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| Nyhavn- Copenhagen |
My best friend from home, Alison, came to visit me in Aarhus and
travel to Copenhagen and Amsterdam with me! I got to show her around the
city I’ve been living in. We visited the Old Town, Aros Museum and the
deer park. It was nice exploring Aarhus even more before leaving for
good.
Our next stop was Copenhagen. I’ve been to Copenhagen multiple times throughout the semester just to go to the airport, since the Aarhus airport is too small to fly anywhere. I have only properly visited Copenhagen once, so it was fun to explore more. We took a canal cruise around the whole city, which was only 40 Krones ($6). I was expecting the canal cruise to be expensive like everything else in Denmark so it was a nice surprise when it was so cheap.
Next stop was Amsterdam!! Amsterdam has always been on the list of must
sees for me and I’m glad I got to fit it in before the end of the
exchange. Amsterdam is absolutely gorgeous. Every street has a new canal
and new buildings to look at. The first day we went to the Anne Frank
House. After seeing Auschwitz in Poland and Hitler’s bunker in Germany,
it was really cool to see another big piece of history from that era.
The next day we went the Heineken Brewery for the Heineken experience.
The tour was very interactive, which made it fun and we got 2 beers at
the end of the tour, even better!
Our next stop was Copenhagen. I’ve been to Copenhagen multiple times throughout the semester just to go to the airport, since the Aarhus airport is too small to fly anywhere. I have only properly visited Copenhagen once, so it was fun to explore more. We took a canal cruise around the whole city, which was only 40 Krones ($6). I was expecting the canal cruise to be expensive like everything else in Denmark so it was a nice surprise when it was so cheap.
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| top of the Aros museum in Aarhus |
After the Heineken tour we took a
canal cruise through the city. It was raining the whole day, which was a
let down. I spent most of the cruise in the back in the rain because
we couldn’t see out the foggy windows of the boat. But we made the best
of it and still had a nice experience. That night we went to the ice
bar, which who knew was FREEZING. We got coats but they were nowhere
near warm enough to make it possible to stay in the bar for long. After
we drank our drinks that were in a cup also made of ice we had to leave
before our toes and fingers fell off.
We also went to the I AMsterdam signs to get the typical tourist picture with them. The sign in front of the museums was so crowded and all of our pics had other people in them, which was expected but kinda ruined the picture. But the same sign is by the Eye, which you take a free ferry to get to. I actually got a picture with the sign with no people in it at all because it was raining again. Also, two restaurants I went to that I highly recommend are Bakers & Roasters and Teds. Both are really delicious brunch places for a decent price.
After Amsterdam it was time for Norway! Our first stop in Norway was Oslo, which we were only there for a day. We went to the folk museum and the Viking Fram museum, both were a lot of fun with lots of history. We also took a free walking tour. Anything in Norway that is free, you have to take advantage of.
Norway is VERY expensive, and that is coming from someone who has lived in Denmark the past 5 months. For a single bus ride across the city it was 50 Norwegian krones, which is USD $6. For a comparison between Denmark and Norway, in Aarhus for a single bus ride it is $3 and in Copenhagen around $4. Anyway, the free walking tour was very informative and worth while. We got to see the major buildings of the city and learn all about the history of Oslo.
After our short time in Oslo, we took an early morning train and bus to
Stavanger. The whole journey was around 8 hours from Oslo to Stavanger,
but the scenery along the trip was gorgeous and made the long day go by
quite quicker and more entertaining. Honestly I would much rather have
an 8 hour train ride with a view over a short flight any day. Flights
usually turn into a whole day event anyway, so I would rather see some
scenery along the way.
We also went to the I AMsterdam signs to get the typical tourist picture with them. The sign in front of the museums was so crowded and all of our pics had other people in them, which was expected but kinda ruined the picture. But the same sign is by the Eye, which you take a free ferry to get to. I actually got a picture with the sign with no people in it at all because it was raining again. Also, two restaurants I went to that I highly recommend are Bakers & Roasters and Teds. Both are really delicious brunch places for a decent price.
After Amsterdam it was time for Norway! Our first stop in Norway was Oslo, which we were only there for a day. We went to the folk museum and the Viking Fram museum, both were a lot of fun with lots of history. We also took a free walking tour. Anything in Norway that is free, you have to take advantage of.
Norway is VERY expensive, and that is coming from someone who has lived in Denmark the past 5 months. For a single bus ride across the city it was 50 Norwegian krones, which is USD $6. For a comparison between Denmark and Norway, in Aarhus for a single bus ride it is $3 and in Copenhagen around $4. Anyway, the free walking tour was very informative and worth while. We got to see the major buildings of the city and learn all about the history of Oslo.
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| top of the opera house in Oslo |
We had 4 nights and 3 days in Stavanger. The first day, we spent the
day walking around the city, seeing the old town, cathedral, and the
harbor. It was pouring down rain the whole day and I just had my rain
jacket so I was completely drenched by the end of the day. An umbrella
would have been very useful this trip. There was also a beach volleyball
tournament going on with many European countries competing. We got to
watch a game for a little bit, which was cool to see. We also visited
this statue on the other side of town called Swords in Rock, which was
literally three large swords in the rock. I was quite fascinated by the
swords and we got some cool pictures by them.
The next day was actually sunny and there wasn’t a chance for any rain so we decided to take advantage and hike up to Pulpit Rock. The hike was about 4 km, wow I’m using kilometers now… That’s about 2 and half miles so overall 5 miles there and back. The hike was gorgeous and at the top at pulpit rock we got an incredible view of the fjords below. It was breathtaking. It seemed unreal because of how beautiful it was. 3 hours and 400 photos later, we headed back down to catch the last bus and ferry back to Stavanger.
Our final day in Stavanger, we went on a fjord cruise. It was a 3 hour cruise and we got to cruise through the Lysefjord, seeing some waterfalls, feeding goats, and tasting the pure Norwegian water from the waterfalls. It was also breathtaking and I again took about 300 photos. Below are a few of my favorite pictures I took.
Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Norway made the last trip before I meet up with my family perfect. Now I’m heading back to Aarhus on my last 4 hour bus ride to finish packing and cleaning my room. I just have one night and then I’m off again to go to Stuttgart to meet my family! Again I don’t know where the past 5 months have gone, but I’m so thankful for the experience of a lifetime.
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Read more from Kelsey at https://kelseyindenmark.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the Walton college exchange program in Aarhus, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/wcobaarhus/
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| just loving the rain |
The next day was actually sunny and there wasn’t a chance for any rain so we decided to take advantage and hike up to Pulpit Rock. The hike was about 4 km, wow I’m using kilometers now… That’s about 2 and half miles so overall 5 miles there and back. The hike was gorgeous and at the top at pulpit rock we got an incredible view of the fjords below. It was breathtaking. It seemed unreal because of how beautiful it was. 3 hours and 400 photos later, we headed back down to catch the last bus and ferry back to Stavanger.
Our final day in Stavanger, we went on a fjord cruise. It was a 3 hour cruise and we got to cruise through the Lysefjord, seeing some waterfalls, feeding goats, and tasting the pure Norwegian water from the waterfalls. It was also breathtaking and I again took about 300 photos. Below are a few of my favorite pictures I took.
Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Norway made the last trip before I meet up with my family perfect. Now I’m heading back to Aarhus on my last 4 hour bus ride to finish packing and cleaning my room. I just have one night and then I’m off again to go to Stuttgart to meet my family! Again I don’t know where the past 5 months have gone, but I’m so thankful for the experience of a lifetime.
--
Read more from Kelsey at https://kelseyindenmark.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the Walton college exchange program in Aarhus, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/wcobaarhus/
