I started off with spending 3 days in the Czech countryside at Hruba Skala (an old castle turned hotel) that became home to 40 DIS students and our Czech guides as we did a range of outdoor adventuring - archery, hiking, ziplining, high ropes bridging, rock climbing, rappelling, and caving. You certainly get a different take on a country when you're army crawling through a dark cave tunnel or hanging on to the side of a rock-face. As I felt quite at home in spending the entire day romping around outdoors, I would've gladly spent the rest of my travel break perfecting my climbing skills... but there were more things to be seen.
Before leaving the Czech Republic, we spent a day in Prague. With the aim of finding my way to the Dvorak Museum, I ventured out and spent the day on my own. I never did make it to that museum, but I did find some great things. I tasted a local pastry called trdelnik which was shaped like a cylinder and tasted a whole lot like one of those cinnamon soft pretzels, went to the top of the Eiffel-look-alike Petrin Tower, spent a leisurely time at the Czech Museum of Music (which had an exhibit on Dvorak), and topped off the day with the classic meal of goulash.
Next on the agenda was going to Paris. I hit up all the typical touristy hotspots, as did the thousands of other people who were in Paris for Easter weekend. It was exciting to see so many things I grew up hearing about and seeing in pictures, from monuments to artwork... like Van Gogh's painting of his bedroom (when I was a kid a played this board game called Masterpiece that highlights great works of art, and I always liked that particular Van Gogh painting). I can also add my name to the list of people who's climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower (I should say climbed 2/3 of it... the last 1/3 is an elevator), and I became quite fond of Parisian parks as well. Paris is such a huge city, and - though I only scratched the surface of it in a couple of days - I liked what I saw.
After Paris, my last two stops were to visit friends in Switzerland and then Germany. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and to get a different perspective on those areas from people who live there, and I had a most memorable experience of going on a run around a lake in Switzerland with a gorgeous view of the Alps (but of all days to leave my camera at home!).
To be entirely honest, though, it was really good to get back home to Copenhagen. My eyes lit up when I heard, for the first time in two weeks, Danish being spoken in the airport, and it was refreshing to not have to consult a map for directions.
In three months of being in Copenhagen, I've left and returned to it three times. And every time I realize just how much I love it here.
Before leaving the Czech Republic, we spent a day in Prague. With the aim of finding my way to the Dvorak Museum, I ventured out and spent the day on my own. I never did make it to that museum, but I did find some great things. I tasted a local pastry called trdelnik which was shaped like a cylinder and tasted a whole lot like one of those cinnamon soft pretzels, went to the top of the Eiffel-look-alike Petrin Tower, spent a leisurely time at the Czech Museum of Music (which had an exhibit on Dvorak), and topped off the day with the classic meal of goulash.
Next on the agenda was going to Paris. I hit up all the typical touristy hotspots, as did the thousands of other people who were in Paris for Easter weekend. It was exciting to see so many things I grew up hearing about and seeing in pictures, from monuments to artwork... like Van Gogh's painting of his bedroom (when I was a kid a played this board game called Masterpiece that highlights great works of art, and I always liked that particular Van Gogh painting). I can also add my name to the list of people who's climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower (I should say climbed 2/3 of it... the last 1/3 is an elevator), and I became quite fond of Parisian parks as well. Paris is such a huge city, and - though I only scratched the surface of it in a couple of days - I liked what I saw.
After Paris, my last two stops were to visit friends in Switzerland and then Germany. It was wonderful to see familiar faces and to get a different perspective on those areas from people who live there, and I had a most memorable experience of going on a run around a lake in Switzerland with a gorgeous view of the Alps (but of all days to leave my camera at home!).
To be entirely honest, though, it was really good to get back home to Copenhagen. My eyes lit up when I heard, for the first time in two weeks, Danish being spoken in the airport, and it was refreshing to not have to consult a map for directions.
In three months of being in Copenhagen, I've left and returned to it three times. And every time I realize just how much I love it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment