Denmark v. Portugal

Last night I met up in Copenhagen with a Danish family that I know to go to the Denmark v. Portugal World Cup Qualifying Match at Parken Stadium. Train ride over went nice and then the weather went bad! It was raining, cold, and very windy in Copenhagen. We had plans to go to a restaurant but everything in town was packed so we hit up this chicken sandwich join that was actually pretty good. I got a pesto-flavored chicken sandwich and warm mashed up potatoes. From here we headed over to the stadium for the game beginning at 8PM. We stopped by the gift store first and I got a couple scarves that say "Danmark" on them =]

The atmosphere and intensity was at a HIGH! Fans outside we're going nuts. At one point the team bus with the players drove by us and people just erupted. The Danes (and I'm sure all other country's fans) take their football seriously! Once we got inside we found our seats which were pretty good ones. The National Anthem was definitely a big site of nationalism. People we're singing it everywhere while waving Danish flags in the air. The first half had a LOT of incredible saves by the Danish goalie, who was supposedly their 2nd backup behind their starter, but for various reasons the starter and first back up couldn't play. Turns out 62% of the fans or so thought he was the player of the game in the end. The Danes scored with about 5 minutes left in the first half...the fans went pretty crazy. The second half remained 1-0 Denmark until about 6 minutes left, when Portugal scored...it ended in a 1-1 draw. I'm definitely not used to seeing sporting games ending in a tie...but it was a very fun and eventful night nonetheless.

I took a few pictures of this Cristiano Ronaldo player (#7) who plays for Portugal and is among the few top players in the world...

Coming back from the game was just disastrous. I tried buying a ticket in Copenhagen but the only machine that would let me buy a ticket for Lund wouldn't accept my card and would only take coins, which I didn't have. All the shops and booths were closed and the family I was with had left. I had a Eurail Pass but really did not want to waste a whole day for such a short trip. I got on the train anyways, told the guy I had tried buying one and that I didn't want to waste my pass, so he said he'd come back to me but he never did =] I ended up getting to Malmo for free and bought a short train ticket back to Lund. 3 + hours after the game ended I was finally back in my room!

All the "Danmark" memorabilia in the gift shop!


Danmark v. Portugal!


Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.


The teams taking the field!

All the crazy Portuguese fans.


Danmark and Portugal lining up before the game for the National Anthems.


The crowd went crazzzzyyyy after Danmark scored!


Ronaldo (#7) getting a free kick.


Danmark celebrating after the 1-1 draw. Portugal had really needed this game. Their chances or slim (or 0, I'm not sure). Danmark is leading their group.


RONALDO!

Ronaldo walking off the field after the game.

My First Month In Pictures...

So far I haven't been including pics with my previous posts (except for 1 of my birthday cake!) and so here I have decided to summarize my first month here in Europe through the 48 pictures below! I left ONE month ago today (Aug. 4)...time is flying by! If I can figure out how to put captions, I will...pics start with the most recent below and oldest towards the bottom. Hope you like!


They have these trolls everywhere! This one was in Voss, Norway.

Here is the crying baby statue at Vigelandsparken in Oslo, Norway. Definitely one of my favorites!

Another statue from this awesome place...this one of a man and his children. There are many other statues here (and will post other pics on my Facebook). They are all meant to represent the different stages and relationships of life.

With my mom at Vigelandsparken in Oslo, Norway.

This is a shot of the roses and fountain of Vigelandsparken which is located within Frogner Park in Oslo, Norway. The park was filled with awesome landscaping.

I took this picture from the opposite side of the one above. A view looking back through Vigelandsparken.

This was a shot taken while leaving Flam, Norway and heading towards Voss, Norway.

Mom mom and I on the ferry exploring the Fjords of Norway. It was part of our "Norway in a Nutshell" tour.

Me on deck during our Fjord tour.

The famous Fjords of Norway...definitely the most scenic and beautiful part of this trip yet!

This is a picture of Flam, Norway at night. You can see the nice coloring in the sky, the mountains in the background, and a lit up Cafe in the front.

Here I am in front of a waterfall that we encountered while on our train ride into Flam, Norway. The train stopped for 5 minutes so we could get out and see it up close. Quite a site!

This is a shot of the famous "Sweater Wall" in Tallinn, Estonia. That's my mom walking in the foreground! They had lots of awesome clothing at prices cheaper than the rest of Scandinavia.

With my mom and her friend Kathy in Tallinn, Estonia. You can see part of the city in the distance.

Here I am standing in front of an ancient and historic castle in Tallinn, Estonia.

My mom and I standing in one of the town squares in Tallinn Estonia. This picture and the couple above are all from the more historic and medieval part of Estonia's capital city.
This is a memorial to people who died on a ferry from Stockholm to Tallinn on Sept. 28, 1994...kinda creepy since that is exactly what we did!

One of the many plates I had during our buffet on the Victoria, our ferry ship that went overnight from Stockholm to Estonia. Here I had vanilla ice cream, chocolate moose, and an assortment of berries, including lingonberries!

Me on the deck of the Victoria ferry ship heading towards Tallinn, Estonia.


Above is a shot of the world famous Vasa which was a ship that sank in the harbor off Stockholm in the 1600s. It wasn't recovered until over 300 years later and has been kept in good shape because the water it was in lacked salt and hard currents that could have destroyed it. The museum was pretty awesome!

I thought this was a great picture...we noticed a bunch of hot air balloons in the sky over Stockholm and so I took this shot as they flew over the Vasa Museum (where the ship above is located).

Picture of the capital city of Stockholm, Sweden. I took this from a viewing tower a few hundred feet up.


Here I am outside the Royal Palace in Stockholm with a Swedish guard behind me.


I took this during the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden. They had an awesome ceremony that lasted over 30 minutes and featured a marching band. I'll post a video of part of the ceremony later.

I took this picture before getting on a cruise ship in Nyhavn, a 17th century waterfront entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. The main walk has many restaurants, bars, and pubs. I think its such a neat shot because of all the different colors.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. We happened to be there on her 100th birthday and the celebration including 100 women swimming up to the statue.

Tired to be artsy here...it is a shot of one of the main churches in Copenhagen in the background and a fountain in the foreground. The Danish Royal Palace is located between the two.


We stopped for a bit to watch the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Copenhagen, Denmark. The ceremony wasn't as elaborate as it would have been had the Queen been in residence.

Tivoli Garden and Theme Park at night. Great place in Copenhagen but definitely THE MOST EXPENSIVE place so far. Luckily, Sweden is the cheapest when compared to Denmark and Norway.

On one of the rides at Tivoli with my mom's friend Kathy. This was the first (and will be the last) time I go on one of those "Supreme Scream" drop-type rides. It was @&*#%$ scary!
This is a picture of me, my mom, her friend Kathy, and our Danish family friends. We went to Tivoli for the day with them after staying at their home for the night and having an authentic Danish dinner! They also invited me to the World Cup Qualifying Match between Denmark and Portugal this Saturday in Copenhagen. I'm super stoked because I've seen how crazy and intense those games look on TV!


With Ghazal and Jasmine at The Sounds concert during the Malmö Festival in Malmö, Sweden. This is the 3rd largest city in Sweden with about 250,000 people and is only a 10-15 minute train ride from where I am in Lund.
The Sounds performing. They were awesome!

A few of us went on the opening day of the Malmö Festival. Pictured here are Ghazal, Melissa, Jasmine, Alise, and Rochelle. Behind us they were doing live tatoos!

With my mom the second time I went to the Malmö Festival, or in Swedish, MalmöFestivalen!


With my mom on the steet where I live. You can see the name of it above...Tunavagen (with the two dots over the "a")!


Me inside the Botanical Gardens in Lund, Sweden.


Having dinner with my mom and Kathy the first night they arrived. Just took them to the airport yesterday...it was great having them visit!


Out clubbin' with the Swedes at Hallands Nation!
Ghazal and I partying w/ one crazzzzzy Swede! Definitely one of the best nights yet! See my first blog entry for details on this crazy night at Lunds Nation...
A few of us having dinner rooftop at Lunds Nation. You can see the city of Lund behind us. Pictured here are Alex, Anita, Sarina, Melissa, Ghazal, me, and Nora.


Me riding a bike behind the Lund Cathedral!


In front of the Lund Cathedral which work began on around 1200!


Sitting in front of the main building at Lund University. Its the one you see on their flyers.


At Lomma Beach back in the beginning of our trip! Lomma is about 15 minutes away. The beach was awesome but the influx of lady bugs were definitely not. Here I'm with Sara, Ming, Anita, Cassandra, Nora, Sarina, and Virginia.


Ming, myself, Luise, and Anita eating some of the best ice cream in Lund!


A view of Lund, Sweden that I took from the top of Lunds Nation at sunset.

One of the first days in Lund a few of us went to the Museum of Sketches which was awesome. We had a great guided tour and saw work by Henri Matisse, Diego Rivera, and Pablo Picasso. Here I'm with Melissa, Cassandra, Anita, Ming, Alex, Joyce, and Vishnu.

Birthday Party & Helsingkrona Nation Last Night

Hej! Its been a lazy day so far after a pretty fun night yesterday. A few friends came over and we made dinner, drank wine, and watched this cool show about the insides of the Obama White House. After, we hit up Alise's birthday party in Sparta and then a few of us went to Helsingkrona Nation. I hadn't been there before...the music was kindaaa lame. Then hung out at Vishnu's place in Parentesen and met his roommates. Speaking of roommates...met some more of mine yesterday...I thought I had met most of them but guess not. I think I met as many yesterday as I have up until now! I think its because a few of them just moved in and a few that I met in the beginning have now left...its a weird arrangement here. Monday we have our first corridor meeting so that should help clear up whose livin here and whose not!

My First Class & 22nd Birthday!

So the morning after my last post we left Oslo and came back to Lund. Its been good to be back and totally different than before I left...the town is so lively now! There seem to be people everywhere- its nice.

Yesterday (Sept.1) I had my first class...Global Environmental Justice. It seemed alright...a bit dull at times but I'm sure it'll have a lot of good info to know. The cool thing is, come December we're taking a trip as a class to Copenhagen to take part in the events surrounding a climate change conference that'll be going on (and that Obama will be at!).

In the evening yesterday my mom (along with her friend) took me out to dinner for my birthday at this nice Italian restaurant. The food was delicioussss! Then they surprised me at their hotel room with a traditional Swedish Birthday cake which was also amazing. Other than that, it was pretty low key...a bit different than my 21st back in the states =) It's hard to believe it has been a year since the crazyness began...

Earlier today I took my mom & her friend to the train station...they're staying in Copenhagen tonight and then flying back tomorrow. It was fun having them visit! It's hard to believe 2 weeks are up! Then I met up with a few of the UC students I havent seen in awhile! We had coffee, shopped around for a bit, etc. Now I'm back in my room and going to get ready for a birthday party tonight!