Daydreaming...

by Emi

Recently I've been doing a lot of daydreaming about my next vacation. All this talk about Paris and World Cup has got me psyched for my next Euro trip. I requested last week some vacation time for September, and now I can't wait. This time I am tentatively planning for Denmark, Amsterdam, and Berlin with my two buddies Liv and Mary Anne. I haven't done northern Europe before, and I am super excited. My mom lived in Copenhagen for a summer back in the day, so it would be great to see the same places as her pictures. Liv is part Danish, and has family in Denmark, so we'll get to hopefully stay with some of them. I love going to foreign countries where you know some of the locals. You get a really interesting, special experience that you wouldn't be able to get when your just a tourist. Some of the places I want to visit in Denmark is Copenhagen (duh!), Tivoli Gardens, the Carlsberg Brewery, The Hamlet Castle, Hans Christen Andersen's house, and Lego Land to name a few. I hear Copenhagen is a very walkable city, and I think one of best way to get to know a place is to just walk around exploring. Copenhagen is also famous for bicycles as well. I've never ridden a bike in a foreign city, let alone New York City, so I think it would be a lot of fun if the three of us rented some bikes for a tour around the city one afternoon.

Tivoli Gardens


Carlsberg Brewery


Kronenberg "Hamlet" Castle

Amsterdam is going to be our other big stop. Amsterdam is pretty infamous for a couple of things among them "coffee shops," the Red Light District, canals, Van Gogh, Anne Frank, and pancakes! All of which I hope to enjoy. I'll probably just stroll through the Redlight District and just window gaze, but I'll definitely make an appearance there (I kind of can't imagine what that area must be like. I'm definitely intrigued.). I think it might be fun to try and stay in a boat hotel on one of the canals. September is the start of their off peak season there, so I hope we'll get a chance to enjoy the city without tons of tourists. It's a small city, so I think three days would be perfect.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam's Red Light District

Lastly I'm hoping to get to see Berlin for a day/night. My company's head quarters are in Berlin, so I would love to take the quick hour flight from Copenhagen to Berlin for a day and get to meet everyone. Plus after doing some quick Kayak pricing, it only costs $54 round trip!! How could I not go for that price. I've heard Berlin has a ridiculous night life that rivals NYC (said by some Germans), so I'm going to have to stop by our office, check out some World War II artifacts, and then afterwards test that theory. I'll be sure to report back.

Berlin's Brandenberg Gate

Overall I think this is going to be another amazing trip. Liv, Mary Anne, and I got a taste of what our adventure could be like in February when we went to visit Liv for the weekend of snowboarding in Old Forge. Considering the small scale of Old Forge and the fun we had, I figure if I multiply that by a thousand that should be a good estimation of what's in store for September.