Day one! Copenhagen.

We had a cold first day in Copenhagen but a good one. We landed at about 8am after only just making the connecting flight. The previous flight was delayed and there was running involved but we made it last on the plane! After training and bussing about 20 mins total we were at our hostel! We couldn't check in yet (which we expected but were sad about because we were dying for a shower and a nap!!) so we dropped off our luggage and headed out for a walk. We went via Hans Christian Andersans grave (which is just around the corner) and the botanic gardens to Rosenborg castle. It was easily the most elaborate thing I've seen in my life! So much decoration on the ceilings, chairs, floors, tables, walls, clocks, everything! We saw 4 floors I think and the treasury featuring the crowns and jewellery! So much bling haha. I've attached photos of the thrones, a dinner set, a ship carved of ivory (they had so much mum!) and some crowns.

After we finished at Rosenborg it was about 2:30pm and we were shattered. I had extreme vertigo from no sleep combined with flying and felt very dizzy and lightheaded :( I had a tiny bit of anxiety from that but other than that I've been okay (there was a beautiful spiral staircase in the palm house at the gardens that I couldn't bring myself to go up though). We decided it was time for lunch and got some amazing tuna sandwiches.

At this stage we knew our room would be cleaned so gave up on staying awake and unshowered and walked back. The wind was so bitter and I ended up buying a scarf from the Danish Red Cross store for $6 kiwi as I didn't bring one! I think it'll serve me well in London too! Once back we unpacked, met a lovely Scottish roommate and hit the hay at about 4pm. That was after my Kathmandu travel hairdyer tried to kill me. Apparently I got the better of it as it's dead now after one use :/

Now I'm awake at 6:30am but everyone else is asleep so thought it'd be a good time to blog :) unfortunately the mattress on the bunk is very thin so I had a sore nights sleep. Two more to go so I better do some stretches or something!?

Today we plan to go on a free waking tour and see tivoli gardens at dusk, hopefully with some delicious pastries in between.

Over and out :)
Celia x

Half way!

We are half way to Copenhagen. I'm currently typing this in Hong Kong! The first flight seemed very long (it was 12hrs) and my entertainment units sound didn't work so we had to be moved! (Sadly not to first class as I'd hoped). No sleep was had but the food was good. Pretty spicy vege curry! And Daniel ate a whole chilli. Good times.

Hong Kong is not as friendly as I'd thought. They take your documents or ticket without even looking at you! It's also not as cheap as I thought it'd be but as Daniel pointed out, it's still an airport. It's also huge!!! I've added a photo Daniel took to show y'all.

Our next flight is with a German airline. I'm hoping this means more leg room than a Hong Kong one! It's also 12 hours and then we just have a short 1.5hr to Copenhagen. I'm hoping to sleep on this flight. We got up at 7am nz time and now it's about 2am there I think. It's amazing how tired just sitting makes you!!

Itinerary

Here is the trip itinerary for those asking!

25th April    Depart Christchurch
26th April    Arrive Copenhagen (3.5 days)
29th April    Arrive London (7 days) Day trip to Stonehenge and Bath
6th May       Arrive Amsterdam (3 days)
9th May       Arrive Brussels (2.5 days) Visit Ghent on way to Brugges
12th May     Arrive Brugges (2 days)
15th May     Arrive Paris (6.5 days) Day trip to Versailles
21st May     Arrive Santorini (2 days)
24th May    Arrive Athens (3.5 days)
28th May    Arrive Corinth (1 day)
29th May    Arrive Nafplio (2 days)
31st May    Arrive Rome (4 days)
5th June     Arrive Florence (3 days)
8th June     Arrive Venice (3 days)
11th June   Arrive Split (2.5 days)
14th June   Arrive Dubrovnik (3 days)
17th June   Arrive Vienna (3 days)
21st June   Arrive Prague (3.5 days)
26th June   Arrive back home in Christchurch!

Only 3 more days until we leave! I said to Daniel the other day that this trip will be the hardest thing I've done in my life, then I told him I must have led a pretty blessed life if a two month holiday to Europe is the hardest thing I've encountered :)

First post

Daniel suggested I started this post with the fact that we both just transferred several thousands of dollars out of our bank accounts and onto our new Air NZ "OneSmart" cards (which really just makes it feel like it's floating in cyber-space) and how utterly terrifying it is, but that wouldn't be a very positive way to kick things off now would it?

I decided on Thursday night to start this blog so anyone not on Facebook (Aunties and Parentals!!) could easily see what we're up to on our eight week European adventure and so I don't end up spamming everyone's newsfeeds on Facebook. Hopefully they'll be an abundance of photos and my poetic musings about The Continent (haha!).

We leave in 10 days. I'm very scared. Europe doesn't really seem like a good place for Agoraphobics but I guess we'll see.

We still have a relatively large list of things to accomplish, mainly last minute purchases and catch ups with friends before we go. I don't feel very "ready" but I think I have everything I need, I just feel unsettled about leaving and not very mentally prepared yet! Every time I think about going I start to feel very nauseous so I've just stopped thinking about it all together.

We'll be landing in Copenhagen after a direct flight, and then we're down in ole' London town for a week or so. Daniel will have the chance to catch up with old friends from when he lived there so that'll be good! Then it's Amsterdam, Belgium and France, Greece, Italy and Croatia, Austria and finally the Czech Republic where we leave for home from Prague! Whew! I think I'm most looking forward to Greece surprisingly! Before researching where to go I would've told you France and Italy would be my top picks, but Greece just looks so far from Western life as I know it. It's also relatively cheap right now after their economy went downhill. Plus I love olives and feta cheese.

Oh, and Spanakopita.

Eight weeks and ten countries.

Let's do it!!!