Eurotrip: My Eurorail adventure around Europe

We had originally planned on leaving Copenhagen Wednesday night to take a train to Berlin, Germany.  A problem arose when we realized the train was 13 hours long with a 4 hour layover in some random city in Germany.  We decided to wait until the morning, when we could take a direct train to Berlin.  We made it to the train station at around 7am ready to board the first train and to start our journey.  After only a short time on the train, we were all told we had to evacuate the train.  Dumbfounded, we followed directions and headed towards the exits.  It turns out the entire train was about to board a ferry to take us from Denmark to Germany and passengers weren't allowed to remain on the train during the duration of the ferry ride.  I had never heard of such a thing before.  Seeing an entire train on a ferry was quite the sight.  We ventured up to the deck to gain a better view.  It was pretty surreal standing on the deck of a ship, while the train was underneath you, with nothing but water surrounding you on all sides.  This was one of the coolest parts of the trip in my opinion.  After a short time we were back on the train and full steam ahead towards Berlin.

Windmill Farm

View from the deck

Train parked inside the ferry

Also, as you can see, I discovered I can insert pictures into my blog, making it a bit more visually appealing.  I'm sure you readers will appreciate that you no longer have to attempt to visualize my experiences based off my shoddy writing ability.

We arrived in Berlin and were greeted by what has to be one of the largest train stations in the world.  There was four or five floors and it resembled more of a large mall than any sort of train station.

View from top of train station

 Next, we decided to do some sightseeing.  The weather wasn't great and we discovered a bus tour right outside the train station.  This seemed to be the most convenient way of seeing the majority of the city in the most efficient way.  We hopped aboard and were off.  The tour was one hour and forty-five minutes but we ended up getting off a few times to walk around and see more.  With the abundance of history that has occurred in Berlin, it naturally became one of my favorite stops of the trip.  I really enjoyed being in a city that had more than just cool buildings to look at.  It was rich in historical markers.  My favorite two were the Berlin Wall and Gate.

Berlin Wall

Berlin Gate

That night, we decided the "smart" idea would be to sleep in the train station because our train to Prague was at 4am and getting a hostel would be a waste of money.  In hindsight, and after a sleepless night, that may have been the wrong idea.  Anant really loved the accommodations though.

Anant was the only one who got any sleep this night

Our train finally got to the station and we received the pleasant news that it was going to be delayed for two hours.  Luckily, we could go on the train until it left and actually get some sleep on the way to Prague.

Once we got to Prague, the first order of business was finding somewhere to sleep for the night.  We didn't want a repeat of the previous night.  We were guided to a hotel about 15 minutes away that was only 20 euros per night.  It turned out to be pretty nice actually.

We all showered, thankfully, and went to get something to eat and do some sightseeing.  Prague is different that the other cities that we visited.  It had a more medieval feel to it.  There were castles and really old buildings everywhere.  Also, it was cheaper than the other cities, which was a nice feature.

You can see the castle in the background

And here it is a night.  It looks like something out of a fairy tale.

During our time in Prague we also met up with some buddies from our school in Copenhagen.  We went to their hostel and then hung out with them at a pub for a while.  We were exhausted already from the lack of sleep so we decided to call it quits for the night and head back to the hotel.

We woke up early the next morning to get breakfast and be on our way to the train station.  Our next stop, Vienna, Austria.  Each time we would arrive at a train station, our first stops were the tourist station and ticket office.  We had to get a map and figure out the time our next train left.  There was a night train leaving for Venice that night, and due to inclement weather in the forecast for Zurich, we decided to skip Switzerland for the time being and head south to Italy.  Until then, we had some time to explore Vienna.  It was probably my least favorite of all the cities we spent time in, but that's like saying you're the worst player on a pro hockey team.  Even though it wasn't the greatest, it was still amazing to be there.

Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral, the right side is actually under construction and covered by a picture

After a short-lived, but rewarding time in Vienna, we were back to the train station to catch our night train to Venice.

When I envisioned what a night train would entail, I pictured a luxurious bed compartment.  This turned out to be incorrect.  The beds weren't terrible by any means, but not exactly what I had pictured.  I was just happy to be able to get a good nights sleep.  We were woken up at least 3 times during the night though.  They must have some sort of sensor to inform them when I fell asleep because each time I would doze off I was abruptly woken up by an attended or police office requesting either my ticket or passport.

We finally arrived in Venice the next morning, and the train ride wasn't too bad all in all.  The weather in Venice wasn't exactly like what you see in pictures or movies.  It was raining and windy.  Weather I would be more accustom to experiencing in Superior, not in Italy.

Smile and say "rain"

After we got over the initial shock of the weather we could enjoy the beauty of the city.  This would be an amazing place to visit in the summer when the weather was better, but we still were able to enjoy the day.  It was funny to see all the tourist with umbrellas and ponchos everywhere, and some were even taking gondola rides in the rain.  I did not partake in such an activity.  Just about the time the rain began to subside, my umbrella decided to break.  Great luck, I know.  At least the rain had quit for the most part.  I added it to the umbrella graveyard.

Sorry mom and dad, I might have a new item on my Christmas list...

The wind claimed many victims on this day

Here are a few more good pictures from our time in Venice.

Cool view

Canal full of gondolas

The sun teasing us

From Venice, we left westward, towards Milan.  We never ended up seeing much of Milan, as it was more of a side-note during the trip.  Arriving late in Milan, the next city on the agenda was Nice, France and we took a train to Ventimiglia, Italy, right on the border of France, to wait for our train to Nice.  The train arrived at midnight and our next train didn't leave until 4:30am.  That night, like the one in Berlin, was sleepless.  Train stations are not an ideal place to sleep I've learned.  Also, due to a strike in France, they were running a limited schedule and our first train was canceled.  This made us nervous that we would be stranded in this city.  Luckily we ended up getting on the next train to Nice.

We got to the city very early in the morning, even before the sunrise.  We went to McDonald's, a regular stop on our trip, to eat and get wi-fi internet to find a hostel.  One was located nearby and we walked over and checked in.  The room wouldn't be ready until 12:30pm so we had a few hours to explore.  I have never in my life been to a place like Nice.  It is located in the French Riviera, right on the Mediterranean Sea.  This stop and the next one were two of the most amazing places I have ever been.

Still a little cold early in the morning, but happy to finally see some sun

Postcard material

Also, apparently a lovers getaway

At noon, we went back to the hostel to take a nap and shower.  After some much needed rest, we went back out to ensure we could see the sunset.  It was indescribable, something you have to experience first hand.  This was something I could get used to.

So relaxing

Great day

Red sky at night, sailors delight

Dinner followed the sunset and the waiter asked us frankly which state we were from.  It's amazing how much you stick out as an American when you are in Europe.  The dinner was very good and relatively cheap.  We walked around more after dinner and made it back to the hostel pretty early.  We had to figure out a way to get out of France before we were stuck.

In the morning, we went to the Train Station to discover the only route we could take was back to Milan, yippi.  Instead of going directly back, we made a pit stop in Monte Carlo, and like Nice, it was an amazing sight.

It's mandatory to own a yacht to live here

favorite picture of the trip

Resort

After our detour to Monte Carlo it was back to everyone's favorite city, Ventimiglia.  This was thankfully a shorter stay than our last time and in the daytime it's actually not to bad.

Most of the beaches don't have sand and are instead all rocks

When we eventually arrived in Milan, we it was late at night and we just wanted a place to sleep.  We got a hotel room and crashed.  We had to wake up early again for a train to Bern, Switzerland.

Even though I slept for a decent amount of time on the train to Bern, it was full of great views of what I assume had to be the Swiss Alps.  Sorry for the picture quality but we were inside of a train.

After we arrived in Bern, we stayed just long enough to get something to eat and catch another train.  This one to Basel, Switzerland to change trains to get to our final destination of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

We got to Amsterdam kind of late so we hurried to get a room somewhere.  Amsterdam is quite the experience.  There are many adult orientated activities and coffee shops galore.  That's the extent to which I'll comment on this portion of the trip.

In the morning we had the opportunity to see the city during the day, which is completely different.  It reminded me of Copenhagen with the Canals running through the city.  We also got the chance where Anne Frank hid during the Holocaust.  I really enjoyed seeing that part of history after studying it during high school.  It was overall a very interesting city.

View of a canal

Anne Frank monument

Line to get into Anne Frank's house

If you look closely, I'm sitting on the "e"

Heineken Brewery

Full view

The last train we took was from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, a short 16 hour train ride.  Trying to save money, we didn't get a cabin with beds.  This turned out to be another mistake.  In combination with my inability to get comfortable, police officers and attendants were again checking tickets and passports incessantly.  On this train, a few people were even taken out in handcuffs after not being able to present a passport when asked.  I was glad I didn't lose my passport during this portion of the trip.  Arriving back in Copenhagen was a great feeling.  After being here for so long now, it's beginning to feel like home.  My only thought was to get back to my room and sleep for three days.  I proceeded to do so, and felt much better after it.

Looking back on this trip, I am thankful.  I understand not many people get the opportunity to see half of the places I was lucky enough to see during this trip.  It's a memory that I will be able to look back on and tell my children about.

Lastly, here is the Eurorail pass.  To say we took a lot of trains may be an understatement.  I'm hoping to get in framed as a memento of my trip so that I can reminisce about my time abroad when I am back in the States.

I'm tired just looking at it...

Frankfurt/Munich/Oktoberfest

Finally getting around to blogging again after a little hiatus.

Last week, Anant and I flew to Frankfurt, Germany to visit one of my old friends from high school, Dominic Hoffman.  Our flight left Copenhagen at 6:00.  The best part about having such an early flight was Dominic was able to come pick us up from the airport.  The train system is extremely confusing, so luckily he was there to guide us.  We went back to his apartment and he headed off to work.  The next few hours we relaxed and tried to catch up on some sleep so we weren't exhausted for the remainder of the trip.  After a few hours of sleep, we made our way to the city to grab lunch with Dominic.  He took us to a fast food Italian restaurant called Vapino's.  The unique feature about this restaurant, however, was the fact they prepared all of the noodles and sauces fresh and right in front of you.  The food was delicious.  Dominic then departed to finish up his work day which left time for us to do some sightseeing around Frankfurt.  Frankfurt is know as a huge banking hub in Europe so there's an abundance of businesspeople in suits strolling around.  In addition, there are large skyscrapers along with old-fashioned architecture.  It's an interesting combination. 
When Dominic finished work, we all hopped in his car and headed to his parents house to gear up for Oktoberfest.  Oh and I forgot to mention, I was the one driving.  Scary, I know.  Magnifying the already difficult task of driving in a European country was the dark and rain.  Lets just say my first experience on the Autobahn was interesting to say the least.  We finally arrived at his parents house after an extended drive due to an abundance of traffic.  We grabbed the clothes, a few other items, and made our trek back to his apartment to get some sleep.

The next day we slept in and Dominic was able to get off of work early so we could drive to his grandparents home.  They live in a town called Aschaffenburg, which is only about 30 mins drive from Frankfurt depending on, of course, how fast you drive on the Autobahn.  They live on the top floor of the tallest building in town, providing us with a great photo opportunity of the entire city.  His grandparents and aunt don't speak much English which didn't help us in our attempt to have a conversation.  After leaving there, we went to the Castle a few blocks away.  Having not seen many castles, I was pretty impressed with the structure.  We took some more pictures and then headed back to Frankfurt.  On the way home I was able to drive about 200km/hr (or 120mph).  What a rush.  For not having a speed limit, I think the Autobahn is a very safe place to drive.  You can only pass on the left lane and not everyone drives overly fast as you may suspect.  I wish they had one back in the US.  That night we went to one of Dominic's friend's apartments for a party.

The next morning we had a 6:30 wake-up call so we could board the train to Munich.  Our timing wasn't exactly up to par as we made it just in time to see the train leave the station.  I attribute this to the train leaving early, rather than our being late, but I digress.  After about 45 minutes to an hour another train was waiting for us and we were on our way to Oktoberfest.  The train ride was pretty boring and I tried to sleep for most of it unsuccessfully.  During the next 5.5 hours, we switched what felt like 10 trains and by some miracle we arrived in Munich around 2pm ready to experience the legendary Oktoberfest.  We dropped off our luggage in a locker in the train station and followed the massive crowd to the entrance.  Walking around the town was a surreal experience.  Everyone was dressed up in traditional Bavarian attire.  From our outfits looking absolutely ridiculous in Frankfurt, or anywhere else for that matter, we fit in perfectly in Munich.  If I had to describe it I would say it was a state-fair on steroids.  There were rides, food vendors, games, and people crammed in like a can of tuna.  The amount of people walking around was astounding, they numbered in the thousands and ranged in age from infants to senior citizens.  Walking around, I tried to take it all in.  There were massive tents full of people singing German drinking songs and bands playing music.  We stood in line for nearly an hour in a half trying to get inside one of the tents, but to no avail.  Luckily, one of Dominic's friends was about to get us in to one of the Beer Gardens.  It isn't quite like the tents, so I've heard, but I had so much fun it didn't matter.  The rest of the night was filled with singing songs and meeting some new people.  Definitely one of my favorite experiences thus far on my semester abroad.

The next morning we all got up and headed towards the city.  We didn't have enough time to go back to Oktoberfest and I think one day was plenty.  We took a bus tour around the city to see the sights.  Munich is a fascinating city full of history and amazing features.  One of the most interesting aspects of the tour was learning there is a river which contains a wave machine to allow for surfing.  I wasn't expecting to see people in wet suits carrying surfboards around a city in Germany, but I wrong.  Next it was back on the train.  We made a pit stop in Ingolstadt, the city where Audi cars are made, to visit one of Dominic's friends.  The town is literally full of Audis.  They are everywhere and there is a huge Audi statue in one of the roundabouts in the town.  After eating we made our way back to the train station to finish off the remainder of our journey.  After being in Munich for exactly 24 hours, I was exhausted and ready for bed. 


Monday was a very uneventful day as we were both pretty tired from the weekend.  We went to the city center again and back to Vapino's.  It was delicious once again.  If I had the money I would start one in the US and be able to retire early.  Other than that we didn't do much and Tuesday we flew back to Copenhagen.  It was a whirlwind experience and the fact that Dominic was there to guide us made the trip much better.  Every trip we take I am always really happy to come back to Copenhagen.  It just feels like home now and the city has grown on me.


Coming up on Wednesday we are going to be leaving for a train trip around Europe.  Nine cities in about twelve days (my dad said he was tired just hearing about it ha).  We will start in Berlin, head to Prague, Vienna, Zurich, Milan, Nice, Barcelona, Paris, and finish up in Amsterdam before making it back to Copenhagen.  It should be a trip of a lifetime and hopefully I'll have a lot to blog about next time!

Trip to Stockholm

Last weekend, Anant, Michela, and I went to Stockholm, Sweden.  We began by taking the Metro to the airport and exchanged some of our Danish Kroner for Swedish ones.  The Swedish Krone has recently depreciated so we were able to get more Krones than we expected to.  We were then under the impression that our trip to Sweden would be cheaper because of the exchange rate.  We were wrong.  I thought Copenhagen was the most expensive city in Scandinavia, but I learned that both Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden were more expensive.  Being college students, we attempted to budget our money and live cheap.

The plane ride was only about an hour and getting to Stockholm went very smoothly.  When we arrived, it felt like my first day in Copenhagen.  Everything was new.  We, looking like complete tourists, took out our map and tried to navigate our way to the Hostel.  The city itself is very beautiful.  There is water everywhere and building as far as you can see.  I had a very good first impression of the city.  One thing I wasn't as impressed with was the weather.  It was cold.  Being an amateur traveler, I of course didn't pack correctly.  Lesson learned.

We finally made it to our Hostel after about 20-30 minutes of wandering around.  The Hostel was located on one of the many islands of Stockholm, situated right next to the water.  It was a very cool view from inside the building looking out at all of the ships and buildings.  As I stated earlier, I have little experience traveling making this the first Hostel I had ever stayed at.  Being from the US, I haven't had any experiences that I would deem similar to staying in a Hostel.  We checked in and paid.  It was only about $25 per night, which was very affordable.  They screwed up my reservation for some reason so they provided me with free linens and a towel.  We all were in different rooms.  Anant and Michela had smaller rooms with only around 6-8 beds.  My room, on the other hand, had about 15 beds inside it.  This was good because I paid less that the other two, but I came to understand why you pay less later in the trip.  Friday and Saturday night were filled with people stumbling in one after another at all hours of the night.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep well those nights.

We got to the city in the late afternoon so we just got situated in our rooms and went out to explore the city a bit.  One of the really nice aspects of this Hostel was the free pasta, "breakfast", and coffee/tea.  There was a massive container of noodles in the kitchen, meaning we knew we would eat pasta at least once a day.  So far in my study abroad experience, I have come to realize pasta is my main food group.  I literally eat past 4-5 times per week, so eating it there would not be anything different.  We found a grocery store and bought some pasta sauce and headed back cook dinner.  With free noodles on hand we of course made way too much pasta.  Another lesson learned.  The first night at the Hostel was great.  I slept like a baby and woke up feeling refreshed and ready to explore more of Stockholm.  One of the odd things about a Hostel, besides the fact that you share a room with 10+ other people, is that you leave all of your things just sitting on the floor next to you bed.  They essentially use the honors system.  You could bring your valuables to the front desk, but most people just leave everything in the room.  I thought this was very interesting.

Free breakfast was served from 7:30-9:30.  This, however, was no continental breakfast with a waffle maker and a myriad of different cereal options.  You could have toast with some jam and a frosted flake-ish cereal, with coffee and milk provided as well.  Even though it wasn't extravagant, the free past and breakfast allowed us to really conserve money on meals.

Our first full day in Stockholm was great.  We were welcomed by the sun shining and very mild temperatures.  There are many sightseeing businesses in Stockholm and we decided on doing a hop-on hop-off boat tour.  You pay 100SEK upfront and you can, as the name depicts, hop-on and hop-off as many times as you'd like during the day.  The boat tour was really cool in and of itself.  We got to see the city from a boat which was great.  The first stop we took was at the Vassar museum.  The Vassar was a 17th century war-ship that sank on its maiden voyage.  It was right in the middle of the bay for over 300 years before someone discovered its location and suggested it be retrieved.  It was amazing to see how well preserved the ship was for being underwater for so long.  Next we went to an aquarium.  Definitely not the coolest aquarium I have been to, but it was a good way to pass the time until Tivoli, the theme park, opened up.  At 3pm we made our way to Tivoli.  It was located right next to the water and on some of the rides you could even go over the water.  We went on 2 rides because we didn't want to buy wristbands.  One was a free fall ride.  You go up in the air, from what my research on Google told me, 250 feet and them plummet downwards after sitting up in the air for a few seconds in anticipation.  We got a picture of the three of us on the ride and it looks amazing from the camera angel.  The view from the top was amazing, you could see the entire city from a birds-eye-view.  I was hesitant to go on the ride because I absolutely hate rides that drop you, but luckily Anant and Michela forced me to join them.  I'm glad they did.  After we finished up there, we went to Old Town, the island were our Hostel is located, and walked around a bit more.  This part of town is filled with cobblestone streets and very old buildings.  We bought some more pasta sauce and headed back home to eat.  I had a blast this day of the trip.

Most of the evenings of this trip included playing cards, reading, and simply relaxing,  This trip was so relaxing, it really felt like a vacation.  Also, I'm starting to get used to not having TV over here.

The next day we went to meet Michela's friends who were studying abroad in Stockholm.  We headed out to walk around and eat before we met them.  We got falafels, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite foods here.  When we were in the restaurant, in normal Scandinavian weather fashion, it started to downpour.  The weather in both Sweden and Denmark is so unpredictable that you would have thought we'd have umbrellas and rain jackets with us.  Nope, they were conveniently located back in the Hostel, which helped us out a great deal ha.  We got drenched in the rain while feebly attempting to find Michela's friends.  After looking for about 15 minutes we finally found them.  The problem with traveling here, is our cell phones don't work, making meeting up with people that much more difficult.  Once we joined up with them, we went to a coffee shop to warm up and ended up just hanging out there for a few hours.  We went back to the hostel after.

Because our flight didn't leave until 8:25pm on Sunday, we had the entire day to walk around the city.  We went to the train station and purchased our bus tickets then headed out to walk down Stockholm's shopping street.  We went in a few different places and I bought some new sunglasses.  The street was full of people and it reminded me of the long shopping street in Copenhagen.  Overall, the trip was a great success and a very memorable experience.

If I ever end up in Sweden again, I'll know to always pack for cold weather and have an umbrella within an arms length at all times.

Also, I'll never schedule a return flight, or any flight, during a Packers game.  This was literally torture not knowing what was happening.  Luckily, they won and the Vikings lost, putting the cherry on top of a great trip to Stockholm!

Start of Classes/Planning Travels

It's now my third week in Denmark and classes started last week, getting me more of a routine. 

I have four classes this semester: Issues in International Finance (the class I think will be most challenging), Green Innovation, Innovation in Emerging Markets, and Sports Economics.  The nice thing about Sport Economics is it doesn't start for 6 weeks, meaning I only have three classes presently.  I have had two lectures thus far and they share similarities and differences between the classes back at Carlson.  The major difference is the length.  All of the classes are 2 hours and 30 min minimum and some can reach close to 3 hours.  The Professors offset the extreme length with timely breaks and videos to make class appear shorter.  Even with the attempts to make the classes feel shorter, I still find it difficult to sit through a lecture for such a long time.  In the US I am used to having class for around an hour and the maximum two hours.  This will be something that I have to get used to while abroad to ensure success in my classes.  Another difference here is the grading scale and what is actually graded.  Each class has only one graded assignment, that being a final exam.  This can come in a variety of different forms.  One of my classes has a four hour final (open book, open note) exam, while another has a 20 minute oral exam.  There can also be papers due at the end of the semester, but none of my classes require this.  One of the benefit of CBS, however, of having classes this long is that I they meet only once a week compared to two or three times back home.  I enjoy having more free-time here to explore the city and travel.

The days here fly by.  I'm in disbelief every time I look at the calender.  The first 3 plus weeks here have seemed like 5 days.  I have been having so much fun, but I know the rest of the trip will continue to zoom by.  Knowing this, I want to experience as much as possible.  We attempted to sit down and plan trips, but with an abundance of exchange students it's difficult to travel in such large groups.  The solution has to be splitting up and finding a handful of other students to venture out with.  With such a long wish list of places I would love to see, getting started sooner rather than later will not only be beneficial to planning the trips, but also the overall cost of plane tickets.  Learning to use travel websites here is taking some getting used to.  I'm confident, however, that I will be able to travel to the vast majority of places on my wish list.

Two Weeks Gone Already

So I decided that because Anant is making a blog, I would do so as well.
I haven't ever done one of these before, so here goes nothing.

This is my first time ever being in Europe, so needless to say there has been a decent amount of culture shock.  Luckily, I have had Anant here to help ease the transition.  The first thing that you will notice about Denmark, and Copenhagen in particular, is the amount of people who bike and jog everywhere.  People are constantly exercising and being active.  Watch out for bikes though.  I almost learned that lesson the hard way but thankfully I wasn't hit.  In the two weeks that I have been here I have yet to see an obese person walking around the streets or in any of the places I have visited.  People here would rather just walk or take a bike if where they are going is relatively close.  I really think they have that aspect of life correct here.  I think if people were as active in the US the majority of our health problems would subside.  They are also both men and women routinely walking around with small children and family appears to be a very important part of the Danish culture.  I think this is great.
I haven't had too many embarrassing moments yet, but I'm sure there are more to come.  The first day that we arrived, we just had unpacked the majority of our things and decided that we would go explore the city and find somewhere to buy groceries.  This was a good idea until we were in the stairwell and realized we didn't know the code back into our hallway.  An hour and a half later we made it back to our rooms, and we had the codes memorized within minutes.  On the positive side, we met many of the students staying in our dorm ha.  Another time where we looked like idiots was when we did eventually make it to a grocery store.  Not only were all the items there in Danish, the stores don't provide any bags for you to bring your groceries home in.  You can buy bags, but we had already checked-out and there was a long line.  We then had to make the four or five block journey back to the residence hall with all of our groceries in our hands.  Luckily, a Danish women was nice enough to give me a bag on the way home to make the trip more manageable.  I won't ever make that mistake again.
The rest of the trip has been pretty smooth so far.  I have met people from all across the world and I love hearing the difference perspectives they all have.  My only regret so far is that I don't speak another language because essentially everyone here speaks at least two languages.  Some of my Spanish friends are trying to teach me a little Spanish, but it's not very easy.  We started out the first week with the Danish Crash Course, in an attempt to grasp some of the language here.  I failed pretty miserably.  I am thankful that everyone here speaks English.
On Friday, we took a trip to Malmo, Sweden for a music festival for the afternoon.  It only takes 30-35mins by train to get to Sweden and the train ride is actually really cool.  You are surrounded by water on each side for some of the trip and there were windmills out in the middle of the sea.  The festival was alright.  The music was classical-ish and I wouldn't say it was my favorite.  There were so many people there that my favorite part other than the train ride was simply watching other people interact.  I would, however, not recommend Malmo.  Hopefully, we can go to Stockholm eventually.
I wish that I could remember more, but now that I have this blog I will try and document more of what I am doing.  I can't believe how fast the trip is going.  It feels like we just got off the plane yesterday.  I'm really looking forward to traveling more and experiencing how classes will be in the upcoming weeks.