The road so far...
If you take a look at the lovely map above, I have highlighted the countries I have been in a nice green color. The ones I have not been yet but have plans to go to are highlighted in the other green color.
So, I have been to Denmark (duh), Sweden ( a few times), Norway, Finland, Czech Republic, and Switzerland briefly. I want to take this post and give you an idea of what kind of traveling trips are possible during a semester at DIS. I am going to break it down by country. You ready?
So DENMARK, probably the country you will spend the most time in if you choose to study here (theoretically). Daily live has me traveling from Brønshøj to DIS near Gammeltorv usually 5 days a week. Even along this route there are some wonderful things to see. The infamous mermaid is not directly on my route but not far at all. The harbor baths, same situation as the mermaid. There are also tons of bagel shops, cafes, non bagel shops, and other places where you can spend all your non existent hard earned capital. There are also some pretty wild looking parks and bike paths. Go out and explore.
Lets talk NORWAY now. I spent the least amount of time here of anywhere, well except for Switzerland, but anyways so Norway! I went here to hike Trolltunga, because who doesn't want to stand on a rock that hangs over a fjord? I mean come on! Anyways, flew into Bergen, very cool city that I definitely wish I had spent more time in. Went to another town called Odda that I almost moved to, not literally but, maybe someday. It was super cute, there was glacier close by, (no big deal) and lots of great little shops along their Main Street. You can take the bus there, it is quite easy and the scenery is incredible.
HIKE
TROLLTUNGA
IT
IS
INCREDIBLE
I will just end the Norway post with a pic from the top, if this isn't enough to convince you...I have no words for you.
SWEDEN, I have actually gone here on multiple occasions. There was a day trip to Malmo. If you need to buy clothes, go here they are cheaper than in Denmark (fewer taxes and all that good stuff). There is a train that goes here regularly from Copenhagen so just hop on that and explore. The night life is pretty wild too, be aware.
Then there was a weekend building a house in the Swedish countryside (thank you very much networking). It was an opportunity to go to a part of Sweden that I probably would not have visited otherwise but oh my goodness it was very very beautiful. Accessible by train as well.
There was also the few days spent in Stockholm for the long study tour for school. Very very cool as well, lots of churches, lots of analyzing urban spaces, and actually quite a lot of free time as well.
This last weekend I took a trip with a few people to Gothenburg and did a nice little 40 km hike to a cabin on a lake. The route was fairly flat so if you are feeling up for it. I would recommend that as well, I will write a post in the future explaining how to get around Gothenburg and pay for tickets because it is a little more annoying and difficult that my friends and I anticipated.
FINLAND. What a strange and cool place this was. Spent a day in Turku looking at some contemporary churches (this was part of the long study tour for class). Afterwards we spent some time in Helsinki which honestly is quite a beautiful city I would say, in my "professional" opinion. It is a very interesting mix of post Russian architectural monuments and obviously heavy Scandinavian influences as well. Like most of the cities in Scandinavia it too is/was a harbor city so waterfront properties and park space are plentiful. If you are not going here for long study tour, seriously consider taking a trip on your own. My favorite part was taking a traditional Finnish smoke sauna outside of the city. It was in the middle of nowhere. There was basically a full moon. There was snow in the forest. A hole was cut in the ice on the lake nearby and we jumped in. Makes for quite the story. There is also a sauna in the city of Helsinki that is quite affordable if you don't want to run out into the woods.
CZECH REPUBLIC. This trip was awesome, I know it may seem like signing up for a trip through DIS would be not as fun as traveling on your own, but it provided me with the opportunity to meet some other likeminded tree hugging people. So just think about it. This trip had zip lining, rock climbing, cave exploring, high rope walking, hiking, history, haunted scavenger hunts, and you stay in a castle. What more could you possibly want?
SWITZERLAND. Sadly I do not have any pictures from there as I was only there for a layover on my way into Denmark, but I can tell you, it is unlike anything I have ever seen before. The mountains, the green, uffda. Make a weekend trip there and do some hiking. I wish I had, but there are only so many weekends in a semester that you can put off homework to go exploring.
A lot of my friends have gone to many more places than I. Paris, Dublin, Rome, Venice, Berlin, etc. I recommend it all, truly. I would also recommend that you pick a few places to really get to know though. The whole saying "it's better to be a mile deep and an inch wide than a mile wide and an inch deep" can certainly be applied to traveling I think. You can see all the main tourist attractions that are out there, but mix in some nontraditional trips as well, get to know a country in a deeper way. The only way you can do this is by going of the beaten path every once and a while. It isn't that scary, obviously be smart while traveling, and let people know (including DIS) where you are going for safety purposes.
Go. See. Live. Learn. Grow.
Peace and Love Turtle Doves.
