OKTOBERFEST-Carlyn

Oktoberfest

The most common piece of advice imparted on me by my study abroad predecessors was “GO TO OKTOBERFEST!” Not only was I excited to finally experience what I viewed as a study abroad right of passage, but also for a weekend with all of Vandy in one European location… (this simply implies epicness). After a glass of wine on the plane (gotta love Lufthansa) and a seemingly never ending journey to Munich we finally arrived at the tents.

 To be perfectly honest I was expecting Oktoberfest to be much like the Beer Garden at the Standard Hotel in New York only on a much larger scale. Which was why I was completely blown away when I entered the grounds and saw that what appeared to be cross between a frat party and Disney World. Not only was I surprised by the mere size of the place but the fact that it was quite a family affair.  

We decided not to go crazy Friday night as most of our group, who had been drinking since 12, had left to rest up for our 7:30 am wake up the next morning. After dealing with our sleeping arrangements and getting a much needed drink we hit the rides! After a nice Ferris Wheel warm up, we stopped for a drink break (it was Oktoberfest after all) and once we sufficiently liquored McCallen up convinced her to ride something other than the thrilling and extremely daring giant slide. After our two rides, we sufficiently worked up an appetite and Betsy and I stopped for some extremely juicy corn on the cob. Although it was only 10 pm and the tents did not close till 11pm we decided to head back so that we would be well prepared for Saturday’s festivities.

Saturday

I did not know what I was expecting my Oktoberfest experience to be …not going to lie I was a bit skeptical that my gluten-free Oktoberfest was going to be quite as raging as my partners beer-guzzling Betsy! However, after discovering that I could order wine in the tents, and I’m not just a meek glass either,

Therefore, despite the pressure from Betsy for this to be an “epic post” I must say that in the case of Oktoberfest a picture is really worth a thousand words… especially when there really are no words… that you can remember…. Thus, all I can really say about Saturday is that we drank a lot of beer and wine, met some friends some old, some new, went on some rides, and Oktoberfeasted (they had awesome corn on the cob and chocolate covered everything)

Sunday

            After Saturday we were in need of a detox day. Therefore, Sunday was our dedicated “cultural” day. We aggressively woke up and checked out of the hotel by 8:30am excited to see something other than the inside of a tent. We headed over to Marienplatz, the main plaza in the city center of Munich. Unfortunately our “Sunday Funday” was foiled by store hours—you think we would have thought of that before we decided to wake up at 8 am.  Despite the stores being closed we still enjoyed the beautiful gothic architecture and red flowers. We also visited the Mariensäule (Mary's column) church, which was incredible, but unfortunately we could only peak inside because they were conducting Sunday morning services. We decided to head to the airport all together and be early for once (yay finally getting the hang of traveling by ourselves)!

Wicked Wednesdays: Illum Bakery-Betsy

Carlyn and I were chatting the other day about things we could do to spice up the blog, and she came up with a fantastic idea. On Wednesdays DIS students do not have class, so our days usually consist of sleeping in late, feeling a tad under the weather due to the night before, and studying. I've decided to go on a search for the best Copenhagen bakery and visit one each Wednesday. The only rule is that I have to ask the person behind the counter for the best one.

I have walked by this bakery dozens of times before and thought it would make the perfect initial destination. This bakery is located on Stroget, which is a collection of streets running through the center center that make up the largest pedestrian walking street in Europe. The bakery is actually situated inside of one of Copenhagen's largest department stores: Illum. Now first of all, this is definitely one of the best stores in Copenhagen, and I like it 10x better now that I know how great the bakery is. The bakery was extremely well stocked with sugary and savory items.

I walked up to the counter and asked for the best pastry they had. She hesitated (obviously could not decide because everything looked fantastic) but then picked a type of cinnamon role thing with chocolate icing. It definitely did not disappoint. It was basically pure sugary deliciousness. I sat down on a fountain in one of the city squares to enjoy my hangover cure.

Overall, successful first visit to a bakery!
 Farvel alle!

Florentine Adventures-Betsy

Carlyn and I returned to Copenhagen extremely late Sunday night after a fantastic few days of good food, wine, and friends.

On Friday, Becca, Carlyn, and I had quite the journey ahead of us. When we looked at flights two weeks ago, flights into Rome were substantially less expensive than direct flights to Florence. So, we decided that we should fly into Florence and take the train through Italy. Honestly, I am extremely proud of our navigation skills. We woke up early Friday morning and quickly arrived at the Copenhagen airport. We were all extremely excited because Katsrup airport boasts the ONLY Starbucks in all of Copenhagen. My day was already made by 9:30 due to the skinny vanilla latte.

Once we landed in Rome, we had to get from the airport to the train station. Our driver (thanks dad!) picked us up at the airport and after some paninis we were on our way. Although this may seem like a boring car ride, in reality it was the quickest tour of Rome I have ever had. In only 45 minutes we saw the Vatican, the Colosseum, and the roman forum. As we sped by the sights (Italians are crazy drivers) our driver quickly pointed out all of the important things to see. We finally arrived at the train station and successfully bought the correct ticket to Florence despite the language barrier.

When we arrived in Florence, we were greeted by tour guide Taylor who had made bruschetta and brie for us and had already purchased several bottles of wine. McCallen, Hannah, and Kara soon joined and we spent the afternoon sipping wine and catching up. We eventually changed for dinner and took a stroll down to the PonteVecchio before heading to dinner.

I can pretty much sum up our dinner by saying it was one of the best meals of my entire life. We went to La Giostra, which is apparently the best restaurant in Tuscany. We did very little ordering throughout dinner, and the chef kept bringing us various assortments of appetizers and drinks. We had persecco, wine, grapa, and lemoncello to top off the night My food, beef carpaccio and pear ravioli, was unbelievable. 

I think the waiters and the chef were not used to having large groups of young girls in their restaurant because they paid us an unbelievable amount of attention that evening. After forcing the chef to take a shot of grapa, we concluded the evening with this gem of a picture.

After dinner we quickly headed to a bar called Shots, that serves, well, shots. Mostly shots involving flames. Although we intended to head to the nightclub Space, it was already very late and after a long day of traveling we were tired. We spent the remainder of the night lying on the steps of the Duomo with our new American friends.

We were up around 11 the next day, and tour guide Taylor showed us around Florence. We saw the Piazza della Repubblica, a historical orphanage, and eventually made our way to an Italian market. However, this is not the touristy Italian market that most visitors go to. We were the only Americans in the whole place, and I decided to take the opportunity to try a Florentine favorite: fried dough. McCallen and Hannah awoke around 1 and met us for paninis and gelato, and we then decided to hike to a piazza that gave us an amazing view of the city.

That evening, we went to a second Italian restaurant called Il Latini. This was more of a family style restaurant, and the second we sat down they started bringing us multiple courses including prosciutto & melon, gnocchi, ravioli, and steak. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been so full in my entire life. That evening, we went to an outdoor nightclub called Central Park and eventually made our way home around 3:30.

Thanks McCallen, Hannah, Taylor, and Kara for hosting us! Can’t wait to see everyone in Munich next weekend.

Ciao!

A bit about Danish immersion...-Carlyn

I was going to post about my study tour experience but I think I will spare everyone the invigorating and uplifting details of my sustainable development trip...

 As a part of living in Copenhagen DIS asks that we do two immersion activities. Betsy and I have tried to really take this  seriously and be proactive in our immersion. For example, Saturday night after a long three days of traveling ( and partying, these Danes really enjoy to drink) around Western Denmark I was looking forward to finally returning home. I planned to cook a nice relaxing meal before I rallied for the evening's festivities. However, what I found in my kitchen was not the peace and quiet I had both wanted and expected. Our SRA Alexander, decided to throw a party in our Kitchen. I was immediately bombarded with alcohol and rowdy Danish men... By the time Betsy returned the party had grown substantially, and some of our hall mates had even joined in. Betsy was quick to follow, and at first I was a little unsure  because I had made tentative plans with some friends from my study tour. However, in the true spirit of immersion I decided what the hell if there is a party going on in my kitchen I might as well join in. We ended up having a great time and even learned a Danish drinking game called beer bowling ( which i won ironically because I can't drink beer).

After our Danish Pre-Game we decided to meet up with some of our friends. However, we had been bitten by the immersion bug and left to meet our new Danish friends at one of our staple bars Francis Pony ( best Mojitos I've ever had). I think my favorite part about hanging out with the Danes is that when ever you enter the room they all yell " AHHHHHHH" like you are the exact person they want most to see at that moment ( However, it took me a while to feel this way as the first time I was extremely embarrassed because I unsuspectingly walked into the kitchen in the middle of their party)

We again left the Danes, but don't worry that was not the last of them.  As fate would have it we later ran into Alexander and his friends in the streets and went with them to a late night bar called "out of juice" for the remainder of the night.

Obviously our evening of immersion would not have been complete without a stop at one of the University of Copenhagen's welcome parties. Let's be honest, we need our elevated surfaces fix and who doesn't love a little Medina...

On a more serious note, however, after my family's experience with an exchange student I decided that I would really like the opportunity to be paired with a Danish family.  My family, the Berghs, live in a little town along the coast of Denmark 30 mins. outside of Copenhagen. The family consists of Sussi ( mom), Regitze (19 year old daughter) and Laura ( 15 year old daughter). I have only visited twice but I already feel a part of the family. My first visit was two weeks ago. I at first was a little hesitant when they invited me to join them for Sunday dinner, not only as you all know do I have dietary restrictions (making me a little high maintenance) but also I feared the dinner would consist of pickled herring and mayo, the two main Danish food groups...
 However, the family made me a delicious (gluten free) dinner and I was pleased to find out that the oldest daughter Regitze was also gluten free. Like with most European's dinning with Danes is truly a leisurely experience. I arrived at their house around 4pm and the family felt bad for making me leave by 9pm. I had such a lovely night and it was nice to feel a little more comfortable in a still foreign country. They even invited me to their Daughter's birthday party (which I missed because of my trip, but heard was quite the rager as Laura was bar tending) This invitation would have  surprised me had they not been the most genuine people I have encountered thus far in Denmark. Yesterday I went for my second visit. We went to the Louisiana modern art museum to see its newest exhibit called "Living", which was absolutely incredible. It showed the different ways in which we live in the world today. My favorite was a section on tree house inspired homes, with one made entirely out of glass so that it appeared to be almost invisible. Not only was the exhibit thought-provoking and inspiring but the museum itself boast an amazing view of the ocean. I was also freaking out because I had my first celebrity sighting in Denmark. After spending some time infiltrating the Danish frat scene, Medina, has become one of my itunes top played. Regitze casually pointed her out and of course as my typical American, celebrity-obsessed self, I started to freak out. This is another major cultural difference. In Denmark even the Queen is known to casually stroll the city streets without being bothered by the people. Therefore, I decided to refrain from asking for an autograph.  After the museum we drove along the coast back to their town and they stopped at Regitze's college ( like our high school) because I had been trying to explain to them the complete absurdity and chaos that has been renamed the "college application process". It is really no wonder they have he best restaurant in the world because these Danes are truly gourmet chefs and luckily I ended the evening again with an amazing dinner and wine. Unfortunately I am traveling the next two weekends so I am not going to see the girls for at least three weeks but Sussi works in the city and invited me to see her workplace and for lunch. The family also has a house in Italy and when I told Sussi that my parents were coming to Europe she wanted to invite us to their house (however, she said it will be too cold in November...so mom and dad if you want Italy I suggest coming now). 

Betsy and I have become so this week in Danish culture that we even began to have bike problems. I returned from our study tour to find that my bike lock keys no longer in my jacket pocket so now my bike is locked until I can find a hardware store to get some pliers that can cut through metal...( ok so mine might be more clumsiness than immersion)  Betsy, however, has truly embodied the essence of Danish immersion as she returned from her study tour to find that her bike was stolen...

Well that's all for now! We are off to Florence on Friday to visit McCallen and Hannah!!

Week 3-Betsy

 Hello everyone! Carlyn and I are approaching the 3-week mark here in Copenhagen. This week has been quite exciting so far. After a great night out on Friday, the whole crew decided to get going early (noon is early for us) and spend the day in Sweden. Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, is only a 30-minute train ride away from Copenhagen. After a brief panic attack (we thought we were on the wrong train) and a few beers, we finally arrived. However, we soon realized that no one had done any research, and we knew nothing about Sweden or what to see/do there. However, Trevor took charge and purchased a map that helped us navigate our way to the main pedestrian street. Without the map, we most certainly would have ended up in industrial Malmo. After a long stroll and some lunch, we opted for the guided canal tour of the city. While our guide cracked jokes, we relaxed and took in the sights. The tour some very strange architecture including a house halfway submerged in water that is supposed to represent the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and our lack of sustainability (still don’t quite get it), and a building that was supposedly Malmo’s tallest skyscraper at only 30 stories.  Also, we kept hearing about the “castle” in Malmo. When we passed it during the tour, it turned out to be a really lame one-story building. Awkward.

Apparently the stores in every Scandinavian city close at 5:00, because the city began to shut down as we finished the tour. We decided to grab some soft ice before we left the city. I honestly cannot believe I have yet to mention soft ice because it is absolutely incredible. It’s the Danish/Swedish version of ice cream and to be honest I have no idea what it’s made out of. It has a consistency similar to soft serve ice cream, but they roll the cone in different toppings. I look like a 5 year old with my ice cream covered in rainbow sprinkles.  While eating said soft ice, we got to chatting with a Swedish gangster with a tear drop tattoo on his face. This apparently means that he has killed someone or one of his friends was killed. SafE. Overall, Malmo proved to be very similar to Copenhagen, just some different money and a different language. We can’t wait to head back there in October for the Britney Spears concert and a visit to Scandinavia’s largest nightclub!

Last Sunday was a lazy day in Copenhagen. Carlyn and I headed to Paludan’s in the morning for cappuccinos and a little bit of homework.  Thanks for the recommendation Vandy girls, because this is honestly the best café in Copenhagen. It’s half book store/half café and has the best chai tea lattes I’ve ever had. Definitely going to be our home base for studying for the next 3 months. After finishing our drinks we decided that we should try out the infamous Black Diamond library Sunday afternoon. We hopped on our bikes and started the 10-minute ride, but soon discovered that we were in the middle of a professional bike race. Oops. Although Carlyn and I have almost mastered biking with the Danes and even mastered biking rather inebriated, we were in way over our heads. We had to do a circle around the city, and quickly cross streets before the bikers zoomed by us. A lot of trouble to get to the Black Diamond, which wasn’t even open on Sundays! Seriously? Sunday is the #1 study day, and your main library isn’t open? We ended the day cooking dinner with friends in our dorm. I will admit we’ve gotten pretty adventurous with the cooking and I’m surprisingly doing pretty well. We’ve learned you can cook pretty much anything with olive oil and a pan.

On Tuesdays I only have one class and Carlyn is finished by noon, so we spent the morning exploring the neighborhood around DIS. The shopping is absolutely incredible in Copenhagen. A random boutique on a side street can be the coolest store you’ve ever been into. One of our favorites was a store that sold really interesting graphic tees. Carlyn, I still think you should get the one with the upside down Eiffel Tower. After popping in and out of a few vintage stores, Carlyn and I found a great bakery called St. Peders.

 This bakery has a student deal that gets you a coffee and a pastry for around 15 kroner. Considering most coffees are around 30 kroner ($6) I would say this is a pretty solid deal, and the pastry was fantastic. The 3-hour class, International Financial Management, was interesting considering the fact that Vanderbilt students make up 20% of the class. We all made it go by as quickly as possible. That night, we went to a pregame with our new SMU/F&M friends, headed to a bar called Francis Pony that serves fantastic mojitos, and finally, of course, to Kulor Bar.

On Wednesday, we don’t have class, but sometimes we have field studies to different companies/organizations around Copenhagen. At 1, my Economics of Globalization class headed to an IT labor union called PROSA. The visit was short and informative, because the Danes have totally different attitudes towards labor unions. In the United States, only 15% of US citizens are affiliated with a labor union, and these members are mostly blue-collar workers. In Denmark, it is the norm to be a part of your respective labor union. Wednesday night, we cooked dinner and went to bed early. I had to be up at 5:00 the next morning to start our study tour to western Denmark. Blog post about the study tour to come soon, we are heading back from it now!