Copenhagen: 48 hour guide

So I am going to write this by the hour. Obviously when you arrive and leave and when you can check into your hotel with be totally dependent on your trip but here is roughly what I did and how I would recommend doing it.

0:00-1:00 Check into your hotel and get settled in a little bit

1:00 Go to a bike rental place and rent bikes. If you aren't going to rent bikes I would recommend the hop on hop off tours.

1:30-2:30 Go find something to eat. My second hour in Copenhagen was around lunch time but yours will probably differ. I would recommend eating at the Gasoline Grill and ordering the Butter Burger for at least one of your meals while in Copenhagen.

2:30-4:00 Go visit the Little Mermaid Statue and the surrounding areas like Kastellet. If you want a good photo of the statue or with the statue your going to need to wait a bit as there are always a lot of people around.

4:00-5:00 Bike to some of the cute little street and then end up at the Round Tower.

5:00-6:00 Climb the round tower. Now you can definitely do the Rounder Tower in less than an hour but it was nice to be able to enjoy it at a leisurely pace and get to just sit and enjoy the view of Copenhagen rooftops.

6:00-7:00 To go Illum shopping center and get the elevator to the rooftop and grab a quick snack while enjoying the view of the square down below.

7:00 - 9:00 Walk along the street Stroget and shop a little bit. There is a Disney Store, Lego, Zara, H&M plus many more.

9:00-13:00- Go to Tivoli Garens Amusement Park. I recommend going in the evening because the lines are not long at all. I went from 7pm until closing which was 11pm.

13:00- 21:00 Get some sleep

21:00-22:00 Go eat breakfast at a cute little cafe filled with cinnamon rolls like the Skt. Peters Bakery or even a place like the Donut Shop.

22:00:22:30 Bike or take the metro to the Norrebro neighborhood.

22:30-23:30 Walk around Superkilen park and take fun photos, bike, or skateboard in the colorful park.

23:30-24:00 Go mural hunting.

24:00-25:30 Bike or take the metro a little farther north to Grundvigs Church.

25:30-26:30 Explore Grundvigs Church. The interior is beautiful and there are usually not very many people because it is a outside of the many city area.

26:30-27:30 Bike or walk along the river area that divides the Indre By district from the north part of Copenhagen. You can also rent a swan paddle boat and paddle around.

27:30-28:00 Explore the area near Palads theater and maybe grab a quick snack inside the Axelborg building. 

28:00-29:00 Head over to Christianhavn district either on foot or bike and check out the beautiful canal lined houses over there. So colorful! Also stop by Circle Bridge to see a fun designed pedestrian bridge. 

29:00-30:00 Go back to Nyhavn Canal to souvenir shop and also grab an amazing waffle on a stick from Gelato Rajissimo. I loved the chocolate with nuts. 

30:00- 32:00 Visit some of the other walkable areas. See the oldest street in Copenhagen: Magstræde, the city hall square, Hans Christian Anderson Statue, and the beautiful colorful square Gråbrødretorv.

32:00-33:00 Eat dinner at a fun little Mexican place called Barburrito. They have really good tacos. I had the chicken! Amazing. 

33:00- 40:00 Sleep

40:00- 41:00 Go explore and see the architecture of the Royal Library. 

41:00-43:00 Design museum Denmark. 

43:00- 44:00 Pack up and head to the train station to make it to the airport. 

44:00-45:00 Stop at the Lagkagehuset bakery in the airport for one that danish cinnamon roll. 

45:00- 48:00 Check in to flight, go through security, wait. 

Quick references

Eat:
Illum rooftop restaurants
Gasoline Grill-Butter Burger
Barburrito-Chicken tacos
Gelato Rajissimo- Waffle on a stick 
The Donut Shop
Skt. Peters Bakery-cinnamon rolls

Stay:
Copenhagen Downtown Hostel

Do:
Rent a bike
Swan paddle boat on river

Go:
Norrebro neighborhood
-Superliken Park
-Murals
Rundetarrn (Round Tower)
-go to the top for the view
Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park
Danish Design Museum 

See:
The Little Mermaid statue
Nyvan Canal
Christianhavn Canal
Circle Bridge
Palads Theater
Axelborg building (for staircase and architecture)
Royal Library

Shop:
Illum
Street street

This was just what I would recommend doing. I am not much of a museum person so if you are then I would suggesting adding those to the itinerary and maybe cut back on the mural hunting ;) This is just a rough outline of what I did and what I ate if you are interested. I loved Copenhagen! This was my first solo trip and I felt very safe. 
love, Carlee

Capri, Italy- Disposable Camera Photos

I got these photos back a couple of weeks ago. They are from when my mom, brother, Clark and I went boating around the island of Capri when they were here in June. I found a kodak underwater disposable camera here in Italy and I bought it thinking of this occasion. I loved the way the photos turned out. I didn't know where to get the photos developed here in Italy so I sent the camera home with my mom and she got them developed at Walgreens (my place of choice in the states.) 

After getting the photos back I realized I only actually took like 5 underwater photos. I loved the way the underwater ones look and next time I will take more. Since that was the whole point of the camera haha. Anyways, hope everyone is having a great day. 

love, Carlee

All The Light We Cannot See: Anthony Doerr

This is the first book I have read in a long time, like since June. One of my former teachers actually
recommended it when I told her that we were going to France in October. The book is set in Paris and Saint Malo, France during WWII. It is a rather long book more than 500 pages but it was definitely one that you wanted to keep reading.

The novel switches between two stories that end up weaving together. One of a orphan boy that joins the Nazi military forces in WWII and the other of a blind girl living in Paris with her farther during WWII. I won't go into too much detail as not to spoil anything but I really liked this book and I felt like I learned more history about WWII as well. You might classify it as historical fiction since some of it was real but the main story line was fiction.

I learned about the invasion of Paris, one of the schools that trained the Nazi military boys from a young age that was also a very selective school, and mostly about the allied forces attack on Saint Malo. I have actually added Saint Malo as a place to visit when we go to France in October.

I would rate this book 5/5. Definitely would recommend to others.

Quotes I liked from the book:

There are no such things as curses. There is luck, maybe, bad or good. A slight inclination of each day toward success of failure. But no curses. 

The locusts have no king, yet all of them go out in ranks. - Old Testament Proverb

Some things are simply more rare than others, and that's why there are locks. 

You know the greatest lessons of history? It's that history is whatever the visitors say it is. Whoever wins, that's who decides the history. 

You will become like a waterfall, a volley of bullets- you will all surge in the same direction at the same pace toward the same cause. You will forgo comforts; you will live by duty alone. You will eat country and breathe nation. 

My father said "You dont have to stay. I'd like you to stay, but you dont have to. You probably have things to do. You can go off with your friends if you want to." 'He kept saying that. I left. I went down the strips and into the street. I had nowhere to go. Nobody to see. I didn't have any friends in that town. I had ridden trains all goddamn day to see him. But I left just like that. 

They move about with only themselves in mind. Name me someone who does not. 

He worries that to concentrate on [the memories] too long is to rise wearing them out. 

love, Carlee 

Now selling on Society 6 + new Casetify stuff

Hey all! I am excited to announce that I am now selling some of my designs and art on society6. If you don't know, society6 takes artist artwork and produces it on different items like clocks, pillows, greeting cards, shower curtains, canvas prints, duvet covers, laptop sleeves... and much more. Seriously so much cool stuff. I first opened a society6 shop as a way to sell my alcohol ink art on different products but then I added some tradition Little Sloth prints and patterns as well. I think my favorite print is probably the outer space one. I also love all the artwork made into clocks. I NEED one of my clock designs in my life just trying to decide which one. Come find me on society6!

I also have new cases over on Casetify. My favorite new ones are below. Find my casetify shop here. My best sellers are still the Fast Food, Lipstick, and Fruity case which you might have guessed by the number of hearts those ones have. One fun surprise was a couple of months ago my little brother bought a case from my casetify collection and didn't tell me and I saw it on his phone and was so excited. It was a fun moment. 

love, Carlee

Copenhagen Day 2

The second full day I was in Copenhagen was lovely as well. Did you read about my first day? It was a little cloudy and colder this day but I was so loving the chillier weather. I still had my bike rental from the day before until about 4pm this day so I decided that the first thing I wanted to do was bike to the Norrebro district. I heard that there was some amazing street art and murals there and also a really cool park. I was not disappointed. On the way there I stopped to grab a donut for breakfast at The Donut Shop.

Once I made it to the Norrebro District I started scoping out the good murals. There is a really cool one by Cafe Lille Petter and just around the corner is another one. See both above. I then made my way over to Superliken park which is seriously a skateboarders dream! Clark would have loved it! Although if he was here with me he would have been very sad he didn't have a skateboard with him. It was also very colorful and modern. It is big to, I think it spans over like 3 blocks.

After visiting Norrebro I biked back down toward Indre By (the main downtown area.) I stopped to take some photos of the Palads theater it is just a movie theater but it is so bright and colorful. I also went inside the Axelborg building, there is a very cool spiral staircase inside and you can look up and see all the floors. I also biked along the river for a while and saw some people peddling boats that looked like swans and then there was a bunch of actual swans that children were feeding bread to.

I then went searching for the bakery Skt Peters Bakery which people say is the best bakery in Copenhagen and it did not disappoint! So yummy. I got the cinnamon roll with extra white sugar on top and it was one of the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had. At this point I didn't have my bike for much longer but I knew I wanted to go to the Christianshavn area. So I biked there and I stopped at the cool pedestrian bridge, Circle Bridge, and then I biked along the Christianshavn canal. The colors in Copenhagen are really pretty. They know how to do bright beautiful row houses. Even better than Amsterdam! Which is saying something I think. 

I went back to my hostel for a little while and rested and I also turned in my bike rental. Then in the evening I went to find some food and came across a place called Barburrito. It is a little hole in the way place with really good mexican tacos! I had the chicken tacos and they were so yummy also they service was really fast. I then stopped at Rajissimo which has gelato, churros, waffles on a stick, and soft serve ice cream and I was actually going to get some vanilla soft serve but there machine was broke (what is this McDonalds) but it was probably the best thing to happen because instead I got a waffle on a stick covered in chocolate and nuts and it was seriously so good. I just needed a big glass of milk to go with it haha. Also, did you know Lego was invented in Denmark? 

So yeah those were my days in Copenhagen. The next morning I slept in until about 930 and then headed to the train station to go back to the airport. I am going to be doing a Copenhagen Travel Guide so I can put all the food, places, and recommendations in one post. 
love, Carlee

Copenhagen Day 1

My first day in Copenhagen started off by me taking the train from Malmo, Sweden to Copenhagen central station. Once I got off the train at Copenhagen central I walked to my hostel. I stayed in the Copenhagen Downtown Hostel and I had never stayed in a hostel before but I totally recommended this one. It was clean, comfortable, and close to so many attractions and restaurants. I will definitely stay at hostels in the future especially when traveling by myself it just makes more sense cost wise. Also this was my very first solo trip and Copenhagen was totally amazing for a solo trip. I have flown on planes, taken trains, buses by myself but usually I'm meeting someone on the other end not going to explore totally by myself. 

I ended up renting a bike for 24 hours from my hostel and it was such a good decision. So you know how I broke my leg 10 months ago? Well it still hurts everyday. Not all day everyday but in the morning it is the worst and it will get really sore and tired if I walk a lot so biking was perfect. It kept my ankle loose so when I did stop and walk around my leg didn't hurt and then I biked it didn't hurt my leg at all. It felt so freeing to get around and not worry about pain. I will definitely be renting bikes on my next trip with Clark! 

I decided to bike to the farthest destination that I wanted to see and then work my way back toward the hostel. So I set out toward the little mermaid statue but on the way there I came across Nyhavn canal which I 100% wanted to see and explore so I parked my bike and walked around a little bit. Took photos and went into a souvenir shop. I then realized I was really hungry so I looked on my little itinerary that I had printed for myself to see if any of the restaurants that I wanted to eat at were near me and the Gasoline Grill was just a few blocks away so I biked to it. If you ever go to Copenhagen you have to go to the Gasoline Grill and get a butter burger. It was amazing. There will probably be a wait but it's totally worth it.They also have crinkle fries so yeah, big time SCORE! After that I biked to the little mermaid statue and explored that area for a while. 

On the way back I hit up some of the cute streets I wanted to see like Krusemyntegade. I was making my way toward the round tower or Rudetaarn. The round tower was really cool and beautiful inside. You also get a lovely view of Copenhagen from above so I totally recommend visiting. I then made my way toward the Illum shopping center. At this point it was evening and a lot of the shops were already closed for the day but I took the elevator to the roof because there are restaurants and cafes up there and a cool view of the square below. I ended up getting a piece of banana bread from the coffee house and sitting outside and enjoying the view. 

I actually didn't feel weird at all traveling alone or eating alone. Most people thought I was either danish (so many people came up and started talking to me in danish and I would just look confused and say English?) or they thought I was an American studying abroad in Copenhagen so either way it wasn't weird being alone and doing my own thing. Besides I've learned that people are way more worried about themselves then they are about you. That doesn't mean I don't worry though, I even sent my mom and Clark and rough outline of what my trip was going to look like just in case something happened. I like being prepared though. 

Around 7pm I went to the Tivoli Gardens amusement park which is right across the street from central station and was really close to my hostel as well. I parked my bike out front and went it. Did you know it's the 2nd oldest amusement park in the world (the first in also in Denmark) and it inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland! I didn't go on any rides but I walked around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. It was also nice because it wasn't very busy in the evening and they are open until 11pm so I had plenty of time to explore. After that I went back to my hostel and turned in for the night. It was a wonderful first day in Copenhagen. 

love, Carlee

shirt: H&M