My plans for the summer of 2017: Travels and excavations

The summer is finally here, although the weather isn’t exactly cooperating here in Denmark. But I have an exciting summer planned, going to sunnier places full of adventure.

Archaeological excavations in Høje Taastrup and Bornholm

This week was spent on my first archaeological excavation in Høje Taastrup, which is part of a one-month exam. We learned many new things, dug up many interesting finds (including large animal bones and ceramics!) and I once and for all found out that archaeology is just right for me. I had a lovely time in Høje Taastrup, and I was sad to see it end after only four days.

But the second part of our one-month excavation exam is on Bornholm, at a site called Vasagård, starting from Monday. I’m excited to learn much more and to get digging again! But I’m also really excited to explore Bornholm in my free time. Bornholm is a small island in the Baltic Sea, which is a part of Denmark, despite being much closer geographically to Sweden. The geology and history of Bornholm differs a lot from the rest of Denmark, and also the weather is said to be much better on Bornholm. I’ve been there once before on a class trip in the 8th grade, but that was without any sort of decent camera, so I’ll definitely be revisiting all of my favourite places and many new ones! I’ve also planned to go on a 7 km hike in the north of the island and to visit the nearby islands of Christiansø and Frederiksø on a day tour.

We only have two weekends on Bornholm, but I will be flying to Jutland on the first Saturday to attend my big brothers wedding, which I’m also looking forward to a lot. This means that I’ll only have one weekend to see everything, but I’m going to try to take advantage of the evening hours during the week days as well!

On July 21st, I’ll be back in Copenhagen, and then my second semester is officially over!

A quick getaway to Amsterdam and Luxembourg

On July 30th, I’ll finally be on my way out of the country again! Apart from the day trip to Malmö in June, I haven’t travelled abroad since the Faroe Islands in April, which is a looooong time ago, if you ask me! I’m used to travelling all the time, and I can really feel that I need to get going again!

So, I’ve booked a small solo trip to two European cities that I haven’t yet explored, Amsterdam and Luxembourg! The latter will also be a new country for me, getting my number up to 58!

I haven’t planned much so far, but I’ll have one full day in Amsterdam, where I’ll explore the city, and then two full days in Luxembourg. One of these days I’ll spend in the city, and on the second day, I hope to do some nature hiking!

The third total solar eclipse tour!

On August 9th, a trip that I’ve been planning for over a year is finally beginning! Originally, I was planning a two-month trip with my friend Bethann, but my plans have changed many times since then, and in the end, it has become a 15-day trip with my friend Amanda.

This week, I finally received my visa, which I had to get since I travelled to Iran in January, because of the new visa rules, so we have only just booked our tickets a few days ago. We are flying to Los Angeles first via Toronto, where we have an 8-hour stopover. The airport is situated just half an hour from Toronto’s city center, so we’re planning a quick sightseeing trip around the city! Canada will be my 59th country, but I’m definitely going to come back to the country again – there’s so much I want to see in Canada!

We’ll be staying in LA for two nights, exploring Hollywood and other famous neighbourhoods, before picking up our rental car and beginning our roadtrip adventure through 8 states along the historic Route 66!

Our roadtrip will start off on a small detour to Solvang, an old Danish town just north of Los Angeles, before entering the Route 66 and driving through the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, ending in Chicago.

We plan on taking many detours to beautiful nature areas, such as the Grand Canyon, which simply cannot be missed! Also, in Oklahoma, we’ll be visiting my friend Alexandria for a few days, which will be lovely! And in Illinois is where the big event will happen! I’ve been an eclipse chaser for two years now, and the one in the USA will be my third (Faroe Islands was my first, and Indonesia my second). We’re watching the eclipse somewhere in the middle of Illinois, before continuing on to Chicago, where we’ll spend the last two days, before heading back to Denmark!

Back at university

When I get back from USA, I’ll be tutoring the new archaeology students for a week before starting my third semester. Travel won’t stop there though, as I’ve already planned a few weekends abroad in my head. I simply can’t help myself! I’m thinking that Edinburgh, Switzerland and of course, the Faroe Islands, need a visit from me 😉 Maybe Azerbaijan too!

During the few weeks where I’m not on excavations or travelling this summer, I’ll be working at the Land of Legends, my beloved work place! My family is also coming to visit me here in Copenhagen for a weekend, and I’ll make sure to spend some quality time with good friends as well!

Tomorrow, I’m leaving for Bornholm. Three weeks of archaeological excavations and much cycling, hiking and sightseeing awaits me!

I’ll be posting from all of my trips throughout the summer, so stay tuned!