Romance and BRomance (Malta and Copenhagen)

These past two weekends were both lovely, but couldn't have been more opposite in pretty much every way. The company, climate, colors, and other alliterative things were all completely antithetical, so this blog post will probably have more ups and downs than an episode of reality television.

(Oh, and in between these two bookend weekends happened to be a take-home quantitative methods examination that took up pretty much every minute of the three days I did spend in Oxford last week, so forgive me again for the tardiness of this post)

So, back to the fun stuff. Joe and I decided some time ago that a much better alternative to throwing away money on Christmas and Valentine's Day presents was to pool our resources and throw it all away on a weekend trip to a warmer climate in the middle of term...hence Malta! I know it's a rather obscure destination, so don't be embarrassed if you've never heard of it. You see, it's right here (next to that big red arrow):

and it's a country composed of two small islands that have been conquered and reconquered by so many civilizations seeking strategic naval advantages over the course of history that they've developed a rich and colorful culture. It also doesn't hurt that it's just about as close to the Equator as you can get on cheap Ryanair flights and that its recent accession to the EU has brought an explosion of investment and growth to the place!

So anyway, a typically early (3:45 am) bus ride to the airport and a three hour flight was all it took to emerge into bright Mediterranean sunlight and temperatures of almost 70 degrees. I have only felt like kissing the ground a few times in my life, and the first steps out of the airport was definitely in the top five among them. Although the bus ride to our apartment was long, bumpy, and (almost) uncomfortably warm, we spent the whole time glued to the window, taking in the palm trees and cacti, as well as the many building clustered tightly and scenically around hills down to the water.

We could barely make ourselves stay in the apartment long enough to drop off our things before we set out to walk and explore. We stopped to take several pictures, and had time to see churches, climb ruins of old forts, and even eat "pastizzi" (traditional Maltese phyllo pastry filled with ricotta cheese) before the setting sun brought English memories back to light and convinced us that it was time for our Valentine's Day dinner. We found a little restaurant with huge windows over one of the harbors, and had a candlelit dinner that tasted even better because it was cheaper than any other we'd had in our European travels.

After dinner, I had promised Joe that his other Valentine's Day present would be to binge watch the new season of House of Cards, so we spent a large chunk of the night watching the continued nefariousness of Frank Underwood and friends.

The next morning, we'd decided to do a bit of an atypical tour of the island. First, we took a bus about 10 kilometers to Fort Rinella, a British 19th century bastion that boasted the largest gun in the world (100 tons) at the beginning of World War I. I indulged Joe's love for British history for several hours, and even took a picture of the big guns (and the cannon, too!):

Afterward, rather than getting back on the bus, we took off jogging and wound our way through the streets to Valletta, one of the other waterfront fortresses/cities we wanted to explore. With a few inadvertent detours, it was about 5 miles, and we were both ready for a good hearty lunch before walking the winding streets and ducking in and out of old churches and museums. We stayed there pretty much all afternoon, and snapped a photo together before sitting down to watch the sun set over the island.

Then we got dinner and headed back home to watch more House of Cards and crash. The next day, we'd planned to go to Mdina, one of the oldest areas of the island perched on top of a tall central hill. It's called "The Silent City", and it really does seem that the narrow streets eat up all sound, so we strolled in silence for some time, enjoying the sun and the little nooks and crannies we discovered:

Fun fact about Mdina: it's also one of the sites where Paul was held in prison on his way to stand trial to Rome. They now charge a ridiculous entrance fee for what is essentially a cellar, but we still went by it to say that we'd seen it.

Right around the time we were getting hungry for lunch, we found a restaurant built into the city walls, with probably the most gorgeous views I've ever enjoyed while eating a sandwich. Even with my camera's panorama setting, I don't think it really does the scene justice.

We lazed our way through lunch and coffee, both basking in the direct sunlight for the first time in months. Unfortunately, my skin has gotten much less resilient to such basking over the course of my time in grey, rainy England, and by the end of the meal, I could feel my shoulders practically sizzling. Although it was definitely painful the next day, I can honestly say that I've never been more excited about a sunburn in my entire life...I've never had occasion to be!

We tried in vain to find a bus to take us back to Sliema, the city where we were staying and also where I'd booked Joe's surprise Valentine's gift: a Thai massage at a place on the beach. Due to the problems of public transport, however, we showed up late, and his hour-long surprise was cut in half. Considering I can never fool him and he hadn't figured out what this particular surprise was, I still chalked it up as a victory, and used the extra money we'd saved to buy us dinner at a pizza place overlooking the harbor, where we watched the last sun we'd see in a while set.

The next morning, we headed off to the airport, and then landed all too soon back in soupy British fog and temperatures hovering in the high 30's. All week though, even in the midst of my crazy exam work, I could still feel the Maltese sun on my shoulders...that is, until they started peeling and itching incessantly :)

Due to a combination of unpacking, repacking, examtaking, and attending meetings and class, my three days in Oxford sped by at seemingly the same speed as the three hours of sleep I snagged on Thursday before dragging myself out of bed for another early morning bus (2 am this time). As I mentioned above, my next trip was a sharp contrast to the romantic Mediterranean getaway: I was off to Copenhagen, the chilly Scandanavian haven of expensive food and Nordic history, with Joe and 4 of our other guy friends. Needless to say, we made a funny picture walking around:

Although, on a related note, I would like to point out that we probably wouldn't have any photographic evidence of our endeavors had it not been for me constantly snapping funny pictures of us walking around!

We arrived in Copenhagen late morning, and found our way to our hostel, where we all took some good naps to muster the energy needed to strike off and walk around the city. Along the way, we passed Rosenborg Castle:

the botanical gardens (not shown because nothing blooms in February), and more than one Danish bakery, where we all ate some delicious pastries. One of the guys tried to keep a straight face while ordering a "Danish" from the bewildered Danish woman working the counter, but eventually broke into laughter and we all ordered winerbroden, which are basically cinnamon buns made with phyllo pastry.

We finally found our way to Nyhavn (Danish for "new harbor"), one of the most famously scenic areas of Copenhagen, and the pushoff site for a boat tour, which we promptly jumped on. After we'd finished the hourlong boatride that was pretty but mostly inaudible due to ridiculously loud engine noise, I snapped a photo of the very Dutch-looking canal before we headed back on the long walk to a restaurant we'd heard about near our hostel.

Kate's Joint, as it was called, ended up having a delicious Indian buffet for a price that was dirt cheap by Danish standards (and passable by ours). Although I didn't eat an inordinate amount, the men on the trip certainly did, and I'd venture that we lost the restaurant money on the deal. After the walking and the huge dinner, we were all more than happy to head back to the hostel and absolutely pass out from exhaustion.

The next morning, we woke up early to go for a run, and then showered before venturing back out into the city to take part in a free walking tour. Despite being jarred by both the cold temperatures and the revelation that the tour would take three hours, we weathered both adversities for an hour and a half, and did learn and see many things. For example, the oldest street in Copenhagen is young by European standards (1795), due to a series of fires that razed the entire city three times in the 18th century.

The new knowledge had no way of keeping us warm, however, so we eventually peeled off to huddle over coffee and tea at a cafe before getting crepes for a late lunch. We then wandered through the National Museum of Denmark and a nearby art gallery before getting dinner at a kabob shop and having a camp-style night of playing cards and listening to music....I'm completely serious; you can't make this stuff up. After copious amounts of rummy, BS, and Presidents, we once again curled up in our hostel bunkbeds.

The next morning, four of us had decided to venture outside of the rather small city center of Copenhagen. It's only 30 minutes by train to Helsingor, the site of Kronborg Castle...better known as Elsinore in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", and arguably the most famous representation of Denmark. The trip through the countryside was gorgeous, and we arrived at a beautiful little town by the sea, with the castle forming the last protrusion towards Sweden

Although it was far too expensive for us as poor grad students to actually go into the castle, we walked all around the outside and peeked into the chapel before making a lap of the town and winding up back in the train station to head back to the capital.

Once back in Copenhagen, we walked quickly through the area known as Christiania, which is a free, self-governed commune known for a very alternative lifestyle and some awesome graffiti:

Satisfied that every item had been crossed off our Copenhagen bucket lists, we strolled all the way back across the city to the hostel, bringing our total walking for the day up to 11 miles, by Chris's pedometer. Hungry, cold, and tired, we all rewarded ourselves with another trip to the Indian buffet (despite the waiters' looks of dread at the recognition of our crew) and then gathered our things so that we could sleep in as late as possible before heading to the airport again in the morning.

The trip home was uneventful, and we were back in Oxford by mid-afternoon...just in time for a post-travel nap. You know, I've always loved to be on the move, to go and see new places, but I have to admit that I'm actually excited to spend the next few weeks only in Oxford to relax and actually take my time on schoolwork. That's not to say that my adventures these past few weeks weren't amazing; they were. Then again, they were also exhausting! And I've really missed seeing all of my friend here in the UK. So I'm looking forward to a more low-key lifestyle.

Then again, that sappiness could be due to the fact that this week has been relatively warm and sunny...don't quote me on that if the British rain comes back to stay!