April Break

Published:


Hello everyone,

I am currently on Easter break and traveling around Europe (Poland, Iceland, & Norway). A close friend of mine is visiting from home so we decided to turn her visit into a week long trip! She stayed with me in Copenhagen for three days. We rode our bikes around the city, went to Tivoli Garden, checked out cherry blossoms at a cemetery near Fredericksburg. Personally, I think biking in Copenhagen is one of the best ways to get to know the city. Although public transportation is convenient, biking saves you a lot of money and sometimes takes the same amount of time as the metro, bus, or train. So I was really glad my friend was able to rent out a bike and explore the city on two wheels. 

Our first stop was Gdansk, Poland. Gdansk is a very affordable place to travel to, especially when compared to Copenhagen. We initially chose Gdansk because tickets from Gdansk to Iceland was only around $20, which is crazy cheap compared to plane tickets from anywhere to Iceland. We also didn’t mind being spontaneous and exploring a new place that we have never heard of before. Gdansk turned out to be amazing. The city is rich with history, has extremely beautiful architecture, is very affordable, and offers a great variety of restaurants. 

Here is a photo of a popular street in downtown Gdansk:

 

An entrance to the harbor:

Look at the top parts of these buildings! They all have different designs which makes each building unique.

Here is a photo of the beautiful clear sky of Gdansk :) :

Our next stop was Reykjavik, Iceland. Iceland was one of the most incredible places I have ever been to in my life. That may sound like an exaggeration but it really isn’t. Due to the past and somewhat recent volcanic activities, there are some awesome rock formations, breathtaking black sand beaches, and some hot springs that beam from the ground; they are called geysers.

Here is a photo of some very cool rock formations at a black sand beach we stopped by, look how crazy this is!

And here is a photo of the actual beach. Breathtaking, indeed.

Here is an image of the area where Geysers occur! Again, geysers are hot water beaming from the ground every 4 to 8 minutes approximately.

We also visited Keriรต Crater, the water was extremely clear surrounding by red mud. As my friend joked, the only souvenir I could afford from Iceland is the red mud from my hiking boots.

We also saw horses! Icelandic horses are tinier than your typical horses. They are around 4-8 centimeters longer than ponies! Our tour guide told us that this was a problem when filming Game of Thrones in Iceland.

And that wraps up my trip thus far! Next, we are traveling to Bergen–an equally expensive (or less) city. Time to make more pesto sandwiches ;) Greek yogurt, bananas, and pesto sandwiches with rye bread have been my diet for the past few days since we have left Gdansk, Poland.

Talk to you all soon! Happy holidays and/or Happy Easter! :)

 

 

Yosita Yeerong

<i>Hello in your host country language</i>: Hej! <i>University</i>: University of California, Santa Barbara <i>Expected graduation year</i>: 2018 <i>Destination</i>: Copenhagen, Denmark <i>Program Provider</i>: UC Education Abroad Program <i>Subject Matter, Major / minor</i>: Communication & Psychology (double major) <i> Language of Study, if any </i>: Danish <i>Housing</i>: Dorm <i>Demographic background</i>: First-generation, Thai female <i>Future career aspirations</i>: College counselor or advisor