Country #74 - Denmark

The Copenhagen Sprint

Our boat arrived in Helsinki around 8am after a pretty uneventful night, though it was a little more bumpy of a ride than the outward trip had been. We were quick off the boat to make sure that we would be through immigration quickly (we were) and that we would easily catch a tram to the central station to catch a train to the airport (we did). When we got to the airport it was almost eerily empty for a major airport, but we weren’t complaining. We breezed through to our gate and ended up having over an hour to relax in an empty airport. Other than being empty, Helsinki airport (HEL) was pretty great thanks to its awesome wifi and really relaxing terminal. Who knew that was even possible?

Our flight was to Copenhagen, Denmark where we would be connecting four hours later back through to Amsterdam. The flight was relatively quick and when we arrived in Copenhagen we headed to put our luggage in the airport lockers to go into the city for two hours. Lucky us, though, the lockers would not work with our credit cards. We tried everything! Visa, Mastercard, debit, credit, pin, no pin, everything. And it wouldn’t accept cash. Other people were able to use the lockers no problem - it was so frustrating! After wasting probably twenty minutes, if not more, of our time in Copenhagen on the unsuccessful locker situation we ended up just taking our bags with us. We hopped on the metro and were in Copenhagen within fifteen minutes.

We walked out straight into a Christmas market - it was quite the welcome! We walked through with our annoying bags in tow and then made our way just down the street to Nyhavn. Nyhavn is the colorful, waterfront canal area that you might picture when you think of Copenhagen. I really wanted my mom to see it, and I’m so glad that we were able to make the quick stop into the city work! We then walked down towards the water where we were able to look out and see the Skuespilhuset theater, Copenhagen Opera House, and Copenhagen Street Food (PapirØen). After doing so and taking in the area for a bit we then made our way back to the metro to head back to the airport.

It was definitely sad to just pass through Denmark so quickly. I had an amazing few days in Copenhagen last year while visiting my friend Sydney when we were both studying abroad. Some of my favorite things were Tivoli Gardens amusement park, Louisiana art museum, and just walking around the city. Tivoli is an amazing old amusement park that is so charming and so much fun. Louisiana is one of my favorite art museums ever. I highly recommend them both and, obviously, recommend that you spend more than two hours in such an incredible city!

When we got back to the airport I found my witness signatures and then we passed through security and actually ending up with time to spare before our flight. I had a tasty pizza ciabatta and sausage roll to hold me over until our next stop. We are headed to Rotterdam for the night!

74 countries down, 122 to go.

Country #73 - Russia Day 2

The Hermitage

My mom and I both got a great night’s sleep at M-Hotel before our second day in St. Petersburg! We started off the day visiting Savior on the Spilled Blood. This famous church deserves all of the recognition that it receives, because it truly was spectacular. Unfortunately there was scaffolding on the outside, but the inside was incredible because it was entirely a mosaic! It was just amazing to think how much work must have gone into it. After Savior on the Spilled Blood we walked over to The Hermitage, where we would be spending the majority of our day.

The Hermitage is the second largest museum in the world and was established in 1764. It is absolutely massive. Like three buildings, multiple floors, and more art and artifacts than you can imagine. It reminds me a bit of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam if I had to make a comparison, but it really is on a whole other level of its own. We went through every room in the museum over the span of between three and four hours, with only a small break in the middle to grab a quick snack. In many instances the rooms themselves were just as spectacular, if not more so, than what they were displaying. It is definitely obvious that the building used to be a palace, and it was just an incredible experience to walk through and see all of the rooms. Pretty exhausting, though!

After we finished up we walked about ten minutes to St. Isaac’s Cathedral. During the walk, it was now a downpour of snow. We were literally covered in snow by the time we finished the ten-minute walk, but walking was definitely worth it because we were able to hear the really cool church bells playing at St. Isaac’s – they were like nothing else I’ve ever heard, almost like it was playing a song for a few minutes! The inside was very beautiful as well, and after we finished there we took an Uber to the mall type store next to M-Hotel, called Bol'shoy Gostinyy Dvor. We shopped around for souvenirs for about thirty minutes before grabbing our bags and taking an Uber back to the ferry terminal to head back to Helsinki, Finland. It took about an hour to get there as traffic was pretty bad around rush hour, but we ended up making it in time as there was a delay anyways to go through customs and immigration.

The boat actually ended up being delayed by an hour so everyone could board, but we were on pretty early in that process and were able to eat dinner (a very meh burger) before the ship even departed. We called a few family members before heading back to our room and going to sleep pretty early once again. The boat seemed to be moving around a bit more this time, but I still slept pretty solidly through it. Tomorrow will be a busy travel day as well, as we have a quick stop in Copenhagen before ending in Rotterdam for the night. I had a really great time in St. Petersburg and am really glad I was able to experience Russia for a few days. It might have been freezing, but there were very few tourists or lines everywhere that we went, and it was totally worth going in the winter as a result! Added bonus: the snow made everything so beautiful!

73 countries down, 123 to go.

Read about my first day in Russia here.

To learn more about M-Hotel click here.

Country #73 - Russia Day 1

The Palaces

I slept pretty well on the ferry from Helsinki, Finland to St. Petersburg, Russia last night, other than when I woke up in the middle of the night to pay for slow wifi to attempt to buy tickets in the Taylor Swift presale. It was a definite struggle on the $5 an hour incredibly slow wifi situation. I fell back asleep pretty quickly, though, at least, and got some okay tickets though not great. When we arrived in Russia we went through immigration quickly which was quite surprising as I had read it can take a while. I think it’s probably likely that it was not busy as it was a mid-week boat and also because it is freezing and snowy in both Helsinki and St. Petersburg so not exactly the best time for sightseeing.

It wasn’t a problem for us, though! We were really cold, of course, but came prepared with lots of layers and so far, we're doing okay with the cold. However, Russia was going to be a whole other level of freezing. After clearing immigration we took the free shuttle from the ferry terminal to the center of town, and from there took an Uber to our hotel, M-Hotel. It was a bit difficult to find at first, but once we did we found a charming little spot in the very heart of the city. We had a nice room with our own beds and it was a nice spot to rest for a bit after a crazy journey into town. Thank you so much to M-Hotel for sponsoring this night of my trip!

We ate lunch very close to our hotel at a spot called Cafe Brynza, where we were able to eat traditional Russian cheburek. They were so yummy! A bit like a crepe would probably be the best comparison. We also had cheesy potatoes which were great as well. After lunch, we stopped by an ATM to get some rubbles and then called an Uber to head out to Catherine’s Palace. Uber was truly a lifesaver in Russia – it was so cheap and with the freezing cold it was so much easier to do than public transit, and helped us to fit in more sights. It took about an hour with traffic to get from St. Petersburg to Catherine’s Palace, but it was definitely worth it. It was my grandmother’s favorite stop when she visited Russia so we knew we had to go!

When we arrived we first saw the beautiful grounds and the magnificent palace. It was very blue and beautiful all at once! The tour itself through the palace was very quick as there was very little to read and the audio guide was only in Russian. It was magnificent, though, both inside and out. We finished much quicker than expected and spent time walking around the gardens and other buildings outside before heading to our next stop, Peterhof. I loved playing in the fresh snow outside at both Places because it is something I never get to do. It was so light and fluffy and I had a lot of fun with it! I’m basically a child, I know.

Peterhof took about another hour to reach by Uber, but I’m so glad we were able to visit both iconic St. Petersburg spots on our first day. Peterhof was even bigger and grander than Catherine’s Palace! The fountains outside were, of course, turned off, but we could easily imagine how impressive they would be in the summer as they were pretty great without the water flowing through. I found it interesting that all of the sculptures, not just at Peterhof but throughout Russia, were enclosed in boxes during the wintertime, I presume to help with the snow. After marvelling at the main fountain outside and out back of Peterhof we then proceeded to take the tour. It was, again, beautiful and a magnificent palace. There were more helpful guides to read here than at Catherine’s Palace, but the audio guide was again in Russian only.

By the time we finished the tour through Peterhof we were back outside and it was now entirely dark. We walked around the front of the palace and were able to get some great pictures of Peterhof and its Christmas decorations. Similar to Helsinki, St. Petersburg has done great on the Christmas decorations! Our last stop after Peterhof was Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was across the street. Peter and Paul Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox church, and it was so interesting because a service was going on while we were there. After a bit of taking in the church (it was small but spectacular, especially with the service going on) we then took an Uber back into the heart of St. Petersburg.

Before heading in for the night we decided to have a really nice dinner and treat ourselves – thanks, Russian exchange rate! We had what would be at least a $100 meal at home for around $40 at an incredible restaurant called Gras. Everything that we ordered was amazing, and if you ever find yourself in St. Petersburg I highly recommend this place. To start we had Sourdough bread with seasonal butter along with Sainte-Maure, Camembert, and Solide de Village cheeses, followed by Top Blade steak with glazed beets and red onion puree and Trout fillet with spelt porridge and cranberry sauce for our main courses, with cheesecake for dessert and a shared white glogg to drink. It was so yummy and such a great way to end our first day in Russia! We were able to then walk back to M-Hotel from there where we were so exhausted it was not hard at all to fall asleep. I’m looking forward to a great day two in St. Petersburg tomorrow!

73 countries down, 123 to go.

Read about my second day in Russia here.

To learn more about M-Hotel click here.

Country #71 - Netherlands Day 2

The Art

I had a fantastic night’s sleep before getting ready and having an equally fantastic breakfast! My mom and I had breakfast at our hotel, Ambassade Hotel, and had a view right out the window of the canals. I had a tasty omelette, warm chocolate crepe, and lots of other foods from the buffet. It was a great start to our full day in the Netherlands! After eating we headed to the lobby to meet Eelco, the reservations manager of the hotel. We had such a great conversation and learned so much about both the Ambassade Hotel and its history as well as Amsterdam. I am so glad to have been able to stay in such an interesting and historic hotel - if you want to learn more about my stay head over to the Ambassade Hotel page of my site.

After our meeting, we set out for the day! Our first stop was a hidden courtyard near our hotel, and then we headed to see the Nine Streets in the daylight. They were beautiful last night but are far more picturesque once the sun is up. We saw tons of cute shops before making our way towards Museumplein, the area of Amsterdam filled with, you guessed it, museums! My mom did the Van Gogh museum on her own since I just did it last year, and while she did that I made my way to one of the most beautiful spots in Amsterdam, Vondelpark. Vondelpark is a giant, relaxing, and beautiful park in the heart of Amsterdam, and I really enjoy just taking time to walk through and enjoy it. After an hour I made my way back to meet up with my mom.

Our next stop was a new one for me in Amsterdam - the Moco Museum. The Moco Museum features art by two artists only, Banksy and Roy Liechtenstein. It was definitely a change of pace as far as museums go and I absolutely loved it. It was so interesting to see so much of Banksy's art in one place as you don’t even normally see it in museums. It was also a very informative museum as far as learning about the inspiration behind many of Banksy's iconic works which I really appreciated. After finishing Moco Museum relatively quickly (it’s really small) we made our way to Stedelijk, Amsterdam’s modern art museum.

Stedelijk was one of my favorite museums on my last visit, but what was so incredible about my visit this time was that the entire museum was completely different than last time, and it had only been a year! It was still a great museum, though, and we saw lots of interesting pieces before heading back outside to Museumplein, where we walked to take a picture of the infamous I Amsterdam sign. From here we took the tram over to Albert Cuyp Market, which was another new experience for me.

Albert Cuyp Market was a great street with tons of vendors. We had two of the best stroopwafels ever (definitely visit just for the stroopwafels) and some very tasty fries. We walked through the market pretty quickly before heading back towards the Nine Streets to buy a small print that was in a store that had been closed earlier in the day. We then stopped by the flower market (Bloemenmarkt) where we got a few tulip bulbs to take home. Our next stop was then back by Van Stapele Koekmakerij to stock up on more cookies before leaving Amsterdam. If my last post didn’t convince you maybe this one will - they are literally the best cookies in the world and there is no argument and you have to go if you ever visit Amsterdam. The lady at the register even remembered us from the day before! We then headed back to our hotel to warm up for a bit.

We decided to do a night cruise to see the Amsterdam Light Festival, giving us only a little time to grab a small bite to eat beforehand. We decided to try The Lebanese Sajeria, a small spot that was right outside of our hotel and smelled amazing every time we walked by. It was a great decision because the food tasted as good as it smelled! We split a really yummy Manouse flatbread before catching our boat around the canals.

The light tour was so cool! I highly recommend visiting Amsterdam during The Amsterdam Light Festival because it was so cool to see an art exhibition based on light from the water. After about an hour and a half on the water, we arrived back and made our way back to Ambassade Hotel to get a good night’s sleep before an early morning heading to Helsinki, Finland tomorrow!

71 countries down, 125 to go.

Read about my first day in the Netherlands here.

Read about my third day in the Netherlands here.

To learn more about Ambassade Hotel click here.

Country #71 - Netherlands Day 1

The NYC Lights

Today was an early one, but it’s exciting because it is the start of my two week Europe trip with my mom! I’m really looking forward to having her join me for two weeks in Christmas-y Europe. We’ll be going all over, including to the Netherlands, Finland, Russia, Denmark, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Our first stop is in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, specifically), but to get there we have to fly through both New York and Dublin.

We drove three hours to Atlanta where we had an 11am flight, which meant we had to leave by 6am. We were running a bit late but thanks to my dad’s quick driving ended up making it without having to run to our gate, thank goodness. I was pretty annoyed with United, though, as they made us check our carry on bags through claiming there was no space left in the overhead bins. When we got on the plane though there was still plenty of space! The flight seemed really short and our bags arrived safely in New York as well. I also found out mid-flight that Alabama would be headed to the college football playoff, so that was some exciting 37,000-foot news!

When we landed we met my Aunt Dana outside. We would be spending the day with her in NYC before departing late in the evening. There was very little traffic on our drive into the city, and after exiting the Lincoln tunnel we parked without a hassle and then took the subway towards our first stop: food! On the way to eat we stopped in the MOMA design store and walked up a small portion of 5th avenue, glimpsing the beautiful lights for the first time. We were soon at the Plaza Food Hall, one of my favorite places to eat in New York as it’s really close to where I worked last summer. I really love the pasta place there, Ora Di Pasta, which is where we decided to eat. I had my favorite, the four-cheese alfredo ravioli! We met some nice ladies from Florida sitting next to us, and after we finished we headed back out to enjoy all of the Christmas lights and window decorations.

It was so insanely crowded (much more than it ever was during the summer), but we were still able to see a lot. My favorite decorations were probably Tiffany, Burberry, and Cartier, and the best indoor decorations were Bergdorf Goodman and Saks. Saks also probably had the best lights but we didn’t realize until after we left that we needed to wait to see them turned on. The windows were cool too, though! We stopped in St. Patrick’s church real quick as well (it is beautiful and definitely worth stepping inside if you ever find yourself in New York) and then made our way across the street to 30 Rock to see the giant tree. It was, indeed, giant, and also was a pretty chubby tree. It was wall-to-wall people and we quickly made our way through to catch a cab back to our car on the other side.

We drove up the west side highway, out of the city, and on towards Newburgh where we would be flying out of. We made a quick stop at Best Buy and to see my Uncle Tom who had some chicken fingers waiting for us at a small restaurant in the town where they live right near Newburgh, Cornwall-on-Hudson. We ate quickly and then headed on to the airport. It was a great day taking a quick visit through the city and visiting with Aunt Dana as well.

It took forever to check-in for our flight, and I had my first ever bad experience with Norwegian Air (which is good because I fly them all of the time). Our bag was .2 kg overweight and they refused to let us carry it on, or to let us take anything out of it, which I have never in my life seen before. I was livid. It didn’t cost anything to check it through, but we have a dangerously short layover when we arrive in Dublin and having to wait on our bags honestly could make us miss our connection. Funny how my first bad experience with Norwegian ever was dealing with US-based gate agents, right?

The Canals

Our flight to Dublin was almost completely full and we had no window seat, only a middle and an aisle. The flight was only six hours and by some sort of miracle, I slept more than I almost ever do on international flights, even without a window seat! I guess I was just exhausted from only getting a few hours of sleep before having to get up so early today, but I truly was amazed. When we landed in Dublin it was off to the races to catch our next flight. We were changing airlines and only had an hour and a half because our flight was late on top of already having such a short amount of time. We raced to immigration where the line took about twenty minutes and then had to wait on our bags for another ten minutes (see? I had a right to be upset back in New York).

We had fifty minutes to make our flight at this point. We were flying Ryanair so we had to go to the gate to have them stamp our tickets since we are not from the EU - they call this a visa check but I call it a waste of time because literally no other airline requires it. We then went through security where our line ended up being the slowest and both of my bags were flagged for extra screening, of course. We now only had about ten minutes until boarding supposedly closed, but with European airlines, especially Ryanair, the boarding pass times can be exaggerated. However, they could also be accurate every now and then, so it is always best to play it extremely safe.

My mom went on to the gate to tell them that I was coming, and I had to run a good long ways after waiting ten minutes for my bags. Dripping sweat I made it to what seemed like the farthest away gate with only a few people left boarding. It was a miracle - we made it! It was a pretty quick flight and seemed almost over by the time we received the food that we ordered as we had yet to eat today.

When we arrived in Amsterdam immigration was simple and we then made our way to the train into the city. We bought our tickets at the terminal for about five euros and the ride itself took about twenty minutes. When we arrived we walked across the street from the train station to the GVB Tickets & Information office to buy our tram passes for two days. We then took the tram two stops to head to our hotel, Ambassade Hotel. It was a two-minute walk from the tram and boy, is it incredible!

We were greeted by Eelco, the reservations manager, and that was just the start to our amazing stay. Ambassade Hotel sits right on a canal and is such a cool place. Our room was beautiful with a canal view, amazing interior, and very cosy bed. Oh, and the best shower ever! The hotel itself has a stunning library that features over 4,000 books. And get this: they are all signed by the author, and every single author had stayed at or been to the hotel!  And we are talking some really famous authors, too. There is also a lot of art throughout the hotel which I especially loved.

After checking in, showering, and resting for a bit we then headed out for a few hours. We walked around the Nine Streets area, one of my favorite parts of Amsterdam that happens to be where Ambassade Hotel is located. It is filled with really cool shops and is so picturesque. It was a beautiful night and really enjoyable to walk around. Our first stop was an obvious one: the absolute, indisputable, greatest cookie shop in the entire world, Van Stapele Koekmakerij! I am not exaggerating people, they are the best. Dark chocolate cookie, white chocolate and chocolate chip middle, served straight out of the oven still piping hot. I have been dreaming about them since last being in Amsterdam a year and a half ago, and they are still every bit as good. I would literally fly across the Atlantic just for these cookies. So I think it goes without saying, but if you are ever in Amsterdam, definitely make the stop. There might be a line out the door but it is always worth it (and we were lucky enough not to have a line!).

After the cookies we had dinner at Eetcafe Singel 404. I had a tasty bacon, chicken, and cheese sandwich. It was a really cute little spot and we had a great view out the window. After dinner we went into a few shops, walked around a bit longer, and then visited the Cheese Museum. It is really just a cheese shop (with tons of free samples) with a small museum in the bottom, but it is such a happy little store and I recommend it as well. The coolest part about walking around, though, was all of the Christmas lights! They make an already beautiful city even better. When we walked back we stopped by the Anne Frank house. I did this on my last visit and I highly recommend it. It is such an interesting and well-done museum!

Afterwards, we headed to Dam Square, which is where the Royal Palace is located. We walked around for a few minutes and then headed into de Bijenkorf, which is a department store similar to a Saks or Harrods. It was nice and warm and enjoyable to walk through all of the cool floors and to see the Christmas windows and all of the Christmas decorations. By this point, we were getting pretty tired and decided to head back to our hotel to get a much needed good night's sleep. It was a crazy forty-eight hours, but I am so glad to be back in Europe and back in Amsterdam! We have a whole nother day to explore tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it.

71 countries down, 125 to go.

Read about my second day in the Netherlands here.

To learn more about Ambassade Hotel click here.