I honestly don't think I've ever fit in somewhere better in my life. Tall, blonde, blue eyed people were EVERYWHERE, and as a result I am now convinced that I must be part Danish somehow (dad??). Coming from France, where I get stared at on the reg and stick out an incredible amount among a sea of dark-haired, dark-clothed, average-height people, this was a welcome change for me and for my two fellow blondes who I was traveling with (Katie & Madeline).

Our weekend in Copenhagen was definitely a fast trip and had its ups and downs but we all left Copenhagen unwillingly, wishing we could have spent more time there and trying to figure out when we could come back.

So, where to start? Oh yeah, maybe with that time we all thought we were going to have to spend the night on the street. It was around 8pm and we had just arrived in Cope and were walking from the train station to our hotel when it started to drizzle - expected and not too bad, what's a little rain, we thought? Key word: little. In a matter of legitimately 60 seconds it went from a drizzle to a full-on diagonal sheets-of-hail hurricane. HOW???

Not prepared in the least, we were instantly soaked down to every garment of clothing we had on and looked like rabid raccoons as we - no joke - attempted some sort of hunched-over-crawling, hands clawing through the sheets of rain, faces down to prevent the hail from cutting our corneas open, hands clutching our suitcases, all while laughing so hard we were all basically peeing our pants, fitting considering we looked like newborns learning how to walk. We all seriously considered just laying down on the road and waiting for it to pass, I mean I couldn't have been any more soaked so it wouldn't have made a difference. I'd say it probably took us a solid 10 minutes (felt like an hour) of straight up resistance training against the wind to make it the 100 feet to our hotel. Oh, also we couldn't see anything so we thought we were on the sidewalk but we were actually in the middle of the road #safetyfirst. Nothing like a true Nordic welcome into Cope. We got inside, looked mentally deranged, spent another 5 minutes catching our breath, checked-in/soaked the entire lobby, made our way to our shoebox room and had to peel our clothes off of us and completely change outfits. By the time we resembled normal human beings again it was already 9:30.

Note to future visitors to Copenhagen: eat dinner early. We literally could not find a single place to serve us dinner. Finally, around 10pm we somehow stumbled upon a dim sum place and gratefully devoured plates of mysterious/semi recognizable Asian food.

Content with our food comas, we went back to our hotel, and back to wifi, only to discover the atrocities that were happening in Paris, and many messages sent from concerned friends and family. Thankful that we were in another country, but fearful of returning, we stayed up quite late contacting friends, family, and our professors, trying to get a better sense of the terrible situation. Paris definitely weighed heavy on our minds throughout our trip, and especially on our return home through Paris, but we were thankful of the fact that we were safe and sound and tried to make the best of our time remaining in Copenhagen.

Saturday morning we made sure to be up and going pretty early as that was really our only day to see all that Copenhagen had to offer. First stop? The glass market: two huge glass buildings that house a ton of different food stands, from freshly caught seafood to cute little dessert places, you can find anything and everything. But, we knew we wanted grød, aka porridge/oatmeal. It sounds bad in theory but grød is gooooood. And they had gluten free grød so that was a welcome sight. I had apples, peanut butter (!!!), and cocoa in mine and it was delish minus the fact that cocoa does not taste like chocolate...news to me. We devoured our grød then I dragged us to the Coffee Collective stand, rated one of the best coffee places in the world, and it did not disappoint.

glass market in English, Tllvvkekens or something in Danish

güd

so instagrammable

After we were in yet another food coma, we headed through the Botanical Gardens, stopped at the SMK Museum for a bit (it was free), saw some weird modern art and more typical art from the 1700s-1900s, then headed over to the Design Museum. Luckily for me, they were having a fashion exhibit, which was really cool to look at as it had items from famous houses such as Gucci and YSL, and also items from lesser-known Danish designers. However, the main focus of the museum, weirdly enough, was a chair exhibit. Sounds boring but it was actually super cool. There were chairs made from cardboard and newspaper, super ugly retro chairs, a Dr. Evil chair, etc. etc. Plus, the gift shop was so trendy and cool so we spent a while in there.

art?

hellooooooo

~mirr0r picz~

comfy

After the museum, we went to Nyhavn, the area on the water with the brightly colored houses, strolled around under the Christmas decorations (not sure how I felt about that considering it's over a month away, but not my country,) got some Glogg (mulled wine I think) and sat and enjoyed the scenery, then went to find the famous Copenhagen trampolines where we watched old British men eat it time after time while trying to jump from one trampoline to the other.

touristy but so pretty

gløggin'

soarin' flyin'

By this time our food comas had worn off, so we went in search of more treats, and we ended up stumbling across a Christmas Market, guess these people need something to look forward to considering the sun sets at 4pm there in the winter. It was cute and oh so jolly, but we were getting hangry. We found a pedestrian street and a street vendor selling some of Cope's infamous hot dog/sausage things (with chicken ones for me, the world's pickiest eater). We got our 'dogs, sat down on a bench and basically inhaled them. Then, after wandering around more, I split off to go meet my family friend, Maddy, who lives in Copenhagen with her boyfriend, and her mom and other family friend who were visiting her.

ask me about my weiner

so early but so jolly

I met Maddy and everyone back at the glass market where they were buying food to cook for dinner. Even after not having seen each other for months, it was like no time had passed, and I couldn't believe I was actually in another country just hangin with my family friend who I've known since I was born...it's a long cry from the days when we played Mario Kart in VT and I infamously said that "Peachy needs to go to driving school," when Peach was my character...a genius from a young age, some may say.

didn't move the entire time

katté latté

catpuccino

missing Hannah and Janet :(

After splitting up and going our separate ways, I met back up with my friends, and our friend Courtney, from Bucknell, who is spending the semester in Cope. She brought us to Copenhagen Street Food, basically what food dreams are made of. It was a giant warehouse full of different food trucks, and basically any type of food you could ever want. It was so trendy and so un-French that I was kind of in awe and want to go back asap. To give you an idea of the variety: Madeline got a duck burger, Katie got fish & chips, Courtney got pad thai, and I got tacos. We devoured our food, hung out in the picnic-bench style seating for a while, and waited for Kelsey, another one of our friends from Bucknell to come meet us! Then the five of us stayed and chatted for a while until Katie, Madeline, and I could not longer keep our eyes open (aka at 10pm). Then it was back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

AVOOOOOO

reunited <3

The next morning we had to leave pretty early but we managed to fit in a quick breakfast with Kelsey and Avid, another one of our friends from Bucknell who is in Cope for the semester. It was kind of unreal to be in another country with them and not, you know, in the library slaving over MIDE work. I'm so happy I was able to see so many of my friends this past weekend, thanks so much to everyone for showing us around!! I know Katie, Madeline, and I all can't wait to make another trip to Copenhagen and be with our people again...except maybe in the summer when it's not hailing, windy, and dark.

go to Cope just for the food

MIDE reunion on the left

@marisa @alex @katy

Our time in Tenerife was just what I needed, 80 degree days, the most beautiful views, and plenty of time spent relaxing by the pool/ocean. Actually, a little too much time spent by the pool considering I am still peeling from my lovely burn on my chest from one of the many times I thought I was too good for 17 euro sunscreen...lessons learned.

beach below our hotel...yes please

sry Bucknell, this is better

note: don't drink on an empty stomach

But, being the Harrold's we had to fit in some activities as well. Top of my list? The hunt for good guacamole. It took much longer than expected but I got my nachos with guac and it was embarrassingly satisfying (@ France: take lessons). We also embraced the local culture in terms of alcohol and filled ourselves with cava (spanish champagne), pina coladas, local wine, mojitos, and margaritas with sides of amazing seafood  #priorities.

rentals

missing my partner in crime, Kyle

eeeeeats

Occasionally we did real activities, too, shocking I know. We did a boat cruise where we saw some whales (?) dolphins (?), don't really know, but they came so close to the boat, which was cool and I didn't want to vomit like the last time I did a whale watching cruise so that was a plus. Then it took us by Los Gigantes, these huge cliffs, and into a harbor between some of the cliffs to swim for a few minutes. By the time I had convinced myself to go in, they asked everyone to come out so my b on that one. But it was so nice to get back out on the water and see the island from another perspective.

amigos

so close

Los Gigantes

cooler people than me

That whole me not vomiting thing? Didn't last long... Saturday morning we got up early to fit in breakfast and some tanning/burning time before checking out of our hotel and working our way to our next hotel that was closer to the airport. When I woke up I felt a little off and had no appetite, a concerning sign considering I'm always down to eat. I managed some breakfast then baked myself in the sun for a few hours (with sunscreen this time but still not my best idea). When it was time to leave, we walked back into the hotel and in the elevator.

As soon as I got in the elevator I was like well, I'm about to vom. Thank god that was the fastest elevator I've ever been in. Miraculously, I held it down and started my usual sprint-walk back to the room. That is until my vision started going out. Been there toooooo many times before. I looked my parents, blurted out "I'm about to faint" and booked it to our room, probably running in a zig zag because I was basically blind at that point. I get myself on the ground and put my head between my legs, #tbt'ing in my mind to when the same exact thing happened at CVS and I made a total fool of myself in front of my ski team coach...

Then, of course, our room key had already expired, so finally we got the door open with the help of a maid and I laid down, had multiple bottles of water and a granola bar and thought I was good to go. We checked out, I attempted a macaron and immediately regretted it. Then, the best part: We got our rental car and my parents decide we should do a THREE HOUR drive up and down the main volcano on the island aka the tallest volcano in Europe. Lovely. The roads were legitimately the equivalent of Pine Tree Road in Redding (aka tiny, windy, and bumpy) for THREE HOURS and up a mountain at the same time. Oh, and we stopped multiple times to "take in the views" whereas I was literally green in the backseat trying to keep food down and/or not pass out. Also it was legitimately freezing up there, so you could say I was having a great time.

Hello! Sorry it's been so long - between trying to finish everything before my parents arrived and our actual vacation I've been all over the place. I never got a chance to blog about our group trip to Normandy but know that it was incredibly beautiful, moving, at times uncomfortable, and that I learned about my ancestor, Harold who was a throne-stealer and set off a whole lineage of badasses (or so I like to think).

Anyways, last week 3/5 of the Harrold family was reunited as my parents came for a visit! I (somewhat) had a week off of school so after a quick visit in Tours, where my real parents met my host parents for dinner (me translating + endless flowing champagne and wine = some miscommunications but shh) and a quick day trip to Amboise (on their 32nd wedding anniversary! #younglove <3), we headed off to Paris and Tenerife!

In what is probably the least surprising news ever, my parents had us going and going and going until we saw every inch of Paris. BUT, I got my mom addicted to croissants and macarons in the process so major win there. However, I figured that rather than boring you with all the details, I'd make a list of some of my favorite Paris activities and sights for you to consult should you ever find yourself in the City of Light! (Side note: the majority of these come from our lovely family friend, Hannah, who spent a semester abroad in Paris and almost an equal amount of time writing us an incredibly helpful "guidebook," so thank you Hannah! As always, I am using your hand-me-downs :)

The Louvre: Tbh, I had no desire to go here. It's crowded and huge and overwhelming which is just not my thing. We did the "Masterpieces Tour," which was a pretty good way to see all the major works of art in the Louvre and takes about an hour. (Yes, I saw the Mona Lisa, and no, I do not get the hype #overit). However, if you're not a huge art person like me but still feel like you should visit the Louvre, definitely visit Napoleon's apartments - they were less crowded, insanely over the top, and super cool to look at. If you've ever visited some of the mansions in Newport it was kind of a similar vibe.

casual

Musée D'Orsay: If you only have time (or patience, like me) for one museum, I'd pick this one. It's much more manageable and the art is more recent, with Impressionist works by Van Gogh, Manet, Monet, etc. Plus, it didn't hurt that all of the paintings in the "Van Gogh in Arles" room were of places I've been to.

hey, looks familiar!

I had already devoured half of it before I took this pic #noshame

Eiffel Tower Tour: Yes, I've been to the Eiffel Tower a bunch of times, but this time we did a tour with Fat Tire Tours (book ahead of time!!!) which allowed us to go to the second floor with the tour guide, and all the way up to the third floor if we so desired (we did, or should I say my parents did, as I considered how long the plummet to my death would take from the tiny elevator 1163 feet up). Sadly, we didn't realize that France does the time change earlier than the US so it was kind of dark and freezing when we went at 5:30 but still an incredible view. Do this if you have the time/aren't a broke college student! Also, if you do a lunch time tour, definitely pack a picnic and enjoy it on the Champ du Mars!

you have my heart

so much symmetry it bestills my little OCD heart

Angelina's: I know I talked about this in my previous post, but it's just so good. I can't believe I didn't get a chance to bring my parents... I'm ashamed. Hands down the best, most fat-inducing, cheat-day-worthy hot chocolate you will drink in your young life. Go on a weekday morning for less wait time, or get it to-go. Your pants and wallet may not thank you, but your soul will.

#tbt

Les Vedettes de Pont Neuf: (or any boat cruise on the Seine) We did this at the end of our trip, which is why I wasn't that excited going into it (read: I was forced) because I figured we'd just see everything we'd already seen, and I was kind of right so I recommend going at the beginning of a trip to get a good lay of the land. Either way, it was a cool way to see the city from another perspective, learn some new facts, and I didn't pay for it so it was a win-win minus the annoying amount of small children on the boat. If you have an hour to spare and some extra cash, check it out.

a little taste of fall

St. Germain des Près: This is the area where I stayed with my parents. It's perfectly located in Paris and full of art galleries, cafés and reasonably-priced stores, specifically in the area around Rue de Rennes. My mom and I found some great little boutiques there and did some damage, while my dad found some shop with books about cars or something, idrk. And my host mom just told me my new shirt looks ravishing, so if that isn't a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is.

mid-shopping creepy taxidermy break at Deyrolle

Au P'tit Grec: I literally do not care how you feel towards crepes or galettes, you need to go here. I think I talked about in my post about John's visit, but idc it deserves a second mention. It looks like nothing special at all, just a hole in the wall crepe place with little to no seating and a long line. Omg wait in line and get the galette with chorizo and potatoes and cheese. Once you get over the feeling like you're going to vom from ingesting so much food so quickly you will thank me. That is all.

average pic, beyond average galettes