Athens

Athens, Athens, Athens. So great, so confusing.

Clayton and I went through Athens very quickly. We went to the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis Museum. We also checked out the National Gardens, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and the Acropolis.

Other noteworthy events include- the scariest hostel on earth and attending church in a wonderful teeny tiny branch.

So some quick thoughts on everything. Athens was definitely different than I was expecting. Parts of it looked closer to parts of cities I saw in Ghana than anything else. Where the alleyways in Copenhagen were charming beyond belief, the alleyways in Athens made you kind of nervous. Also you stepped on a lot of trash. Public transportation in the city was super easy to figure out, though, and super cheap! I loved that. Yelp is not a thing in Greece. That made finding food very difficult. There were tons of bakeries, but we never could find even one grocery store. We were super curious as to where people worked. Athens was packed with people and packed with apartments.

I loved the Archaeological Museum. All of the ancient Greek statues were incredible. Their art was so ahead of it's time, I almost feel embarrassed for the rest of the world. This museum was also incredibly well curated. Every room was a delight! The Acropolis museum was pretty eh. Not a ton to see, but we did learn some interesting things. The National Gardens were incredibly beautiful and all the ancient sites were AMAZING. All my 6th grade dreams came true. (I'm not the only one who had a super intense module on ancient Greece in the 6th grade, right?)

Clayton enjoying art.

Who's a pretty museum?

Just me and my bird gals.

This was a tombstone! A tombstone!

I want to be buried ancient Greek style.

Statues on statues on thousands of years old.

More statues. Still thousands of years old.

All these vases made me think of Hercules... Like the Disney movie. Lolz.

The alley, for your comparison.

We almost impulse bought a puppy.

Don't worry mom, we didn't go through with it.

National gardens are pretty!

This was a square in the garden where all these old Greek men were arguing and playing cards. It was too perfect. 

Ruins.

The prettiest day I've had since getting to Europe!

Our view from lunch! That's the Acropolis up there!

We're doing just fine on the food front.

The real Greek Theater! #GoBears

This was the saddest thing that happened in Athens.

Mayonnaise makes me throw up.

DO YOU SEE HOW MUCH MAYO IS ON MY SANDWICH?!

Construction on the temple dedicated to the Goddess of health.

#GoPublicHealth

An ancient cat.

Me + Ruins.

I think this is the temple of Athena.

Athena is a real bad A. She beat Poseidon in a battle for the city.

More ruins.

More me + ruins.

Cool pano of a cool city with a cool Parthenon.

Athens is huuuuuuge.

Uhhh this picture is being squished all weird.

But yeah, Athens.

The dog that had no fear.

Awwwww. Friendship!

So Greek yogurt in Greece is kind of unreal.

The End!!

Working Abroad

Just in case anyone thinks working while abroad sounds super glamorous, I'll go ahead and clear that up. It mostly looks like this:

Cold pizza in hand and

surrounded by all my belongings.

Copenhagen Highlights

Copenhagen Temple

LDS temples are all about family. They serve as the religion's most sacred house of worship. Ordinances conducted here allow families to be eternally bound. Denmark was home to my ancestors. Being able to go to the temple in my ancestral land was an incredible experience.  

First, I came at a time that the temple is not normally open. The temple president opened things up for me, though, as my time in Copenhagen was limited. I was incredibly touched by the kindness and service provided by him and the temple presidency. I am so grateful to belong to a service oriented global community. No matter where I go in the world, I know I can feel at home. 

Second, this temple is so cool! In the baptristry, there were murals made specifically for this temple. One mural depicted the classic scene wherein John the Baptist is baptizing Christ. The second mural depicted tons of famous Danes being beckoned to Christ by John the Baptist. The mural was absolutely gorgeous. The temple president named off and showed me many of the people pictured (Hans Christian Andersen, Carl Bloch, etc).

Lovely picture stolen from here.

Because it was pitch black and snow covered when I went.

National Museum

Copenhagen has soooo many museums, and they are all free! I was in heaven. The national museum walks you through the entire history of Denmark. I don't remember how old the oldest stuff was... 12,000 BC maybe? Regardless, it started with OLD stuff and then worked through all the different ages (Danes were super busy during the Bronze age), the spread of the Roman empire, the spread of Christianity, all the way to modern day Denmark. I loved getting the historical context of the country. The David Collection was another museum containing Islamic art. That was another highlight for me. The collection was huge, varied, and absolutely beautiful.

Cool horns.

Cool history.

Christus 

The Christus statue can be found in LDS visitor centers all over the place. The Oakland Temple Visitor's center has one! Turns out the original is in a church in Denmark! I had no idea that was the case until this trip! Clayton and I checked it out and it was pretty cool. The same artist also did the twelve apostles. They were all gorgeous pieces. Between this statue and the LDS Church's use of Carl Bloch paintings, Denmark pretty much owns the Mormon art scene.

Christus in Copenhagen at the Church of Our Lady.

Christus in Oakland.

Well the bottom half at least.

Also, lol, freshmen.

Also, the roof of this church looked just like Doe Library at Berkeley!

The gold squares at the far end had exact same flower things that Doe has.

Smorrebord

Clayton's couch surfing host introduced us to this traditional Danish food. It's rye bread, butter, and then whatever topping you choose. There are lots of fish/shrimp options, but I went for roast beef, sauteed onions, and an egg. It was great!

Meat.

Pastries

So Denmark wins at everything bread related. The pastries were just as delicious as you would imagine. I'm eating like three different pastries as we speak from the airport. I make no apologies. 

I'm on an all carb diet.

Is butter a carb?

Bronx Burgers

We walked by this burger place and it looked awesome. Turns out it was awesome. We just thought it was funny that we could get curly fries at a place called Bronx Burgers right outside all these churches that were hundreds of years old. This burger though... melted goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pickled onions, and guacamole. Whaaaaat. Thing 578468 that I love about the Danes... They LOVE guac. They put it on everything. They even offer it as a dip. It rocked. 

It may be the best burger I've ever had.

I'll never know, though, thanks to my cold. 

Could barely taste anything most of the week.

Overall, Copenhagen was extraordinarily beautiful and everyone was very kind! I can't wait to come back one day... in the summer. 

Cool street where all the cool shopping was.

People in Copenhagen are so beautiful and so stylish it's a little scary.

Meanwhile, me and my unseasonably tan face are over here like, it's possible to die in 30 degree weather, right?

Cool buildings and churches were everywhere.

Like seriously, every street corner.

Across the street from the spirally church was an anarchist commune.

The anarchist commune is on a lovely lake.

The cutest alleys on earth.

Canals everywhere.

Seriously, could this city be any more picturesque?

In the end, I was really terrible about taking pictures in Copenhagen. Just so you know why though... This is what it looked like outside everyday:

It's hard to do the city justice when it's being smothered by grey.

The few good pictures I do have are from the one day we had a few hours of sun.

An Ode to Danish Cough Medicine

We do not speak the same language. But maybe it's for the best that I can't read your warning labels. It'd only get in the way of what we have. And what we have is love. It transcends boundaries and limitations such as illness and insomnia and let lag. You've made me the person I've always wanted to be. One who can breathe and sleep. Thank you.

In other news, Clayton made it to Copenhagen!

Norwegian Air: Getting More Than What You Pay For

The verdict is in. My $270 intercontinental flight did not feel like a $270 intercontinental flight. Norwegian Air's dreamliners are great. The seats are comfortable and a generous size. Every seat has its own screen with tons of movies, TV shows, and music all free of charge. There was, however, no Internet. I didn't have a seating preference, so not paying for a seat was fine. Additionally, bringing my own snacks was perfectly adequate. The food they served was definitely not worth paying an extra $40-$50. Overall, I slept through the entirety of my flight. In retrospect that was maybe a mistake. I left Oakland at night and arrived in Copenhagen at night. I lived a 24 hour night. Sleeping for the first half of that night made it impossible to sleep for the second half of that night. So it goes.

I flew into Sweden first and then made my way to Copenhagen. On my flight to Copenhagen was a sweet woman who gave me tons of tips. Upon arrival, she helped me buy a metro card, find the right train, and get off at my stop. I'm always so grateful for acts unconditional kindness! Also, she works for the ministry of health in Denmark doing prevention work. We were the same person!

Welcome to Europe little burrito!

Jk. It was gone long before Europe. 

Flawless

But also mostly confused