Do something Dutch

It's been a day since I got home from our long study tour. Germany and Netherlands were everything and nothing like I assumed they would be. It was an incredibly adventurous trip and while having the time of our lives in funny cities we managed to learn quite a bit about German and Dutch architecture.

We visited countless sites and spent time in many cities. In Germany we went to Cologne and Hamburg and a few other places along our route to Netherlands. In Netherlands we visited Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrech. It was a blast. We visited many many many architectural sites and museums. I can't really even begin to synthesize or summarize the trip. Things I learned while traveling...


The original Cologne can be found in Cologne, Germany. Don't find it. It smells like shit. I still haven't figured out if they city was named after the product, or the product the city. Either way it is not a beautiful scent...the city is Beautiful for sure.

I learned that no matter what the weather is like German tour guides will keep you in the elements until you can't feel a bit of your body. Also very German...when being taken on a tour you absolutely get an ear piece and battery pack thing so that you have to listen to the tour guide.

It is very possible & plausible that you will draw blood and almost get run over by a tram whilst in Amsterdam...the phrase we coined "Slammed by a tram in the Dam." I'll have everyone know that while I had a very close encounter at 1am with a tram slam I did survive and made it out without any serious injury. No worries :]

The Dutch are awesome. Every dutch person I met and city I went to was fabulous. Whether it was the coffee shops, the accents, the brownies, the wet Sunday morning vagina's (Art Exhibit we visited), the architecture or a solid combination of all these factors I'm not sure.

Never under estimate cities who are built on canals. There is a lot of water in the Netherlands and Germany & they use it in the planning of their cities and it really creates a beautiful relaxing atmosphere.

After spending on the Danish Kroner for 2 months it felt fabulous to spend in the single digits. The Kr is about 6-1 do the American dollar. So 1 Dollar is 6 Kroner...so it's hard to not feel like you're spending a ton of money because the numbers on everything is so high. It felt great to spend in Euro.

The Shroder house isn't all that fabulous. While it is considered and architectural feat and also an icon of the Germany De Stijl movement it is quite small and boring. So much for the excitement leading up to it.

Amnesia haze is not for ninnies.

Rather then drinking 8 gallon Dunkin Donut coffees the Europeans drink tiny tiny tiny coffees but put like 50% sugar in them. Nothing like a sugar high from 1 sip of coffee.

Do something Dutch? What does that mean right? We found out it means do whatever the hell you want to do just do it very big. To try and act dutch is not an easy thing...Dutch, Danish vhhat evaaa. 

If you want to see pictures of my trip please check them out on facebook. If you are not an FB member I can email you the album :] Just let me know.

After leaving Kobenhavn for a week it felt nice to come home. It is also nice to finally really feel at home in Kobenhavn. Again I don't think that I ever want to leave. I am having such a great time here and am super upset that my time is almost half over. I don't really want to think about it but it's true. Jacqui and Kelsey are coming in less then a week & will be here for quite sometime. Once spring break is over and Jacqui goes home I really only have a month left here in Kobenhavn. I haven't bought my ticket home yet and am currently looking into summer options. I might try and stay here for a few more extra weeks. I don't know if I can stay past June 1st but I am trying to find out. I think I might fly somewhere else for about a week & then come back to Kobenhavn for a few more weeks to enjoy the city before I head back to the states. I truly miss everyone from home, and even miss being at school a little bit but nothing will ever compare to my experiences here. Family...You might have to drag me home :]

I'm finally starting to learn a little Danish and hangout with some Danes on a regular basis. I am continuously butchering this language and am afraid I will come home will just enough phrases to fill a note card. Embarrassing for sure. So here I am again writing a blog entry and really I'm supposed to be applying for internships, catching up on two weeks of reading, cleaning my apartment and doing Danish Design journal entries. I think I have mid-terms coming up this week and next week. I need to get my life together. As I assumed the study tour kicked off my half-way through the semester slump where I really don't want to do work ever. As my time flies by here I feel that homework is getting less and less important. Call me crazy but I'd rather be indulging in the Danish culture then my English-translated danish study books.

My 21st birthday is coming up in just over a week. I will be celebrating it on St. Patrick's day in Amsterdam with Miss Jacqui & Kelsey. Several other Endicott kids will be meeting us there for the weekend. I'm going to have to skip a few days of class but that's okay. I've already forewarned my professors and will be taking several mid-terms early so that I can go.

I wish I could recall more important stories from my study tour. I have so many pictures, notes, drawings & thoughts from the trip that it seems a catastrophic even to write them down. Everything is quite jumbled. So enjoy my picture and feel free do use your imagination. Dani.Germany.Netherlands.So much fun!