Well, here we are on the home stretch of our journey. We left Croatia last night at 8:30 and are now passing along the southern coast of Sicily, which you can see faintly on the horizon. I know many of you reading this are students about to embark on the fall 2008 voyage. I will be writing an entry specifically for you soon, answering all of the questions I had before I departed along with some miscellaneous advice. It should be up within a week or so. I'd love to do it sooner, but I am inundated with schoolwork over the next few days. Everyone has a global studies essay due tomorrow - I have several papers due soon and the amount of work I have to do is intimidating, but all of us are in the same boat (no pun intended).
Some professors seem to have become quite irritated that students have all "waited until the last minute," this final stretch of classes, to do their assignments. However, many of the papers I have to write are comparative analyses of the countries we visited, and although we can select any of them to compare, I didn't want to leave out any potential relevant experiences by writing prematurely before we had been to all ports. Regardless, you have to use every last bit of time wisely when in port for the few short days you are there if you want to get the most out of it, and this requires planning. The point is that when you only have a day or two to absorb everything you learned in one country and do all of the preparing for the next, there really just isn't time to do schoolwork until the last leg of the journey when the stresses of travel planning have subsided.
Several students I know felt so overwhelmed by schoolwork they spent entire days in port not even getting off the ship because they felt pressured to finish work. While I felt the pressure too - it's sort of inevitable. It is apparent that faculty and administration as a whole are still working on finding an "appropriate" amount of schoolwork for the voyages.
Moving on, I am combining the Greece and Croatia entries since I'm on a pretty strict time budget, and since both countries were quite tourist-friendly, my experiences there (although fun and interesting) were way less "intense" than those I had in countries like Russia and Egypt.
Greece was a welcome change from the scorching heat and cultural mind-boggling-ness of Egypt. We docked in Piraeus to find that it is a modern and mostly clean port city, lined with sidewalk cafes and various shops. It is as maritime as a city can get, with about half the visible businesses having to do in some way with port industry. If you were to venture further into Piraeus, which most students did not do, you would find a shopping district with stores like Burberry and Lacoste along with many local boutiques. While I'm by no means big on shopping, the American-esque streets offered a welcome familiarity, especially after coming from the foreign bartering culture of Egypt. On the first day, I did the SAS trip to Athens and the Acropolis. It was a magnificent sight, but didn't get the credit it deserved in my memory as a whole since it was dwarfed by the pyramids and Rome which I had seen all too soon beforehand. On the second day, I took the trip to Delphi. I was glad to see Derrick and some of my other friends were there as well. Aside from our tour guide, who was so overly informative that she talked the entire three hours to Delphi, it was an awesome and almost relaxing trip. At our lunch at a restaurant near the site, we were seated with a girl named Sam. Her brother, Wes, was best friends on the ship with my good friend from Cornell, Henry, on the recent spring 08 trip. What a small SAS world!!!! On the third day of Greece, which happened to be my 22nd birthday, myself, Zach and Sam went to Aegina, the closest island where we wandered around, enjoyed some beaches and talked to some locals. We had a great time and were surprised at how reasonably priced everything was. On the last day, I got up early and headed into Athens (about a 30 minute train ride) to explore some more and get some gifts for friends back home. Many students spent the entire time in Greece on the islands- while they had a blast, I'm glad that I had a good balance of fun and historical education in a country that prides itself equally on both.
Croatia was short-lived, as we were there for 3 days instead of 4, and time flew by. We had an interesting situation there as we had to use the tender boats (lifeboats) to get from the ship to the shore and back. The ship had o stay anchored in the harbor as SAS was unable to secure a berth to dock at. Scheduling plans around the tender boats, which ran every ½ hour from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. (although not always on schedule) was really a pain, but the tender boat crew was extremely efficient. The tender boats hold 90 people each and going on them was cool at first but got very old very quickly. In addition to the 20-minute ship-to-shore boat ride, the harbor was a 45 minute walk (or 15 minute bus ride) from the old down-pretty much where everything in Dubrovnik is-so getting around was a lengthy and tiring process.
Anyways, Dubrovnik was a cool little town, but painfully touristy to the point where walking around was almost unenjoyable because of the sheer volume of people there. On the first day, I went on a random adventure with Derrick, Dan, and Lisa to find a restaurant about an hour from Dubrovnik where Dan's parents had gone a while ago. It was a beautiful bus ride and I'm glad I was able to see some "off the beaten path" areas of the country- doing this, as I've tried to do in every port, has never been less than a rewarding experience.
Friday night I missed the last tender boat, and got stranded on shore until 7 a.m. the next day with at least 20 other semester at sea students- not a fun situation to be in although I guess it makes for a good story. On Satuday, I got back to the ship shortly after 7 a.m.and was able to get a few hours of sleep. That afternoon, Sam and I walked around the old city and went to a beach to swim for a while before getting dinner out (because it was our last night EVER in port L !!). Just about every SAS student went out to an amazing outdoor beach dance club called EastWest to celebrate our last night in port. I didn't stay out too late because I was determined to catch the last tender boat back to the ship. While I don't recommend staying out until 7 a.m., no voyage would be complete without living life as the locals do and interacting with them, and in Europe, this just happens to occur really, really late. Anyways, I got on one of the later tender boats back to the ship and was able to get a reasonable amount of sleep.
On the last day, yesterday, I woke up early and headed out with 13 other students- Zach, Carrie, Andrea, Ellen, Richard, Megan, Patrick, Meredith, Chris, Anna, Sam, Alissa, and another Chris-for a kayaking trip I had set up a few days beforehand. We kayaked around the old city and then around the island of Lokrum, where we stopped to swim and explore for a while. We had an amazing time. It was physically exhausting but a great way to spend the last day in port- the scenery was incredible. I was able to get a discount for the group so it was only $30 per person- a great deal for an almost 6 hour kayak trip. I'd love to write in greater detail about my time in Greece and Croatia, but my global paper and my econ paper are already fighting for my time as is. I'll write again as soon as I can with a special entry for those of you about to embark.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Eqypt: Part 2
Day 2 - 8:00 a.m.
We were dropped off at the Mona Hotel - our driver for the night later informed us that this was the location of Camp David for the signing of peace treaties between Egypt and Israel. After battling with a stubborn ATM, we were able to withdraw some Egyptian pounds. When we tried to figure out how to get to the light show, the hotel pointed us in the direction of one of the hotel's drivers to take us there. He offered to take us to the show, wait for us during it, and then take us to our hotel (which was a good 20 miles away) for 120 pounds (about $22). As it turns out, Kushusu (who gave us his business card) has been a taxi driver for 47 years. He speaks perfect English and has never gone to school a day in his life - he learned it all from tourists. It seems like he is the person to know around town - he knew every cop in the village.
After the light show, which I will get back to later, he asked us if we had ever seen papyrus. He took us to the local papyrus shop where a friend of his who also spoke English gave us a free demonstration of how papyrus is made. Then he took us to out hotel, which, wit the traffic, was quite a ways away from Cairo. The free-for-all traffic system is like the 8th wonder of the world. The streets of Cairo make New York City seem like a graveyard. Our hotel, the Hilton Pyramids Golf Resort, turned out to be AMAZING. After a day of in-your-face intense culture shock, it was nice to have an English speaking staff. Our room overlooks the pool which is awesome - we plan on going for a swim this morning as soon as Sam wakes up. I'm sitting next to it now. We both agreed this is one of the nicest hotels we've ever been to. It wasn't that expensive either, since I booked it last minute and it's not in Cairo. There is a perfect breeze and it's not too hot in the shade - I'm surrounded by palm trees and a swim-up pool bar. I could spend several days just at the resort but that would defeat the purpose of SAS.
So, back to the light show. We arrived early and went to a restaurant across the street. We sat up on the 3rd floor which had an outside deck and had a phenomenal view of the Pyramids and the Sphinx. We were both speechless. Every restaurant that claims to have a nice view is now kind of a joke to me. We ordered pita bread and hummus - neither of us were very hungry. We could have seen the entire show from the restaurant but since we had already purchased tickets we went back across the street and got seats. The light show was informative, albeit cheesy at times (like when it made the voice of the Sphinx), and was an hour-long presentation on the history of the Pyramids. The lights were awesome. I'll try and explain how I felt being there, but there are no words qualified enough to fully describe it. Sitting in the desert, the cool Arabian breeze blowing - a welcome change from the scorching heat of the sun - watching the last colors of the sunset fade away behind the Pyramids made me feel like the little guy on the camel in the opening scene of Aladdin. To boot, the night sky was perfectly clear and you could see all of the stars above the lit-up pyramids.
In preport, we were told that a historian in the year 500 B.C. wrote about how old the Pyramids were; 2,500 years later, they still stand. They have seen countless sunrises and sunsets, dynasties, rulers, withstood wars and weather, watched civilizations rise and fall. They were there for 2,000 years before Jesus, in a time when doubts were few and far between - the gods Anubis and Osiris existed by sheer virtue of belief - a belief strong enough to erect these mountains out of dirt. So, there it was, the epitome of history staring me in the face. Saying any more about it would be doing it unjustice, so I will leave it with a simple remark - it makes everything in life and life itself seem so incredibly small.
Moving on, I woke up a bit before 8 today and went to the concierge. There's a 10:30 shuttle to the Egyptian museum. After that, we are either going on Nile cruise or to the Bazaar.
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It's now Sunday morning and we are in Greece. The sunrise this morning was beautiful. To get back to Egypt, it was a great experience - I never would have wanted to see it independently of SAS. I am glad I got to see the Pyramids but I don't think I'll ever be going back, there are so many more places in the world I'd rather go to first.
It's time to get of the ship and go explore Athens!!!!!!!!
We were dropped off at the Mona Hotel - our driver for the night later informed us that this was the location of Camp David for the signing of peace treaties between Egypt and Israel. After battling with a stubborn ATM, we were able to withdraw some Egyptian pounds. When we tried to figure out how to get to the light show, the hotel pointed us in the direction of one of the hotel's drivers to take us there. He offered to take us to the show, wait for us during it, and then take us to our hotel (which was a good 20 miles away) for 120 pounds (about $22). As it turns out, Kushusu (who gave us his business card) has been a taxi driver for 47 years. He speaks perfect English and has never gone to school a day in his life - he learned it all from tourists. It seems like he is the person to know around town - he knew every cop in the village.
After the light show, which I will get back to later, he asked us if we had ever seen papyrus. He took us to the local papyrus shop where a friend of his who also spoke English gave us a free demonstration of how papyrus is made. Then he took us to out hotel, which, wit the traffic, was quite a ways away from Cairo. The free-for-all traffic system is like the 8th wonder of the world. The streets of Cairo make New York City seem like a graveyard. Our hotel, the Hilton Pyramids Golf Resort, turned out to be AMAZING. After a day of in-your-face intense culture shock, it was nice to have an English speaking staff. Our room overlooks the pool which is awesome - we plan on going for a swim this morning as soon as Sam wakes up. I'm sitting next to it now. We both agreed this is one of the nicest hotels we've ever been to. It wasn't that expensive either, since I booked it last minute and it's not in Cairo. There is a perfect breeze and it's not too hot in the shade - I'm surrounded by palm trees and a swim-up pool bar. I could spend several days just at the resort but that would defeat the purpose of SAS.
So, back to the light show. We arrived early and went to a restaurant across the street. We sat up on the 3rd floor which had an outside deck and had a phenomenal view of the Pyramids and the Sphinx. We were both speechless. Every restaurant that claims to have a nice view is now kind of a joke to me. We ordered pita bread and hummus - neither of us were very hungry. We could have seen the entire show from the restaurant but since we had already purchased tickets we went back across the street and got seats. The light show was informative, albeit cheesy at times (like when it made the voice of the Sphinx), and was an hour-long presentation on the history of the Pyramids. The lights were awesome. I'll try and explain how I felt being there, but there are no words qualified enough to fully describe it. Sitting in the desert, the cool Arabian breeze blowing - a welcome change from the scorching heat of the sun - watching the last colors of the sunset fade away behind the Pyramids made me feel like the little guy on the camel in the opening scene of Aladdin. To boot, the night sky was perfectly clear and you could see all of the stars above the lit-up pyramids.
In preport, we were told that a historian in the year 500 B.C. wrote about how old the Pyramids were; 2,500 years later, they still stand. They have seen countless sunrises and sunsets, dynasties, rulers, withstood wars and weather, watched civilizations rise and fall. They were there for 2,000 years before Jesus, in a time when doubts were few and far between - the gods Anubis and Osiris existed by sheer virtue of belief - a belief strong enough to erect these mountains out of dirt. So, there it was, the epitome of history staring me in the face. Saying any more about it would be doing it unjustice, so I will leave it with a simple remark - it makes everything in life and life itself seem so incredibly small.
Moving on, I woke up a bit before 8 today and went to the concierge. There's a 10:30 shuttle to the Egyptian museum. After that, we are either going on Nile cruise or to the Bazaar.
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It's now Sunday morning and we are in Greece. The sunrise this morning was beautiful. To get back to Egypt, it was a great experience - I never would have wanted to see it independently of SAS. I am glad I got to see the Pyramids but I don't think I'll ever be going back, there are so many more places in the world I'd rather go to first.
It's time to get of the ship and go explore Athens!!!!!!!!
Egypt: Part 1
Day 1 - 10:00 a.m.
Last night in preport, Randy said that SAS can be like trying to drink from a garden hose. The past few days have felt exactly that way. On Saturday, I was in Italy. On Sunday, we thought we were going to Turkey. Monday we turned around in a flurry of chaos. Today I'm in Egypt, and in a week I'll be leaving Greece. The past 48 hours have brought out the best in the entire SAS community. They have proven what it takes to be a SAS student: resiliency - the drive to make the most of a less than ideal situation, community - trust that others will make the best decision for you, and the understanding that the agendas of a few must sometimes be sacrificed in the interest of a larger group (as was the case for the interport parents), and a sense of spontaneity, which needs no explanation.
The shock of being here is so intense it almost feels like I'm just imagining it. It was unforeseen, unplanned, unexpected, and yet here I am on a bus to Cairo. Already, I feel like I've seen so much - trying to take in every last detail of being in a foreign country is exhausting. Describing this feeling as culture shock would be an understatement. We are literally on a desert highway, passing cars, trucks, and caravans of camels on the side of the road, along with the occasional palm tree. The streets of Alexandria are like the filthiest streets of Naples to the power of 10. The buildings, signs and windows are all caked in layers of sand and dirt. Our convoy of three buses is escorted by armed tourist police.
Already, I can sense the male dominance of the culture here. I have only seen one female driver in all the cars that have passed us. I haven't seen many women out, but most of those who I have seen have been wearing the traditional Islamic dress - showing only their eyes. Our tour guide said that married women wear black, and unmarried women wear colored dresses, because Islamic culture does not use wedding rings.
The scenery looks like Texas with less grass, more palm trees, and roadside stands selling pottery. The signs are in Arabic but some also have English or Greek.
This morning on the ship, you could feel the energy pouring out of the students on board. The excitement of traveling to a new place not on the itinerary on such a sudden notice was unparalleled. The nervousness of having no clue how to get around or how to communicate in Arabic leaves a feeling like that of the first day of high school, except much more unfamiliar. Less than 2 days since we were heading to Istanbul, here I am about to ride a camel near the great pyramids. If this isn't adventure, I don't know what is.
Day 1- 6:00 p.m.
I have never felt so dirty in my life. We started off at the Great Pyramids of Giza. It was remarkable to see - I was surprised that there weren't fences - you can just walk right up to the pyramids and touch them. The vendors there sell every item imaginable, and men try and force you to get on their camels so they can charge you for a photo on them. They are all VERY aggressive. Next, we stopped at the Sphinx, where I bought a hand-carved scarab beetle for $1 after bartering with a vendor for a few minutes. We went to the Sakkara country club where we met up with our other two buses. They served an amazing authentic Egyptian buffet lunch of mostly stuff I couldn't identify if I had a multiple choice, but was good nonetheless. After our hour-stay at the club (which had separate restaurant facilities and swimming areas for men and women), we got on the buses and went to the step pyramid, which we went underneath via a small passageway where we had to practically crawl for about 50 yards. The burial chamber, lined with hieroglyphs, and the coffin were still intact although everything else had been removed. Right next to it was a tomb which we toured.
When you're a kid in elementary school, you learn about Egyptian culture and mummies with skepticism and intrigue. But being there in person was a beyond-words surreal experience. To stand in a tomb and touch the hieroglyphs on the walls is an experience that you can't inherit from Indiana Jones or an Omnimax film. These monuments to the tenacity and perseverance of people who worked so intricately at preserving the dead, thinking someday the soul would come back to find the body, that have withstood millennia stare you in the face reminding you how small you really are - just a grain of sand in the history of a world which has been turning day in and day out long before you or the civilization you know has existed.
Our buses brought us back to Sakkara country club where we were split into groups of 8 or so and got into Jeeps. The Jeeps took us on an off-roading Safari adventure which was one of the most fun things I've ever done. Most of my SAS field trips have left me feeling like I could have done it on my own and more efficiently, but today was an anomale. To speed up and down the sand dunes behind pyramids was pure exhilaration. Our jeeps delivered us to a designated place in the desert where a GIANT line of cames awaited us. We each jumped on a camel and were off! Camels are much higher off the ground than you'd think, but after a few minutes we got used to it. Of course, I had to pick the maverick of the group - they named him Michael Jackson because he does a funny sideways moonwalk dance - humorous to see, scary to be a part of. The camels took us on a half hour ride back to the country club where our buses were waiting.
The way of life here is so different I don't even know where to start. Mostly, I'm in awe that I'm actually here. Everything is in Arabic. Last, and certainly not least, the heat.
Wow.
There is nothing quite like this on Earth that I have experienced. Its like the only things in existence are you, the earth, and the sun beating down on you. Sam said it feels like in the summer when you leave your car parked in the sun all day and then get in. We are all exhausted from the heat, covered in sweat and dirt. Most students are sleeping on the bus although it's only about 6:30 p.m. The bus is taking us to a central location in Cairo to let off the students who want to stay overnight - this includes me, so I'll finish writing later.
Last night in preport, Randy said that SAS can be like trying to drink from a garden hose. The past few days have felt exactly that way. On Saturday, I was in Italy. On Sunday, we thought we were going to Turkey. Monday we turned around in a flurry of chaos. Today I'm in Egypt, and in a week I'll be leaving Greece. The past 48 hours have brought out the best in the entire SAS community. They have proven what it takes to be a SAS student: resiliency - the drive to make the most of a less than ideal situation, community - trust that others will make the best decision for you, and the understanding that the agendas of a few must sometimes be sacrificed in the interest of a larger group (as was the case for the interport parents), and a sense of spontaneity, which needs no explanation.
The shock of being here is so intense it almost feels like I'm just imagining it. It was unforeseen, unplanned, unexpected, and yet here I am on a bus to Cairo. Already, I feel like I've seen so much - trying to take in every last detail of being in a foreign country is exhausting. Describing this feeling as culture shock would be an understatement. We are literally on a desert highway, passing cars, trucks, and caravans of camels on the side of the road, along with the occasional palm tree. The streets of Alexandria are like the filthiest streets of Naples to the power of 10. The buildings, signs and windows are all caked in layers of sand and dirt. Our convoy of three buses is escorted by armed tourist police.
Already, I can sense the male dominance of the culture here. I have only seen one female driver in all the cars that have passed us. I haven't seen many women out, but most of those who I have seen have been wearing the traditional Islamic dress - showing only their eyes. Our tour guide said that married women wear black, and unmarried women wear colored dresses, because Islamic culture does not use wedding rings.
The scenery looks like Texas with less grass, more palm trees, and roadside stands selling pottery. The signs are in Arabic but some also have English or Greek.
This morning on the ship, you could feel the energy pouring out of the students on board. The excitement of traveling to a new place not on the itinerary on such a sudden notice was unparalleled. The nervousness of having no clue how to get around or how to communicate in Arabic leaves a feeling like that of the first day of high school, except much more unfamiliar. Less than 2 days since we were heading to Istanbul, here I am about to ride a camel near the great pyramids. If this isn't adventure, I don't know what is.
Day 1- 6:00 p.m.
I have never felt so dirty in my life. We started off at the Great Pyramids of Giza. It was remarkable to see - I was surprised that there weren't fences - you can just walk right up to the pyramids and touch them. The vendors there sell every item imaginable, and men try and force you to get on their camels so they can charge you for a photo on them. They are all VERY aggressive. Next, we stopped at the Sphinx, where I bought a hand-carved scarab beetle for $1 after bartering with a vendor for a few minutes. We went to the Sakkara country club where we met up with our other two buses. They served an amazing authentic Egyptian buffet lunch of mostly stuff I couldn't identify if I had a multiple choice, but was good nonetheless. After our hour-stay at the club (which had separate restaurant facilities and swimming areas for men and women), we got on the buses and went to the step pyramid, which we went underneath via a small passageway where we had to practically crawl for about 50 yards. The burial chamber, lined with hieroglyphs, and the coffin were still intact although everything else had been removed. Right next to it was a tomb which we toured.
When you're a kid in elementary school, you learn about Egyptian culture and mummies with skepticism and intrigue. But being there in person was a beyond-words surreal experience. To stand in a tomb and touch the hieroglyphs on the walls is an experience that you can't inherit from Indiana Jones or an Omnimax film. These monuments to the tenacity and perseverance of people who worked so intricately at preserving the dead, thinking someday the soul would come back to find the body, that have withstood millennia stare you in the face reminding you how small you really are - just a grain of sand in the history of a world which has been turning day in and day out long before you or the civilization you know has existed.
Our buses brought us back to Sakkara country club where we were split into groups of 8 or so and got into Jeeps. The Jeeps took us on an off-roading Safari adventure which was one of the most fun things I've ever done. Most of my SAS field trips have left me feeling like I could have done it on my own and more efficiently, but today was an anomale. To speed up and down the sand dunes behind pyramids was pure exhilaration. Our jeeps delivered us to a designated place in the desert where a GIANT line of cames awaited us. We each jumped on a camel and were off! Camels are much higher off the ground than you'd think, but after a few minutes we got used to it. Of course, I had to pick the maverick of the group - they named him Michael Jackson because he does a funny sideways moonwalk dance - humorous to see, scary to be a part of. The camels took us on a half hour ride back to the country club where our buses were waiting.
The way of life here is so different I don't even know where to start. Mostly, I'm in awe that I'm actually here. Everything is in Arabic. Last, and certainly not least, the heat.
Wow.
There is nothing quite like this on Earth that I have experienced. Its like the only things in existence are you, the earth, and the sun beating down on you. Sam said it feels like in the summer when you leave your car parked in the sun all day and then get in. We are all exhausted from the heat, covered in sweat and dirt. Most students are sleeping on the bus although it's only about 6:30 p.m. The bus is taking us to a central location in Cairo to let off the students who want to stay overnight - this includes me, so I'll finish writing later.
Italy: Perfect Place on Earth
The past 24 hours have been a rush of disappointment, excitement, stress and energy. After being told we were no longer going to Istanbul, we had a meeting in the union where dean Jill Wright told us that we were going to Alexandria, Egypt. She got as far as "Alex" when the union erupted in screaming and cheering. A lot of students are still disappointed about missing out on Istanbul, but excited for Egypt. The biggest downer is that we lost another day in port because we needed it to travel the 1000 miles to Egypt. Administrative offices definitely needed the extra day as well to arrange the field program options and put together a logistical and cultural pre-port.
Today we had to decide on our field trips, figure out what we wanted to see in Egypt, find what students we were traveling with, and make hotel reservations if necessary. To make the situation more complicated, we have limited internet (most students used all of their minutes a long time ago) and there are maybe three books on Egypt in the library (nobody bought travel guides for Egypt, thinking we were staying in Europe). So, this should be an interesting port stay. I decided to travel with Sam again- we are doing a camel and jeep safari tomorrow to Cairo, where we will leave the group and head to our hotel near Giza. Before I get too carried with Egypt, I'll backtrack to Italy. But I do have to give credit to SAS - the sudden change of plans showed that they were able to pull together a small but decent list of field programs and successfully align the many other measures needed to dock in Egypt.
Anyways, Italy was amazing and definitely my favorite port. To make a long description short, Italy has it all - great weather, good public transportation, great food, and unbelievably friendly people. Shortly after docking, Deb, Chris and Mike (both from Pitt) and I headed to Rome. I learned the hard way to pack lightly! After checking in at our hotel (where a ton of SAS kids were staying), we saw a good bit of Rome including the Forum and the Parthenon. At night, we walked by the Coliseum which was lit up and quite awesome to see.
On the second day, Deb left and met up with some other friends. Chris, Mike and I went to see the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. It took an entire half a day to see but was worth the time it took. We met up with a bunch of SAS students at the Spanish Steps who were going out, but Chris and I were too tired and decided to head back early after seeing Trevi fountain, which was awesome albeit touristy.
On our third day, we left Rome early and came back to the ship just for a few minutes to drop off our bags and grab some new clothes. We got on a late afternoon ferry to Sorrento and the ride there was breathtaking. When arriving in Sorrento, we ran into Steph and her friends. We went to the beach for an hour or so which was one of the best memories I have from SAS so far. To stand in the Mediterranean, look down and be able to see your feet because the water is so clear is an amazing feeling. Later that night, we all went out to dinner, which in Italy, is a several hour ordeal, and we had a fantastic time. Sorrento is one of my favorite places and I wish I spent more time there. In a way, I wish I hadn't gone to Rome. There is so much to see and do there and is such a phenomenal place, it takes at least a week if not two to see everything in its entirety. I loved it, but I wish I had spent my 4 days there seeing Sorrento and Capri fully instead of just spending a few hours there.
On Saturday, I had a SAS trip to Pompeii but it left the ship at 8:30 a.m. I stayed overnight in Sorrento and thought I could just meet up with the trip at the entrance to Pompeii around 9. I left Sorrento really early and hopped on a train to Pompeii. It was an awesome feeling to be sitting on a train going through the hills, overlooking the gorgeous Italian coastline, drinking a cappuccino which was the most amazing drink I've ever had. I got to Pompeii and found the entrance to the ruins at just about 9. After waiting an hour for the SAS trip to show up (and talking to many Pompeii employees who assured me the group hadn't yet arrived), I figured they had to have entered the ruins by that point and was able to get in without paying by showing them my SAS Pompeii ticket. Luckily, I ran into some SAS kids I recognized and was able to see the last part of the tour of Pompeii. It was remarkable to see and I wish I was able to see the entire city - another reason I wish I hadn't spent so much time in Rome. I got on the SAS tour bus back to the ship, luckily. I loved Italy and can't wait to go back for longer than 4 days. It may well be the most perfect place on earth.
Today we had to decide on our field trips, figure out what we wanted to see in Egypt, find what students we were traveling with, and make hotel reservations if necessary. To make the situation more complicated, we have limited internet (most students used all of their minutes a long time ago) and there are maybe three books on Egypt in the library (nobody bought travel guides for Egypt, thinking we were staying in Europe). So, this should be an interesting port stay. I decided to travel with Sam again- we are doing a camel and jeep safari tomorrow to Cairo, where we will leave the group and head to our hotel near Giza. Before I get too carried with Egypt, I'll backtrack to Italy. But I do have to give credit to SAS - the sudden change of plans showed that they were able to pull together a small but decent list of field programs and successfully align the many other measures needed to dock in Egypt.
Anyways, Italy was amazing and definitely my favorite port. To make a long description short, Italy has it all - great weather, good public transportation, great food, and unbelievably friendly people. Shortly after docking, Deb, Chris and Mike (both from Pitt) and I headed to Rome. I learned the hard way to pack lightly! After checking in at our hotel (where a ton of SAS kids were staying), we saw a good bit of Rome including the Forum and the Parthenon. At night, we walked by the Coliseum which was lit up and quite awesome to see.
On the second day, Deb left and met up with some other friends. Chris, Mike and I went to see the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. It took an entire half a day to see but was worth the time it took. We met up with a bunch of SAS students at the Spanish Steps who were going out, but Chris and I were too tired and decided to head back early after seeing Trevi fountain, which was awesome albeit touristy.
On our third day, we left Rome early and came back to the ship just for a few minutes to drop off our bags and grab some new clothes. We got on a late afternoon ferry to Sorrento and the ride there was breathtaking. When arriving in Sorrento, we ran into Steph and her friends. We went to the beach for an hour or so which was one of the best memories I have from SAS so far. To stand in the Mediterranean, look down and be able to see your feet because the water is so clear is an amazing feeling. Later that night, we all went out to dinner, which in Italy, is a several hour ordeal, and we had a fantastic time. Sorrento is one of my favorite places and I wish I spent more time there. In a way, I wish I hadn't gone to Rome. There is so much to see and do there and is such a phenomenal place, it takes at least a week if not two to see everything in its entirety. I loved it, but I wish I had spent my 4 days there seeing Sorrento and Capri fully instead of just spending a few hours there.
On Saturday, I had a SAS trip to Pompeii but it left the ship at 8:30 a.m. I stayed overnight in Sorrento and thought I could just meet up with the trip at the entrance to Pompeii around 9. I left Sorrento really early and hopped on a train to Pompeii. It was an awesome feeling to be sitting on a train going through the hills, overlooking the gorgeous Italian coastline, drinking a cappuccino which was the most amazing drink I've ever had. I got to Pompeii and found the entrance to the ruins at just about 9. After waiting an hour for the SAS trip to show up (and talking to many Pompeii employees who assured me the group hadn't yet arrived), I figured they had to have entered the ruins by that point and was able to get in without paying by showing them my SAS Pompeii ticket. Luckily, I ran into some SAS kids I recognized and was able to see the last part of the tour of Pompeii. It was remarkable to see and I wish I was able to see the entire city - another reason I wish I hadn't spent so much time in Rome. I got on the SAS tour bus back to the ship, luckily. I loved Italy and can't wait to go back for longer than 4 days. It may well be the most perfect place on earth.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Post from Mediterranean
Many students have approached me over the past week asking what happened to the blog, since their parents read it and said it hasn't been updated since Denmark. I apologize to everyone for the delay in posting: I wrote the Belgium entry late and didn't submit it until last Friday. I used my internet minutes today to check on the blog and it still hasn't been updated - I'm sure the communications employees at S.A.S. have their hands full today with frantic parents calling in about the situation in Turkey, so it's likely you won't see this entry until after we've docked and the chaos that is probably ensuing in Charlottesville has subsided.
Regardless of what happens with Turkey, life on the Mediterranean is pretty sweet. We all had a global essay due today which put a bit of a damper on everyone's enjoyment of the beautiful weather, but I managed to catch a few hours of sun yesterday. We are passing the southern coast of Greece today. The gym on the ship is on the port side, so this morning I was on an elliptical and could faintly see Greek islands if I looked at the horizon hard enough. There are a lot of sailboats close to the shores of the islands we have been passing throughout the Mediterranean. Yesterday a lot of students saw sea turtles right alongside the ship. We are all having a good time- the water has been really calm since leaving Naples and the awful mysterious noise that had been on my side of the ship has stopped. The sun is shining full force (although it's not nearly as hot today as it was yesterday), there is a beautiful breeze and the water is so blue it makes you wonder if you've ever truly seen anything blue before. Decks four and seven are packed with students in swimsuits- some reading, most sleeping. It is certainly hot enough to go in the pool, but after 3 it is usually filled with the faculty's children throwing balls around and playing which is kind of inconvenient because that's when we all get out of class and it's not big enough to have college students in there too.
Regardless, life is good and other than our global studies paper and the fact that we have no clue what country we'll be in tomorrow, it's hard to find anything to complain about. I'm gonna go recharge my loaner laptop before my next class- I'll write about Italy later today J.
Regardless of what happens with Turkey, life on the Mediterranean is pretty sweet. We all had a global essay due today which put a bit of a damper on everyone's enjoyment of the beautiful weather, but I managed to catch a few hours of sun yesterday. We are passing the southern coast of Greece today. The gym on the ship is on the port side, so this morning I was on an elliptical and could faintly see Greek islands if I looked at the horizon hard enough. There are a lot of sailboats close to the shores of the islands we have been passing throughout the Mediterranean. Yesterday a lot of students saw sea turtles right alongside the ship. We are all having a good time- the water has been really calm since leaving Naples and the awful mysterious noise that had been on my side of the ship has stopped. The sun is shining full force (although it's not nearly as hot today as it was yesterday), there is a beautiful breeze and the water is so blue it makes you wonder if you've ever truly seen anything blue before. Decks four and seven are packed with students in swimsuits- some reading, most sleeping. It is certainly hot enough to go in the pool, but after 3 it is usually filled with the faculty's children throwing balls around and playing which is kind of inconvenient because that's when we all get out of class and it's not big enough to have college students in there too.
Regardless, life is good and other than our global studies paper and the fact that we have no clue what country we'll be in tomorrow, it's hard to find anything to complain about. I'm gonna go recharge my loaner laptop before my next class- I'll write about Italy later today J.
Belgium: If Only for the Waffles...
On Monday, we docked in Antwerp. Shortly after, I left on a FDP trip to Brussels for my class, Business, Politics and Culture of the E.U. First, we went to the European Economic and Social Committee where we had a debriefing about the E.U. The man who spoke to us told us a lot about the history and foundation of the E.U. Afterwards, we headed to a park where we had some free time to wander around Brussels, where lots of students bought Belgian chocolate. Our next meeting was at the American Mission in Belgium. After going through an intense security process, we met with a U.S. foreign service officer there who ironically was a S.A.S. alumnus from 2002, and had given us our debriefing that morning on-ship. It was really interesting to hear the stories and viewpoints from someone who could relate exactly to our program. After this meeting, Professor Wilkerson had the bus take us to the Grand Place in Brussels (not on our itinerary but an added bonus), where we had about an hour to try some Belgian waffles, frites, chocolate, and beer for a few adventurous students. After this experience, I would say it's completely justifiable to take a trip to Belgium just to have a waffle. We headed back to the ship around 5, and later that night I met up with my friend from grade school who is not on SAS. He is doing an internship in France this summer and was able to take a few days off of work to meet up with myself and Joel, another SAS student who is coincidentally my friend's roommate at Penn State. We checked out some of the Antwerp nightlife but had a pretty early night since we planned to wake up early on Tuesday to go to Amsterdam.
Tuesday morning we headed to the Antwerp train station where we ran into just about everyone else from SAS, and caught a train to Amsterdam. The ride there was really picturesque, and yes, Holland does still have a bunch of windmills. Upon arrival in Amsterdam we checked in at our hotel, the Golden Tulip, which was quite upscale for a bunch of college kids (I had booked it in April so I luckily didn't get overcharged like some students). Later that day, the rest of our group met up with us- Zach, Sam and Josh from Iowa, who really made my trip to Amsterdam worthwhile; they are probably the funniest and nicest people I've met so far on SAS. Of all the places I've been so far on SAS, Amsterdam is hands down my favorite. Once you get past the extremely touristy areas (which reminded me of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco), it really is a beautiful city and everyone there is beyond friendly and helpful, not to mention almost everyone knows English. We stopped by the Anne Frank house but didn't go in because of the ridiculously long line. Much to our dismay, the Heineken brewery was closed for renovations- it's a must-see tour in Amsterdam- but we found plenty of other sights to keep us occupied. Moreover, Amsterdam is such a scenic city that you don't really need to find things to do- just walking around is an experience in and of itself. Of course, no trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a trip to the Red Light District, where we briefly strolled through, had a few awkward laughs, and headed back to our hotel.
Wednesday we walked around Amsterdam a bit more before hopping on an afternoon train (which was cancelled, pushing our plans back an hour) and got back to Antwerp around 5. On the walk back from the train station to the ship we ran into Professor Lynch, who gave us a quick spiel on Belgian food and then offered us some of his pizza. After arriving at the ship, we all took a muchly-needed nap before strolling around Antwerp. I was surprised at how big it is; I was half-expecting a small town similar to Korsor (where we docked in Denmark) but there is definitely enough just in Antwerp to keep busy for several days. Lots of SAS girls seemed to spend a lot of time there shopping, as it is one of Europe's fashion centers. I brought more than enough clothes to begin with (sidenote for future SAS students- really take it seriously when they tell you to only bring ¼ of the clothes you think you need), so even if I had wanted to go shopping I wouldn't have room in my bags to take stuff home. I spent Wednesday night wandering around Antwerp with Sam, one of my neighbors/classmates who is from Buffalo, NY where I lived for a few years. We ended up exploring a castle which was right near our ship before calling it an early night.
Thursday, our last day in Belgium, I took a SAS trip to Ghent, a medieval town with several castles. It was an interesting place to see but it came to a point when the tour guide told us sooooo much I thought I was going to explode. It would have been nice to have a little more time there to explore independently of the tour, but either way it was a nice change of pace from Antwerp and Amsterdam to head to a smaller, more laid-back time and learn about Belgian history.
All in all, I loved Belgium and it would be the first place from our itinerary I would go back to (so far) if given the chance because there is so much to see there. I apologize for this entry being somewhat spiritless, but I'm rushing to finish it up as I am currently on the train from Naples to Rome!!
So far, Italy is beautiful. The train is surprisingly nice and you can see the coastline, which is amazing. It is a sunny day and we have 85+ degree weather (not so nice for our hour-long walk to the train station this morning carrying all of our stuff). It's hard to not be happy here - there are palm trees everywhere and everyone just seems to be having a good time, locals and SAS students alike. Last night in our logistical pre-port, our ship doctor's warning for us in regards to health issues was: "The water is fine. You can drink it, you can drink beer and wine, and you can eat spaghetti and cannoli and gelato. But I have to warn you, the ship's scales do work."
Well, we are almost to Rome, so I have to shut down this laptop (which I was able to borrow from the SAS computer lab). I'll write again when we are back on ship.... Provided it can still float after everyone's time in Italy J
Tuesday morning we headed to the Antwerp train station where we ran into just about everyone else from SAS, and caught a train to Amsterdam. The ride there was really picturesque, and yes, Holland does still have a bunch of windmills. Upon arrival in Amsterdam we checked in at our hotel, the Golden Tulip, which was quite upscale for a bunch of college kids (I had booked it in April so I luckily didn't get overcharged like some students). Later that day, the rest of our group met up with us- Zach, Sam and Josh from Iowa, who really made my trip to Amsterdam worthwhile; they are probably the funniest and nicest people I've met so far on SAS. Of all the places I've been so far on SAS, Amsterdam is hands down my favorite. Once you get past the extremely touristy areas (which reminded me of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco), it really is a beautiful city and everyone there is beyond friendly and helpful, not to mention almost everyone knows English. We stopped by the Anne Frank house but didn't go in because of the ridiculously long line. Much to our dismay, the Heineken brewery was closed for renovations- it's a must-see tour in Amsterdam- but we found plenty of other sights to keep us occupied. Moreover, Amsterdam is such a scenic city that you don't really need to find things to do- just walking around is an experience in and of itself. Of course, no trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a trip to the Red Light District, where we briefly strolled through, had a few awkward laughs, and headed back to our hotel.
Wednesday we walked around Amsterdam a bit more before hopping on an afternoon train (which was cancelled, pushing our plans back an hour) and got back to Antwerp around 5. On the walk back from the train station to the ship we ran into Professor Lynch, who gave us a quick spiel on Belgian food and then offered us some of his pizza. After arriving at the ship, we all took a muchly-needed nap before strolling around Antwerp. I was surprised at how big it is; I was half-expecting a small town similar to Korsor (where we docked in Denmark) but there is definitely enough just in Antwerp to keep busy for several days. Lots of SAS girls seemed to spend a lot of time there shopping, as it is one of Europe's fashion centers. I brought more than enough clothes to begin with (sidenote for future SAS students- really take it seriously when they tell you to only bring ¼ of the clothes you think you need), so even if I had wanted to go shopping I wouldn't have room in my bags to take stuff home. I spent Wednesday night wandering around Antwerp with Sam, one of my neighbors/classmates who is from Buffalo, NY where I lived for a few years. We ended up exploring a castle which was right near our ship before calling it an early night.
Thursday, our last day in Belgium, I took a SAS trip to Ghent, a medieval town with several castles. It was an interesting place to see but it came to a point when the tour guide told us sooooo much I thought I was going to explode. It would have been nice to have a little more time there to explore independently of the tour, but either way it was a nice change of pace from Antwerp and Amsterdam to head to a smaller, more laid-back time and learn about Belgian history.
All in all, I loved Belgium and it would be the first place from our itinerary I would go back to (so far) if given the chance because there is so much to see there. I apologize for this entry being somewhat spiritless, but I'm rushing to finish it up as I am currently on the train from Naples to Rome!!
So far, Italy is beautiful. The train is surprisingly nice and you can see the coastline, which is amazing. It is a sunny day and we have 85+ degree weather (not so nice for our hour-long walk to the train station this morning carrying all of our stuff). It's hard to not be happy here - there are palm trees everywhere and everyone just seems to be having a good time, locals and SAS students alike. Last night in our logistical pre-port, our ship doctor's warning for us in regards to health issues was: "The water is fine. You can drink it, you can drink beer and wine, and you can eat spaghetti and cannoli and gelato. But I have to warn you, the ship's scales do work."
Well, we are almost to Rome, so I have to shut down this laptop (which I was able to borrow from the SAS computer lab). I'll write again when we are back on ship.... Provided it can still float after everyone's time in Italy J
Monday, July 14, 2008
Denmark: The Friendliest People on Earth
Day 1:
We arrived in Denmark to find it much less of a hassle than Russia. Students were allowed to disembark by sea after getting their passports. Although we didn't need to carry our passports with us, The Voice told us that they were necessary if we planned to stay overnight at all. I got my passport to be safe but I never needed it. I had planned to go immediately to Copenhagen on a train with several other students I was staying with. At the last minute, I decided to get on the SAS city orientation in Copenhagen. It was like $80 but I was able to buy a last minute ticket for $25 from a girl selling hers. To correct something I said in an earlier post, students are NOT allowed to get on SAS trips last minute for free. Apparently my friend going on the Norway in a Nutshell hiking trip for free was a mistake by the trip leader. SAS does sell trips with open space at the last minute for full-price, but there is a binder on the field office desk where people can buy and sell trip tickets, and if you wait until last minute you can usually get them cheaply. Train tickets to Copenhagen were like $22, so for about the same price I was able to get the SAS Copenhagen orientation. We took really nice coach buses to Copenhagen, where we got a tour of both Parliament and the Palace. It certainly wasn't comparable to the palaces in Russia but it was nice to see nonetheless. After the tour, we were driven around to see the Copenhagen Opera House and Little Mermaid Statue. It was really nothing special to see but our bus tour guide gave us the true (and depressing) story of the Little Mermaid, as written by Hans Christen Andersen. The bus was nice enough to drop off students staying in Copenhagen at the city central which was in reasonable distance to all of our hotels. Alissa, a girl on SAS who also goes to Cornell (which was an awesome surprise), and I walked about a mile to the Copenhagen Island Hotel where we stayed. We planned to meet our whole group in the lobby at 5:30 p.m. and everyone made it there around that time. We had a group of ten - Jason, Zach, Adam, Mike, Steve, Arielle, Meaghan, Alissa, Marlee and myself- and 2 hotel rooms. I had put the charges for 3 nights on my debit card over hotels.com 2 days before. I am the only one in the group who is 21, which is the minimum age to reserve a hotel in many European countries. Although I got a great last-minute discount, the hotel was still really expensive and I'm in the process of getting everyone to pay me back- easier said than done.
We were all really pleasantly surprised to find out how nice the hotel was. It was built right in the water (hence being called the island hotel) and had a great fitness center with a steamroom and sauna! The one downside is that it was sort of a long walk from the city center, although it was right next to a train station so you could get anywhere in under 10 minutes for about $2. Marla, Julia, and Lauren met up with us later that night and one of Marla's family friends who is currently studying in Copenhagen was kind enough to show us around. We ended up at a cute little pub on Stroget Street, a pedestrian street full of nightclubs and boutique stores. While there, I met a few college students from the Faroe Islands (owned by Denmark) along with a girl from Australia. They were very energetic and made us feel very welcome in Denmark. I think I was most surprised to hear that they were all pro-America. While many Europeans disagree with American politics, everyone I have met says they dream of one day being able to come to America.
Day 2:
On Wednesday, we got a late-ish start. Around 11:30 we headed out of the hotel. The entire group except for Zach (my nextdoor neighbor. I've already met 4 Zachs on the ship!!) and myself decided to take a canal tour of Copenhagen- there was some deal where you could buy an all-day canal pass and take the boat to wherever. I was all toured-out from the day before and just wanted to wander around. We headed to the city center and then found our way over a bridge to the Freetown of Christiania. Take the 1970's and multiply it by about 10....It was like a hippie community, the only interesting thing there was the graffiti-art that's all over the trailer-park-esque neighborhoods that comprise Christiania. Zach and I wandered around some more and ended up in the main shopping district, and ended up at H&M where we saw quite a few SAS students. It was really remarkable to me how easily I recognized SASers. We were 90 minutes away from our ship in a city of 1.5 million people and yet we can all recognize each other somewhat easily. I can tell because SAS girls wear flip-flops religiously and I have yet to see a European woman wear them. Tuesday evening I went to Tivoli Gardens with Jason and Zach. It turned out to be expensive, and I thought it was overrated. Keeping in mind that I am a thrill-seeking roller coaster junkie, Tivoli was okay to spend a few hours at but I wouldn't want to be there for a significant amount of time. While there, I ran into Richard, who is in my econ class. When Jason and Zach left Tivoli to head out for the night, I stuck around with Richard etc. for a while and then headed back to my hotel around 11. I was tired and wanted to take advantage of the free wi-fi at my hotel!!! I hadn't checked my cornell.edu email in like a month and was starting to get concerned that my advisor and/or registrar thought I went AWOL.
Day 3:
I got up at 7 a.m. and did some research on the internet for my plans in the rest of our ports. I was out the door of our hotel shortly after 8 and on my way to Malmo, Sweden! First, I took the train from my hotel to Central Station, where I got a round trip ticket (about $35) to Malmo. The train left around 8:30 and I was in Sweden shortly after 9. I hadn't realized this until my little excursion to Sweden, but prior to Thursday, I hadn't been alone in over a month. Not that it bothered me, I love being social with everyone on SAS, but getting away for just a couple hours by myself made me realized how much I needed to just take some time alone and enjoy the peace and quiet that you don't often find when traveling in groups. Malmo is a cute little city which was just waking up when I got there. I walked around it for a while and saw just about everything there. In fact, I found where all of the watches in Europe have been hiding out. I didn't bring a watch on SAS which was really stupid. Nobody really has their cell phones on them around the ship, and there aren't many clocks. Anyways, I had been looking for a watch in Norway, Russia, and Denmark and found nothing... then I get to Malmo and there are literally 8 watch stores all right near each other. So, I finally got a watch for the rest of the trip!! Yay!!! Around 11:30 I headed back to the train station to head back to Copenhagen (not before buying my necessary Sweden souvenirs). A lot of SAS kids were filtering into Malmo as I was leaving, but I was glad I went alone in the morning and had the entire rest of the day for whatever. I know that as soon as this gets posted I'll have frantic voicemails from my parents asking what on earth I was thinking traveling alone. Well, Sweden and Denmark are the number 1 and 2 safest countries in the world, respectively. I cannot travel alone in any of the other ports we are going to, so I figured I should at least capitalize on the opportunity while I still had it. I was really glad I went- I can now say that I went to Sweden for coffee and was back by noon. I spent the rest of the day checking out the less-touristy parts of Copenhagen. It seems like a really great place to be, especially for the younger crowd, since it draws study abroad students from all over the world. Thursday night I went out with Heidi, Hannah, Lisa and Alaina and we had quite the adventure. We spent over three hours just sitting outside and talking with a large group of locals- including 2 girls from Malmo who commuted to work in Copenhagen every day. I learned a lot about Danish social and political programs. Three of the people we talked to were immigrants from Libya who had really interesting stories as well. Danish people might be the friendliest people in the world- they just saw us wandering around aimlessly and invited us to join them! They spoke perfect English and were probably more grammatically correct than we are. We ran into a lot of SAS kids Thursday night, many of whom went to the Ice bar which seemed highly overrated. I'm glad I didn't go.
Day 4:
We spent most of Friday getting back to Korsor from Copenhagen. The train was quite nice and the ride went by quickly. Many students took advantage of the wi-fi at the library close to where the ship was docked in Korsor. I had some kroner left over and spent it on 2 new notebooks and some index cards so I can study for my Global midterm which is coming up right after Antwerp (aaarghh!). I was on the ship by 5 and took a muchly needed nap after dealing with my whole laptop-breaking incident. That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Denmark, and it was a nice change of pace to have a relaxing port visit where I didn't have too many SAS trips. Right now it is really late on Sunday night and we are already docked in Antwerp but not allowed off the ship until after our debriefing tomorrow morning. I am excited to see the EU headquarters in Brussels tomorrow!! You'll be hearing from me in a few days when we start our 5-day trek to Italy.
We arrived in Denmark to find it much less of a hassle than Russia. Students were allowed to disembark by sea after getting their passports. Although we didn't need to carry our passports with us, The Voice told us that they were necessary if we planned to stay overnight at all. I got my passport to be safe but I never needed it. I had planned to go immediately to Copenhagen on a train with several other students I was staying with. At the last minute, I decided to get on the SAS city orientation in Copenhagen. It was like $80 but I was able to buy a last minute ticket for $25 from a girl selling hers. To correct something I said in an earlier post, students are NOT allowed to get on SAS trips last minute for free. Apparently my friend going on the Norway in a Nutshell hiking trip for free was a mistake by the trip leader. SAS does sell trips with open space at the last minute for full-price, but there is a binder on the field office desk where people can buy and sell trip tickets, and if you wait until last minute you can usually get them cheaply. Train tickets to Copenhagen were like $22, so for about the same price I was able to get the SAS Copenhagen orientation. We took really nice coach buses to Copenhagen, where we got a tour of both Parliament and the Palace. It certainly wasn't comparable to the palaces in Russia but it was nice to see nonetheless. After the tour, we were driven around to see the Copenhagen Opera House and Little Mermaid Statue. It was really nothing special to see but our bus tour guide gave us the true (and depressing) story of the Little Mermaid, as written by Hans Christen Andersen. The bus was nice enough to drop off students staying in Copenhagen at the city central which was in reasonable distance to all of our hotels. Alissa, a girl on SAS who also goes to Cornell (which was an awesome surprise), and I walked about a mile to the Copenhagen Island Hotel where we stayed. We planned to meet our whole group in the lobby at 5:30 p.m. and everyone made it there around that time. We had a group of ten - Jason, Zach, Adam, Mike, Steve, Arielle, Meaghan, Alissa, Marlee and myself- and 2 hotel rooms. I had put the charges for 3 nights on my debit card over hotels.com 2 days before. I am the only one in the group who is 21, which is the minimum age to reserve a hotel in many European countries. Although I got a great last-minute discount, the hotel was still really expensive and I'm in the process of getting everyone to pay me back- easier said than done.
We were all really pleasantly surprised to find out how nice the hotel was. It was built right in the water (hence being called the island hotel) and had a great fitness center with a steamroom and sauna! The one downside is that it was sort of a long walk from the city center, although it was right next to a train station so you could get anywhere in under 10 minutes for about $2. Marla, Julia, and Lauren met up with us later that night and one of Marla's family friends who is currently studying in Copenhagen was kind enough to show us around. We ended up at a cute little pub on Stroget Street, a pedestrian street full of nightclubs and boutique stores. While there, I met a few college students from the Faroe Islands (owned by Denmark) along with a girl from Australia. They were very energetic and made us feel very welcome in Denmark. I think I was most surprised to hear that they were all pro-America. While many Europeans disagree with American politics, everyone I have met says they dream of one day being able to come to America.
Day 2:
On Wednesday, we got a late-ish start. Around 11:30 we headed out of the hotel. The entire group except for Zach (my nextdoor neighbor. I've already met 4 Zachs on the ship!!) and myself decided to take a canal tour of Copenhagen- there was some deal where you could buy an all-day canal pass and take the boat to wherever. I was all toured-out from the day before and just wanted to wander around. We headed to the city center and then found our way over a bridge to the Freetown of Christiania. Take the 1970's and multiply it by about 10....It was like a hippie community, the only interesting thing there was the graffiti-art that's all over the trailer-park-esque neighborhoods that comprise Christiania. Zach and I wandered around some more and ended up in the main shopping district, and ended up at H&M where we saw quite a few SAS students. It was really remarkable to me how easily I recognized SASers. We were 90 minutes away from our ship in a city of 1.5 million people and yet we can all recognize each other somewhat easily. I can tell because SAS girls wear flip-flops religiously and I have yet to see a European woman wear them. Tuesday evening I went to Tivoli Gardens with Jason and Zach. It turned out to be expensive, and I thought it was overrated. Keeping in mind that I am a thrill-seeking roller coaster junkie, Tivoli was okay to spend a few hours at but I wouldn't want to be there for a significant amount of time. While there, I ran into Richard, who is in my econ class. When Jason and Zach left Tivoli to head out for the night, I stuck around with Richard etc. for a while and then headed back to my hotel around 11. I was tired and wanted to take advantage of the free wi-fi at my hotel!!! I hadn't checked my cornell.edu email in like a month and was starting to get concerned that my advisor and/or registrar thought I went AWOL.
Day 3:
I got up at 7 a.m. and did some research on the internet for my plans in the rest of our ports. I was out the door of our hotel shortly after 8 and on my way to Malmo, Sweden! First, I took the train from my hotel to Central Station, where I got a round trip ticket (about $35) to Malmo. The train left around 8:30 and I was in Sweden shortly after 9. I hadn't realized this until my little excursion to Sweden, but prior to Thursday, I hadn't been alone in over a month. Not that it bothered me, I love being social with everyone on SAS, but getting away for just a couple hours by myself made me realized how much I needed to just take some time alone and enjoy the peace and quiet that you don't often find when traveling in groups. Malmo is a cute little city which was just waking up when I got there. I walked around it for a while and saw just about everything there. In fact, I found where all of the watches in Europe have been hiding out. I didn't bring a watch on SAS which was really stupid. Nobody really has their cell phones on them around the ship, and there aren't many clocks. Anyways, I had been looking for a watch in Norway, Russia, and Denmark and found nothing... then I get to Malmo and there are literally 8 watch stores all right near each other. So, I finally got a watch for the rest of the trip!! Yay!!! Around 11:30 I headed back to the train station to head back to Copenhagen (not before buying my necessary Sweden souvenirs). A lot of SAS kids were filtering into Malmo as I was leaving, but I was glad I went alone in the morning and had the entire rest of the day for whatever. I know that as soon as this gets posted I'll have frantic voicemails from my parents asking what on earth I was thinking traveling alone. Well, Sweden and Denmark are the number 1 and 2 safest countries in the world, respectively. I cannot travel alone in any of the other ports we are going to, so I figured I should at least capitalize on the opportunity while I still had it. I was really glad I went- I can now say that I went to Sweden for coffee and was back by noon. I spent the rest of the day checking out the less-touristy parts of Copenhagen. It seems like a really great place to be, especially for the younger crowd, since it draws study abroad students from all over the world. Thursday night I went out with Heidi, Hannah, Lisa and Alaina and we had quite the adventure. We spent over three hours just sitting outside and talking with a large group of locals- including 2 girls from Malmo who commuted to work in Copenhagen every day. I learned a lot about Danish social and political programs. Three of the people we talked to were immigrants from Libya who had really interesting stories as well. Danish people might be the friendliest people in the world- they just saw us wandering around aimlessly and invited us to join them! They spoke perfect English and were probably more grammatically correct than we are. We ran into a lot of SAS kids Thursday night, many of whom went to the Ice bar which seemed highly overrated. I'm glad I didn't go.
Day 4:
We spent most of Friday getting back to Korsor from Copenhagen. The train was quite nice and the ride went by quickly. Many students took advantage of the wi-fi at the library close to where the ship was docked in Korsor. I had some kroner left over and spent it on 2 new notebooks and some index cards so I can study for my Global midterm which is coming up right after Antwerp (aaarghh!). I was on the ship by 5 and took a muchly needed nap after dealing with my whole laptop-breaking incident. That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Denmark, and it was a nice change of pace to have a relaxing port visit where I didn't have too many SAS trips. Right now it is really late on Sunday night and we are already docked in Antwerp but not allowed off the ship until after our debriefing tomorrow morning. I am excited to see the EU headquarters in Brussels tomorrow!! You'll be hearing from me in a few days when we start our 5-day trek to Italy.
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