Copenhagen, Denmark

Hi again!

So far Copenhagen has been my least favorite trip. The weekend we were there was cold and rainy, so that didn't help with our experience either! 

We started off the trip by getting up at 2:30 am so we could make our 7 am flight! I didn't get much sleep, if any that night so by the time we arrived in Copenhagen I was already exhausted even though it was only 9 am! We were staying at an air b n b, which is someone's house they rent out. There were 7 of us so it was the cheapest option! The apartment was a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. The lady who lives there left us an air mattress too, so 3 people slept in the bed, 2 on the air mattress and 2 on the couch... It was a get tight squeeze, but hey it is what it is! The bathroom was the most interesting thing to me. It was a tiiiiiny room. Barely big enough for one person, with a small toilet, a really small "sink" and a shower. The weird part was that the shower head was just on the wall of the bathroom, you literally were standing next to the toilet and sink as you showered. We asked the air b n b lady why this was and she said since Copenhagen is so old, they barely just got a shower head in the bathroom. Before, you had to buy a "shower box" and it was put in a separate room. I like my normal showers back in England or the US!! 

Once we all get settled and freshened up a little we went out to explore a little. We walked to the metro and we were headed toward Nyhavn, the famous area on the river with all the colored buildings. However we ran into a little issue on the metro. When we got onto the metro we were asked to show our tickets, so we pulled out the tickets we had bought earlier in the day (our air b n b lady had told us these tickets could get us anywhere). Since the tickets were in Danish we didn't understand what they said. Half of us were ok, since the guy didn't check our tickets, but the other 3 of us got stopped because our tickets were expired! I, fortunately, was in the group whose tickets weren't checked! But the group of 3 whose tickets were checked got fined 750 Danish Krone's which is about $150! That immediately put a damper on our day & even on our trip... 

We finally made it to Nyhavn and it really was beautiful. We walked around and took pictures. They offered boat tours on the river that goes through the city, it was only about $6 to go on one, so we did! It wasn't anything too exciting. I had a really hard time understanding the tour guide because she kept switching from English to Danish and the speaker system wasn't that great. The views were pretty, but it was super cold... The boat tour lasted about an hour and by that time we were all exhausted and ready for something to eat. 

Me in front of the famous colored buildings in Nyhavn!

A view from the boat tour! 

Since we were staying in a place with a kitchen we decided it would be best to find a grocery store so we could save money. We found and Aldi near our apartment and we got dinner for that night and breakfast foods for the following two mornings. I bought a frozen lasagna and cereal! 

We made it back to the apartment and made our dinner. Since everyone was so tired we decided to put on a movie. We had the intentions of going out to a bar of some sorts, but we never made it... We all fell asleep on the couch and eventually got up and made it to bed. 

The next morning we got up at breakfast and made our way to City Hall so we could meet for a free walking tour! We got a really great tour guide. He was really funny and energetic and knew a lot about the city. We walked around and saw all sorts of cool things. We walked through Parliament and saw where the queen lived and saw the guards outside her palace. We went back to Nyhavn where he gave us a little break to go get something to eat. He suggested a cafe that had really good hot chocolate and cinnamon swirls. We made our way there & he was right! The cinnamon swirls were probably my favorite  food I ate this trip. After the walking tour we walked to see the famous little mermaid statue. It really isn't that cool, it's just a rusted statue of a mermaid sitting on a rock. But it's one of things Copenhagen is famous for so we wanted to go check it out. We got our pictures and decided to go get something to eat. We found this restaurant that looked good from the outside, but it was a rather stressful experience. We all really just wanted a little snack, we all had food back in the apartment. We all ordered either and appetizer or a side of fries and we were there for 2 hours!!! We had a plan to walk to Christianshavn, an area that is famous for having its own set of laws, but by the time we finished dinner it was too dark and we didn't feel comfortable walking too far in the dark when we really didn't know where we were going. We decided that it was probably best to make our way back to the apartment. 

One of the guards outside of the Queen's Palace. 

Caro (from St. Mike's) is also studying and London so she came on this trip with us!

The famous little mermaid statue. 

Half of us decided to go out and the others decided to stay in. I was really tired and didn't feel like spending any more money on alcohol so I stayed in! I FaceTimed Josh and showed him our cool little apartment. We had to be up early to go home the next day anyways. 

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned up our mess and headed back to the airport to go back to London! It wasn't my favorite trip but I'm glad I get to say I have been to Copenhagen!

Thanks for reading! A post about my family visiting will be next :) 

Paris!

First off, I am so sorry this post is so late! I have been super busy!

Paris was the first trip I took outside of London. I have seen so many pictures of how beautiful a place Paris is and I was soooo excited to go! This trip was through my program provider, AIFS, so we had the whole weekend planned for us. We all met up at St. Pancras station to take the EuroStar to Paris from London. The EuroStar is a high speed train that goes 130 mph and travel under water from London to various places in Europe.

When we arrived in Paris on Friday night, we all gathered as a group and made our way to the hotel that we were staying in for the weekend. Getting off the train and stepping onto the streets of Paris for the first time was so surreal. It wasn't until I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time that I actually felt like I was actually in Paris!!

Once we got to the hotel, we had a chance to freshen up before we met in the lobby of the hotel to go to the boat cruise on the Seine that was included in the price of the trip. We took the metro, which was conveniently right outside our hotel, to Pont Neuf, where our tour left from. Just from walking through the metro station, I could already tell that London was a much cleaner, organized city. The metro system is rather confusing compared to London's underground and I really don't like not knowing how to get around a city!

Once we came up the stairs from the metro at Pont Neuf, we were right on the river and there was the top of the Eiffel Tower! That was when it finally hit me and I got really excited! As we walked to the dock to get on the boat we passed the fence that had all the Love Locks on it. Unfortunately, it isn't the original "Love Locks Bridge" because they had to start taking the locks off due to the fact that they were so heavy, they were tearing down the fence they were on. It was still really cool to see all the Love Locks on this fence though, and to read what people had written on them.

Once we got on the boat we were taken down the Seine. My friends and I wanted to sit upstairs in the open air so we could see the whole city without looking out a window, but it was raining and it was SO cold! So after we passed the Eiffel Tower we went down to the covered area on the bottom floor. The views were gorgeous and it was so pretty at night. The Eiffel Tower is so much cooler in person and it is HUGE!! After seeing the city from the water, I couldn't wait to explore the city on foot the next day.

This day was very long and we were all exhausted so after the boat tour, we went back to the hotel for the night.

On Saturday morning, breakfast was included with the price of the hotel, so after we ate, we all met in the lobby again to go on a bus tour of the city. We had a really funny tour guide, which made the tour that much more enjoyable. On the bus tour we got carted around the city being told this and that about each building and intersection we passed. I don't remember everything that we were told about every single thing we passed but it was really cool to hear about how the city developed and the history around certain things. When we passed the Eiffel Tower on the bus, it was even bigger than I thought it was the night before. It is so incredible to see it up close and personal, it is definitely one of my favorite parts of this trip.

After our bus tour, we were given tickets to the Louvre museum. The Louvre is huge. It is absolutely impossible to see the entire museum in one day, even if we wanted to. So, we decided to go right to the wing that held the Mona Lisa. Even though we heard it was tiny and underwhelming, I couldn't say I went to the Louvre museum without seeing one of the most famous paintings in the world. It was literally like going through a maze trying to find where the Mona Lisa was. It was super cool seeing how many paintings were in the building though. The walls were literally covered in paintings of various sizes. My favorites were the huge ones that took up entire walls. They're so impressive! Once we got to the Mona Lisa, there was a huge crowd of people with cell phones in the air taking pictures of this tiny painting held behind bulletproof glass. I mean, it was cool seeing the famous painting, but I really did expect more! Oh well, at least I can say I saw it.

After we left the Louvre, we wanted to go see the Notre Dame church. However, it was a 30 minute walk, and it was pouring rain! By the time we got there, we were all soaking wet and freezing. But, hey at least we're in Paris, right?! Inside of the Notre Dame is beautiful. I cannot imagine the amount of time it took to build that church because there are so many details everywhere, and they are all gorgeous.

After the church it was time to go to the Eiffel Tower so we could take the elevator up to the top! We take the metro to the Eiffel Tower and walk to buy our tickets. Once we get inside, we have to take two separate elevators up to the top. The first one goes to the second floor, which is all open. The elevator up is so scary! It is all glass and you're literally right in the middle of one of the legs of the Eiffel Tower, so you can see everything!! It really is remarkable! Once we got to the first stop, the second floor, it was freeeeeezing & so so so cold. The view was amazing, so we took our pictures and started to head up to the top, hoping it would be closed off so we could warm up! We got into another scary elevator and once we got off, I was speechless! It is so beautiful, the view beats the view of London from the London Eye on any day!!

The last thing that I really wanted to see in Paris was the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle. It sparkles for the first five minutes of every hour from sunset to one in the morning. Since we had been going all day, and we were cold and tired, we decided we were going to try to see it sparkle for the first time that night, which would be at 6 pm. After we came down from the top, we had some time to kill, so we went to go find a little cafe where we could eat some crepes! We walked down the street a little and found a nice restaurant that served crepes. They were delicious and we were able to warm up a little bit. We then made our way back to the Eiffel Tower to it shine! It was beautiful!

On Sunday, we were able to do whatever we wanted, as long as we were able to make it back to the hotel by 5:45 so we could head back to London. We decided to go to the Palace of Versailles for the duration of the day! It was totally worth it. I had so much fun here and the grounds are absolutely beautiful! The actually palace is gorgeous. It is huge and every room has an unbelievable amount of details and it's honestly breathtaking. The gardens are just as gorgeous. However, if I could i would definitely go back in the spring so I could see all the flowers in bloom and the fountains going! It is super cool to be able to walk around those grounds though. Once you walk further back on the grounds, you reach Marie Antoinette's Estate and the Petit and Grand Trions! Basically, three more amazing palaces. They're all gorgeous and I could never imagine ever living there!

This trip was honestly a lot of fun. The weather could have been so much better but I am just grateful the chance to get to go!!

Until next time...! Thanks for reading :)

Week Two: First Week of Classes & Free Trips!

So after being here for a week and doing some sightseeing and exploring, classes finally started! I am taking four classes here this semester, all having to do with one of my majors. I am taking two business classes: Distribution and Retail Management and Advertising Management. I am also taking two media classes: Web Design and Fashion and Media.

I started off the week with going to a class called Contemporary Visual Culture and after one class I knew I wasn't going to like it. I didn't want to be in a class that I knew I was going to be miserable in, so I went to talk to my advisor and she suggested the Fashion and Media class. I am happy with my decision to change classes!!

Classes are so different here than they are at St. Mike's. Instead of having a ton of assignments throughout the semester, we only have two or three assignments that count for our grade for the entire semester. To make life more interesting, our final exams are worth up to 50% of our grade. Also, in every class I am in we have a huge group project to do. I have had to do plenty of group projects in the past, but not in every class I am taking for the semester! It will be interesting managing four different groups, but it will be worth it!

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Since I only have class Monday through Wednesday, I have a four day weekend! Thursday wasn't too exciting, but on Friday my friends and I went to Oxford Circus to do a little shopping and more exploring! There are a ton of stores there, including a Primark, which until recently was only a European store. They just put one in Boston, which is great news!! I had never been there before but it was quite an experience. Honestly, I love shopping and this was just plain old overwhelming, but in a good way! Everything was extremely cheap (in price) and there were sooo many options! Easily my new favorite store! Friday night Richmond had a start of the semester party at a bar called Loop. It was a lot of fun and it was cool being in a bar with other people from my school.

Primark!!

Loop Bar.

Saturday during the day we got a free trip on the London Eye. We waited in a ridiculously long line to get on, but hey it was free! The experience was really cool though, so I am glad I did it! The view was absolutely amazing. I really want to go back and see it at night, the view would be even more amazing!

On top of the London Eye!

On Sunday we woke up bright and early to go to a day trip to Bath, England. My friend Abbey studied here over the summer and it was somewhere she told me I had to go! It was such a beautiful city. Obviously, much smaller than London, but very quaint and cute. We got a free entrance to the Roman Baths, which are so cool. They are the only hot water springs in England. They are surrounded by Roman ruins. They have built a whole new building over the ruins, with a museum inside that shows the actual ruins. I was kind of disappointed there was a building built around them, I think it would have been really cool to have left them the way they were and built the museum and exhibit around them. Still, it is cool to have said I have been there! On the way out you get to try the actual water, which is said to having healing powers. As soon as I took a sip, I wish I never had. It was warm and tasted like..... iron. Ew. But, hey at least I can say I've had it! After the trip to the baths, we got to explore a little. Walking around and seeing the cool little alley ways and shops around the city. We ate lunch at a place called The Stable, which was a pizza and cider place; it was cute! Our tour guides then took us on a quick walking tour of the city, which was cool. We got to see the "circus" which is a perfect circle made of apartments and a rotary in the middle of the city. We also go to see a huge park the Princess Victoria opened before she became Queen. After our day in Bath, we boarded the bus again for the two and a half hour drive back to London! It was a successful weekend!

Panorama of the Roman Baths!

That's all for now! Next weekend we are going to Paris... stay tuned! :)

Week One: Exploring London

So I have been here for about a week now and I absolutely love it. This week was insanely busy with orientation events for all of the study abroad students.

Once I arrived to my dorm on Tuesday morning, I settled in and unpacked all of my things. My room is extremely small and the bed is really uncomfortable, but I can deal with that because I am able to explore Europe! Later on in the day we received a walking tour of Kensington, the bureau that I am staying in. Kensington is the wealthiest bureau in London so all of the houses around my dorm are extremely nice and very very pricey! Kensington Palace is just a few minute walk from where I am staying, which is where Kate and William live with their kids. After our walking tour we got dinner in the dining hall, my first taste of food since I got off the plane earlier that day. We ended the day with an introduction to Imperial Bar and Imperial College, which we have access too through our school! I met a few people there and it was interesting trying English drinks! My first day was the longest day, I was up for more than 24 hours!

On Wednesday we had a bus tour of London! We woke up and ate breakfast and met in front of my building by 11:30 to walk to the busses! On the bus tour we got to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, we drove over the river so we could see the London Bridge, and we also drove by the London Eye! That night we had tickets to see Wicked, which was awesome to see in London! It was my first experience on the Underground too! In order to get to the theater we had to take the tube. It was an overall exciting day!

Thursday was just as exciting! We even got to explore a little bit on our own. We had the option of going to a seminar where someone came to talk to us about how to travel cheaply around Europe, so I went to check it out. There was also an Orientation fair that I went to, just to see what was going on in there. Afterwards my friends and I went and walked around Kensington High Street where there are plenty of shops and stores to go into! We went into T.K. Maxx (the UKs version of T.J. Maxx) and there was even a Whole Foods. The travel seminar and the orientation fair were in both of the Academic buildings, so I felt better knowing where those were for when classes start on Monday! That night there was a boat party that we got to go to! It was really cool being on a boat on the Thames in the middle of January. The sights from the boat of the London Eye and of Big Ben were so pretty. After the boat party we went to a bar across the street called the Walkabout, which was super fun. It was Karaoke night at the bar, so it was fun to dance to drunk British people singing awfully! The tube closes at midnight, so trying to get home was interesting. We had to take a night bus home, which is fun! I am slowly getting to know how to get around this city and its exciting to know in a few months I will be able to get around no problem!!

My roommate and I on the boat!

Friday was more relaxing. We had library orientations, but after that we went back to Kensington Gardens to take pictures. There's a gorgeous pond with Kensington Palace behind it. When we were there the sun was starting to set and there were swans and birds swimming in the pond. It was gorgeous and I got some great pictures! We then ventured off onto the streets of London to try and find a grocery store so we could get some snacks for our rooms! Walking around is interesting considering half the time we have no idea how to get around... We'll get it eventually! Later on as part of orientation, there was a pub crawl to three near by pubs and a club! It is nice seeing the local pubs for when we are looking for some place near school!

Our meal plan doesn't work on the weekends, so we have to find our own form of food! We went to try a place around the corner called Sandwich World, which was pretty cheap and decently good. After we ate headed out to Kings Cross Station to see the famous Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. Of course, I got the classic picture holding onto the carriage they put in that is halfway through the wall! Alan Rickman, the actor who played Severus Snape has just recently passed away, so next to the platform, fans had started shrine for him by placing flowers and candles with pictures of him. That night we went out to Piccadilly Circus to see Lumiere London, which is a light show that was happening that attracted a ridiculous amount of people! They even closed off the streets the light show was on. It was amazing seeing that many people in one place. After we saw the light show we found a pub and sat down to have a couple of drinks. We started to go home around midnight, we had a long day!

Off to Hogwarts!

Lumiere London at Piccadilly Circus!

Today, Sunday, was fun too! I finally got to sleep in which was nice because I had not yet gotten to do that! We went to Trafalgar Square to explore a little bit in the afternoon. Its a gorgeous place with fountains and a ton of street performers... in fact, a floating Yoda decided to pull me over and kiss my hand after putting his hat on me. It was funny, but a little creepy!! There is an art museum in the square called the National Gallery that we got to go in and explore. A cool thing about London is that all of the museums have free admission, so it is totally worth it to go in everyone and look around a little. Afterwards we went out to eat at a place called Garfunkel's,  where I got a great cheeseburger!!

Yoda!!

Trafalgar Square!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes, I can't wait to see what this next week has to bring!

That is all for now!

Traveling across the pond...!

Hi everyone! 

For those of you who don't know, I am a Junior at St. Michael's college in Colchester, Vermont. I am a double major in Business and Media, Journalism and Digital Arts! For the spring semester of my junior year I will be studying in London, England! 

London has been some place I have always wanted to go, and it's a good spot for me to me in to study and travel around Europe. My dad always used to travel to these cool countries for business and I think that's where I get my love of travel from. 

I have traveled my whole life, and have wanted to explore the world ever since my parents took me on my first vacation. I've been to Hawaii, Colorado, Wyoming, Washington, Arizona, Utah, and all around New England with my family. I have even done volunteer services in Antigua, Guatemala and I did an exchange program my senior year of high school to Valladolid, Spain. However, I have never gone off and done something completely alone before, and I saw this opportunity and jumped on it. 

I am so excited to live in a different country for a semester and study there as well. I plan to travel as much as possible and will continue to post about my experiences on this blog! 

I am currently on the plane to London as I write this and I couldn't be more excited and nervous. I have no idea what to expect and the anticipation of this trip has been eating away at me every since I got accepted to the program back in October. Saying bye to my friends and loved ones was difficult but looking ahead to what is to come this next semester makes the sadness of goodbyes totally worth it! I look forward to sharing my experiences with all of you and all of my friends and family!!

Cheers!