Tivoli Time!

Last Wednesday Cat, Camille, Alaina and I went to the 2nd oldest amusement park in the world, Tivoli Gardens. (The oldest amusement park is Bakken in Klampenborg, Denmark).  We were probably the oldest people on all the rides by about 10 years...but we had just as much fun!!

Peacock..in an amusement park!

Cat and I got the unlimited ride bracelet...getting pumped up for some thrills!

This is one of those rides where you go up really high and then just drop.  We had an AMAZING view of the city from the top!

Tivoli is the most adorable amusement park I've ever seen. It's also home to a ton of really nice restaurants and shops. The rides are pretty wimpy compared to Six Flags or Disney World but still a lot of fun.  We even got to go on one of the oldest working roller coasters in the world, the Rutschebanen. An operator sits in the middle of the cars to control the ride by braking down the hills.  Cat and I got another great view of the city on the swing ride. That one actually got a little scary when you would catch a breeze and the swing would start spinning.  

After much convincing I got Cat to do the Loop d' Loop ride with me...she loved it! 

Cat and I went on what was essentially It's a Small World only with H.C. Anderson Fairytales...pretty precious.

Back in Copenhagen

I've had so much fun traveling the last couple of weeks, but it is really nice to be back in Copenhagen for a while now. The weather is beautiful and the city has really started to come alive. I've had a very full few days while back in Copenhagen and its been a ton of fun!

One of the first days back, Alaina and I went to Rosenborg Slot and the Kings Gardens. Rosenborg was built as a summer house for Christian IV. The inside was pretty cool, a few too many wax statues for my liking. In the basement you can see the crown jewels. That was the coolest part.  The baptismal set is usually there as well but it had been removed and used for the recent baptism of the twins, Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Princess Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda. 

Rosenborg Slot

Me in front of Rosenborg Slot

The thing I love about Copenhagen is that when the sun is shining and its a nice day out the city really comes alive.  It seems like the whole city is outside enjoying a beer at a cafe or just hanging out at the park. 

The Kings Gardens

The next day Alaina's friend came to visit. We went to Christianshavn to see Christiania and to walk up the spire of the Church of Our Saviour.  Chrisitiania was much busier than the last time I went. There were tons of people sitting out at the cafes and hanging out on the little patches of lawn scattered around the area. Its a very interesting place and always has good people watching.

Some graffiti on the outside of Christiania

The view from the Church of Our Saviour or, in Danish, Vor Frelsers Kirke, was really beautiful. You could really see the whole city. 

A view from the top of Vor Freslers Kirke

Then it was off the Frederiksberg Have to hang out and enjoy the nice weather!

Frederiksberg Palace, once the royal summer house

A picture of the amazing buggies that every Danish baby gets to lounge in.

Me, Alaina and her friend Becca in the park.

Later that night, Cat, Will, Brock, Chris and I went to an outdoor concert to see Brock's cousin playing. It was so hot during the day so Cat and I figured we would be fine in shorts...turns out it gets freezing cold in the evening and really windy.  It was still a lot of fun though!  We got to hear some Danish rap which never fails to entertain me.

Down by the lakes to see Brock's cousin perform

It had been almost a month since I've gone out in Copenhagen so it was really fun to get a big group together again and hit up Happy Pig. The first floor has live music and the upstairs is a dance floor. It was a really good night and so much fun to be out with the Svanevej gang again...AND...the band played Wonderwall...amazing!

At Happy Pig

View from Norreport Station...the sun is already rising as we make our way home from Happy Pig!

Amsterdam!

After a very short two days back in Copenhagen, Cat, Alaina and I were off to Amsterdam for Queen's day. Queen's day is a national holiday in the Netherlands that commemorates the former queen's birthday. It is celebrated with a huge street party throughout the whole city.  We got in on Queen's night, the night before Queen's day, and the city was already packed with people in their orange Queen's day outfits. 

The next day was the actual Queen's day celebration. We walked all around the city and enjoyed some really good people watching. 

Cat, me and Alaina in Vondel Park

Huge crowd of people in Museum Plein enjoying some live music

Later on in the afternoon we just sat by the canal for a while and watched all the party boats go by. People were jumping from boat to boat and just joining other peoples' parties. It was crazy to see how many boats they got on that little canal and even more amazing we didn't see any major boat accidents!

The canal was filled with boats that all had their own DJs and way too many people on them. 

Our hostel room...interesting color but some of the most comfortable beds we've slept in yet!

Enjoying dinner at Museum Plein while listening to some music.

After finishing dinner Armin Van Buuren came on stage. We decided to go join the crowd for his show. It was so much fun, probably my favorite part of the day. He was so much fun to watch perform and we had a ton of fun dancing around in the crowd.

The next day we got up early and went to the Keukenhof gardens. They were amazing and absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, the really huge fields of tulips were no longer in bloom, but the rest of the gardens were so beautiful it wasn't that big of a deal.  I took so many flower pictures its not even funny...

There was a petting zoo inside of the gardens. I think it is there for the 5 year old age group but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The lamb was my favorite, he was so soft and absolutely adorable!

When we got back to Amsterdam we took a stroll through the red light district.  It was an interesting place.  The main street is full of specialty stores, and places with special shows...but it really got weird when you turned down one of the small alleyways and all of a sudden you were 2 feet away from a window with a half naked girl in it.  But I think the oddest part of the red light district is the fact that we saw a bunch of little kids playing on the sidewalks...

The next day we got up early and headed straight to the I amsterdam sign. We got there early enough that we were the only people there.  We took advantage of the lack of tourists and had ourselves a nice photo shoot!

Next, Cat and I went to the Anne Frank house.  It was really interesting to learn more about it and to be in the secret annex, especially after having read the book. They even had the book case that hid the entrance to the attic in place.  It was really eerie to be in the rooms with black out curtains on them.  They had to keep these curtains closed during the day so as not to be found by anyone. I can't even imagine not being able to see the sun for all the time they were up there. 

After the Anne Frank house we walked around the city and hit all of the touristy destinations...

A bunch of bulbs at one of the flower markets

Heineken Brewery

At De Kasskamer..a cheese shop with over 300 different kinds of cheese...

Heaven on earth!

Amsterdam was AMAZING! First off..it is a beautiful city, way more beautiful than I was expecting. It truly is the Venice of the north.  Another reason Amsterdam is so amazing...the Dutch men. I swear there were more gorgeous guys in Amsterdam than anywhere I've ever been. AND, not only are they good looking..they are tall! The Dutch are the tallest people in the world. The average Dutchman is just over 6 feet.

Needless to say I fell in love with Amsterdam!