Final Travel Thoughts

Whew! Three straight weeks of traveling is a lot. Still, it was a great experience that I wouldn't have changed at all. Just in case you haven't already read, below are posts about a lot of the places I visited and some of the things I saw and took part in. Also, all of my pictures are now posted on Webshots for your perusal. But now for my concluding thoughts.

First, it was insane the different kinds of transportation I made use of. Automobile. Charter bus. Ferry. Streetcar. Metro. Local Train. Regional Train. National Train. Night Train. Airplane. Public bus. I pretty much did it all. Shows how well Europe is connected.

Second, I have come to the conclusion that everyone -- Americans that is -- should do Europe twice. Once as a student. There are just certain experiences people get traveling on the cheap that they would never get if they had money, such as staying at hostels and meeting the people there or eating at cafeterias. It's just a different and enjoyable way to travel. With that said, I also feel that people should go back to Europe when they have more money to truly enjoy some of the more expensive luxuries Europe affords such as great food. This is definitely a blueprint I plan on following.

Along some of those same lines the people I met, especially in Florence were great. It was also interesting to note the differences in ages and what that made the trip be for each person. For example, I met two college aged students that were taking some time off from school and just enjoying Europe. But then I also met two people that were 30+ who almost seemed to be escaping from certain aspects of their life by traveling to Europe. I found this dichotomy to be quite intriguing, and really nothing more.

So it was a great trip, but I am definitely not looking forward to going back to school. DIS doesn't do any favors as I have an exam on Friday and a presentation due in a week. But still, less than 2 months of classes, and then I'm done. Time has really been flying.

The last two months aren't just classes, though. I still have plenty of excitement to look forward to. First, my parents and brother will be here in less than two weeks to spend a week in Copenhagen and celebrate Thanksgiving with me and my family. Then a week later I will be taking a weekend trip to Vienna to experience that amazing city in the winter. Then finally, once classes are done I'll be spending a couple days in London before heading home. So I definitely have things besides classes to keep me occupied.

Prague: A City of Serendipity

The arrival into Prague was uneventful. It was also the only portion of the trip that would retain that designation. Pretty much every event/thing/item that followed getting off the bus in the city had some unique twist to it. First, upon arrival a group of us attempted to find our hostel with no real directions or true sense of where we were. About 20 minutes and a lot of steps later we finally found the place. Once we became settled, we then headed towards to Old Town square. There we found the Old Town Hall and the Astronomical Clock. Prior to continuing, we decided that some lunch was in order, and quite randomly stumbled upon a great little pub that had traditional Czech food, so we ended up all ordering the same meal – the goulash – which was splendid to say the least.

After lunch, we explored a bit of the Jewish quarter and then continued on to one of the lesser-known bridges crossing the Vltava River. It afforded some great views of the more famous Charles Bridge, which nicely allowed for a different perspective. Once we crossed the river, we headed up to Prague Castle. Simply unbelievable. Prague Castle contains the Old Royal Palace, but more importantly it also encloses the St. Vilius church. I’m not exactly sure what to say about this church. It was breathtaking. I'm pretty sure neither my words nor my pictures could fully do it justice. We took our time and walked around the church, as well as climbing its 279 steps to the top of one of the towers (the exact number is known because we were warned about it before beginning). From the top of the tower we had an amazing view of all of Prague. The only negative was the lousy weather wasn’t conducive to having a clear view.

We then walked down from the castle and briefly walked around New Town, before crossing the ever-famous Charles Bridge into Old Town. From all of this walking around I came to two conclusions. First, Prague is incredibly touristy. There were tourists everywhere you were. It reminded me of New York City in some ways with just the incredibly large number of people milling about. And this is in the end of October – definitely not high tourist season. Second, if you are British you were visiting Prague. Obviously, that is an overstatement, but I heard so many British accents everywhere that at times I thought I was in London. The Brits are probably just being smart and taking advantage of the 40 Czech Kroner that every 1 British Pound is worth.

That night our serendipitous decisions continued, as we decided to see a black light theater show called “Rock Therapy,” which was based off of Beatles music. It was an experience to say the least, or I guess a bit better one could say a trip. There was no dialogue, just Beatles music and some odd compilations done by the troupe putting on the show. I think to truly enjoy the show a person needs to take the song “Lucy in the sky with diamonds” a bit more literally. The show did remind me of home, as it was definitely a show for the Geibs.

After the show, we left the theater and were walking down the street when we were suddenly greeted by fireworks. It turned out that there was a huge mall opening that night very close by and a party was being thrown which included bands and fireworks. Once the show was done we of course had to check out the new mall. It was pretty high class in terms of the stores inside but also its architecture and design. A definite change from places like the Mall of America or the mall back home.

The next day was a slower day, which was needed after the constant going, going, going of the previous couple days. I woke up and went to the train station to purchase my ticket for that night to Budapest. I had researched the train I wanted before hand, but did not purchase the ticket, as I thought it would be cheaper to buy it in person than online through a ticket broker. Unfortunately, and quite surprisingly, I was wrong, as I paid about $20 more in Prague. I then decided to it was necessary to see St. Wenceslas Square. However, somewhere along the lines I lost my map, so that became a 2-hour adventure of walking around Prague. Eventually, I found a tourist information booth, purchased a new map, and found the square. It reminded me a bit of Unter den Linden strasse in Berlin, which leads up to the Brandenburg Gate. In both cases you have a wide, tree-lined street, lots of people, shops on either side of the road, and the street ending in a national monument.

I then met up with my friends from DIS, had a late lunch, and then headed out to see the actual Mucha museum. Even after seeing most of his work the previous week it was still quite interesting. My favorites are “The Four Seasons” and “Four Precious Stones”.

We ate dinner that night at some random restaurant in the basement of a building that we stumbled upon in the Old Town area. It was really good, and probably one of my last cheap meals for the rest of my travels.

I hung out with my friends for the last time on the trip for a couple hours back at the hostel before I had to head to the train station. Luckily, the train station was only a metro stop away from the hostel, and the metro stop itself was only 50m away from the hostel. So around midnight – my train didn’t leave until 1 am – I gathered my bags, said my goodbyes, and headed towards the metro station. This is when the fun began. First, after I got down to the station I realized I was at the wrong line. This required 5 minutes more of walking up and down stairs to get to the correct line. Once I did that I then heard an announcement saying that the train I needed was no longer running for the night, even though on the schedule it was supposed to run three more times. So I then walked another five minutes back up to the street level to try to find another way to the station. I stumbled upon two taxis, and asked them if they were in service. I received a gruff shaking of the head to indicate no. At this point, I was beginning to worry a bit, and started to walk towards the station. About 10 minutes later I found a taxi that was in service, but he didn't take credit cards for payment, and my Czech Kroner supplies were running low, which meant we had to stop at an ATM, where I needed to withdraw about 200 Kroner. Of course, the ATM the taxi took me to only allowed withdrawals in 500 CZK increments. This meant that I was going to have some extra money at the end of the trip. Nonetheless, I managed to get to the station on time, and went and boarded the train. The train had to be from the 1970’s, as it was dirty and worn down. Luckily, I had an entire compartment to myself to sleep in for the 9-hour ride to Budapest. It was also a good thing that I was alone, because by the end of the night I needed to strip down to almost no clothes due to the overactive heater, which constantly spewed incredibly hot air even though I had it set as cold as possible. The fun continued though, as I woke up around 9:00 am to find that we weren’t moving. Figuring it was just a scheduled stop I milled around my compartment putting things away, etc. Half an hour passed and we still weren’t moving. Finally, I questioned a German passenger what was going on and it turned out the train had some troubles in the evening. We were three hours behind schedule and in Bratislava, Slovakia. This means that I lost 3 quite valuable hours in Budapest – I was only supposed to be there four about 24 hours as it was – along with having to occupy myself quite a bit longer on the train. Such is the life of a young traveler.

2 Weeks of Traveling: Recap Time

So I've just arrived back in the CPH -- or the KBH if I'm feeling quite Danish -- after two great weeks of quite contrasting travel. The first week, as you'll read, was highlighted by the amazing "visceral" experience of being outdoors climbing and trekking, while the second week was a who's who of art and culture. I'll be formating these posts in a similar fashion to what I did for the first week, which will slowly work their way to my most current thoughts with each post being written relatively recently after the events took place. Enjoy!

And Phase Two Is Commencing

It has been odd being back in Copenhagen for 36 hours. It was great sharing meals with my host family again, and to have their good cooking, but it just feels so weird to be packing so soon after unpacking. Anyways last night I watched my last Indians game for the season, which they unfortunately were demolished in by the Red Sox. Even if Cleveland wins game 7 tonight, I'll be missing the World Series while I travel. Nonetheless, it's been a really fun season to watch. Hopefully next year they'll be just as successful, if not more.

Still, in under an hour I will be off on another bus adventure. This time a trip of about 15 hours awaits me as I head for Cesky Raj in the Czech Republic. This is the beginning of my 2 straight weeks of travel. It will be a crazy time transversing Europe from Copenhagen, to Cesky Raj, to Prague, to Budapest, to Milan, to Genoa, to Florence, to Siena, back to Milan, and finally back to Copenhagen. I'm excited and nervous, and cannot wait to get started. And of course I will share all the lovely details I experience and all the impressions I am left with. And in case you haven't already read, posted below are my thoughts on the first week of study break. They are in reverse order in a sense, so the most recent day is on top. Time to finish packing.

Pre-game thoughts...and a lot more

T-minus 20 minutes until game 1 of the ALCS. I'm sucking it up and planning on staying up tonight to watch the game. Granted, this is the farthest the Indians have made it in 10 years so I feel like sacrificing some sleep is worth it. The whole situation gives me a feeling of deja vu from this spring when the Cavs were in the NBA playoffs. They were viewed as the underdog a large way through the playoffs, but still managed to make it to the finals. Hopefully, the Indians can emulate that run.

Besides that point I have a lot of other thoughts to share. Part of the reason for this "outburst" is the fact that I'm half way done with my time in Denmark. Hard to imagine, but I only have 5-6 more weeks in Denmark itself. This is because starting Sunday for the next 3 weeks I'll be traveling around Europe on a mini, well I guess much more than a mini, vacation. I'll definitely be sharing my thoughts on my travels during and after the trip (all dependent on when I can get internet access), but I'll at least let you know where I'll be going. The first stop is back to my stomping grounds two summers ago as we spend a couple days in Berlin, Germany. After that I'll be heading further east to spend a couple days in Poznan, Poland. I'll be going to both of these cities with other DIS students from the Medical Practice & Policy program as part of our long study tour. Following a night back in Copenhagen I'll be back on the road with other DIS students heading to the Czech country side and Prague. Post Prague will involve a train ride to Budapest and a day spent there. Next will be a flight to Milan, immediately followed by a train to Genoa, where I'll be spending a couple days. I'll then move eastward to Florence and then to Siena for the next couple days. Finally, it will be wrapped up with a train to Milan and a flight back to Copenhagen. It's a crazy schedule and I couldn't be more excited!

Now on to my other random thoughts.

First, there was quite a stir amongst DIS students two or so weeks ago as former President Bill Clinton was in Copenhagen. Apparently he was giving a speech somewhere in the city, with tickets running close to 1000 DKK or about $200. However, he was also signing copies of his new book at bookstore right by the DIS center, which a fair number of people managed to get in line for. In fact, one of my friends from Carleton went to see him and they ended up in conversation about how great Carleton is (Clinton gave the commencement speech in 2000). I would never dream to meet a former or current US President in the states, but then when I go to study abroad in Denmark I find a President. What are the odds?

Indians update: 1-0 Tribe, heading into the bottom of the 1st.

On another political note, I have begun to notice my own increased interest in the current political climate back in the states, especially in regards to the potential presidential candidates. My only explanation for this is that the primary elections to be held in March will be my first foray into voting in a presidential election and I want to be informed when making a decision Just an interesting observation on my part.

Do you know that if it wasn't for polio you might have health insurance provided by the government? Let me explain. In Health Care in Scandinavia we just read a text discussing different kinds of welfare states. When he was explaining the social democrat model, which includes almost all of Scandinavia (Side tangent: interestingly enough, my professor highlighted that one of the main keys to the Danish welfare system is homogeneity -- of culture, race, ethnicity, and goals. Without it he doesn't imagine it could succeed. This is perhaps an indication that a welfare state could not work in the US.), he states that this was the path the United States was on under FDR's New Deal programs. I wonder what would have happened if his 4th term wasn't cut short by polio, maybe health insurance?

Indians update: 1-1, heading into the top of the 2nd.

I'm having quite the unique experience in my Impact of Epidemic Disease course. The main text that the course is based on, Plagues and Peoples (1998) by William H. McNeil, is consistently contradicted by my professor. It's just so odd to do the reading before class only to have the professor completely rip it to shreds in class the next day. An interesting dynamic to say the least.

After being in Denmark for 7 weeks now, I think I have finally found a couple things that I miss. Granted there have been a ton of things that I have had moments of longing for, but none of those longings have been consistent over my entire time here. The two exceptions relate directly with Carleton. The first is fall colors. I want nothing more than to be able to see a line of sugar maples completely golden, glimmering in the sun. I miss how beautiful Carleton is in the fall. The second thing I am missing is the stars in the Minnesotan sky. Typically, when walking back from the libe or from somewhere on campus I entertain myself by looking up in the sky at the stars shining down on me. I just cannot replicate these things in Denmark.

Finally, I had an interesting night tonight. Once a year almost all of the cultural locations in Copenhagen are open for a one time fee. It's called Copenhagen's Night of Culture. There are literally over 100 different locations that have various programs for the public to enjoy. My host family offered to take me, and I gladly accepted. We started off the evening with dinner at a cafe much like the community restaurant I described a few weeks ago. We then headed to our first cultural event which was taking a look at Black Diamond, which is the University of Copenhagen's newest branch of the Royal Library. It is an absolutely gorgeous building and it was cool to finally see. We then walked around the ground of the Parliament a little bit, which included a quick stop at the Danish Armament Museum. Then for the true experience of the night we drove over to the zoo! It was completely open, and completely dark. It was definitely a different way to experience the zoo, and while interesting, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Animals sleeping is only so exciting. Regardless, it was still a great evening and a unique way to see Copenhagen, and especially appropriate as I'll be leaving this town (my 3rd/4th home) for the next 3 weeks.

Alright, C.C. doesn't have his stuff tonight -- again. He's throwing too hard and letting the playoffs get to him. It's so frustrating because I, and all the other Indians fans, know how good of a pitcher he can be if he just stays under control. Top of the 4th, Cleveland 1, Boston 5.