4 Countries, 1 Week

In the span of one week, from Friday, February 27th to Sunday, March 8th I was in 4 countries.  This is one of those things that is just SO cool to say that I have done!

• The first weekend I was in Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden.
• During the week I was in Cork, Ireland.
• The next weekend I was in Interlaken, Switzerland. 

What is particularly interesting about these few trips is that every one of these countries has a different currency.  I am extremely lucky to use the Euro, as does most of mainland Europe, but there are a few exceptions and it just so happened that my two weekend trips were two of those exceptions. 

Denmark and Sweden are Scandinavian countries and they both are on their own version of the kroner.  There is both a Danish kroner, and a Swedish kroner; very confusing.  I was lucky enough to take out exactly the right amount of cash when I went to Copenhagen so I spent my last kroner right before heading back to the airport.

Danish Kroner

1 Dollar

=

1.05 Euro

=

7.46 Kroner

The next weekend was Switzerland which is on the Swiss Franc. We were extremely lucky with the Swiss Franc because the Franc is at a 12 year low against both the Euro and the Dollar, meaning we got a lot more bang for our buck! I was very unsure of how much money I would need for the weekend so I took out a little too much currency at the airport, and came home with remaining Francs that I had to convert back at my local Bank of Ireland. 

Swiss Franc

1 Dollar

=

1.05 Euro

=

1.06 Swiss Franc

At first I was very excited to see that the value of the euro had dropped to such a low value against the dollar, until I realized that it actually in fact was not good for me.  Since all of my money is already in euros, I will lose money when I exchange it back home.  After hearing this my mom and dad told me to just spend all of the money in my bank account over here, well you definitely do not have to tell me that twice! 

Denmark Day 2: Sweden

Saturday morning Lindsay, Caitlin and I woke up refreshed from a good nights sleep and ready to take on the day.  The night before Caitlin's friend Caroline told us about how her school took her on a day trip to Sweden, and how cool it was because it was so close by.  Immediately upon hearing this we all agreed this was something we wanted to do.  So, we left our hotel for the morning and headed off for Sweden!

The train station was a five minute walk from our hotel, with about ten different pastry shops to choose from along the way.  We stopped at one, Lagkagehuset, that we later learned was a popular chain, and I got the best cinnamon strudel I have ever had.

YUM!

We got to the train station, bought our tickets, and within ten minutes were riding the train headed to Malmo, Sweden. The map below shows how close Copenhagen is to Sweden in general, but Malmo is a city located just after the bridge that connects the two countries.

Copenhagen to Malmo - 32 minute train ride 

Malmo is a small city so we left the train station and were almost right in the town center. 

Malmo

Swedish Flag

Statues of a marching band in the town square

Main square

Before leaving for Sweden we looked up the currency that they use, because Denmark is not on the euro so we assumed Sweden was not either.  Denmark uses a currency called the kroner and online it said that Sweden's currency was the kroner as well.  However, upon arriving in Sweden we soon learned that there is a Danish kroner, and a Swedish kroner; they are not the same.  So after exploring the city, and enjoying the scenery, we quickly headed back for the train station to go back to a country whose currency we actually had.

We arrived back in Copenhagen in the early afternoon and decided to look for lunch.  We thought we would head in the direction of the most famous district so that we could enjoy a nice view with our food.  Nyhavn is essentially a long street in Copenhagen that is right on the water, extremely colorful, and filled with beautiful sailboats.  Luckily, Saturday was a relatively warm and extremely sunny day so it was really enjoyable to be outside.

Nyhavn

Our group: Me, Lindsay, Caitlin, and Caroline

After lunch Caroline took us around the city a bit more.  Copenhagen is really a city that does not have a lot of specific attractions to see, but rather is something you experience.  People had told me this before I went, but I did not really understand what that meant until I was there for myself. 

Cathedral

Park

This is the King of Denmark's second home

We made our way back to the town square where we decided to climb something else.  It is a round tower right in the heart of the city so you have a 360 degree view.  We arrived right at dusk so the sun was setting as we were up there, and it was beautiful. 

View atop the Round Tower

Dusk

Because the hike to the top of the round tower was so arduous, we decided to stop for another pastry after we were done. 

My chocolate covered cinnamon bun 

One of Copenhagen's most famous attractions is Tivoli Gardens, the world's oldest amusement park. Unfortunately, it was closed because it is open only in the summertime but we got to see the rides and most of 

Later that night the four of us got dinner at an Italian restuarant because we were all craving pizza. It was delicious, just as all of my meals during this trip were.  We enjoyed dinner, and a quick drink at The Living Room, before heading back to the hotel and calling it a night.  Two countries in one day is exhausting!