Denmark - Copenhagen (København)

My first visit to Copenhagen was actually early last month, when my friend from Ireland came over to visit me during the weekend. However, last week I ended up in Copenhagen again because it's so close to where I am living right now (35 minutes by train).

We took a train from Lund directly to Copenhagen central station (København H). It's a good thing that we can buy the duo-family ticket in both Lund and Copenhagen. It saves you 20% of the ticket price. Also, buying a return ticket is definitely cheaper as well. Choose this option if you plan to return on the same day :)

Copenhagen central station was relatively big (still smaller compared to Stockholm central station), with various shops inside the train station. One of my favourite shop was 7-Eleven, and I'm going to write a separate post on that.

Across the station is Tivoli, a famous amusement park in Copenhagen. We took a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus that cost 25 euros, and according to the audio guide, this park was built to calm down social unrest because people would be happier when there was entertainment.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Little Mermaid, which was a little bit far when reached on foot from the city centre. Indeed, it is based on the original story of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, which was adjusted to make it less tragic by Disney.

The Little Mermaid statue is indeed... little. I was expecting something more grand, but with so many tourists crowding around the statue trying to take pictures, I couldn't help but to feel that this attraction is somewhat overrated. However, if you're in Copenhagen and you have time, by all means please visit the statue. After all, seeing the real thing and hearing things from people (that the statue is small) gives you a different kind of feeling (and satisfaction). And in the end, I'm not too disappointed by it :)

We also explored the city centre. Sadly, the shops are closed on Sunday and my first visit there was on Sunday. There were just way too many shops to explore, and within the same city centre, there were 5 big H&Ms.

But at least, the souvenir shops are open on Sunday, some until 6 PM, some until 7 PM. They are famous for the Vikings, so you'll see tons of Viking-related souvenirs there.

We also explored Nyhavn (which literally translates as "new harbour"). The street is filled with rows of bars and pubs where you can chill and enjoy the view of boats and the beautiful canal. Nyhavn is somewhat comparable to Amsterdam, but I personally like the atmosphere of Nyhavn better.
 

When I asked my friend who moved from Wageningen University to Copenhagen of what is typical of Danish lunch, she suggested the smørrebrød, or the "open sandwich".

The bread was made out of rye, and since I'm not a really big fan of breads, this texture was new to me. It's delicious, but it's really filling.

We continued walking for a few hours around the city centre (yes, it's a really big city centre). There are lots of attractions that I wanted to see like Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not and of course Tivoli, but it seems that none of my friends are interested in such attractions. Quite a pity, but the trip was fun nevertheless :)

Copenhagen City Hall

Stock Exchange

Frederiks Church

Copenhagen Opera House

Geflon Fountain

And the second time I went to Copenhagen, just around 6 PM, there was a strong storm. From this photo you can't really tell how strong the wind was, but for a moment I thought that flag pole would break at any time (well, it didn't break in the end).

Copenhagen is a great weekend-getaway city from Lund. I can't believe I can cross countries easily like this haha. Indonesia is made up of islands, so travelling to another country is not possible without airplanes or boats.

Read More

Ireland - Cliffs of Moher

This post is long overdue. We went there the second weekend after we arrived in Ireland. Some of my friends went to the tourist center located close to where we are living (we are 5 minutes away from the city center!) and discovered a cheap tour package to the Cliffs of Moher with the Paddy Wagon. 

Before we reached the Cliffs of Moher, we stopped at the Bunratty Castle to take some pictures, and also to switch bus.

The castle was surprisingly quite... small. Well, it's is big if you compare it to a house, but I was expecting a bigger castle that looks somewhat like the Disney Castle.

Nevertheless, a castle is a castle, and I took a picture of it. The trip continued with a very comfortable bus ride to the Cliffs of Moher. There was a wi-fi on the bus, too, although the wi-fi didn't work ever since we transferred bus.

Since we were a little ahead of the schedule, the bus driver decided to stop by a beach close to the cliffs. I don't remember the name of the beach and there was no sign nearby that indicates the name of the beach.

It took us in total of approximately 2 hours to reach the cliff from Cork. The bus driver, serving as a guide as well, said that the weather in Ireland changes every 15 minutes. I was a little anxious because it was raining quite heavily on the way to the cliff, but the weather was perfect for sightseeing: bright sunshine.

You need to climb up a little bit to reach a nice view of the cliffs on the left hand side.

If you continue to walk further, you'll see a tower at the edge of one cliff on the right hand side. 

You can climb up the tower, but you have to pay 3 euros to climb it. I didn't mind paying for it since I probably will not come back to this place at least in the next 10 years. I didn't have any good pictures from above the tower, but my friend took a picture of me when I was up there. I keep forgetting to ask him if I could get the photo.

If you walked towards the left hand side (i.e. not towards the tower), you'll see a small path along the edges of the cliff.

I was a fool to listen to my friends' advice of "there's nothing else there" because apparently I missed the stone where a scene from a Harry Potter movie was taken. And it was actually my fault not checking in advance the key sights to see at the Cliffs of Moher.

We had about 2 hours to explore the cliff and an exhibition about the cliff (which I think is much less enjoyable than the cliffs themselves unless the weather forces you to be indoor). After that, we got on the bus, and we were brought to Boolin for a traditional Irisih lunch at Friz's Bar.

I shared a plate of roast beef with my friend, and each of us got a bowl of soup (seafood chowder for me, and vegetable soup for my friend).  The serving size of the roast beef was rather too big for the both of us. The food was great, especially because it's warm. I'm more surprised by the presence of cassava root in the mix of vegetables! I love cassava and I grew up eating a cassava root as snacks, so I definitely enjoyed my meal.

We took a picture outside the restaurant. I wanted to take a picture of the unique bronze chair, but I guess when girls know their friends are taking pictures, they tend to join. Myself included, of course :)

We made two more stops before we headed back to Cork. First, we went to the Poulnaborne to see the Portal Tomb.

When I heard the term Portal Tomb, I immediately thought of something that can teleport you to another world if you touch or enter the tomb. Well, indeed, you will be "transported" to the world of the dead because it's a tomb, duh.

The last stop we made was at a rocky beach.

There were other cars and coaches along the road, so I'm going to assume that this spot is a hot spot for sightseeing. The sight is indeed very beautiful despite being dominated by shades of grey. I didn't take a lot of picture here because it was really windy and you have to be pretty careful with your footing because you will be stepping on uneven rocks with irregular gaps in between.

The trip was closed by the presence of double rainbows over the water.

The second layer of rainbow was not really clear in the photo, but the bus driver stopped in the middle of the road after one of the passenger requested him to stop because she wanted to take a picture of the double rainbow.

The trip took almost the whole day, and I was consumed with fatigue by the end of the day to the point that I just wanted to grab a quick dinner somewhere close to our housing. Well, I had the best pizza in town (according to my high school friend who has been living in Cork for 4 years).

It was a really great day!

Read More