PAUL

No, unfortunately that is not the name of a gorgeous Frenchman I met in Brussels, it is the name of a bakery Christy introduced me to. There was one right next to our hotel in Brussels, so we went three times in the span of two days! 

Here's a link: http://www.paul.fr/fr-fetes/home.php

So, I arrived in Brussels on a Friday night to meet Christy. Wow, it was a big airport! I was so excited to see her. Skype is not enough. We needed some pillow talk and time to catch up. The first evening we had some delicious food. I had a huge vegetable omelet (Dad, of course, it was not as good as yours.)

The following day, we had a few places in mind to visit, but we just decided to wander, shop, and see what happened. We stopped at Paul to begin the day. We sat outside with our coffees and croissants enjoying the sunshine. I was happy it wasn’t as freezing as Copenhagen.

I loved Brussels. I was a little worried since a few people told me that it would be rainy, and they didn’t have a good time when they visited, but I enjoyed it. Christy and I achieved our goals of having Belgium waffles in Belgium. I also sampled the hot chocolate, and wow, it was good! As we were walking, we stumbled onto all the major sights in Brussels. I can’t tell you what all the landmarks we saw were, but they all looked important. I liked Brussels because it had the feel of a European city with winding streets and little shops, but it also had a big industrial section with skyscrapers.

We found a fantastic Christmas market. It just went on and on. We enjoyed a gourmet meal for dinner and had a relaxing evening. It's scary how fast time slips away. Everything seems too short. We had to saw goodbye in the morning. Luckily, a croissant from Paul was there to console me.

I couldn't get Christy to rent bikes with me!

Our new hats. Christy and I bought hats at the Christmas market. We both only wanted to pay 10 euros each for out hats, but mine was 15 euro. The lady let me get it for 10 euro. Christy said that the lady said in French that I looked sad. It seems that I have picked up some skills at bargaining from my time in Florence.

Last Italy Post: Venice

Finally, I am finishing my blogs about the family trip to Italy! I considered waiting until I came home, but I want to do it now, so I don’t forget anything. So, we arrived in Venice on Saturday with a gondola ride planned for 2:00 in the afternoon. Venice is an extraordinary city, and I would love to go back there one day. I think it is so fascinating that it is all on water. We learned on the tour that residents often get lost on the winding streets since the street signs are so ancient.

Aidan was a bit restless before the train came...

Speaking of getting lost, we had some difficulties finding our hotel. We dragged our suitcases for a while until we asked for directions and finally found our way. I would love to live in Venice and wander around the city whenever I wanted to.

We had a wonderful gondola ride. Here is a sample of the conversations the family was having during the ride:

“Aidan, do you want to go swimming?

“No.”

“We could push you in.”

“Okay, I can swim.”

“No, it’s too cold.”

“Really, push me. I’ve been taking swimming lessons.”

(Good thing we had the gondola to ourselves, and we were not sharing it with another family.)

After that, we stopped for some… gelato. Of course, I needed some gelato on my last night in Italy. We walked along the Rialto Bridge, and I bought a few gifts on the way. We had some pizza for dinner, and then after Dad, Mom, and I figured out where I would need to take the boat in the morning to the train station.

Dad and I went out for one last night of fun. We were looking for St. Stefan’s Square. We passed it on our tour, but we could not find it, so we settled on buying some pastries and heading back to hotel. In the morning, I had to take a boat to the train station, a train to Milan, and then a bus to the airport in Milan. It was exhausting, but I arrived back in CPH safely to get ready for class the next morning!

We had some problems getting the door open in the hotel. It turned into a comedy...

“Wow, I just provoked you”

“Wow, I just provoked you” –quote from a Danish person Hillary and I met on Friday while enjoying one of our last nights out in Copenhagen. He kept using the word “provocative” incorrectly when describing how everyone in the U.S. is judgmental and uptight. Anyways, it was just funny, and I am really going to miss the nightlife here.

It seems that my love affair with Copenhagen is about to end, and I just don’t know how to let go. I have two finals on Friday, but I’m not letting them stop me from enjoying my last few days! Today, I biked (Yes, I am still biking!) to the Frederiksberg Gardens.

Copenhagen in the distance.

Hillary recently gave me some advice that I wanted to share on my blog. She talked about how one of her teachers said that many students email her saying that they miss Copenhagen and wish they could come back. The teacher would respond asking, “Do you miss Copenhagen? Or do you miss the person you were when you were there?” I thought that was incredibly wise. I think I have changed from being here, and I don’t want to lose the new person I am.

Leather + Jewelry + Gelato + Family + Florence = A Happy Birthday

We traveled to Florence on Wednesday, and it was a little chaotic when we arrived. Unfortunately, there was a problem with our original hotel, so we had to take another taxi to a new one. We finally got to the new hotel and were able to relax. Ariana and I had the privilege of sleeping with Aidan “Loud Snoring” Speridakos. The minute we stepped out of the hotel to explore, I entered leather heaven. There were so many tents set up. The market just went on and on. Hillary told me that I couldn’t leave Florence without buying leather, and I didn’t…

The following day (My BIRTHDAY!) we went on a tour of Florence. It really is a beautiful city. The only thing I did not like about Florence was all of the creepy men trying to sell you things on the streets. They were relentless. They kept trying to get us to come into their stores and try on clothes. My favorite part of the tour was seeing the statue of David. Our tour guide said that the next time we visited it might be closed off in glass. I guess carbon dioxide particles from all the visitors get into the holes in the statue and are slowly destroying it, so archeologists are trying to figure out how to best preserve it. Another highlight: Aidan fell asleep on Dad’s feet while we were standing right in front of the statue. (No he did not faint from its beauty, he really fell asleep!) He almost fell asleep again on one of the benches, but one of the women who worked there, spotted him and gave him the evil eye.

We walked around for the rest of the day and checked out the leather stores. My goal was to find a leather jacket my mom would get me for my birthday. On the way, we stopped for gelato…twice. The first time I had nocciola again, and then the second time we found a bakery dad had read about in his travel guide so we had to try it. I still think that nocciola in Rome was the best. My one request on my birthday was to visit the Ponte Vecchio or as I affectionately named the “Diamond Bridge” in Florence. So much jewelry in one place! I could have spent hours there! Then, we bought some pastries for my birthday celebration. We wanted to sit in the place and sing happy birthday, but they were going to charge us three euros! Instead, we went back to the hotel, watched Modern Family and sang happy birthday. It was low key and relaxing.

The following day we had completely free (Yay!). I finally bought my leather jacket with some negotiations. We did some more shopping. My favorite part of the day was going out for coffee with my dad. The whole trip to Italy we kept saying that we wanted to get coffee somewhere and relax. We finally did that at a place our tour guide recommended. Apparently, many famous writers used to have important meetings and discussions there. We chose the right place! The man was very kind to us, and let us sit without having to pay. We tried fresh tiramisu and a cannoli with some café. Gosh I am going to miss Europe!

Pompeii & Vatican City

The family took a trip to Pompeii. It was a little stressful since we didn’t have a platform for the train until ten minutes before we were supposed to leave! We arrived at Pompeii to some rainy and cold weather. It’s amazing how much can be uncovered about the ancient world. I think that is one of my favorite parts about being in Europe. Every street has a story and hundreds of years of history. It was a trip mostly for mom and dad’s enjoyment, but the kids found some ways to be occupied.

Aidan enjoyed the ancient soup bowls, entering areas that were restricted and being a statue. Here are some examples:

Mom in heaven.

One thing I will remember about Pompeii is seeing all of the abandoned dogs in the ruins. They have an adopt-a-dog program that they were advertising all around Pompeii. I spoke with the groundskeeper, and she told me that some people are just cruel and drop their dogs off. How sad! Aidan and I think Brody needs a playmate. Mom? Dad?

The following day, we went to Vatican City for a tour. One of the highlights was our highly energetic tour guide. She kept saying you have to "visualize" with grand hand gestures while she was telling stories. She really tried to get us into the mood of ancient times. Another highlight was seeing the Sistine Chapel. How fantastic!

We spent our last night in Rome doing a little exploring. It seems that there is a beautiful statue on every corner. On the way to the Spanish steps, we passed the super expensive, ritzy store district of Gucci, Prada, etc. 

A little bit of good luck before leaving Rome.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I'm writing this as snow falls outside my window covering the already five inches there! Wow, it has been a fast transition into winter for me. Of course while traveling in Italy with my mother, I said that I wouldn't need boots since it doesn't snow in Denmark until January or February. Well, I was certainly wrong.


I feel so lucky to be in Denmark during the holiday season because they really do it right here. The other day my host siblings had a decorating day at school where they spent five hours decorating their classrooms and relaxing. Last night, my host family taught me how to make some decorations. I successfully made Christmas stars out of paper. Aidan get ready... You will be making Christmas decorations with me when I get home.

Before:

After:

This is a photo of the Christmas elves. Mine is the second to last on the right side. Every Sunday before Christmas a little gift appears before near the elf. This morning there was a small present waiting for me. Also, another interesting fact about Christmas in Denmark is that they celebrate it on December 24. They have a big dinner celebration and then the kids open up all of their presents. On December 25, they have a relaxing day. 

That's all for now. I'm off to prepare for Christmas lunch, another Danish tradition I will describe later...