Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen was another favorite destination along this trip.  The train ride took an entire day, about 8 hours.  At one point the train even drove onto a ferry and continued into Denmark.  An old man in our seating row kept falling asleep and snoring, that was about the extent of our entertainment for such a long ride.  Kristy Webster, a high school friend, met us at the train station and cooked us a traditional Danish meal that night.  It was SO nice to sleep in a quiet apartment room rather than the loud snoring room in Amsterdam!

The next day we explored Copenhagen! Because it is so far north, the days were already getting dark sooner and it was very windy and cold.  It was also, however, one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  There are extensive gardens we visited, many more great buildings and churches, as well as lots of sailboats and ships on the canals and ocean!

 Statue in the Gardens.

Gardens

Gardens

Cool old motorcycle I saw outside a shop entrance.

Train!!

On the ferry across from Germany to Denmark.

Historical town center.

Boat anchor! (and me!)

Canals with huge, awesome boats.

More boats :)

Restaurant seating I thought was cool!

Amsterdam, Holland (Netherlands)

I was sick with a head cold when we were in Amsterdam, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I otherwise might have.  Out of all the places we traveled, Amsterdam also had the worst hostel! There were lots of people snoring and the room was really smelly. Compared to Brussels, I didn't think the town and buildings were nearly as beautiful in Amsterdam... everything was under construction! (sort of like Wisconsin, haha)  There were several canals throughout the town which were beautiful; I loved the boats.  

Allie's friend who lives in Holland met us in town and showed us around.  We went past the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Red Light District.  Amsterdam also rained a lot like Strasbourg.... but it also hailed, sleeted, poured, etc. and the weather would change in a matter of minutes!

Ben and Jerry's boat!

A horse and a lamp coming out of a store display?!?!

AND cows on the ceiling!!!

Beautiful Church

Dinner!

Brussels, Belgium

We left France really early to arrive in Brussels, Belgium in the afternoon.  After having time to reflect on my travel period, Brussels is one of my favorite stops!  The town was very lively, even on a Sunday evening.  There are beautiful buildings around every corner, statues, parks, etc.  And of course, there are tons of Belgium Chocolate shops everywhere! (It really is the best chocolate I have EVER had in my entire life! I bought a couple boxes to share with everyone at home and I'm having a hard time resisting the urge to open them now and eat it all! Don't worry... I'll wait!) The only downside to Brussels were the amount of beggars--there were more here than any other location which really surprised me.  

The information desk attendant gave us the wrong information about where to take the underground metro to our hostel, and it took over an hour to find the correct location.  Other than that frustration, the whole trip in Belgium was wonderful!  The next day we did a walking tour around all of the important, impressive buildings in town.  We also went back to the chocolate shops, of course!  I tried a Belgium Waffle, which was also delicious.  

We found out that the train station was experiencing a strike, and that the entire station was shut down and no local or international trains were allowed into Brussels.  One of the girls in our hostel had been stuck in France for days, and she had heard that the Belgium strike would end by nighttime before our train out to Amsterdam, and she was right! (Thankfully!) 

Moose!

Belgium Waffels!

Fountain in a botanical garden 

Coffee!

Really weird statues in the center of a square.

Beautiful Church

My favorite horse statues

Beer... another Belgium specialty.

DELICIOUS (but expensive) sweets!

Silent protest 

Botanical Gardens... the trees weave together.

Strasbourg, France

First stop on our ten day travel period! Our train tickets went from Salzburg to Munich, to Stuttgart, and finally to Strasbourg.  As a first experience on the international trains everything went really well.  The landscapes along the train route was absolutely beautiful; lots of farm land and cows!

We got in pretty late, so we didn't tour much on day one.  On day two we went to a couple local shops with beautiful pottery and antiques.  It was raining most of the day, but we were still outside as much as possible.  Around lunch time in town we saw a riot protesting, but otherwise Strasbourg is not a very eventful place.  We also went to a gingerbread shop! Just like Salzburg is known for Mozart, Strasbourg is known for gingerbread!  Here are some pictures of day two!:

Beautiful bridges and canals!

Noter Dame Cathedral

European Union Headquarters

Food: Almost as beautiful as this country!

My host mom loves to cook, and creates wonderful traditional Austrian dishes.  Recently I have been cooking with her to learn the natural cooking methods she uses.  So far all of the meals have been very easy--my host mom never needs to look at a cook book! It is very common for Austrians to have their own garden, and use this in their daily cooking. I have been taking pictures and writing the recipes down so I can (hopefully) re-create these meals once I am at home! This post includes some pictures and descriptions of the dishes we have cooked together so far :)

Check back often because I will keep adding pictures as we cook more!

 "Kartoffelkrapferl"

Kartoffelkrapferl: A mixture of fresh potatoes, ham, cheese,
and seasonings.

Kartoffelkrapferl: Served with Sauerkraut!

"Pallatschinkem mit Marmalad"

Pallatschinkem mit Marmalad: Thin crepes with fresh jam!

Pallatschinkem mit Marmalad: Spread jam on one side and
roll the crepe

Pallatschinkem mit Marmalad: My host mom uses a fork as a
stencil to decorate with cinnamon seasonings. We also lightly
dusted the crepes with powdered sugar.

Pallatschinkem mit Marmalad: Finished product! The leaves
are herbs grown in my host family's garden.

Fresh parsley from the garden used in cooking "Kartoffelpure"

Kartoffelpure: Fresh Austrian beef mixed with parsley, fresh garlic,
salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. This mixture is eaten raw as a
delicacy; the meat is so pure and healthy there is hardly a risk of
becoming sick from raw meat or eggs. (My host mom had me try a
bite of it raw... I definitely still like my meat cooked! But I thought
that was interesting!) 

Kartoffelpure: Once potatoes are boiled and cooked, we put
them through a machine which squeezes them out into noodle
looking strips! Then you just mix with warm milk and butter and
TADA! mashed potatoes!!!

Kartoffelpure: The Austrian version of a hamburger.
(Secretly I think it's better than American hamburgers!)

Kartoffelpure

Spaghetti from scratch

Made with red wine and herbs. So delicious!

Weinerschnitzl, Potatoes and Cranberry

Golash Soup