A Greek in Denmark with a Mexican Restaurant?

  Well it's the end of a very busy weekend in Copenhagen, and although I've tried not to think about it, it's time to face up to the fact that I only have one more weekend in the city (3 more weekends total, but I'm traveling next weekend and the 2nd weekend of december). Which also brings up the shocking realization that my 4 1/2 months here are almost at an end. Maybe not almost, but 4 weeks seems reeeeeaally close right now. Not that I'm not excited to go home, because I definitely am. But at the same time, I love Copenhagen, my host family, most of my classes, my friends here, and all the experiences that you barely even have to try for. I promise there was a purpose to this ramble other than me preemptively reflecting back on this semester. With my second-to-last weekend in Copenhagen ending as I type this, I'm actually pretty impressed with the amount I've accomplished in the last 48 hours. It was incredibly busy, but when I think about all the things I still wanted to do in Copenhagen that are now 'checked off' my list, it's pretty satisfying. And hey, there's always one more weekend...
  I probably should have known it was going to be an interesting weekend, solely based on my Medical Practice & Policy class Friday afternoon. Almost every class we deal with a different system of the body and various diseases specific to that system, and Friday was Gynecology day. Because we're taught at Frederiksberg Hospital, and are largely treated like medical students, this class involved 'delivery' of a model baby from a model woman, a very graphic lecture on STDs, learning how to do a gynecological exam on a dummy, and a session on contraceptives that was way more informative than anything I had heard in any health class before. Interesting, awkward, disturbing, and hilarious are all pretty reasonable ways to describe our Friday afternoon.
  When I got home that evening, my Birkerod friends Ashley and Christine came over for dinner, cider, and christmas beer (overrated, sadly). We had a very hyggelig time- candles, good food, good drinks, good friends, lots of laughs and catching up on travel break. They eventually left and I finished up a paper to leave time for everything else I had planned to do this weekend.

Ashley, Christine and I's hyggelig dinner- spaghetti!

Tuborg Christmas beer!

  Saturday morning I got up early and met my friend Taylor at the central train station to go to Roskilde for the day. Roskilde is a small town southwest of Copenhagen that is a) adorable and b) home to the ancient Roskilde Cathedral, where all of Denmark's kings and queens are buried, as well as the Viking Ship museum. It's been on my list of things to see but I still hadn't been there until Saturday. We got there with snow still on the ground, and spent the rest of the morning wandering around the very cute town. We walked down to the Roskilde Fjord, home of the Viking Ship Museum, but upon learning that it cost 60 kr (about 12 dollars!) to get in, we decided we could live without seeing Viking ships and instead wandered around the shipyard and the piers. It was cold but beautiful and we had a great time just walking around. Eventually we climbed back up to the Roskilde Cathedral and went inside, which was definitely worth the 15 kr admission. It was gorgeous!! And enormous, and full of kings and queens I've been learning about all semester. We even got to see my favorite, Christian IV! It was pretty surreal. Also there's been a cathedral there since around the 900s, with this one dating back (for the most part) to around 1100. It always amazes me to see how historical places and buildings in Europe compare to the US- we think Williamsburg and Jamestown are historic, but those came over 500 years later.

Roskilde Fjord

Roskilde Fjord again

Christian IV's tomb... so sad

Roskilde Cathedral!

  After Roskilde Cathedral we were going to visit the market and shops, but found to our surprise that everything was closing by 3 pm! God I miss US store hours.... so instead we walked back to the train station, only to be stopped by the realization we were passing Gringo's, a Mexican restaurant (of which there are precious few in Copenhagen). So naturally, because I love Mexican and Taylor, being from South Carolina, also has a great appreciation for it, we decided to spend the 60 kr we saved by not seeing Viking ships on a taco bar instead. And trust me, it was worth it. I dont think I've had Mexican since July, and wow did it taste good. We were also convinced by the man who worked there (a Greek man named Sharif) to try the Mexican coffee- coffee with tequila and kahlua. Delicious, but strong. After about 2 hours in Gringo's we finally headed back to Copenhagen, and wandered around Radhuspladsen (City Hall square) and Stroget (the main shopping street) which are all decked out for Christmas and so beautiful in the evening. We finally met up with my friend Aaron, whose parents are visiting this weekend, and went to dinner with them at Norrebro Bryghus, a great microbrewery in the northern neighborhood of Copenhagen. Dinner was delicious, as were the beers we tried. When Aaron's parents went back to their hotel, we all went out for the evening in Copenhagen.

Taylor and I at Gringo's!

Lego Santa

Carlsberg: Probably the Best Beer in Town

  The next day I once again woke up early to meet my friend Monica at the Copenhagen Zoo. We got free tickets from Culture Night to certain sights and museums, so wanted to use ours at the otherwise $20 zoo. Unfortunately, when we got there the ticket woman informed us it was only free for children! After recovering from the shock, the two of us wandered into the nearby Frederiksberg Have (Have=garden), home of Frederiksberg Palace, a summer residence of the King in what used to be outside Copenhagen but is now a beautiful park mid-city. We then wound up, after an hour of indecisive wandering and cafe brainstorming, going to the Copenhagen City Museum, which was pretty cool. We then went to Parken, F.C. Kobenhavn's football stadium, with a bunch of other DIS students for a game against F.C. Nordsjaelland. FCK won (of course) and we had a great time! We got our polse (hot dogs) and Carlsbergs, enjoyed an entertaining game full of yellow cards, and I even met a really nice man who was a journalist in Copenhagen and knew a ton about football, both what we call soccer and even American football! I was thrilled.
  All in all it was a busy but great weekend. I got to see so much that I hadn't before, and had a great time. Today, its off to class followed by an afternoon of attempting to make Thanksgiving dinner for my host family tonight. I'm gone for actual Thanksgiving, visiting my best friend Anita in Florence, so my attempt at Thanksgiving is tonight. I'll be documenting my hopefully not-too-disastrous attempts to make a fully fledged Thanksgiving dinner on my own. Including a full turkey. Wish me luck!