Vilnius and Trakai

So Missy from Eastern University and I are called for Boarding to Vilnius, but they load us onto a bus instead. Ummmm. So this bus takes us to the tiniest plane ever. Like the ones with one row on each side of the aisle. The airline gave us all warm muffins. They were great. We arrived in the capital city around 9:30pm and walked off the plane into the airport. We kept following signs for arrivals, and must have went too far because we totally missed baggage claim. We had to get security to let us into the claim area. After getting our bags and meeting the program director, we rode to the hostel where everyone else was staying. We settled in and hung out with other study abroad students and then got a good nights rest. In the morning we traveled in small groups to each breakfast downtown. We ate at La Crepe. I actually got a potato pancake instead of a crepe though haha. 

After breakfast we walked to the KGB museum of genocide victims. It was the site of an old KGB headquarters that they held prisoners in during occupation of Lithuania. Many families were sent to Siberia and other similar places to live. People placed in prison were mostly freedom fighters or priests that were a threat to the Soviet Union. Over to course of 2 year, over 1000 prisoners were executed in the building.  There are still prisoners alive today that have told horrifying stories about their stay.

We then took a walking tour of downtown and learned about every statue and building and lots of history that goes along. This picture above is the central square cathedral. After the tour we had free time, so some of us walked to the castle on the hilltop to get a good view. We then ordered coffee using only Lithuanian words. She just laughed at our efforts. For dinner we all went to a pizza place. They make very thin pizza here, with all sorts of interesting toppings. 

 After dinner some of us walked up to "Three crosses on the hill" and got the sunset view of the city. We walked around town after it got dark, and ended up in a quaint tea house.

 The next morning we traveled to the formal capital, Trakai. This is where the awesome castle and beautiful lakes were. We had about 3 hours to roam around. We took some boats out and just enjoyed the nice weather.

My next post will be about the campus!

Copenhagen Exploration

Picking up where I left off...I slept in several 5 minute intervals in the Copenhagen Airport while I waited for Bree to get in 8 hours later. I had been awake for over 24 hours by the time she arrived. We purchased our Copenhagen Cards that got us free public transportation all over town and free entrance into over 25 attractions. We took the train to the hotel 5 minutes down the track, checked in, and proceeded to pass out until Abby arrived a couple hours later. By this time it is 5pm and we are completely jet lagged, but eager to go downtown and check things out. We jumped on the train again and road 7 minutes to Central Station.

 We wandered down Stroget Street, the worlds longest pedestrian street. We counted at least 4 H&M stores. There were several street performers. After it got dark we headed for Tivoli  Amusement Park, the second oldest in the world! It was definitely much more than a park with rides. It had beautiful walkways and gardens, all themed for a different area of the world. The rides and buildings were all done up with lights.

The picture below is outside the park, where a statue of Hans Christian Anderson "looks over" the children playing in the park.

This was the swings that we decided to ride (rides cost extra). They went soooo high and you could get a great view of Copenhagen from the top. The ride was pretty long too!

 The next day we headed out to Kronborg Castle. This castle is the one that Hamlet is based off of. The castle has seen much remodeling, due to being attacked several times, set on fire, and adding fortifications. Is has not been occupied by royalty in a long time, but they have used it to house soldiers most recently. It took us about 45 minutes by train to get there, with all the stops and a transfer. Once we were there we got an all access pass to every nook and cranny of the castle with our Copenhagen Cards. We went in the chapel, kitchen, dungeon, royal apartments, and the maritime museum.

This is our view from the roof!

The Casemates - "home in the darkness" - are a series of underground tunnels used for prisoners and soldiers. There is a statue of Holger the Dane, that according to legend will awake and defend his country if ever attacked by a foreign  nation. 

We also went to the Denmark Aquarium that day because it was raining and it was free with our Copenhagen Card.. Although we had been to aquariums in America, this one was cooler because it was in Denmark. We then went to Tivoli AGAIN, because it is free entrance with Copenhagen Card (We used it to the max). The next day we took a short train ride across the water to Malmo, Sweden. We didn't have anything particular in mind to do here so we just wandered the downtown shopping area. There were several markets and more H&M's.

 We ate lunch at Gustav Adolf Restaurant, as recommended by the Hilton Hotel worker. It was delicious. We took a walk through a local park and garden, saw the Malmo Castle, and treked over the river and through the woods to IKEA. We made it back to Denmark in time to hop on a Canal Tour through the city (FREE WITH CARD). We got to see the opera house, where the queen lives, a famous library, the old red-light district, a sand castle competition, the little mermaid statue, and many other cool buildings and churches.

We were pretty tired, so we went back to the hotel and packed for our trip to LITHUANIA the next day. I had some free time in the morning to get one last day of tourism in. I went to a different part of town looking for the Round Tower observatory. Got really lost because I forgot my map. Stumbled upon the military base and saw the guards with the fancy tall fur hats. Saw more cool buildings. Finally saw Tivoli in the distance and just started walking towards it so I knew where I was. Decided to give up on Round Tower, and went to a Design Museum instead. It was pretty cool. They had different things Denmarkians (is that a word) had invented or designed, along with a whole section on newly created materials and fibers used in technology. It all worked out in the end and I got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. My flight went to Tallin, Estonia first. I was on schedule to be the LAST person to arrive in Vilnius, Lithuania, but another Study Abroad Student, Missy, got re-routed and ended up on my final flight! It was nice to not be alone during my 3 hour layover. We got coffee, and I accidentally ordered an alcoholic beverage because it had the word "coffee" in it. The woman didn't speak English,. Oh well. It still tasted good. I will post on Vilnius if I have time tomorrow!

Getting There is Half the Battle

As most of you know, I am studying abroad in Lithuania this semester. I planned a 3 night stay with three other Study Abroad Students from America in Copenhagen, Denmark on my way to Lithuania. I was not at all nervous going to a foreign country, or being alone on the way over, or eating weird food. I was only nervous about my flights being delayed or canceled. After a disaster of a trip down to Georgia earlier in the summer, and a just as frustrating trip back to New York, I was excited to NOT be flying to/from Binghamton Airport. I was all settled in to the Syracuse airport yesterday morning after my sister dropped me off for my big trip. I had no lines and got right to my gate in plenty of time. The flight was delayed an hour, which wasn't a problem since my connecting flight in Boston was a 2 hour layover. So we get on the plane and sit in the run way for 20 mins. They drive over to the run way and then turn around and make us all go BACK into the terminal and wait another 20 mins while they inspect something. At this point I'm getting a little nervous about missing my connecting flight. We finally take off and get there 40 minutes before my international flight to Iceland is scheduled to embark. I was mostly nervous because my connecting flight was Icelandair, and I didn't have boarding passes yet. I run out of the airport to catch the shuttle bus that takes me over to the International terminal. We sit on the bus 10 minutes (it was probably more like 5 but it felt like 20). Bus finally goes, but of course my terminal is last on the route. By the time I get there it is 20 minutes before my flight leaves. I'm TOTALLY lost trying to find the Icelandair ticket desk because there are like 100000 ticket desks to look through. I start hyper ventilating. All I see are long lines of people. Almost about to cry, but too in shock to produce tears. I finally find Icelandair all the way at the opposite end. NO LINE! I tell the lady my flight and give her my passport. She says "yeah...I think you are too late for that flight, let me call." She calls. I hold my breath. She tells me they will wait for me if I hurry and gives me directions to the gate. THANK GOD! I have to go through security all over, of course. I am approached by the most awesome airline worker ever who says, "Julie? Come with me, I will get you to the front of the line and to your gate." I felt like the president of the United States. Or at least one of those people with Flash Passes at amusement parks. We are both running. I make the flight. Everyone on the plane stares me down as I fumble through the aisle bumping everyone with my luggage. Really frazzled at this point. Thankfully I got a window seat! And I was next to this really nice man who talked to me for most of the 5 hour ride. My layover in Iceland was 1.5 hours, and his was 7 hours. He made sure I got through customs and to my gate okay, and waited with me until I boarded. It was so nice to have someone keep me company my first time alone in a foreign country, even though it was just the airport. My final flight to Copenhagen was 3 hours, and I was able to sleep through some of it. Just when I thought things were going my way, my checked luggage decides that it's too cool to show up on time. I'm guessing it got stuck in Boston during the short connection. The airport was really helpful and is having it delivered to my hotel when it arrives. Now I am sitting in the airport waiting for the other two girls (Bre and Abby) to arrive so we can go check in! It's 8:30am here, and 2:30am at home. I am very tired but there is no way I could fall asleep here. I'll post more after my adventures in Denmark are complete!

P.S. I composed this whole blog post with all the buttons and web script being in Danish. I need to figure out how to get American internet....

Some European land formation

Harbor right outside the Copenhagen airport. Windmills in the water!