Well, my time in Besancon has come to an end, but it was an amazing experience.  Saying goodbye to my host mom and fellow CLA students was sad but I am happy to know that I will still see all of my new friends from Penn State back at school.  But, it was not time for me to return home yet.  My father had some friends in Denmark so we met in Besancon and flew to Copenhagen before I could finally return to the USA.

This was my first time in Denmark or even a Scandinavian country, and it was the most northern I have ever been.  Because it is summer, this meant it was light out from nearly 4 a.m. to 10 p.m.  I found that interesting right off the bat.  When we got to Copenhagen, we saw a cool church spire, and as we got closer we realized visitors were allowed to climb to the top.  We did, and we got an amazing view of the whole city – I thought it was a great introduction to Copenhagen.

When in Copenhagen, you have to get your picture with the statue of The Little Mermaid, so I made sure to go there, as well.  Copenhagen is a major port city so there were ships everywhere, including many cruise ships.  It also had lots of canals, and it reminded me of Amsterdam with many thin houses right up against the water.  After a day in Copenhagen, we went to the second largest city in Denmark, Aarhus.  The train ride was three and a half hours and because Denmark is made up of many islands we went over many bridges.

Aarhus was a very nice little city which had an open air museum called The Old Town.  It had historical buildings from many different centuries that visitors could walk around and explore.  Afterwards we went to our friend’s house and had dinner with them.  They were hosting a visiting Chinese couple that actually made us Chinese food.  Although I am not crazy about Chinese food in the U.S, the food they made us was delicious.       

We returned to Copenhagen the next day where we took a quick trip to Helsingor to see Kronborg Castle, the castle in the play Hamlet.  It was amazing, and I am really glad I got to explore it even if we went too late to see the ballrooms.  Back in Copenhagen, we walked down the Stroget, the longest pedestrian street in Europe.  We even went in to Tivoli Gardens to see the rides and the lit-up buildings.  It was beautiful! 

Tomorrow morning is our plane to JFK Airport!  This week has been really fun and I know I am going to miss the time I got to spend in Besancon, but I am definitely ready to go back to the United States, see my family and sleep in my own bed!

Location: Copenhagen, Denmark