My April 2018: Faroes, North Jutland and Öland

April has been a month full of travel, good times with friends and lots and lots of studying and working!

The last part of my trip to the Faroe Islands

April started the best way possible, in the beautiful Faroe Islands, my favourite place on the planet. The first few days of my trip were in March, so I wrote about those days in my March post.

April 1st was my last full day in the country. It was Easter and that meant spending it with my Faroese “families”. There was a big Easter lunch at Andras’ and in the evening, I visited Rigmor and Jens and their sons and dog Alex, who I’ve stayed with several times before, last time in November with Solveig! I had a lovely meal there and got to meet their workawayer from USA, Zebadiah, who quickly became a good friend!

The last day actually ended up being much longer than expected, as my flight was delayed for 4 hours, meaning I actually got a full day out of it! It was great and I spent it with Andras’ family, doing a Faroese Easter tradition where you paint eggs and roll them down a mountain to see them break. The dogs went crazy and ran after the eggs, haha. It was a lot of fun and it was great to take part in a Faroese tradition. My friend Katrine, her boyfriend Klæmint and his sister Ata also came by for coffee, which was lovely!

This trip to the Faroe Islands was just as great as the last ones, but it was different this time around. I wasn’t rushing around to see everything as I usually do. Instead, I tried my hardest not to make plans, and instead spend as much quality time as possible with the people I care about. I’m already looking forward to the next trip up there, where I will try to do the same. After all, I know I’ll keep coming back, so I’ll have plenty of time to see it all eventually!

Life in Copenhagen

Life in the capital has been great this month. I’ve spent most of my time studying and writing exams, but I’ve also found time to go partying with friends and show Zebadiah around my favourite parts of the city, when he came to visit during a long stopover on his way back to Maine. We spent a fun afternoon together visiting Nyhavn and Christiania. I hope to see him again soon, hopefully on Greenland or when I visit him in Maine!

One party in particular was a lot of fun, as it was my birthday party along with my two good friends Lula and Amanda! We threw a party for all of our archaeology friends at the university and it was a blast! I also got the present of a century, when my wonderful friend Solveig gave me a painting she had made of a Mesolithic woman (I love it and her to bits!).

On the study front, I’ve got some exciting news – I’ve been accepted into the University of Greenland, which means I’ll be moving to Nuuk from September to February! I’ve already booked my ticket and I’ll leave on September 1st, so the countdown is on! Another great thing is that my parents, grandmother and younger brother are all visiting me there for Christmas and New Years! I’ve already got my accommodation sorted as well, as the university granted me a room in a shared apartment for just 1000 DKK per month (I’m paying 3500 DKK per month now, so that’s an incredibly cheap price!). Needless to say, I’m very excited for the future!

Work life and economy (aka. travel money)

I’ve been working quite a lot this month, both at my customer service job at Bonnier Publications and at the National Museum of Denmark. I’ve really started to enjoy teaching young children at the museum, as most of them are really interested (and cute!).

The season at the Land of Legends has also started again, but unfortunately I won’t have time to be there as much as last year, but I will still work there for a few weeks during the summer! In the middle of the month, I went to a sleepover with the new employees in the Iron Age village – it was lovely to see my favourite workplace again. I can’t wait to get started!

Mesolithic field trip to North Jutland

On April 20th, I headed off to the very north of Jutland for a two-day field trip with 27 other archaeology students, our teacher Mikkel and the archaeologist Søren. Mikkel, Søren and I had planned a trip in the Limfjord region visiting mainly Mesolithic sights, but also a few sights from other time periods.

It was a great trip with some extremely interesting sights and incredibly beautiful nature. The north part of Jutland is definitely a place that I need to explore further!

It was also great to finally meet Søren, who is my archaeological hero as he has excavated most of the classic sites from the Ertebølle Culture! I hope to be him someday, haha.

Back to Hov for a day

On the way back to Copenhagen from North Jutland, I decided to pay my family a visit, so instead of leaving with the others on the Saturday, I caught a bus back to Copenhagen Sunday evening, so I could spend some time with my beloved family. I hadn’t seen them for a month, so it was great to be back!

Thankfully, I’ll have much more time to visit them in May and again in July and August before I move to Greenland.

A long weekend on idyllic Öland

The last weekend in April was spent on the island of Öland, which is located just off the east coast of Sweden. It was a spontaneous decision that brought me there, as we had the Friday off, so I decided that I wanted to go somewhere.

Öland turned out to be the perfect place to go for a weekend of explorations and evening peace to write my exams. I stayed in my own apartment (I know right – this hostel person never does that!) in Borgholm and rented a car, so I could see as much as possible in the three days I had available.

Öland quickly became a favourite of mine along with the other Baltic islands that I’ve been to, Åland, Gotland and Bornholm. I hope to visit the Estonian Baltic islands next!

Destinations visited in April 2018

• Vágar and Streymoy, Faroe Islands
• Copenhagen, North Jutland and Hov,  Denmark
• Öland, Sweden

Highlights

• Spending time with my Faroese families.
• The delayed flight home from the Faroe Islands! Thank you Atlantic Airways for giving me four extra hours in my favourite place!
• The birthday party with great friends!
• Showing Zebadiah around Copenhagen!
• Getting accepted into the University of Greenland and getting an apartment in Nuuk for just 1000 DKK per month!
• Finally spending time in the Land of Legends again – I’ve really missed that place!
• Visiting Ertebølle and other classic Mesolithic sights in North Jutland!
• Finally meeting my archaeological hero, Søren.
• The quick visit to Hov to see my family.
• Falling head over heels in love with Öland!

Challenges

• Leaving the Faroe Islands – I hate it every time.
• Too much studying for too many exams! Oh well, it will all be over soon!
• The weather is getting warmer… Really fast. Last month, I wished for warmer weather, but now I take it back 😉

Most popular post

• My March 2018: Slovenia and the Faroe Islands – Again, you guys really seem to enjoy these posts (I do too!).

The other posts

• Ljubljana: The quaint capital of Slovenia – All about one of the cutest European capitals!
• To Lake Bled: Slovenia’s fairytale lake – A magical day at Slovenia’s most famous lake.
• 1535 meters above Lake Bohinj – An afternoon spent in the Julian Alps above Lake Bohinj!
• Škocjan Caves: 160 meters below the surface of the earth – The most astonishing cave system in the world!
• Skansin to Hoyvíkshólmur: Exploring the dramatic coastline of Tórshavn – A surprisingly beautiful walk in the rain from Tórshavn to Hoyvík.
• Climbing Nónfjall, Bolafløttur and Høgafjall: Along the dramatic southwest coast of Vágar – No doubt the highlight of my Easter trip to the Faroe Islands!

Most popular Instagram picture

This picture of my little friend Liam sitting next to the Faroese prison with the most breathtaking view was a sure winner!

Vis dette opslag på Instagram

Et opslag delt af Mel (@north.trotter)

Coming up in May 2018

Tomorrow, I’m actually off on another trip – this time on a field trip to Greece! I’m going there for 9 days with several other archaeology students and four of our teachers! We’re going to travel around the mainland and see some of the classic sights such as Delphi, Meteora (!), Thessaloniki, Korinth, Marathon and of course Athens. It will be my third time in Greece, but my first time travelling around the mainland!

May is also the month where all the exams take place. Thankfully, I’ve already almost written my two written exams, so I just have to finish those and then study hard for my oral exam in the beginning of June!