Amalfi and Copenhagen

The internet at the study center is running very slow right now, so I can't upload all of the pictures that I would like to for this entry. I'm sorry. Just read my descriptions and make the most of it. Perhaps sometime later I'll post more pictures.

On Tuesday morning I returned to Italy from a week-long journey that included the south of Italy and then Copenhagen, Denmark.

In the south of Italy, we saw Pompei and then traveled down to the town of Amalfi. It is a beautiful little town situated in a valley that opens up to the Mediterranean Sea. There are enormous cliffs and steep hillsides all around, but people live everywhere. It is a very cool area.

This is a garden in the town of Ravello, a 2o minute busride up the side of the cliffs from Amalfi. This gives you a good idea of the severity of the landscape of the area. It really is breath-taking.

On Friday, I took a plane from Rome to Copenhagen. The flight was 2 and a half hours long, because we had "the wind in our faces" usually it only takes 2 hours. When I got to Copenhagen, Sara was at the airport. After a few minutes of not seeing each other, she finally found me and it was amazing. It was so good to see her again.

Her host family was kind enough to let me stay with them at their house. It is really cool. It is super modern on the inside. nearly all the walls are white, which really lights up the interior of the house. This is especially important because it is cloudy in Denmark much of the time. The typical ambient light outside is a silvery-grey because of the cloudcover. The white walls and large windows really bring the light inside and create a lively and cozy interior. The Danes focus on the inside of their buildings because it is too cold outside much of the year. But I didn't get a picture of this, just read Sara's old post on her blog for that.

We went around the center of Copenhagen and saw some of the trademark sights.

This is Nyhavn. The trademark view of Copenhagen's harbor. Apparently formerly a shady area of town. Now its really cool, and close to lots of the other attractions downtown.

This building is called the Black Diamond. It is a library on the water of Copenhagen's harbor. I don't know the architect, but it is a really cool building.

Sara and I went to Bagsvaerd Church. This building was designed by Jan (pronounced Yon)
Utzon. This is the same architect as the Sydney Opera House. He is a native of Denmark. The interior of the church is beautiful This is a good example of wonderful Danish design to let light in. The silvery white natural light pours in through the large windows and bounces off the white painted concrete. The result is a beautifully completely naturally lit space.

This is me in front of the little mermaid statue. Apparently its really famous. So this is to prove that I was there. It is to commemorate Hans Christian Anderson because he wrote the Little Mermaid. He was from Copenhagen.

This is Sara and I's panorama of the harbor of Copenhagen, looking from the ramparts of Kastellet, an old fortress. We are on opposite ends to symbolize how we are apart. actually thats not it, we just thought it would be cool.

This is my favorite. The best thing about Copenhagen.