London!

The trip started off right away with an exciting moment: my first passport stamp of the semester!!! Although I’ve traveled to lots of different countries, London was the first country outside of the continental EU and the only time I’ve had to go through customs.  After going through customs, I met up with my friend Alexis at the airport and we had our first experience navigating the tube to get back to our hostel. Although the English language is apparent in each country I have traveled, it was nice to be able to understand what everyone around us was saying and to be able to read all of the signs. When we finally reached our stop and were able to get out of the crowded, stuffy subway, we were shocked to see that it was completely dark outside. It was barely 5 pm! We found our way to the hostel, which was a more dangerous walk than expected because at each crosswalk we forgot to look the opposite way for oncoming traffic and had to jump back on the curb many times to avoid cars coming in the seemingly wrong direction. We quickly noticed that at each crosswalk on the ground it either says "look right" or "look left". Luckily, made it to the hostel safely and met up with the rest of our friends (3 other girls from Richmond). We headed out to explore the area and I immediately saw all of the London ‘stereotypes’. The streets were lined with red phone booths, charming taxis and the red double decker transport buses! I was also shocked to see so many Christmas decorations. It was only the first week of November… And I thought America was aggressively early in getting into the Christmas spirit! We decided to eat at a pub to try some authentic English food and filled up on fish and chips and cider. Again, we were all so relived to finally understand the menu and be assured that there was no language barrier between the waiter and we knew exactly what food we were getting. (It’s always questionable as to what you are really going to get when you order in other countries.) Although we were stuffed after dinner, we were so excited to see a Whole Foods that we had to go in and see if they had all of the American food that we were missing. We were immediately greeted by stacks of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies- something that I now realize is a strictly American treat. We got cookies and hot chocolate and continued to explore the area and enjoy all of the holiday decorations.

The next morning we set out for a packed day of sightseeing. We first walked through Hyde Park where we saw the Kensington Palace which is an official residence of the British Royal family and is where Princess Diana lived and where William and Kate now live. We did not have time to tour the inside, but we walked through all of the gardens which were really pretty with the changing leaves. We continued through the park all the way to the Buckingham Palace which was really pretty and looked just like it did on TV during the Royal Wedding, but it was so crowded with tourists. We didn’t get a chance to see the changing of the guards, but we could see the many guards in their elaborate uniforms that stood outside of the doors.

Hyde Park

Buckingham Palace! 

From Buckingham Palace we could see the London Eye and we headed in that direction. Before reaching the Eye, we came across Westminster Abbey which was much bigger than I expected. We were there on Veterans Day weekend and outside of the church there were hundreds of monuments full of fake red poppy flowers which are the flower that represents remembering the veterans in England. All throughout the city for the rest of the weekend, we saw many people with little paper poppy flowers pinned to their jackets. 

Veterans Memorial 

Westminster Abbey

Due to veterans ceremonies we were not allowed to go inside Westminster Abbey so we went over to see Big Ben! Big Ben is attached to the parliament buildings and line the river where the bridge crosses over to the London Eye. I was so amazed by how expansive the parliament buildings are and can definitely see why Big Ben is such an icon for London. After taking lots of pictures on our way across the bridge, we went on the London Eye. It moved very slowly- you could barely feel that it was moving, but it gave us more great views of the city, especially of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. 

View from the top of the London Eye!

After the London Eye we headed to the Piccadily Circus area, which is an area with many big monuments and shops, and had lunch. After lunch we took the tube to the London Tower and London Bridge. We were really excited to go in the London Tower because we had heard that it was one of the sights we definitely had to see because it is where all of the Crown Jewels are on display. However, we got to the ticket office five minutes after the ticket sales had closed for the day and were not able to go in. We tried to talk to the guards and convince them to let us in but had no luck. Fortunately, we had time the next morning to plan to come back and we were able to see the London Bridge just as it was lighting up which was so pretty. 

After lots of pictures under the London Bridge, we took to tube back towards the city center and stopped at the St. Paul’s Cathedral and walked towards covenant square. We walked through this huge shopping square which looked like a mini times square with lots of lights and big stores and of course, crowds of tourists. By the time we reached convenant square we were all so tired of walking and quickly found a place to have dinner. We ended up staying at the restaurant for a few hours and headed back to the hostel- all so amazed by how much sightseeing we were able to pack into one day.

The next morning we found a pancake restaurant and had huge Dutch pancakes for breakfast. It was a Dutch restaurant and almost made me feel like I was back in Amsterdam! We made our second attempt to see the Tower of London and made it in plenty of time to see it all. I thought that the Tower was just a small enclosed tower that held the Crown Jewels, so I was shocked to see that it was much bigger than that. The Tower of London is actually a large castle that has been used for many different purposes, most famously as the site of torture and executions that were ordered by Queen Elizabeth I. Similar to visiting the Palace of Versailles in Paris, everything that I had learned in AP European History started to come back to me. We first went to see the display of the Crown Jewels which was really interesting because it is amazing how well preserved all of the jewels were. I really like seeing all of the pictures of the Kings and Queens wearing layers and layers of the jewels and I can’t ever imagine wearing any of it! After the jewels we went through one of the towers and saw all of the armor that was used for the various battles that England was involved in. We then went through the torture chamber which was pretty eerie but also interesting. We walked through a few more of the exhibits and decided that we had had enough history for one trip! We took more pictures of the London Bridge (my favorite thing I saw in the city), and then I had to head to the airport. I was disappointed that I never got to see Harrods, the huge department store, but I was so impressed that I got to see as much as I did in just a day and a half.

View from inside of the Tower of London

Overall, I really loved the city and it kind of gave me a little taste of America with all of the American food and shops!

Copenhagen, Denmark

After spending a few days in Amsterdam, my friends and I traveled to Copenhagen for the rest of the weekend. In addition to Oktoberfest, there is another event called Sensation White where basically all Richmond students, and most Americans in general, who are studying abroad attend. Sensation White is an electronic musical festival that hosts DJs all over the world and has a big concert in Copenhagen every November. Although I am not a huge fan of electronic music, I took advantage of the opportunity to see many of my friends from Richmond and to spend the weekend in Copenhagen. During my junior year of high school, I did a two week cultural exchange program and lived with a Danish family right outside of Copenhagen. While I was there we went into the city many times and although I had already seen all of the major sights, I definitely wanted to go back.

We arrived Friday afternoon around 3:00 pm and were shocked to look out of our plane windows and see that the sun was already setting! Two of my best friends from Richmond- Megan and Ali, are studying in Copenhagen for the semester so I was staying at their apartment with about 15 other people from Richmond. Leaving the airport, I had my first experience on the Copenhagen metro and was so surprised by how clean and easy to use it was! I easily found their apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with all of my friends. We went to get Thai food which was another nice break from Spanish only food and then met up with a lot of other kids, I would say around 50 in total, from Richmond.

The next day we went to this food market in the middle of the city where there were many different food stands with all different types of food. After having lunch and the best cupcakes I have ever had, we went to explore some of the city. The first thing I noticed that I had forgotten was how many bikes there were! I had thought there had been a lot of bikes in Amsterdam, but there were massive bike racks everywhere in Copenhagen.

 Thousands of bikes!

First we walked through a big park in the middle of the city where there are lots of greenhouses and gardens. It was really pretty but very cold! We all agreed that we needed to keep walking to keep warm so we headed to Nyhaven which is the most famous and touristy canal of the city. I had forgotten how colorful all of the houses and buildings that lined the canal are and I noticed that it was very similar to the style of the buildings in Amsterdam. There are many restaurants that line the canal but they all have outdoor seating and it was way to cold to sit outside! 

In the park

Nyhaven 

We kept walking to Amalienborg which is the winter home of the Danish royal family. Each member of the family has a different house designated for them and there is a big flag ontop of each house which indicates whether the family member is home or not. There are decorated guards that stand outside of all of the houses, regardless if the royal family is inside. I think it’s really interesting to see how although Denmark’s royal family now has no legal power or any say in political matters, they are still such a symbol and are highly respected. They also receive part of the taxes that are paid by the public. It would be interesting to hear about the public opinion on the family and whether they respect the tradition or if they think that the Royal Family is just lazy and taking advantage of their unlimited money supply. After seeing the Royal residence it was already getting dark so we walked along the canals and headed back to the apartment.

Amalienborg

After dinner (my first veggie burger in 2 months!) we started to pull out all of our white clothes and get ready for the concert. Everyone is required to wear all white and they will turn you away at the door if you are not dressed in all white. At first, I thought that it was kind of annoying that they were so strict about this rule but the second I got inside and saw the glow of white I agreed that it definitely added to the atmosphere of the concert. The concert lasted 6 hours and 4 different DJ’s played. When we first got there I didn’t think there was any way that I would be able to last 6 hours but as soon as we found the rest of the Richmond group it was so fun to see everyone that the time flew by! Also, there were all of these different trapeze performers during when the DJ’s played so it was pretty entertaining and I’m definitely glad that I went!

Waiting in line for Sensation White!

The next morning I had to get a flight back to San Sebastian and I really didn’t realize how far away Denmark is from Spain- it was about a 4 hour flight! I had such an awesome time in both Amsterdam and Copenhagen but I was happy to be back in the not so cold and dark San Sebastian! 

Amsterdam

I have to admit that until right before I left for my trip, I had no idea whether Amsterdam was its own country or just a part of the Netherlands. To be honest, all I knew about Amsterdam was that it was legal to buy and smoke weed in the ‘coffee shops’ and there was a huge Red Light District in the city were prostitution was also legal. These being the only two things I knew about the city, I was a little hesitant when my friends suggested that we visit the city on our way to Copenhagen, Denmark during our five day break. But, I decided that I was only abroad once and if nothing else it would definitely be an experience to see such a liberated city where it seemed that people could do whatever they wanted. 

Within minutes of being in the city on Wednesday night after we arrived, I learned two very important things. First, Amsterdam is NOT its own country- it is the capital city of the Netherlands. The region of the Netherlands where Amsterdam is located is commonly called Holland and the people speak Dutch (not to be confused with Danish). Second, the city has much more to offer than smoking and prostitutes. From the moment that we stepped off the train that we had taken from the airport into the city, we began to notice how friendly all of the Dutch people were. We had some trouble finding our hostel in the dark, and we found many people who were more than happy to give us directions, and in perfect English which is always a plus. We finally found our hostel- one of the most famous hostels in Amsterdam called ‘The Flying Pig’, and were surprised to see that the lobby of the hostel was a bar that was hosting a huge Halloween party! It was Halloween but we had heard that not many Europeans get dressed up for the holiday so we had not bothered trying to stuff costumes into our already overweight suitcases. However, some of these people at the hostel were wearing some of the most elaborate costumes I have ever seen! After putting our stuff in our room, we headed out to meet up with the rest of our friends who had arrived earlier that day and to explore the city for a while. On our way to meet our friends we kept passing so many pastry shops with all of these huge Belgian waffles covered with chocolate, whipped cream, strawberries, sprinkles… anything you can imagine! We suddenly realized how much we had missed waffles since we had been abroad so of course had to stop to try some. They were so good and were perfect for the cold night! (It was only about 35 degrees… a bit of a wake up call compared to San Sebastian).  

The next morning we bundled up and headed out to explore the city. We first went to the Anne Frank House and museum where we could walk through the actual house where Anne Frank and many others hid during the Nazi invasion in the Netherlands. The attic part where they were all living was much bigger than I had imagined it would be and it was amazing that they were able to stay hidden for as long as they did. However, the museum blacked out all of the windows and kept the lighting low which portrayed how dismal and depressing it was to live up in the attic in constant fear. At the end of the museum there were pages from Anne Frank’s actual diary which was really interesting to see. Although kind of a sad start to our day, it was very interesting to see and still just shocks me that so many people had to go through these types of situations.

 Kendall and I outside of the Anne Frank House

Another aspect of Amsterdam that I did not expect was how beautiful and charming the entire city is. There are many canals that run throughout the city and the buildings that line the canals are all unique shapes and colors. There are no tall or modern looking buildings which helps to keep the city looking old and authentic. Along the canals are many house boats where people permanently live on the water and there are also many different types of boats. We walked along the canals for a while, all amazed by how beautiful the city was and how much more ‘european’ it felt compared to some of the bigger cities like Madrid and Paris. We were also amazed by how many people rode around bikes. In many cities, San Sebastian included, there is a separate bike path for bikers, however in Amsterdam there was an entire separate road!

In my Marketing class in San Sebastian, we were all assigned groups and had to choose a company that we would do a semester long project on and give weekly presentations to the class about different aspects of the company. One of the groups in my class has two Dutch students and their group chose Heineken because it is made in Amsterdam. It has been really interesting to learn about the company and all of its different marketing strategies and I was really excited when I saw that we could tour the Heineken brewery in Amsterdam. Of course, all of my friends were happy to go as well so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the brewery. The tour was really interesting; my favorite part was probably seeing the Heineken horses! Apparently when Heineken was first being made the horses were a huge symbol for the company because they were used to transport the beer around the city. Now, the horses are not really used but they still have a big stable in the brewery.

 Sarah, Kendall and I excited to start the tour!

Learning how the 'correct' way to drink beer

After the brewery tour it was starting to get dark so we made our way to the hostel and were shocked to see all of the Christmas decorations and lights that were already up! It was so pretty, but, don’t get me wrong I love Christmas decorations, it seemed kind of early for Christmas! Only November 1^st! When we got back to the hostel we were asking for recommendations for places to eat dinner and everyone told us that the Thai and Chinese food was really good in the city. Not exactly authentic Dutch food, but what is Dutch food anyways?? Thai sounded good to us, especially because there is strictly only Spanish food in San Sebastian and we had not had Asian food in months. We made our way the China Town and found that there were so many good places to eat and had delicious Asian food! After dinner we decided that we needed to go walk through the Red Light District because we were all pretty curious as to what it actually looked like. We were unsure of exactly where it was, but all the people we asked responded that we would definitely know once we were there. And they were right. We turned this corner to follow the canal and all of a sudden we saw hundreds of red lights illuminating the street. I thought that the area might be pretty sketchy and were glad that we were with our guy friends, however I was amazed by how many ‘normal’ people were just walking down the street. Police were also patrolling the entire street which also made me feel better. But, despite how safe I felt and how clean the area was, I was still shocked by what I saw. Basically the street was just lined with all of these glass doors with prostitutes standing behind them, luring men inside. It was pretty disgusting and sad, but definitely a sight to see to say the least…

The next morning we had a few hours before our flight to Copenhagen so a few of us got up early and went to the ‘IAMSTERDAM’ sign which is in front of the VanGogh museum and is one of the main touristy attractions of the city. The VanGogh museum is under construction, so a lot of the exhibits were not open and we didn’t have much time so we didn’t go inside.

 On our way back from the sign we found this huge outdoor Tulip market and walked around for a while. Holland is the main producer of Tulips in the world and during the summer there are thousands of fields of tulips and in the winter they grow them inside. The market had so many beautiful flowers and also lots of tulips bulbs that you could buy. Within the market there were also lots of cheese shops where we went inside and taste tested lots of different types of cheese- so good! 

After leaving the market we headed back to the hostel and made one final stop to have apple cinnamon pancakes- another food we had been missing! We were all sad to leave such a beautiful city but were excited that our trip was only half over and were eager to get to Copenhagen. I would say that Amsterdam has probably been my favorite city so far because it is just so beautiful, unique and clean and our hostel was awesome and everyone was so friendly.

 Perfect end to our trip!