Croissants and Classes

I am waiting to say something. Waiting to conclude. Until I have the right thing to say.

This trip was ten days long, and therefore a very daunting blog prospect. Thats just so long, not to partake in, but to write about in detail.

17

On the seventeenth, I had a morning train to Nuremberg. I was packed (a great feat - ten days, one backpack, be proud) and at the station, only to walk into the single worst travel situation ever. Snow, and LOTS of it. The entire continent damn near shut down because of a good dose of snow. The frustration has dimmed looking back, but at the time, my stress level was through the roof. And for good reason. There were hours of delays and many, many cancellations. And I experienced them all.

Now, a lesson for everyone in geography. In Atlanta, we have a humid subtropical climate. Yes, Wikipedia tells us so. Now, when one goes farther north, its gets colder. Are you with me? When its colder and there is precipitation, it snows! Gasp, we can learn new things all the time! Perhaps you're saying, everyone knows that. Well, let me correct you, everyone does not know that. Massive parts of Europe dont seem to know that. They were surprised and unprepared. I, from a location half way around the world, wasn't surprised (you know, north = cold = snow) but the officials whose job it is to know and prepare for these things, didn't know. Thats like being surprised a hurricane comes to Florida. Retarded.

The current claim is, snow doesn't come so heavily, so early in the year. But it does snow at this time of the year, and it eventually snows a lot. So why can't the railways run? Out of salt for roads and defrosting liquid at airports? ITS WINTER. Who is running this show? Its funny, until you have to go somewhere and you cant.

Ok, back to topic. On the morning of the seventeenth, there was half a centimeter of snow on the ground in Paris, and nothing stuck on the roads. Arriving at the train station, the departure and arrival boards spoke of very bad news. Trains delayed for hours. With my heavy backpack on, staring up at my train listing that would be delayed 15 minutes, 5 times, I was not feeling SNCF. The trains coming in from countries with a lot of snow, ok, but this was leaving. Fun fact: to get to Nuremberg from Paris, you must change trains in Frankfurt. As I saw there was no way I was going to make my connection, I had to have Celine put money on my cell phone because I knew the day would be filled with international calls trying to figure out a way to get to Natalie's.

Eventually, I leave Paris on my TGV. Getting situated on the train, they announce that because of the weather, the train would not be able to drive at full speed so we would be further delayed. Then they throw out that, due to problems with the train, we would have to switch trains and take a German ICE (same thing at TGV, German brand). No one was amused. After having my seat neighbor chide me for not speaking Spanish (since I'm from the states) and I couldn't translate for him, I put in ear plugs, an eye mask, and pulled a scarf over my head and slept for 2 hours. Luckily, no one was beside me so I could put my feet up. We switched trains and I start reading a novel I brought with me, the first of the Millennium series. In Frankfurt I caught a new train which miraculously connected with my original train, even though we were something like an hour and a half late. The train was so packed, that there were no seats at all open. So I did what any reasonable person would do, I went to the bar.

I made a few fast friends and ended up with a free lunch and a beer big enough to put me in a way better mood. Shout out to my train buddies, thank you gentlemen.

Eventually I arrived. Natalie was still driving across Germany so her mother and brother graciously picked me up. The snow in southern Germany was easy a foot high. HOW EXCITING!

Beat it just came on, I had to stop for a dance break.

When Natalie arrived, she brought a surprise, Susie!!! We had dinner then got dressed to go out. I tried out my new shoes, which I had bought to be waterproof (which they were! unfortunately, they were not warm). We first went to Forchheim to the Christmas market and had a gluhwein. Which is made from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, citrus and sugar. I was wary, but it was good! I dont like red wine, but I liked the good gluhweins. Our next stop was Erlangen. We stopped by the Christmas market there as well but it was mostly closed. Here, we had the worst gluhwein ever. It was pretty much undrinkable and it frightened me away from gluhwein for several days.

We then went to Havana club for cocktails and then to a club. This club sucked, and eventually we went home. Boo for Erlangen.

18

The next day we had the most insane spread of food for breakfast ever. I feel full just from the memory. Then we decked out in snow gear. Serious snow gear. We grabbed a sled and were off. We had a snow ball fight that lasted for hours and sometimes got quite dirty. We also stopped to see some goats on the way to the hill. Oh, this is also where I wore a pair of Natalie's snow boots and learned how AMAZING they are. The snow was so deep and we went sledding on a huge hill. The sled would go so fast it was scary and going back up the hill was a serious work out! Snow fun is the best fun.

Back at the house, we packed to spend the night in Nuremberg and dressed to go out. We first arrived at a friend of the girls : Sabrina and had a drink at her place. Then we grabbed a cab to the city center and the Nuremberg Christmas Market. This market is the most famous in the world and its huge! For those unaware, Christmas markets are outdoor awesomeness that occur throughout December. Originating from Germany, they are held in the town center squares and and made of many stalls. They sell hot drinks, food, and goods. Usually, its a lot of shopping but even more gluhwein drinking. And the food is very good as well.

While the girls had a gluhwein (I was still in the grip of fear caused by the Erlangen one), I walked around the market looking at all the shops and taking pictures. Even found an Atlanta stall in the world cities section! The markets are gorgeous because everything is decked out in christmas lights. Its really cool. I said earlier today that they combined many things I like into one place : sparkle, shopping, alcohol, food, and people. What a very nice custom! We had some lebkuchen, which is a tradiotional German spiced gingerbread.

Once we were freezing we went to have tapas for dinner, then to a bar to kill some time before heading to a club. This club is worth noting. Walking in, it was so nice. This place was like a movie set. Even more so, because the level of good looking in this place was ridiculous. Everyone was so pretty. The girls wore, like, nothing (recall its FREEZING outside). Unfortunately, there was quite an attitude running around this place. Kind of the, I'm gods gift to man attitude. But the Dj was good, we had drinks and danced, it was fun.

19

The next morning we drove back to Natalie's place. After a shower, some breakfast, and the arrival of a boy Susie was interested in, we left for Bamberg. We hung around the Christmas market and then Natalie, a friend, and myself had a hot chocolate in a cafe and a snack. This evening we went out to dinner with Natalie's mother and brother. And as a night cap, Natalie and I watched Sea-biscuit. And damn, that movie is so inspirational!

20

After breakfast this morning, I was off to the train station. I had a two trains that would take me to Zerbst and Sascha, a German friend from France. Leaving Nuremberg, things looked good, my train left on time! Had the country prepared for the continued snow? Bustling along, all of a sudden the train came to a stop in the middle of no where. And sat there for an hour. I watched the minutes cruise by as I missed my connection with the delay. When I arrived at my switch point, I find out that I have to wait 30 minutes for the next train, in the cold. Brrr, it was very cold. So, when the time comes, I go to the platform and the train just doesn't show up. I call Sascha, he looks, and says the train has been cancelled, and I will have to wait another hour for the train. In the midst of this conversation, my phone runs out of charge. It was freezing, i had to wait another hour, and I had no way to communicate with anyone. I cried.

I went into the cafe at the station and had a hot chocolate and read for the next hour. Having a 600 page book with me was a lifesaver. The next train showed up! and I finally reached Sascha's place. We had some dinner then headed off to Magdeburg to meet some friends of his at the Christmas market. This one, was the best market of them all. Which is controversial since the Nuremberg one kinda holds that title. But this one was huge. And it was also practically a fair. And it had a special middle age market. There were all kinds of interactive things at this one : glass blowing, blacksmiths, musicians, and SPACE HEATERS. No lie, if it only had the space heaters and fires it would win as the best one. We had enough gluhwein. It was a fun night.

21

Sascha and I headed back to Magdeburg after breakfast. We visited the church, had lunch, and did a ton of shopping. Well, Sascha did alot of shopping, I did a lot of snow show hunting. I also bought some presents after Sascha told me he could bring them back to France for me ( I couldn't buy anything because I had an easy jet flight to Belgium). After much unsuccess with snow shoe hunting, I finally found a pair of uggs. Offbrand and grey. I did it. I realize that I have made fun of them for years. But I now understand, when you have to be outside in the snow all day, snow shoes are AWESOME. I love them, best purchase ever, I dont care how silly I look, its like walking around with a personal foot heater. Rock on snow shoes, rock on.

We then went to the Christmas market again, but this time we were able to really look at the stalls. It was great. We had some food and, of course, some gluhwein.

22

As a side note, talk about frustration, I just accidentally deleted something like 6 paragraphs. While I never mind writing, I do mind writing the same thing twice. I really wish I had had typing class along with everyone else in high school, I am terrible, if I had a scanner, I would hand write these and then post the pages.

Ok, this day was a laid back, relaxing day. I spent the morning checking emails and doing quite a bit of reading. Eventually, Sascha calls me and we sent off across the street to the park. Sascha hands me a big bag of bread pieces and I am thrilled to hear we will be feeding the ducks. It might be the Peachtree City in me, but I love feeding ducks! Walking over to a small bridge over a creek, the ducks came running. And there were so many of them! Easily 30. What made is so much fun was that these ducks were so personal. They would come right up to us ad eat out of our hands. I particularly liked the feeling of their feet stepping on mine. I found feel their little steps through my snow shoes. They would even jump up to get the food, in the same way a dog will. Maybe it was the fresh, clean snow they were playing in, but these ducks were so cute! If I was brave and fast enough, I could even pet them. Sadly, we eventually ran out of food and they were done with us, those fair weather friends.

We continued our walk through the park and it was lovely. The pictures are not so impressive because they just look white. A few minutes into the walk, I asked what the massive, destroyed stone structure was on the hill near the park. Sascha explained to me that it was the cities old castle and it was bombed in WWII. Two wings of the castle were completely torn down for the building materials badly needed after the war was over. With the sheer size of the building, it was easy to imagine its previous splendor. Not more than 5 minutes later, leaving the park and walking into the edge of town, we run into a half built church. It was also bombed in the war and the town only rebuilt a portion of it. Leaving the walls and support beams of the rest to make a sort of courtyard. I have heard several times in the past about how many ruins of the war were left as reminders. The war had never seemed so real to me, despite having heard hundreds of stories from my grandfather, a veteran (coincidentally a navigator on bomber jets), standing amidst the aftermath of a war is different. Even so many years later. I make no conclusions or excuses, and I lay no blame, but its nothing but tragic what happened to parts of Germany from bombing. These were not railroads transferring supplies or armories, these were homes and churches. But everyone knows that all is not fair in love and war. That saying is retarded.

We ended our walk with a lighter note through the town. Stopping in a toy store, I found the weirdest kitchenette toy accessory ever. A deep fryer. I kid you not. Not only is that a terrible toy to promote to children (we will make fatties) but how is that a normal kitchen accessory? I dont have one.

Later in the day, we went to a town over to to meet up with Sascha's sister, have coffee, and do some more shopping . . . (By the way, I have already promised myself a shopping spree when I get back in the states! I can't wait to be back on the dollar! I will be able to shop!) We stepped outside the mall to the local Christmas market because I had decided on another gift I would buy. And we ran into Santa! And Santa spoke English! While I was considering what I wanted to ask for for Christmas, he inquired about whether Sascha and I were dating. Thats a weird Santa question. When we said no, we were just friends, he tells Sascha to just give it some time! Haha, ridiculous. And he never asked me what I wanted for Christmas! Epic fail, but we did take a dashing photo.

23

I spent the last few hours of my stay with Sascha trying to pack all of my stuff into my back pack. I also helped Sascha begin to decorate their Christmas tree.

I had three trains to the Berlin airport, and by an amazing stroke of luck, they were all pretty much on time! I arrived at the airport on time. But thats about where normal ended.

The airport had been transformed to a camp ground, due to all the cancelled and greatly delayed flights, every chair was filled and people lined the walls. Sleeping, eating, entertaining children; the airport was a mess. As I walked around waiting for my flight to be announced, I began to be worried that I would join the masses and have a delayed or cancelled flight. But they announced my flight! We boarded on time! And then we sat on the runway for an hour. I guess some things are too good to be true.

Landing in Brussels, Celine picked me up and we caught up as we voyaged across the country by train to her parent's house. ( By the way, it takes something like 2 hours to travel across the country of Belgium from the farthest points.) Her fantastic dad picked us up at the train station and it was a short drive through the town to their house.

That evening we drank wine and champagne, snacked on hor d'oeuvres and talked til late by the fire. Their house is gorgeous and decorated with the eye of an expert, Celine's mom. Honestly, somebody should call cribs, its phenomenal.

24

Since it had been snowing since forever, Celine, Julia (her sister) and I decked out in warm clothes and snow shoes to talk a walk through the town. We stopped at a cafe in the park for a hot chocolate and then went to the children's zoo in the park.

We then walked through the city center. Taking a tour and on a relentless hut for an open fry stand. French fries being the national dish of Belgium - they are supposed to be crazy good. However, turns out they all closed for Christmas eve. With a stop at the grocery store we went back to the house and got into the Christmas spirit by watching the Grinch. (The new one, not the original.) Celine's immediate family started arriving and Christmas dinner began. From hor d'oeuvres to a full meal -> we ate for a long time! The family exchanged gifts throughout the courses and I was very surprised to be handed a few presents of my own. Totally unexpected, they did just what they were intended to do, make me feel like it was my Christmas too, instead of me just sitting in on someone else's celebration. In fact, everyone I stayed with made me feel so welcome, despite the fact that I was surely inconveniencing everyone by staying so close to or during the holidays.

25

Waking up for the first time on Christmas anywhere but Atlanta turned out not to be so strange after all. I think because I know I will be going home soon, its not so big of a deal. We spent the afternoon playing cards and watching tv. The big family get together was going to be at Celine's aunts later in the evening.

We dressed for Christmas (plus snow boots) and Celine, her dad, and I went for a walk. We went through the beautiful park as well as the town. We stopped by the same cafe from the day before and had a few beers, a few highly recommended Belgium beers for myself. The bartender wanted me to take a good impression home. Then we walked across town via the canal toward Celine's aunts house. This walk was enjoyable and even hilarious at times. Lets be fair -> I can't walk in snow or ice. I slip, stumble, and fall a lot. This is well known and easily comprehended. Well, at one point on our journey, we decided to take a short cut up an embankment, easily 20 feet high. And this steep hill had something like a foot of snow on it. I fell three times, the last two with a helping hand. Three times. It was hilarious. Embarrassing as Celine's dad practically carried me up, but funny.

Christmas dinner was great, everyone was super nice and we spent the evening chatting and playing cards.

26

Celine took me to Antwerp where I was to catch the bus to Paris. Right as we got off the train, we found a fry stand! I was very excited, this was a long time coming! And the fries were very good. I had then with mayonnaise (the normal way) and well as with ketchup. The mayonnaise is different than the US mayonnaise by the way. It has more flavor and makes a better dip than ours would. We then walked around the city while waiting for my bus.

I took a nap on the bus and then read all the way to Paris. This was quite an accomplishment considering the bus ride was the absolute spitting image of hell. A woman sat in front of me and leaned her seat back all the way into my face. There were no less than 3 crying babies. They played a terrible movie badly dubbed into French LOUDLY. And, the bathroom was out of service. We would occasionally stop at a rest stop or a gas station for everyone to use the toilet.

I had already finished 2 books on this trip, but Celine was kind enough to lend me the seventh Harry Potter. I read more than half of it. I love Harry Potter, its so good!

So thats a decent description of my Christmas holidays. Back in Paris I have been museum hopping since its free with my residence permit. And I have also been doing some shopping. Tomorrow is New Years Eve so we will see how that goes. Unfortunately, Paris doesn't have a big public event with fireworks or anything. But I am sure we will figure something out.

Kerry

Ps. See you soon!!!

I realize that I have a massive other blog to write about my 10 day Christmas vacation in Germany and Belgium, but this struck me.

I have been in Paris by myself for the last four days (not my specialty of late). To fill all this time, I have been running errands, cleaning, packing, watching movies, shopping, and going to Paris.

I was getting on the train going to Saint Lazare. It was quite crowded so I made my way down the car until I snagged a folding seat by the door. I just sat down, not particularly looking at the people around me. Done fiddling with my iPod I glance up and see the saddest thing.

Across from me, by the door, was this twenty something guy, good looking, bundled up like everyone else. He was intently staring out the window. Like his life depended on trying to focus on the trees and buildings passing by. His eyes were bloodshot and he was crying. Surrounded by a hundred people, he sat silently with tears just running down his face. Even the thought of embarrassment could not stop that hurt from showing. And over that twenty minute train ride, the tears never stopped, never paused. The pain in his eyes was so apparent that a stranger could see he was devastated. He was heartbroken in the worst way.

I had such empathy for him, I had to stop myself from crying with him. I would have done anything to stop him, to distract him, but he wouldn't look away from that window. Couldn't take himself away from those thoughts.

I was in a really good mood but watching him, I couldn't help but think how many times I sat on that same train, looked out the window, and cried. And couldn't stop once I had started.

I am so serious when I say that train rides make people cry. Ok, make emotional people cry. You have nothing to do but dwell. Its awful.

I regret not doing something, I spent the entire ride considering what I could do, but as I turned over the options I wasted the entire trip. The train stopped, he got off quickly without looking at anyone.

Anyway, it stuck in my mind. I should have done something. I was worried I would embarrass him. But thinking about it, when you are in that mental train trap, there is nothing better than distraction. I wish in the past a stranger would have come up to me and cracked a joke, or asked me about my shoes, just anything.

Lesson of the day: Take something to do on the train. A novel, sudoku, a buddy. Just something.

Kerry

I took a writing hiatus this week because I had the flu (popular diagnosis) and a very long to do list. But now I have written my papers, visited the building manager several times, studied for my finals, and sent a thousand emails.

So, last weekend Celine and I went to Copenhagen, Denmark. We went there because, lets face it, I will go anywhere, and Celine had never been. It also looked like an awesome place to visit, and EasyJet was running a special. And when it comes to trips here, you always go where the special will take you.

Friday morning I woke up early to pack, which is always a challenge. You can only take one bag with you on the budget airlines, and that includes your purse. When packing for a location with snow, its even harder because everything you want to take is huge and warm. This is what went into the backpack:

And this is what I wore on top of my clothes:

Luckily, EasyJet flies out of Charles de Gaulle, so we were just about to catch the RER there. No lengthy bus rides included. We ran into another Erasmus student, Mike, in the airport who was going to Copenhagen as well. So we all sat together on the plane. The flight was about two hours, where I frequently considered buying the 37 euro sega game boy available from the flight attendants. Stocked with games and ready to play. THAT is the perfect flight purchase option. I held out though.

We landed around 4 30 to a night time Copenhagen. The city is far enough north that its dark at 4. Its crazy disorienting, because you think its 7 and you should get dinner, but its really not. The week or so before we arrived, it had been snowing pretty much everyday and the temperatures were extremely cold. However, with every warm item I owned in tow and rain-boots, I felt like I was prepared. We stopped in the airport to change over our euros to Danish khrones and buy a metro pass. From this point on, spending money was easy, because I never had any idea how much things were in euros. The exchange rate to khrones is 7.5, try working that one out when your trying to grab a drink real quick. I know I can only speak for myself, but seriously, no one can divide by 7.5 off the top of their head. Unfortunately, Denmark is one of the most expensive countries in Europe, combined with a new currency, I spent way more than I thought.

We hopped on the metro to go to the city center. (I'm sure you imagine that thats all that needs to be said about the metro) However, the metro system in Copenhagen is brand new, fully automated, and 24 HOURS!!!! It was awesome. I'm not sure why the other cities in Europe dont learn from Copenhagen and do the same since so many people are 100% dependent on public transportation. You can also sit in the front of the metro and watch where you are going, its like a ride. Fantastic.

We went to our hostel first to check in and drop off our bags. The hostel, Sleep in Heaven, was really nice and a reasonable price. We slept in a dorm like last time, but this hostel was a bit more laid back. It was less about partying and more about seeing the city. Which turned out to be what we needed. After getting settled in, we went off in search of dinner, and I found myself with a burger and fries! Like a good burger! (Before you panic, I did eat Danish food throughout the weekend.) It was so good, it was also my first burger since I left the US. In case you dont know what a burger looks like, here is mine:

The metro took us to the center station and we went in search of the Strøget, which is one of the longest pedestrian shopping malls in Europe. It seemed good at first with snow falling and Christmas lights everywhere. But turns out, all the shops close at 6, so we went into a bar and had a beer. We drank Carlsberg, which is the locally brewed beer of Copenhagen. Back at the hostel, we thought there might be an outing that night, there wasn't. So we just had a few more drinks and planned the weekend out.

I will take a brief moment here to introduce the theme of Copenhagen: mystery. I know that sounds silly and you think I'm kidding. But no : MYSTERY. Friday night we discovered the first sign of mystery: the Phantom Pooper.

That first night, Celine and I went to shower. Hostels are like summer camps or dorms, they have big bathrooms with several toilets and several showers. So, we had had a few drinks (hostel bars are the ultimate money trap, its just too easy to get a beer, you can drink in your pajamas). We go to shower, walk into the big bathroom, and BAM: it smelled bad! Lets take a moment, all grow up, and realize we can talk about these things. This was ridiculous smelly. Like bad smelly. Like couldn't actually be happening smelly. Entering my shower stall (which is enclosed), the smell disappears. Coming out of the shower a bit later, its still there. I mention how bad it is to Celine, laughing quite a bit, who is still in one of the other showers. I describe it to her, and say that I swear someone is pooping right then! I follow that wise one up with Oh, they can hear me. Sorry smelly citizen.

But the next morning, we wake up and I go to the bathroom, and that person had been there too! I was being stalked! Later that day, we were somewhere else and the phantom pooper struck again! Someone was following us, and using bathrooms before we went in. This was not a single instance, this was a pattern, this was premeditated.

So Saturday we had breakfast (which was 40 khrones, good luck knowing how much that is). Breakfast was really good. It was pretty standard: rolls, meats, cheese, jams, juice, coffee, etc. However, this place had the best cheese. Incredibly good cheese, combined with the salami there, it made one hell of a sandwich. I think I recommended the hostel on hostel world and remarked about how good the cheese was. It was a factor. We got directions from the hostel and went off in search of the little mermaid. In 1909, Brewer Carl Jacobsen attended Hans Beck's and Fini Henriques' ballet 'The Little Mermaid' which is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale by the same name. Impressed, Carl Jacobsen asked Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen to create a sculpture. Now, she is one of the most visited statues in the world. On our walking quest to go see her, we also went through a beautiful park.

Then we had plans to take a bus, a normal bus, that is actually a tour of the center of the city. We had a map with the locations of the bus stops, so we walked through the north end of the city center looking for the stops. We couldn't find one for quite a while. Which should be like no big deal, except, my feet were really starting to hurt. And I couldn't really move my toes anymore. I ignored this for quite a while, thinking that I just wasn't used to the cold. But it became worrisome. We finally find ourselves by the Christmas market, so we stopped for a hot drink and directions. Unfortunately, the drink did nothing for my feet but we did get the certain location of the bus stop. Right around the corner!

But seriously, that bus never came. This was a mystery bus. Copenhagen is full of magic. We decided to go inside Copenhagen's famous department store, which was beside the bus stop and surely heated.

I headed straight for the shoe department. I know I can be kind of dramatic, but I had a real, small fear that I was getting frostbite. I took off my rain boots to discover that the were . . . wait for it . . . leaking. No wonder my feet hurt so bad, they were wet and it was twenty something degrees out. Unfortunately, the price of snowboots plus two disadvantageous exchange rates made buying something else snow proof impossible. Celine used her scout skills to layer my boots with newspaper. A layer underneath the sole, a layer above the sole, and then a layer wrapped around my feet in between my thin socks and my think winter socks. I then had to change this, at least once a day, because all of that would soak through to my feet. Needless to say, I have some serious bones to pick with Aigle. And Carrefour for selling their products. They weren't cheap, and they leaked. My rain-boots leaked. I am not meant to wear shoes, because every pair I buy breaks.

We warmed up in the store and window shopped around. We found a nice cafeteria on the top floor and decided to eat. I had Smørrebrød, the most famous Danish dish. Smørrebrød is really just a variety of open faced sandwiches, there are something like ten basic different types featuring meat, fish, eggs, etc. I had a fish one as well as a rare steak one. They were super good. Celine had a bagel and lox sandwich that was delicious. We had a nice seat that allowed us to stalk the bus stop, seven floors below.

Next stop of the day was the Carlsberg Brewery. Carlsberg is the Copenhagen beer, it has been in production forever and it is now distributed all over Europe. It is also the only beer you drink in the city. I find that very common, cities drink their own beer. Period. Of course, they sell others, but everyone pretty much drinks the local beer. We took the bus to the right side of town and saw one of their buildings immediately. We then spent 15 minutes wandering around their massive land ownings trying to find the visitors center. The directions were vague.

Finding the visitors center we took the tour, which was awesome. It was the best brewery tour I have ever been on, because it was actually a museum about beer. They had the world's largest beer bottle collection, the history of beer making, the history of the company, the beer production process, and plenty of videos and historic objects along the way. It was really neat. They even had stables with horses, to show you who pulled the old beer carts. I was on a journey of stopping to pet every horse when Celine informed me that the bar was closing soon so we had to go. We made it just in time to the bar to have our two beers that came with the tour. After this, we had tried all the different Carlsberg beers.

Did you know cavemen made beer?

Afterwards, we went back to the city center and went through the Christmas market we had simply passed earlier. We each grabbed a snack: Celine got a crepe and I bought a hotdog from one of the vendors, which are famous in Copenhagen. I let him make it the normal way, but said no to the onions - it was good. We went back to the hostel and hung out with a group of French guys there, no lie, this evenings outings would be one of the first I have had with a group of french people. Erasmus students here really dont have any French friends. We drank at the hostel, then went in search of a club the hostel recommended. But the cub didn't seem awesome so Celine and I ended up at a bar.

Sunday morning started a bit slower for me if you know what I mean. But I made it in time for breakfast. We started off our day with a blizzard. And it stayed that way, it snowed heavily all day. Which was very exciting. Confident after more research, we were going to start our day with that mystery bus. Which we were POSITIVE had to stop somewhere. Alas, we waited and the bus never came. This bus line has its own website, its own area of the map, and everyone we talked to had heard of it. But it was literally no where to be found. We just moved on, and went to Christinia, which is an old hippie village. It was cool, but had kind of been transformed into a pretty shady area.

Walking back toward the main channel, we stopped to have a real danish pastry, actually called wienerbrød. And it was much better than the American "danish".

We then waited only a few minutes for the bus!

But not just a normal bus.

A boat bus!! It basically runs up and down this huge channel through the city. I was exciting and an awesome way to see different parts of the city. Once again, Copenhagen is killing it on cool public transportation.

We then went to Tivoli, which is one of the world's oldest amusement parks. They have a special Christmas theme during the holidays so we had to go. And surprisingly, the place was packed. It had been snowing all day, it was really cold, and you could barely walk in the place. It was beautiful. They had Christmas lights strung up on everything that could handle some. Live ice carvings. A Christmas market. And more shops and restaurants than you can imagine. Unfortunately, almost all of the good rides were closed due to the heavy snow. Only the kiddie rides were open. But since you pay a small entry, and then a charge for every ride, we just never bought tickets. We did take a break into a restaurant, in fact a "German beer garden" (but really not so much) to get a snack and change the newspaper in my shoes. And, they sold us stadium nachos. In the US, I would be angry, but here. I WAS SO EXCITED. It was imported cheese sauce and salsa. But that salsa was GOOD. I cant communicate enough that Europe doesn't actually know what salsa is. Or if they do, they cant make a decent salsa for their life. This was a special treat. Feet warmed, we continued through the park and had a great time.

We had a really good dinner that night at a local restaurant near the hostel which they had reccomended. It was really fantastic and home cooked, I had a curry. Deciding to stay in at the hostel this night, we drank cups of tea and I taught Celine how to play Rummy. It was a pretty epic game. I can never get over how much fun that game is.

Monday we had breakfast (mmmm cheese), checked out of the hostel, and left our baggage there to pick up before our flight. We planned to spend the day in a part of the city center we hadn't seen before. For the record: all throughout the city center of Copenhagen there are free city bikes you can use. You put in a deposit coin, ride the bike around, but the bike back in at any empty bike slot and you get the money back. Super cool, I planned to ride one of those bikes. Yet, these were vanishing bikes. We spent almost 4 days in that city, and we never found a city bike rack!! This bike information is all over the internet and all over the city, but the bikes were simply not there. Vanishing bikes? Ridiculous Copenhagen, ridiculous. We went to the Rosenberg Castle and the King's Gardens to start the day. But they were less garden and more fields of snow. It was very pretty though. We also got to observe the Danish army doing some sort of drill, and then watched them watch a group of boys gang up on the odd one out and slam him in the face with snowballs. While playing in a field of snow at least 8 inches deep, we went over to this really great tree, that was very climbable. Which I wanted to climb. And there were desserts hidden all in this tree and the snow around it! Pies and cupcakes just laying around. Do these things happen in other peoples lives as well? Because I feel like the level of strange I encounter is incredibly high.

We spent the rest of the afternoon going through some shopping areas, including the famous Strøget with stores finally open. I bought a hat with ear flaps, I'm wearing it now: it rocks. I also had the worst experience ever at a restaurant, which I will decline to mention because I will complain so vehemently that it would ruin the blog. For future reference: just dont eat on the Strøget, and you are sure to miss this restaurant of doom.

Overall, Copenhagen is an awesome place. The majority of the people are so friendly its like you stepped into another world from France. And there is so much to do in the city. Plus, 24 public transportation! Go, its awesome. However, forewarning, the mystery level is high!! We encountered: vanishing bikes, a mystery bus, and the phantom pooper. Watch out!

Kerry

Ok, this blog deserves its fair share of time, however, I need to pack for Copenhagen, so I will be brief.

Tonight: Molly, Rebecca, Brigitta, Zuzana, and I went to the Chocolatier up the street for a first class chocolate workshop. Yes, it was as exciting as it sounds!

A back story: every time we walk to the grocery store up the street, we pass this chocolate shop. The window is right at street level so we look in and see them making the different chocolates. We pass by so often we notice when he has made a new mold, like one day he made a soccer ball! Now the ones in the window are mostly Christmas themed.

So we signed up for a lesson. It was a bit pricey and this made me a bit reluctant. And when I say a bit, I mean it was expensive. But it turned out to be more than worth it! We had so much fun and I learned a lot!

We donned aprons and hair nets. We made a lovely bunch! haha

The chocolate maker was extremely nice. We all washed our hands and then he commenced with a speech about how chocolate is grown and produced. We saw the different types of cocoa pods and how they look when opened. It was really interesting, we then learned about the different types of chocolate and what goes in them. Of course, we tasted a sample of each!

The he walked us through the two different projects we were going to do. One was to pipe liquid chocolate onto a sheet, which made disks. We then added toppings. The other was to cut ganache into squares, run it under the chocolate waterfall to make a coating, and then to decorate it as well. No lie, I was a bit nervous, it seemed quite complicated!

We split up to do the projects and I stared with the piping chocolate. The machine was super cool. To make chocolate for consumption, the chocolate is first heated to around 57degrees Celsius, it is then cooled down to 27 degrees, then heated just a bit to around 31 degrees. The cooling and reheating allows the chocolate to settle and become brittle when finally cooled all the way. I piped my chocolate onto the sheet and then added one of each of the toppings: yellow raisin, hazelnut, almond, and pistachio. Then they go into the fridge to set.

Next I worked with the ganache. You take a square of it and place it on this board, pulling down a set of strings (similar to those of a guitar) to cut the ganache. You then turn it and cut it the other way to make squares. Next we set up the chocolate machine for an assembly line. The chocolate is placed on a mesh line, which travels under the chocolate waterfall. It then goes under a fan which spreads the chocolate evenly and thin. The mesh line then pushes the chocolates out onto a moving board covered in wax paper. Here, you must rush to decorate them before the chocolate hardens! Its very serious! These we decorated with sugared flowers! So pretty! Then they move to the fridge as well.

While the chocolates chilled, we learned how to make chocolate in a mold. Our example was a large easter egg. It was interesting to see how its made to look so flawless, especially with a process that is so messy! We even got to put the two together for a ready to sell egg. (However, it being far from easter, our finished project went back into the chocolate pot.

We tried several different types of chocolate, including a chocolate covered candied orange piece. Before we left, we also lined up for a straight to the mouth chocolate tasting from the melting chocolate machine. This was a luxurious evening!

These are my finished chocolates:

Now I know that if I fail at another career, I can always be a chocolate maker! Always good to have something to fall back on.

P.S It snowed again and there is snow everywhere. And its, uh, incredibly cold . . . all the time.

Kerry