It's a wonderful world

Thursday, 16 April 2015

Completely last minute trip to Berlin

A few Tuesdays ago we got an email saying our Thursday class was cancelled ... we quickly checked Skyscanner for cheap flights to 'Anywhere' and the cheapest result was Berlin. So we packed our bags and after class on Wednesday went straight to the airport.

With only a couple of days to see the city we decided they best thing to do would be join a free walking tour. The weather was a lot better than our trip to Copenhagen and we had a great tour guide so we really enjoyed the tour.

We saw the Brandenburg Gate.

Visited the Holocaust Memorial which consists 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a slopping site.

Interestingly, despite Hitler's huge impact in history, there is no memorial or tribute to him anywhere in Berlin. We visited the place where Hitler's bunker was, which is a very unimpressive area, basically converted into a car park.

We also took a trip to Berlin zoo. With over 1,500 different species and almost 20,500 animals the zoo has the most comprehensive collection of species in the world.

I found the zoo very impresses as a lot of the enclosures are very open plan and without cages or glass, instead they have a open drop between the animals and visitors, making you feel closer to the animals.

The last activity on our list was to walk the Eastside Gallery, even though it is nearly a mile it was worth the walk, seeing the different displays of art representing Berlin.

Sunday, 1 March 2015

Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen

So why is it so wonderful? I was excited to travel there and find out. We arrived in the afternoon and unfortunately it was raining, but being Northern Irish girls we decided to not let this ruin our three day trip. I navigated our way to our apartment where we left our bags and set off into the centre.

Strøget, the pedestrian shopping street running through the city centre, seemed like a good place to start. We strolled along the wet cobblestone streets as locals and tourists tangled together leisurely window shopping and musicians busked while the smell of roasted almond stalls dotted the winding paths from the shops to the main square.

Amongst the many shops we found Copenhagen’s iconic Round Tower which is unique in European architecture because of its spiraling walkway. Without and elevator or stairs the only option is to walk up the 209m long spiral ramp which winds its way around the hollow core of the tower over seven times. I’m not going to lie, I was ready to give up about two spirals in and because of the steepness and circular route you are dizzy and breathless by the top.

Unfortunately because of the rain and overcast it was hard to see out over the city, but this tower provides a 360 degree view around Copenhagen.

The next day we gave into the tourist trap and joined a Hop-on Hop-off tour bus (which amazingly had free wifi). This was good because it gave us an opportunity to see all the main attractions of the city without getting soaked in the never ending rain.

Nyhavn was our first ‘hop-off’ on our tour. This canal lined with Balamory look alike buildings on either side is one of the most renowned areas in Copenhagen.

As we walked along the canal which is now partly reserved for museum ships, we saw many beautiful boats, lots of local cafes and shops and we even stood outside Hans Christian Andersen’s (the famous Danish writer) house.

After stopping for some lunch we walked along the harbor and saw the National Opera House which is thought to be among the most modern opera houses in the world.

We continued walking (in the rain I might add) towards Amalienborg, the palace in which the Danish royal family live during the winter months.

Walking into the middle the octagon courtyard, the palace is made up of four identical impressive looking buildings, each guarded by the Royal Life Guards day and night.

We didn’t stay long because it started to rain heavier and we were hoping to make it to the Little Mermaid before we got completely soaked.

The Little Mermaid statue is based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale 'The Little Mermaid' and although it is unimposing and not very big the statue has become an iconic symbol for Copenhagen.

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Randers Regnskov (rainforest)

An hour or so North of Aarhus in Randers you can be experience tropical rainforests from the world’s three large rainforest continents.

The three glass domes are home to a variety of tropical plants and exotic animals from Africa, Asia and South America.

Walking into the first dome, I didn't really know what to expect. As I pushed through the plastic stripes at the door I was hit with the heat, humidity and smell of what I can only imagine a real rainforest smell like.

The illusion of a real rainforest is created with the real plants, ponds and a 10 metre high waterfall, but the best part about Randers Ragnskov has to be the free roaming animals.

While walking around, Alice and I literally had to dodge flying fruit bats, avoid touching ants marching along the hand rails of bridges and stay clear of a monkey with seemingly no fear of humans.

As an animal lover this was so much fun to take part in such an interactive, real environment, plus look how close I got to that sloth! If you can't make it to a Africa or Asian rainforest visit Randers Regnskov and you'll think you're there.

Friday, 13 February 2015

Aarhus Botanical Gardens and Den Gamle By

When you live in a new place, it is important to visit all the touristy areas, for two reasons, one so you yourself can be a tourist and learn about the city you are in and two so you have somewhere to take people when they come to visit you.

Our first stop was the Botanical Gardens. Originally these gardens were started as an experimental place for growing useful plants and fruit trees in 1873. After its success it became a gardening society with the idea of hard work leading to healthy plants and products

We saw many examples of this hard work as we walk around the gardens, especially in the tropical houses where such care has been taken to maintain the right temperatures and humidity (at one point we actually had to leave because we could barely breathe!) in order to grow tropical plants from all around the world.

Within the Botanical Gardens there is a famous place called Den Gamle By which literally translates to 'The Old Town'.

Den Gamle By is an open-air museum of Danish historical buildings depicting a small town. All 75 half-timbered structures are original buildings from all over Denmark, later moved to Aarhus to create this authentic town culture. We were able to go inside most of the buildings.

There was an old school, post office and even a functioning bakery where we tried some Danish pastries. The idea is to create the feeling Den Gamle By is a living town, there for a number of small shops as well as the bakery are kept open for business, there are also horse and trap rides available and all workers are dressed in old fashioned Danish clothes. I would highly recommend a visit to this village if you are visiting Aarhus!

Monday, 9 February 2015

ARoS Art Museum

Class trips are always fun, better than sitting in a lecture hall listening to someone anyway. Our class took a trip to the ARoS art museum which has become a symbol of Aarhus with a rainbow panorama walkway on top of the building.

Ron Mueck's 'Boy' is probably the most famous piece of work in ARoS which is a chilling lifelike model of a boy (when crouching measures 4.5 meters) and seems somewhat out of place in the tall glass foyer of the museum.

After looking at and experiencing a variety of the multisensory exhibits we climbed up to this panorama that paints the city in a spectrum of colour. It is also great for taking cool photos!

Thursday, 5 February 2015

ERASMUS+ in Aarhus, Denmark begins

After what seemed like months of preparation, filling out forms, finally being accepted, which was followed by more forms, we have made it to Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark.

With two delayed flights and 15 cases between us (not including handbags) we were very glad to eventually make it to our new home for the next 4 months. Myself and 4 other girls from Stranmillis are taking part in the ERASMUS study abroad programme. As well as Danish language classes and two placements in local schools, we are studying a course called Nature, Health and Democracy whish focuses on -

'How children, youth and adults can benefit from exploring and experiencing nature and the physical surroundings and heighten their body awareness, pleasure in activity, performance and health, as well as acquire skills for democratic participation and understanding' ~VIA University

I am in a class of 25 other international students from all over the world such as Belgium, Romania, Norway and the Philippines. Thankfully all of the students and teachers speak English very well and the classes will be taught in English.

I am excited about what the next 4 months will bring, meeting new people, living in a new country and having great opportunities to travel.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015

At least 10 places ...

In 2014 my New Year's Resolution was to travel at least ten places and I am pleased to report I am not like the millions of people who, four weeks into the new year, have already forgotten they promised to *insert impossible resolution here*. I managed to squeeze in twelve trips over 2014, I'll admit a third of these trips were to Prague, but Prague is my second home and I strive to visit it as much as possible.

Over all in 2014 I caught twenty flights (only one of which was delayed due to a sever snow storm at a layover in Chicago), spent more time on public transport than I wish to calculate and taken over five thousand seven hundred photos.

I have finally narrowed my collection down to twelve photos from 2014 (one photo per trip) as proof of completing my resolution.