his life and what inspired his writings. The town is absolutely adorable! It looks like one right out of a fairytale. I'm so happy we were able to travel to western Denmark because it was such a contrast between the big city of Copenhagen and somewhere that I probably wouldn't be able to go on my own. 

I absolutely loved getting to know my class better this past week and can't wait for our next week long adventure in Munich! Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end of this post. 

Love,

On Wednesdays we wander Copenhagen!

On Wednesdays we are lucky enough to have school off! For the rest of the semester, I will be going on field trips to various places around Copenhagen like the zoo, an open prison, and Mærsk to take a tour and meet with their CEO, but I was lucky to have this week free. My roommates and I slept in, easing into the day. After eating breakfast, we hopped on the train and headed into the city. It has been raining a lot here in Copenhagen, but thankfully it was a warm(ish) and sunny day. Our first stop was the Church of Our Savior where you can walk 90 meters up to the very top of the steeple to get a 360 degree view of the city.

I love the mix between the modern and historic architecture of this city. The beauty never ceases to amaze me. After climbing to the top of the church, we wen to St. Peter's Bakery to get the infamous cinnamon rolls that they only have on Wednesdays. While not the healthiest lunch, they were absolutely delicious!

Love,