Rosenberg Castle

Today I went to Rosenberg Castle. It was built in the early 1600s. In the 1800s, it became used as a storage house for the excess items of the royal family. Soon, it was turned into a museum. It was the first castle museum to organize the rooms chronologically. At the time, other museums were arranged by item. All the paintings in one room, the statues in another, tapestries in another… The castle was beautiful! There was so much to see. Beautiful, ornate rooms. Huge paintings and sculptures. Each ceiling had a different carving or painting on it. There was a throne room. The views from the castle were breathtaking. The castle overlooks Rosenberg Garden. It was easy to feel like you were back in time.

I also got the chance to see part of the royal treasury. There were all sorts of things carved out of ivory, dishes painted with gold, swords, old barrels, old wine from the 1600s. There were also jewels! They had three crowns on display. It would be impossible to count the number of jewels on each one. They were so intricate. There were huge diamonds and emeralds. So many types of expensive rocks and it was just a small display! Imagine what isn’t on display?

I ate lunch at Rosenberg Café. It is right next to the castle and is decorated in castle décor. I ordered salmon with a lemon/lime glaze. It was delicious. It also wasn’t cooked. It looked like smoked salmon so that is what I am really hoping it was. It came with a salad and some sort of pickled yellow vegetable. The vegetable wasn’t good but I probably haven’t learned how to enjoy it. I wish I could have taken a picture of my meal but my camera died. I forgot to recharge it more. I’d like to say this was my first $100 meal but really it was 100 Kroner which made it about $20. Definitely worth it for the experience and location.

Fisketrovet & the Local Bakery!

I took the train to the Fisketrov Shopping Center. I had to wait in a long line to buy the ticket because I couldn’t figure out how to use the kiosk. There are two types of train tickets. The kind from the kiosk that must be clipped in a machine and the kind you buy at the counter that are not clipped but are shown to the train attendant if they ask for it. It would have been nice if the person who sold me my ticket had explained that to me. I had to ask a worker at a food booth by the tracks how it worked. Once on the train, it went smoothly. Coming back, I had to buy a return ticket from the a machine that was not in English. That did not work. I couldn’t figure it out. I tried a lot of times. There was no one to ask so I had to walk back. It really wasn’t that far but it was frustrating. Oh well, the things you learn. Eventually I’ll get it figured out.

Fisketrov was a huge shopping mall. There were so many cute stores. They also had a huge grocery store in the mall. It sold everything! In a way it was like a miniature Wal-Mart combined with grocery store but much nicer. I got dinner at a pizza stand in the mall. I also enjoyed a piece of free cake because the mall was celebrating its birthday.

I finally discovered a bakery near my hotel. It is really good. I plan to go back tomorrow. I don’t know the name of what I got but it was similar to a glorified pop tart. It had a raspberry filling and frosting with sprinkles along the edges.

Dansk Design Center

I went to the Dansk Design Center today. It was really cool. Definitely worth paying to go to. David (my brother) would have loved it. Everything reminded me of him. I took pictures of almost every display and the captions so that David can “go” there when he sees the pictures. It wasn’t a huge center but it was very nice.

They had these really cool clear giant bubbles hanging from the ceiling that you could step inside of. Each one had a different scent. They were scents that reminded the artist of the city. She depicted Helsinki (smelled sweet and natural), Budapest (smelled like a musty, rainy day), and Paris (smelled like perfume).

They had a display on organic/local grown food, housing interior ideas to promote nature, and interesting/multipurpose clothing. They had created a mailbag that had solar panels on it so that backpackers in the great outdoors could use to hold their things and charge their cell phones at the same time. I want to know where you can go hiking in the great outdoors and have a cell phone that gets reception

Copenhagen!!!

I love Copenhagen! It is so beautiful!!! The sky is a pretty blue, the air feels crisp and clean, the people are nice, there are little lakes and waterways everywhere, there are so many unique shops, and lots of great food to try. Everything seems to be within walking distance. Lots of people ride bikes! It is like bike night in slo (minus the craziness) everyday. Everyone wears coats because it is so cold. A lot of people go running with their dogs by the waterways. Everyone dresses really, really nice. There must be a law against baggy jeans.

There is so much to do here. There are a million stores, museums, and statues to visit. So far I have been to the Black Diamond Library/Royal Library, the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Museum, and the Post Office Museum. I’ve gone to a lot of stores! Illium is a major department store here. It is like Nordstrom plus lots more and decorated in the Danish design style. It is five stories and has some form of a café on every floor. It has a whole floor devoted to lamps and cooking ware. In other words, when I arrived on that floor I felt like I was in heaven. It also has a bookstore. They serve delicious triple chocolate cake. Definitely worth trying!

I am really enjoying everything about this city.

The Flight

The flight to Copenhagen went really smoothly. I’m not sure exactly how long it was but it took about 23 hours to get there due to the time changes. Whoever said the airlines were cutting back on the services they offer has never flown on KLM. Every hour they served a drink or snack or meal. There were two meals included on the flight: dinner and breakfast. Both were really good. They served ice-cream and cake, too! They showed three movies and passed out free headsets. I saw part of Hancock and Kung Fu Panda. Both movies remind me of Kim because she recommended them both to me after seeing them this summer.
I had an hour layover in Amsterdam. The stores in the airport were really similar to the stores in Solvang. I think you could buy the same exact souvenirs in Solvang. There was also a Starbucks in the airport! So, of course, I had to try it out. Plus, the fact that I was tired and needed a pick-me-up made it sound even better. I ordered a tall and they gave me a grande instead. Nice!
I hailed my first taxi at the Copenhagen airport. All of the taxis are Mercedes in Copenhagen. The ride to my hotel was really pretty. It was a nice intro to what the city is like. My hotel is nice. Small, but nice. There is a pretty view out of my window and the hotel is about a block away from the waterways.

Two More Days!

In two more days, I will be on an airplane headed to Europe! I am so excited! There is so much to do in the next two days but I know that the time will fly by fast so I must enjoy my last few days at home.

Tonight my family celebrated my birthday and my mom's birthday together. We enjoyed a beautiful feast at Lucile's Barb-b-que. It was sooo good! Tonight was also the last time that I will get to see my dear brother before I leave. I am really going to miss him.

Two more days...

Time for Dreams to Begin!

After a long summer of applying for internships abroad, I have finally landed the perfect one! I am going to Poland as a presentor for World Of Knowledge. I will be presenting and leading workshops about global issues and my culture in many different high schools in Gdansk, Sopot, and Gdynia. So basically, everything that I have learned in my international business classes is going to come in handy while I am away whether it is what I have learned about adapting to different cultures or the many global issues that we have discussed and studied. I think that this internship is going to be a great fit for me.

Oh, did I mention that my internship is located on the Baltic Sea? It seems that this California girl may be travelling halfway around the world but she will still be close to the sea!