Dragør

Last Monday was a national holiday here in Danmark, meaning we had the day off. So two coworkers and I decided to bike town to Dragør, a picturesque little town at the southern end of the island of Amager. It's pretty nice ride, and only about a 30km round trip. The route takes you past the airport which is fun. There's also a really cool restaurant, Flyvergrillen located on the side of the runway.There's nothing like munching a burger (or meatballs) while watching planes take off. It brings me back to my childhood, watching the planes from the Newark IKEA. Fond memories.

A church on the outskirts of the town. It had a really beautiful cemetery on the grounds.

A really cool window on a church in Dragør.

Ducklings! Traffic actually stopped completely to let them pass.

It is a really nice little town. And it's conveniently located right near Øresundsbroen, the relatively new bridge to southern Sweden. There's also an out of use fort that has been re-purposed as an underground hotel. Underground in the sense that it is actually subterranean, not that it's somewhere that hipsters would enjoy. Although they might. Dragør also conveniently has really good ice cream. 

Cute wooden boats in the harbor.

Laura and James enjoying the harbor.

The houses are super cute.

People live in houses with actual thatched roofs.

Walking along the ocean.

In all, this was a very satisfactory day trip. Now that the weather is improving, the interns are starting to cast about for a few more long distance bike trips. 

Who Says You Can't Go Home

Quoting Bon Jovi is oddly appropriate here. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say. But yeah- Bon Jovi, New Jersey, the place that I live- get it? Super clever.

Anyway, I know it's long overdue, but I'm finally getting around to posting about my trip home. I just want to share some pictures from the place I'm lucky to call my home.

Time for a walk in the woods.

A beautiful lake, in New Jersey.

Impossible you say? False. There's more to this place than the shore.

Going home reminds me exactly how much I love nature and miss being near it. Distance from real wilderness is the biggest bummer about living in Copenhagen. Denmark is not exactly the most rugged country in the world.

Apparently fishing without a permit has been illegal for quite some time.

Looks like a nice place for a picnic.

Probably the oddest thing to experience going home is the propensity for for small talk. It's oddly alarming when a cashier starts a conversation with you. Monetary transactions here follow a set script. Cashiers tell you your total, ask if you want a receipt, and that's it. Occasionally you'll get a 'have a good day' or a 'have a nice weekend', but those are only for special occasions.

A little piece of Kinnelon history. There are initials on this tree from the 60s.

It's crazy the ease with which it's possible to slide back into life at home, just like you never left. Going home feels like the most natural thing in the world. I highly recommend it.

Last but not least, some of my wonderful family. Love you guys!

Moroccan Highlights

Because my enjoyment of Morocco could not be fully contained in a mere five posts. Here are a few more photos and other snippets that didn't make the cut for the first round.

The countryside is beautiful.

People. Everywhere.

The sunsets are breathtaking. As are the stars.

Hamams are essentially spas. And they're located all over the place. And they're incredibly cheap. And mother of pearl are they amazing. There is nothing in the world like laying in a dark, moist room and having a large woman rub oil into you. That was probably the most relaxed I've ever been. Or at least in the top ten. If you go to Morocco and don't take a hamam, you're doing it wrong.

If you're not careful, you will find yourself on a camel. Even if you've said you have no interest in a camelback ride.

Camels on many corners

Ashley picked some cactii.

Morocco is a colorful place.

Very colorful.

And crowded. The streets are filled with quite the variety of vehicles.

Snakes. There are snakes.

Caroline came up with a new, cutting edge method of descending mountains.

Portu-geezers

Well, this post is embarrassingly overdue...

On our way back from Casablanca, the cheapest way back home was to take a 20-some-odd hour layover in Lisbon. Shockingly, we were not upset about this situation. Because we are very flexible and easygoing travelers. Our ready acceptance of our fate had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that none of us had yet been to Portugal.

Lisbon is a hilly city. A welcome change from flat old Copenhagen.

Buildings faced with elaborate tiles seem to be fairly common in Lisbon.

To be honest, I at least didn't know much about Lisbon going into this trip. As it turns out, there's a whole lot of history in that city. In our incredibly brief time there, we managed to see two UNESCO World Heritage sites: Jerónimos Monastery and Belem Tower. Pictures do more justice to the beauty of these places than I can, so just enjoy them.

Jerónimos Monastery.

It has some incredibly elaborate stonework.

So many carvings.

White on blue.

Padrão dos Descobimentos.

Depictions of famous Portuguese figures associated with exploration.

A view from the top of Padrão dos Descobrimentos.

Pretty sweet mad of the world, viewed from the top of the cross.

Belem Tower.

Presumably it was approaching high tide.

We also happened, by mostly dumb luck, and some good hostel researching, to wind up in one of the highest rated hostels in all of Europe there: Oasis Backpackers' Mansion. T'was indeed an excellent place- clean, super friendly, and they gave spectacular directions for how to reach it. We went on a semi-organized evening of exploration with a bunch of Germans and Canadians who were staying with us, and walked up and down many more hills. 

A fairly famous funicular right near our hostel.

Long story short, Lisbon was great. Portugal as a whole seems great. And I would very much like to go back for a rather longer period of time.

Also, Portuguese custard tarts rank among the top ten things that have ever graced my mouth with their presence. Visiting without trying them would be a travesty.