Every weekend keeps on getting better. This weekend (September 16th) we decided to travel to Copenhagen, Denmark. I originally chose this destination since my birthday was on the following Monday, the 19th, so we all decided it would be my birthday weekend “getaway,” so to say. The reason why I choose to travel to Copenhagen is because of the feedback and pictures from friend’s past abroad experiences there, which definitely appealed to me. My family friend gave me a very in-depth and detailed list of things to do and places to see in Copenhagen and after reading what she had to say about the city, I was sold.
Our trip started with a train to Brussels and then the following day, we took a 6:30 am flight out of Brussels to Copenhagen (A little less stressful than our trip to Prague). James, Ryan, Mike and I stayed overnight at a Best Western hotel, which was conveniently very close to the Airport. It’s mind boggling to me how easy and affordable it is to travel, especially taking flights to other countries. The flight was only an hour or so and costs a little more than fifty euros! After the plane landed in Copenhagen, we took a cab to the center of the city and walked around before we could check into our hostel. As we were walking around, I was blown away by the structure of the city and the layout of the buildings throughout the city. All of the buildings were spread out, the roads were very wide, and the towers and museums were unbelievably beautiful. The city of Copenhagen felt more Americanized than from the other cities we have traveled to because of this. In comparison to our previous trip to Prague, the roads were very narrow, the buildings were very close together but both of the cities had unbelievable building structure and the towers and museums were marvelous. There were also a lot of bikers in Copenhagen which reminded me a lot of Maastricht on a larger scale because of the size of the city.
Following a city map, we walked over to Nyhavn to eat lunch, which is a famous area in Copenhagen, known for its colourful buildings and its beautiful canal. I have seen pictures of Nyhavn before but to see it in person was an incredible sight to see. While eating at a restaurant close to the canal, I noticed the culture of eating mayonnaise with French fries and other foods. Everywhere we have traveled so far, mayonnaise is always served with fries, among other foods, which came as a surprise to me at first. I never thought I would develop a taste for mayonnaise on foods since in America is not as common, but surprisingly I have, especially with French fries. I also couldn’t help but notice the massive sailboats sailing into the canals and also ones that were docked on the sides. Because of Copenhagen's geographical location, these boats were more of a normality, especially in Nyhavn, but to see the size and elegance of the ships were amazing to see in person. Later that night, Ryan, Mike, Sean, James and I went out for my birthday dinner at a very fancy five-star restaurant called Alberto K. Even though I was a bit concerned about the money I was going to pay for the dinner, it was an experience I will never forget. The restaurant was located on the twentieth floor of a hotel in the middle of the city; the view was amazing and the food was incredible. 
On Saturday, we walked over to Christiania, which is a small little town within Copenhagen. It is the free town that was formerly a military base that became a hippie community where they grow organic food, do a lot of art and smoke a lot of weed. Interestingly enough, marijuana is illegal in Copenhagen but Christiania acts like its own little universe since it is the free town. Even though we were only there for a short period of time, I found Christiania to be a very unique place that most cities do not have; it felt as if we had traveled to another city because of the completely different atmosphere Christiania created. There were a lot of vendors selling tribal clothing and because the place was so unique and cool we all ending up buying different clothing, which I thought was awesome. After walking through the streets of Christiania we walked up the Christianshavn Tower. The tower has a spiral staircase on the outside of the building that goes all the way to the top. The view from the top was incredible; we were able to see the whole city of Copenhagen as well as the canals leading into the sea! My favorite part of the trip was an activity we did later that night, which sounded impossible at first. My family friend who gave me a detailed list of things to do while in Copenhagen emphasized that I go in a motorized hot tub around the canals. At first, I thought she was crazy because I have never heard of a “motorized hot tub.” I contacted the man who owns the hot tub and booked a reservation for all of us at 7:30 pm. All eight of us were able to fit in and were able to drink beers, champagne and roast marshmallows while the owner, Ole, was steering the hot tub. We even were able to jump out and swim in the canals! Ole told us that there were only nine or ten motorized hot tubs in the world, which was incredible to hear and made the experience that much more special. The experience was amazing and without a doubt one of the coolest things I have ever done.
Out of all the cities, I have been to so far while studying abroad, Copenhagen is definitely at the top so far. From all the sites, the activities and even walking through the city was an amazing experience I will never forget. It safe to say that my 21st birthday weekend surpassed all expectations. 