"Carslberg, Probably the Best Beer in the World"

Old School Carlsberg Delivery Truck

This past Sunday was one of the more accomplishing days Ive had in a while seeing as I left my room before 1pm. My motive for leaving my bed so "early" was the Carlsberg Brewery Tour. Carlsberg is essentially the Miller Lite of Denmark.

"Probably the Best Beer in the World"


For 70Dkk (12.06 USD) we were granted the privilege of touring the old Carlsberg brewery along with 2 complementary beers. Needless to say we know why most of us went. The tour was somewhat intriguing with a lot more reading than I anticipated. One thing I learned was that a swastika is not always associated with the German Nazis. Carlsberg brewery actually used it as a logo for their beer at one point.  It was also used by many other native cultures to represent sun, power, strength and good luck.

21,239 Beer Bottles in the Collection

Other interesting points of the tour was the Brewery's amazing bottle collection. Supposedly the largest collection of beer bottles in the world. Oddly all the beer was left in the beer bottles. I was somewhat disappointed to not see the amazing Miller Lite, Bud Light, or Coors Light bottles that I hold dear to my hear encased in that display. Along with this display there were many videos and dioramas that explained how the beer went from the fields to the bottle. Did you know that the founder of Carlsberg also donated "The Little Mermaid" to Denmark?? Did you also know that all important decisions in Denmark had to be made before noon, because after noon everyone was too drunk. Workers back in the day were allocated pints of beer as opposed to water... Interesting. No wonder why Denmark holds the happiest people in the world.

Clysdale Horse

Other highlights of the trip were all the Clydesdale horses. They may not have been as well groomed as the Budweiser horses but they were still beautiful. Some of us because a little immature when we saw how "excited" the horses were. Anyone is my family knows what I am saying from past visits to the Zoo and the Zebra. After about 5 minutes of the smell we finally made our way to the highlight of the brewery tour... The Bar. This meant time to redeem our 2 complementary beers. This is where Europe has it right. I was way to excited to get these complementary beers seeing as I am a 20 year old and my past visit to the Leinenkugel brewery tour in Chippewa Falls, WI left me with free soda and some gloating from my of age family members. Well here is where I get to gloat. The beer that they gave us came in big glasses, not mini flutes of beer. Take that Leinenkugel. My choice was the Christmas Beer that they had on tap. This beer is the strongest beer, and has been known to create fights in the city when it hits the shelves. I did not get the urge to fight anyone after having two glasses of this fine ale, I was content.

The bottom of our many glasses marked the end of our brewery tour. Many of us took some wonderful souvenirs back with us ;) This trick I would like to attribute to my brother. I am glad to say I have marked one more trip of my Copenhagen Bucket List. Next up Christiania.

Cheers from Chels :)

Racking up the Frequent Flyer Milers

Its about time that I get to booking my trips throughout Europe..

One thing you must know that my plan is to go to as many places as possible and not just the top 10 on everyones European travel list. I will of course make my way to London, Paris, Barcelona etc. There are so many undiscovered places that I want to say I have been :)

So where am I going do you ask?

First stop is Stockholm, Sweden the first weekend of February! I could not be more excited. This is like our experimental first trip. One plus is that my travel buddy in crime actually knows someone who works at the Consulate there in representation of the United States. This means they will know everything and anything there is to know. This is good since I do not know much about Sweden...

The weekend after that we are going to Amsterdam. I know, I know, this is a traditional stop on everyones list. But I had to do it. Thank god I watched Anthony Bourdains "The Layover" featuring Amsterdam. This has given me a little insight to what I can expect. Little did I know there is more to Amsterdam than Hookers and Weed. Im excited to see what the city has else to offer.

THAN, two weekends after that there is a school planned cruise to Oslo. I was originally very skeptic about this trip. I mean Norway?? not where I would first pick to go. But I am excited to see the city of Oslo. If anyone has any recommendations of what I can see there let me know!

Those are just the three trips I have booked but so many more in the works. Right now we are looking into Switzerland, Prague, Berlin, Brussels, and possibly Dublin all by the end of March. March marks the end of my schooling at the lovely Copenhagen Business School. CRAZY RIGHT??? so this means that I have over a whole month to do whatever the hell I want. This is the month where I plan on doing traditional Europe; Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Milan, Venice, Greece, Croatia, London, Paris! AHHH so many cool places to see. Lets just hope I dont run out of money :/

If anyone has any place they think I must see help me out. I am down for anything!

As always Love and Miss you all! Ill try and collect a couple postcards to send peoples way :)

Cheers from Chels!!

Hygge-ing around Copenhagen

Officially I have been in Copenhagen for about a week now. I have come to learn a couple key things.


1. The word Hygge. It is a Danish word that does not directly translate into english. But the danes can best describe it as "Coziness."Or others define it as, "relaxing with good friends or loved ones, often while enjoying good food and something to drink or creating a more friendly atmosphere by lighting a few candles." The danes use it a lot. It is a good representation to show how much they enjoy each others company and have one of THE highest qualities of living. 


2. Dogs shit everywhere. pardon my language. I know I hate picking up after my dog but now I see the importance. I have come so close to stepping in it so many times. Gross! My real question is what do they feed these dogs here... it is some interesting stuff. 


3. Buying groceries is like an event in town. The hours are so obscure, you have to buy your own bags for the groceries, and the lines are always crazy long. Unlike americans where we buy everything in bulk or in one trip, the danes love to get food everyday. I guess this prevents excessive consumption. I guess i like to go to the store everyday now to.... for some vino :) 


4. Jay Walking is Illegal. What the ffff. Coming from Madison this is by far one of the most annoying qualities of Copenhagen. Ill walk if the road is clear is my theory. Cross my fingers I avoid a ticket!


5. Instead of Parking meters they have an "Honor" system. Yes they trust each other that much. They actually have little clock stickers on the windshield of their car that shows what time they arrived and than police come around and check them to see if people are past their time. So much easier I would say.


6. Staying out until 7 am is completely acceptable. And so is sleeping until 2 pm...


7. Everything is so damn expensive. No I will not pay $20 for a measly turkey sandwich. pshhhhh


These are just a couple of things I have noticed chelsin around Copenhagen. I am sure I will find out SO many more, many on accident. Ill keep ya posted ;)


Miss many of you. xoxo


Cheers from Chels!

To the Streets of København!

Today was the first day that I saw the sun since I had been here. No better excuse to skip my class and explore the beautiful city of København! Every one has one image in mind when they think of København (Hence My Background)... Since it was sunny I was able to capture it better. Apparently in the summer time it is amazing. Just another excuse to come back or stay a little longer.  I took lots of pictures of buildings but I will spare you the excessive facebook album of all of them. If you would like to see one that i lack you can google it...

After seeing a couple buildings we grabbed a bite to eat. It was at an authentic Danish  Sandwich place. No one really can pin point what exactly Danish food is. But my best summary is Rye Bread and Herring. I was not about to go as far as trying herring but i did stray a little further than my other friends. Rye Bread with some type of beef, horseradish, and pickles. I really enjoyed it actually! Most of the other girls ended up eating the slab of bread $16 dollar bread. When in Rome (or Copenhagen) you gotta live a little.  You can tell that we are such americans in that restaurant by the fact that we do not base our meal around the company we are with. Eating out is almost a task. We came into the restaurant with two danish tables sitting there and left before they were even close to getting up! They LOVE to socialize and cherish the time that they have together. One thing i wish Americans could pick up on.

After our Lunch we went to the famous Stroget shopping street. There you will find Hermes, Gucci, 7 for all Mankind, and foot locker. Its the rodeo drive of Copenhagen. 2km long road of many items that i would never be able to afford. There were even some danish girls dressed in dinosaur and cat costumes giving away "free hugs," made me feel like i was right back in Madison. 

I am growing to love Copenhagen more and more as I begin to see all that it has to offer. The architecture, the overpriced food, nightlife, and so much more.  

But its almost 7 oclock here in Denmark so that means one thing...

Cheers from Chels!

First 24 Hours

I have officially made it through the first 24 hours..

The plane ride to Copenhagen was quite the experience. I was feeling good since I had a window seat and only had one other person sitting next to me. This person grew to not be too fond of me. About a half hour into the flight is when they came around to give us our dinner and complimentary cocktails. I had just popped my Ambien hoping to go to bed, but did not want to miss out obviously. The food was pretty legit for an airplane (Lox & Cream Cheese, Chicken, Potatoes, Green Beans, a choice of cocktail and wine!) This 20 year old was in heaven. Things turned for the worst about 10 minutes after this. I became extremely nausea. For those of you who know me I do not get sick like that very often. This was a problem. Do I use the infamous barf bag?? I tried to get out of my seat to run to the bathroom, but the lady next to me did not speak a single word of english.. CRAP! This ended up turning into a mini scene of me trying to gesture getting out and her screaming back at me in god knows what language. Isn't everyone suppose to speak english?? (joke, im not that naive.) The stewardess eventually tried to help along with another nice Danish woman. Never again will I mix Ambien and Wine. After this I passed out and awoke with about 2 hours left in the flight, to find that the lady next to me had switched seats. Good choice.

Getting off the plane was a lot different than I expected. Usually it takes 20 minutes to get everyones luggage from the overhead compartments and off the plane, and that is talking a 30 row plane. These Europeans are doing something right, it took them less time to do this, and they had about 100 more people on the plane. Getting off the plane was the most nerve-racking part due to customs. I purchased a one way ticket to Denmark, which apparently is not a good idea. People told me horror stories where they do not let you in the country and send you right back home. These people were extremely wrong. I walked off the plane, got a passport stamp without even entering anything into the computer, and I was off to baggage, just like that to pick up my 3 suitcases. After picking up my baggage I met my buddy Selma. Safe to say she is probably one of the greatest people here. She was definitely amazed at how much clothes I brought. We took the metro train to my new dorm, Katherine Kollegiet aka The KK!! It is probably the most overpriced dorm on campus and one of the smallest. I pay $7000 for an 8 x 12 room.

After dropping off my bags we went to explore campus. It is beautiful. The buildings are so modern and the architecture is any interior designers dream (Lauren...) They even are smart enough to put a student bar in two of the buildings. One nice surprise we ended up meeting another American, the downfall... he went to Oregon. Obviously the Rose Bowl was still fresh in the air and he had to rub it in that he felt sorry for me that I went to Madison... pshhhhh, sorry im not sorry. He tagged along with us for the rest of the day since his buddy was 26, married, and had children, and apparently couldn't give a crap if he made it around town or not. He was helpful since he had been here since friday and knew some things i would eventually need. After a good 4 hours of exploring my jet lag was kicking in and I was hungry. We stopped at a place called Joe & the Juice. It had amazing smoothies and pretty good sandwich. Each priced at $10 a pop. I can already feel my bank account draining. Everyone else was also tired so we decided to call it a night. On the way home i stopped at the grocery store and spent around DKr, translating to about $50USD. Their food selection is not quite as appealing. One good thing about this grocery store though is that it is a block from my apartment.

Finally home for the night I hopped on my computer to connect with the real world. Skype is a life saver considering I have no wireless in my dorm to WhatsApp/Viber chat with people. Real buzz kill, but i will live. It was nice to video chat/conference call/message with a lot of people. Makes me miss home :/ I fell asleep around 10 only to wake up at around 2:30 am.. without any lucky of falling back to sleep. Hopefully  I can get into the swing of things. Today will be a good start. I finally unpacked my room, organized everything, and even have a crash course class to go to today. I cannot wait to meet new people!

Super long blog post, I knowwwwwww.

Well off to class and a new journey. Hope all is well with everyone and miss a lot of you!!

Cheers from Chels!

Keep your seat belts fastened, and return your seat to its upright position...

Today is the day!! Only thing standing between me and Copenhagen is an 8 hour flight, one Ambien, and maybe a couple complementary cocktails or too...

With so much anticipation and a countdown that has been going for over 300 days I can't believe I am sitting in the airport about to embark on this four month journey!

I am so lucky that I am fortunate enough to be able to study abroad. From everyone I talk to they say I will have an amazing, life changing, and unforgettable experience. I hope i can live up to and even surpass their expectations for me.

When I arrive I will be greeted by a buddy assigned by the university to pick me up from the airport with my very own sign "Kelsey Wright" I know that shouldn't be that exciting, but we all secretly wish this happened to us. She will be my saving grace (Selma is her actual name).

That is the last thing I know for certain. The future is unsure, but open to so many amazing possibilities. I will try to do my best to keep you posted on what I find interesting/exciting/weird or well, blog worthy about. I warn you now that it will most likely differ from your tastes.

Bye bye America, next stop Copenhagen!

Cheers from Chels

The final freak out

Today, I hope, was the last of my freak outs before heading abroad. Of course I left packing till the last minute, for the thrill obviously. After several weigh ins and nixing of several items of clothing I still found myself way past the 50lb limit. Might as well pay te excess weight fee... Of 400$!!! Since my mom wasn't to down with that idea I decided to just bring an extra bag for a mere 70$ extra. Now I'm going to look like a crazy bag lady at the airport struggling to roll 3 suitcases at the same time.

With all my bags packed I'm on my way to Madison for the last leg before I embark on my trip to Copenhagen.Putting in a couple extra hours at the Klub. With my luck it would snow for the first time all winter. I'm anxiously sitting in the car waiting to join the party in the ditch with all the other cars...

In 72 hours I will be on my way to the airport, 3 bags in all, anxiously awaiting my arrival Copenhagen. But tonight I will be celebrating the only way I know how, at the Kollege Klub, with some of my favorite people and favorite deals. Avion Por favor ¡!

Cheers from Chels!