I slowed down a bit in August compared to my intense July schedule, but I still managed to visit four countries. I also spent some wonderful weeks in Denmark, catching up with family and friends, and at the end of the month I finally flew back to Greenland.
The end of my trip through Southern Europe
The first ten days of the month were spent on the road in Spain and Portugal, the end of my one-month trip through Southern Europe. I got up to something very exciting on the very first day of the month, as I spontaneously decided to visit Ayamonte, the childhood home of my childhood hero, María Isabel. You know, the girl who won the Junior Eurovision as a nine-year-old singing “Antes Muerta Que Sencilla”. I spent many years of my childhood singing and dancing to her songs, and visiting Ayamonte to see her statue was a childhood dream of mine. Staying overnight in Huelva which is so close to the village, I knew that I had to fulfill that long lost dream. I had a great day exploring her tiny village and taking thousands of selfies with her statue!
From Huelva, I caught a bus to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where I stayed for the next three days. I quickly learned that three days is nowhere near enough as Lisbon and Portugal have a lot to offer. I spent my first day there exploring the beautiful capital and catching a tram to its two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The next two days were spent on day trips as I wanted to see more of Portugal. I spent a long day in Sintra, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. Castles upon castles surrounded by mountains and vast forests. I absolutely loved my day hiking through this incredible cultural landscape. The next day was spent in the medieval city of Évora, where the highlight was seeing the Chapel of Bones and exploring the beautiful old university.
After my very brief visit to Portugal, I headed back to Spain, this time to the nation’s capital, Madrid. While I enjoyed the city itself, a bad hostel experience with three uncomfortable guys unfortunately overshadowed it.
I only spent a day in Madrid before heading north to Bilbao, the largest city in the Basque Country, a region I’d been dying to see since forever. Unfortunately, I had another bad experience in Bilbao as my bag with all of my important personal belongings was stolen, but thankfully later retrieved. The experience really shook me up so I could do nothing for the last two days of my trip. Thankfully, I had explored most of Bilbao before it happened, and I had actually really enjoyed my time in the beautiful city. Despite what happened, it was still a good introduction to the Basque Country, which I plan on returning to to explore more thoroughly.
I went back to Madrid for my last day and had booked a different hostel, where my only roommate was a lovely girl from Austria. I went for a walk in the nearby El Retiro park and otherwise just relaxed and counted down the hours until I could fly home.
While I did have many amazing experiences on my one-month trip through Southern Europe, the busy schedule mixed with writing my BA thesis on the go had me constantly exhausted. I learned a lot from this trip, mainly to take it slower when I travel, even if there’s a lot I want to see in a short amount of time.
Downtime in East Jutland
I flew back to Denmark on August 10th and arrived in my hometown of Hov in the late evening. My younger brother Brandon had also come home as my little niece Ellie was getting christened the following day. It was wonderful to have the entire family gathered for once.
Unfortunately, I had to hand in my BA thesis just four days later, so I had limited time to spend with my family, but I did find time to go for a few walks with them and enjoy the company of my dearly missed cat, Holly.
On August 14th at 11.45 AM, I was finally free. I had handed in my thesis, which I’d been working on since February! I can’t describe how relieved I felt. Now I could finally just relax and enjoy the company of my family, and see friends in East Jutland, which I spent the next two weeks doing. It was wonderful to be home for longer than just a few days!
A few days in Copenhagen
On August 27th, I caught a bus to Copenhagen as I had to defend my BA thesis the next day. I was so extremely nervous and felt like I might as well fail, but luckily it went very well and I got an A. Oh the relief. I’ve worked so hard on that thesis, so I couldn’t be happier with how it went.
I had two more days in Copenhagen before leaving for Greenland, which I spent saying goodbye to the university where I took most of my BA courses, spending quality time with my friend Amanda and celebrating my grade with Solveig and Mikkel, who surprised me with a dinner at a wonderful vegan restaurant in the center of Copenhagen. I couldn’t have wished for a better send-off.
Back to Greenland
On the morning of August 30th, it was finally time to head back to my beloved Nuuk. I had a wonderful short stopover in Kangerlussuaq, where I went for a walk to my favourite spot by the river, before arriving in Nuuk at 2.30 PM. I spent the last two days of the month seeing some of my dearly missed friends and wandering about the streets of Nuuk, thinking back to all the wonderful memories made there.
Destinations visited in August 2019
- Huelva, Ayamonte, Madrid and Bilbao, Spain
- Lisbon, Sintra and Évora, Portugal
- Hov, Hørning, Odder, Tunø, Fredericia, Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark
- Kangerlussuaq and Nuuk, Greenland
Highlights
- Finding my childhood hero María Isabel’s statue in Ayamonte!
- Bridgewalking on Vizcaya Bridge in Bilbao.
- Lisbon exceeding all of my expectations.
- A day of hiking in the beautiful cultural landscape of Sintra.
- Exploring the Chapel of Bones in Évora
- My darling niece’s Christening.
- Seeing good friends who I hadn’t seen for a long time!
- Finally handing in my BA thesis – what a relief!
- Arriving in Greenland again – oh how I’ve missed that place!
Challenges
- A bad hostel experience in Madrid, where three guys were talking about me in Spanish (thinking I wouldn’t understand…) and intensely staring at me. I wasn’t able to change rooms as the hostel was full, so I slept with all of my belonging on me as I didn’t feel they would be safe in a locker. Thankfully, another girl and a guy checked in later, making me feel a bit safer.
- Being robbed in Bilbao. Three idiots stole my bag with all of my important belongings (passport, money, credit cards, driver’s license, house key, train ticket, phone charger etc.) when I was sitting in a park enjoying my breakfast. I reacted by making a huge scene and running after them through the streets. I got help from many locals who pointed in the direction they had run, and two guys ran with me to try to catch them. The police was called and they arrived in a flash, and actually managed to retrieve my bag! I’ve never cried more for joy, especially since I was flying back home just two days later and didn’t want to deal with getting a new passport – and having no money at all). I love the police and locals of Bilbao.
- The exhaustion I felt from the Southern Europe trip – I was so tired when I finally got home.
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Standing above a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Córdoba, Spain!
Coming up in September 2019
The first two weeks of September are being spent in beautiful Nuuk, hanging out with my friends and trekking to the village of Kapisillit.
On September 14th, I will be flying off on the next adventure – to Tasiilaq in East Greenland! I will be spending 10 weeks there doing an internship at the local museum. I am so excited to finally see some of East Greenland. I’m looking forward to working at the museum and to lots and lots of hiking in the weekends!
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