Monday, January 14, 2013

Travels Update and The Amazing Race.

Sunrise on the way to Copenhagen from Reykjavik, Iceland

The flights from Boston to Reykjavik and then from Reykjavik to Copenhagen were rather uneventful. Same old, same old when it comes to long flights: can't get comfortable, can't sleep, hungry, exhausted, sore. The only thing I didn't have to endure was sitting next to a stranger which, although in some situations can be interesting and fun, it's more probable that you get stuck next to someone you would rather not be stuck next to for any extended period of time. We'll just leave it at that. I sat between Denise and Tim on the first flight, and I got the window seat, next to Tim, on the second. We then collected our bags (no lost luggage!) and ventured to the Hilton where DIS leaders welcomed us, and we waited for buses to take us to our new homes. The buses took much longer than expected so we ended up sitting there for about three hours. But eventually I got to my apartment and after a quick meeting, I let myself into my room. Unfortunately, I woke up my roommate, Rachel, who had gotten in earlier and was taking a much-needed nap. Luckily, she is wonderful and is not holding that against me. We have had a few adventures together between trying to find our way around and our first grocery shopping trip, which was a success by the way! And I'm sure many more to come, such as tomorrow morning when we have to find our way to our classrooms completely on our own. We have been studying maps and googling bus schedules for a while now. Wish us luck. We're going to need it. 

Today we had our Opening Ceremony (a welcome from DIS speakers) and then something called the DIS Amazing Race. Essentially we were divided into groups of six, given a map, and told to go find five specific landmarks in Copenhagen. Sounds like fun, right? I agree! Although not so much when it is freezing and windy. We completed this activity about seven and a half hours ago. I am still cold. There's no escaping it. I'm going to have to visit the bakery across the street a few times so I can get some blubber to keep myself warm. Alright, maybe not, but I do really want to check out that bakery. One of the places we visited on our walk around the city was Amalienborg, which is the royal palace. Apparently the royal family was all in residence, as was shown by the flags flying above their respective buildings.
Amalienborg (the royal palace)
The guards at Amalienborg

On our way to the royal palace, we passed through Nyhavn. This caught me by surprise so I took some quick pictures but it was too cold to linger for long so I'm sure I'll return to take more. But for now...
The well-recognizable Nyhavn

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