Praha!

I really should be writing my paper that is due tomorrow... However, I made the mistake of uploading all of my pictures to my computer and now productivity is out of the question. This past weekend I went on my Bohemian getaway to Prague-- or "Praha" for the native Czechs. I must say, I had pretty high expectations for the weekend because my sister loved her visit to Prague and had talked it up a bit. Well, I am happy to report that neither Chelsea nor the city disappointed me. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend! Claire, Leah and I planned the trip together, and we learned quickly that we made a good traveling team! All of the logistical things (flight, airport shuttle, hostel) went according to plan, which was a huge relief considering it was all of our first independent trips of the semester. We stayed in a 26-girl-dormitory at the hostel. The hostel itself exceeded all of our expectations but sleeping in a room with 25 other girls was a bit challenging. At least we all kept a positive attitude and just kept telling each other "it's an experience." We got to the hostel late Friday and ended up just getting settled, enjoying a few drinks at the hostel's bar and calling it a night. After becoming used to Danish prices, having the bartender tell me that my beer was 45 koruna (roughly $2) almost put me in a state of shock.

Astronomical clock from 1410

The Old New Synagogue  

Claire and Leah braving the elements during our walking tour

Old Town Square

Nobody is dining outside today...

On Saturday we woke up to a winter wonderland! It was snowing like crazy even by Minnesota standards, so you can just imagine what Leah (who goes to school in California) was thinking. We were determined not to let it snow on our parade so we bundled up and braved the elements. We trudged our way into Old Town Square to meet up with a free walking tour. Even though it was miserably cold, the tour was really interesting and a great way to get acquainted with the city. We saw most of the highlights in Old Town, New Town and the Jewish Quarter. After the tour ended we attempted to warm up and dry off in a Starbucks before heading back out into the blizzard. We walked out of the Starbucks, umbrellas in hand, ready for round two of the snowy madness, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that the sky was clearing up. The view of Old Town covered in fresh snow made all of the morning's suffering worth it. The buildings in Old Town were absolutely breathtaking with their snowcapped rooftops.

Charles Bridge

We spent the rest of the afternoon crossing Charles Bridge and exploring the small streets and canals on the other side of the water. We saw the fence of love locks along the canal and the Lennon Wall, which is a graffitied tribute to John Lennon and The Beatles. We all started to crash while visiting the Lennon wall. Our lack of warmth, food and sleep caught up with us and we trudged back to the hostel to eat dinner. After taking a much needed power nap, we walked back to Old Town for our pub crawl. We went to three different bars and then ended at The Five Story Club, which is the largest bar in central Europe. Each floor was decorated in a different theme and played music that fit the theme. For example, the first floor was all oldies music and was decorated like a 70s disco, complete with light up floors and disco balls. We had some good times on that floor twistin', shoutin' and belting out ABBA. The other floors included an ice bar, a pop hits floor, a hip-hop/R&B floor and a more classy lounge/hangout floor. The pub crawl was definitely a good choice.

Love Locks

The Lennon Wall

On Sunday we woke up to sunshine and blue skies! It was a glorious awakening. We walked to the center of the city and took a tram up Petrin Hill, where we were told that we could get the best view in Prague. Once we reached the top of Petrin Hill we climbed the observation tower to get even higher in hopes of a better view. The view from the top of the tower was well worth the 299 step-climb. It was unreal how pretty the city looked from above. The rooftops were still covered in snow but we also accompanied by blue skies.  It was amazing. We chose to brave the snowy trails backs down Petrin Hill rather than take the tram. The hill was filled with sledders, skiers and snowboarders. It was fun to see everyone taking advantage of the fresh powder. Then, we walked back across Charles Bridge and into Old Town one last time. We stopped at a little wooden hut for some traditional Slovakian sweet pastries called Trdelnik before venturing back to the hostel. It was a fast trip, but definitely one to remember. I was sad to leave the beautiful city of Prague. However, knowing that I would be in Germany with my parents less than a week later made my goodbye a little easier :)

SUNSHINE!

Lovin' Life

View of Prague Castle from the top of Petrin Hill

Delicious Trdelnik

No School!

"Technically" we don't have class on Wednesdays, but today was the first week that I didn't have a field study (or two). It felt so nice not to set my alarm and just wake up on my own time. I forced myself to be productive this morning so that I could have fun in the city later on. I did laundry, cleaned my room, went running and did homework all before 2pm! Pretty impressive, I know. This afternoon I met Anna, Annie and Leah near in the city center. First, we explored the glass market and splurged on some gelato (totally worth it). Then, we set out on a mission to find the sidewalk trampolines. We walked around Nyhavn for a while before actually finding them, which was absolutely fine by me. I could walk by that canal every day and still love seeing those colorful buildings. Anyways, we found the trampolines and worked off our gelato jumping around like crazy people. It was freezing but still a lot of fun. Annie and I walked to Amalienborg Palace before heading home because she had not see it yet. All in all, it was a very good afternoon. Tomorrow night I'm going to have dinner with Anne at her apartment in Frederiksberg, which should also be a lot of fun. Then Friday I leave for Prague with Claire and Leah!

THE sidewalk trampolines!  

Love me some gelato :)

Nyhavn 

Sorry if this is disturbing but I had to take a picture-- Glass Market

Weekend Update

Another weekend has come and gone just like that! On Friday, I had a few friends over to the house to cook dinner and eat/drink with the family. It was definitely what the Danes consider "hyggelig." Then on Saturday I went with Anne to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, which is one of the most famous art museums in Copenhagen. The museum was founded by Carl Jacobsen, who is the son of the founder of Carlsberg brewery (hence the name). The museum had a little bit of everything from French impressionist paintings to ancient Roman sculptures. The actual building was as impressive as the artwork within it. Each room had very detailed ceilings with ornate crown molding, paintings and lighting. After Ny Carlsberg, Anne and I ate lunch at yet another cute and quaint little cafe. I had fiskfrikadeller, which are like fluffy white-fish cakes. They were quite tasty! After lunch we continued with the art theme and visited a smaller modern art gallery called GL Strand, which was also very interesting. We finished the afternoon with cake and coffee at a local bakery. I went out with Emma and some friends on Saturday night. We went to a chic cocktail lounge called Bar 7 and ordered fancy drinks, which was really fun. Emma had a drink that tasted just like an Oreo, Annie and Leah had bubble gum martinis, and I had a passionfruit-ginger foofoo thing. Sunday was a relaxing day. I was feeling pretty homesick but was able to skype my parents and Mike so that helped. Otherwise I basically just caught up on sleep and homework. This was my last weekend in Copenhagen for over a month, which is hard to believe! I kick-off my traveling adventures this weekend with Prague so stayed tuned for more on that :)

The "extended" Larsen family

Cooking dinner with Emmy Poo

En hyggelig aften :) 

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Mountainous Landscape Behind Saint Paul Hospital - Vincent Van Gogh

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek-- the only place you'll find palm trees in Denmark!

Jeg Elsker Dig!

For those of you ambitious people who want to attempt a little Danish, "jeg elsker dig" means "I love you." As you all know, today is February 14th--the day of love. Valentine's Day in Denmark is relatively new. If you look hard you can find cards, balloons, roses and maybe even a teddy bear, but it's nothing like the explosion of pink and red that we see in America. Even though V-Day is not really a holiday here, a few friends and I used it as an excuse to treat ourselves to crepes. Annie, Leah, Kara and I went to a creperie near our school called La Galette. Everyone ordered a savory crepe except for me. I was all about the sweets today! I had a chocolate and banana crepe and it was fantastic! Even though Valentine's Day is kind of cliche, I still missed Mike more than usual today and was glad that I got to spend some quality time with friends. Also, everyone was home for dinner tonight (all 7 of us), which is unusual. Lisbeth cooked a wonderful meal and even made some little cakes for a special Valentine's dessert. It was "en dejlig aften," which means a nice or lovely evening.

Leah, Annie and Kara outside of La Galette

"Treat Yo Self"

A Visit to Parliament

Today I went on a field study with my Positive Psychology class to the Danish Parliament. Everything having to do with democracy including the chambers of parliament, the Danish Supreme Court and the prime minister's office are located in Christiansborg Palace. The palace was originally built with the intent that it would become the main residence of the Royal family. While the castle was being built the Royals resided in Amalienborg Palace, which is where they live today when in Copenhagen. By the time Christianborg was finished (25 years later), King Frederick VII decided that he no longer wanted to live there and the palace became the house of parliament instead. This part of Danish history remains a little unclear because it was around this time that Denmark moved away from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. Many people believe that the King's choice to stay in Amalienborg was not entirely his own because Christiansborg  is in the center of the city, which is an ideal location for the people in power (and the Royals were no longer such people). The Royal family's move out of the city center is sort of symbolic of their reduction of power that came when the Denmark became a democracy in 1849.

Gustavus is on the ceiling of the Danish Parliament!

The parliament building is absolutely beautiful, which only makes sense considering it was built for royalty. It was exciting to have the opportunity to see the inside of the palace and see the chambers of parliament. We were given a tour and brief history lecture by a man named Peter, who is an actual member of parliament from the island of Bormholm. It was very interesting to learn about a democracy that is so different from the United States. Denmark has nine main political parties represented in parliament. However, even the most "conservative" party in Denmark would be considered left-winged by American standards. I really enjoyed hearing about the Danish welfare system from the viewpoint of a member of parliament. We discussed universal healthcare, education and immigration. It was a very educational experience but Peter had a great sense of humor and kept everything lighthearted.

The sun was shining today, which is a rarity in Copenhagen 

The Larsen's were all gone tonight, so Annie and Leah came to visit. We made oreo shakes, painted our nails and watched She's the Man-- classic girl's night! It was a very relaxing and cozy evening.

So good :)

Fastelavn!

Today is Denmark's version of Carnival called "Fastelavn." I got to celebrate the day the traditional way with Lisbeth and friends in Dragør, but I will explain that later. First, I want to share some pictures from my short study tour to Western Denmark. On the first day of the tour (Thursday) we went to ARoS modern art museum in the morning and spent the afternoon at Aarhus University listening to a lecture about happiness across cultures. I had a very proud Minnesotan moment during the lecture when the speaker, Christian Bjornskov, was talking about trust and happiness in the United States. He showed us a graph where the x-axis was trust level and the y-axis was happiness level. All of the states were sort of chunked together in the middle except for the Midwest states (and New Hampshire?), which were much higher on both happiness and trust. Minnesota was one of the few states that could be read clearly because it was all on its own way at the top. My classmates (who are almost all from the East coast) asked me after class what Minnesota's deal was and I was happy to explain all of the many reasons why it's the best state :)

Some of the girls in my class in "Your Rainbow" at ARoS

"Boy" 

Andy Warhol Originals! 

Edvard Munch exhibit

We stayed overnight in little cabins in the woods at a hostel in Skanderborg, Denmark. On Friday we visited a bank in Middelfart that has been named "Denmark's Happiest Workplace" several years in a row. We learned about how the bank does not follow a traditional hierarchical management style. Instead, Middelfart Sparekasse uses "self-management," which gives its employees a lot more freedom to make decisions on their own. It made me excited for my internship this summer because it sounds like I will have the freedom to tackle my projects in my own, unique way.

On Friday night, we stayed in a different hostel in Aarhus and got to see the town by night! Then on Saturday we visited Aarhus University again to hear a lecture about how mindfulness and meditation can be beneficial to your health. We heard a professor speak about his research on meditation's effects on cancer patients. At the end of the session we had the opportunity to follow a guided meditation. It was a very fun but exhausting trip. I did not mind the four hour bus ride home because I slept the entire way :)

NOW FOR TODAY!

As I mentioned earlier, today is Fastelavn. In a way it is like Halloween. Little kids dress up and go knocking on doors and singing songs. However, instead of candy they get money! Lisbeth said when Emma and Josephine were little they would sometimes come home with 600 kr, which is over $100! Lisbeth took me, Annie, Anna and Leah to an old fisherman's village called Dragør to celebrate the day. Dragør is perhaps the cutest little town I have ever seen. It is filled with tiny yellow houses that are located right by the water. In the olden days, Fastelavn was celebrated by putting a black cat inside a barrel and then taking turns hitting it with a bat until the barrel broke and the cat fell out--very humane, I know. Black cats were seen as a symbol of the devil and the tradition was supposed to ward off evil. Thankfully, Denmark has adapted their tradition a little and now schoolchildren hit barrels filled with candy rather than kittens. In Dragør we gathered with a huge crowd of families to watch men and women on horses take turns beating a colorful barrel until there was nothing left of it. It was quite the cultural experience and we all agreed that we felt very foreign. The man and woman who break down the barrel are crowned the "cat king" and "cat queen." They were awarded little trophies and their horses were given special wreaths. I'm so happy that we went to Dragør and were able to experience this silly old tradition. Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot to mention the special treats that Danes make today called Fastelavnsboller. They are buns filled with vanilla cream and almonds and are topped with chocolate frosting. Yes, they are as good as they sound. Lisbeth made them for me and my friends and they were positively delicious!