Hope Gilley

Hope is spending the semester in Copenhagen, Denmark. Hope is spending the semester in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is studying 20th Century European History, Doing Business in the European Union, International Financial Management, and Economic Theories of Globalization with DIS, Denmark's International Study Program.

Some of My Last Experiences

Posted by: Hope on May 12, 2008

Hello Again! For first-timers, my name is Hope Gilley. I am a junior at Wingate University studying abroad in Denmark.

Many new things have happened these last few weeks. First of all, my friend, Erin, came all the way from Charlotte to visit me in Copenhagen! It was so exciting having someone from home come over to see me. Plus, it is always a great feeling getting to show friends around, acting as if I really came from Copenhagen. Having Erin come over, I also got to check some of the site seeing stuff off of my own list.

I truly believe that Erin brought the sunshine to Copenhagen from North Carolina, because we have been enjoying some amazing weather since she got here. Once Erin arrived, I had to get back into the mindset of being a tourist. I had forgotten how exhausting it is walking around and trying to soak everything in. We did so much walking, visiting the different parks; my favorite would have to be the Botanical Gardens. A day was spent in the Deer Park at Klampenborg, where we also visited Bakken, one of Denmark’s oldest amusement parks. It was in Bakken, where Erin and I rode the oldest rollercoaster in the world. Traveling to Sweden, did take up one day as w; we went peddle-boating in the canal, how many people can say that they peddle-boated in Sweden?

The day before Erin left, I had already secured a visit to the U.S. Embassy, to meet with Ambassador Cain. I thought it a nice surprise that I also secured an invitation for Erin as well. When we arrived at the embassy, we were made to go through some intense security; visitors are not allowed to bring in cell phones or cameras. Another student actually joined our meeting and it was coincidental that we all had a connection to Charlotte, NC. So, for thirty minutes we all sat with Ambassador Cain, and he was everything amiable. His office commemorates many of the sports teams for North Carolina. Because of the hot weather, we each sat with a diet coke and some muffins as Ambassador Cain explained about his position and the history of U.S. Ambassadors in general. When the new president is elected, Ambassador Cain will turn in his resignation and prepare to leave Denmark around February of next year.

After Erin left, my host family also left for holiday in Jutland. I rested for a day, because I was exhausted, and prepared myself for a bike trip to Bornholm that weekend. Bornholm is a small island belonging to Denmark. Friday night, my friends and I, took the midnight ferry to Bornholm, where we slept in a seat or on the floor and had to be ready to start biking at nine o’clock the next morning. It is surprising that with so few hours of sleep, I was actually able to bike the entire day.

My friend, Caitlin, and I took our own route around Bornholm. After breakfast at the hostel, we got our bikes and were on our way. We started in Gudhejm and worked our way up to the northern point of the island to Hammershus. Biking around 45km on Saturday, we saw the tallest waterfall, caves, a fortified round church near Tejn, and a medieval fortress dating back around 1290. When we arrived back at the hostel, we both went to sleep around 9:30pm; super early for us! Sunday we woke up and decided on a route that would take us towards the center of the island and then head to the South. Our plan was to reach Svaneke in the South by lunch time, in order to partake in the fish from the famous smokehouses. We headed toward Osterlars, where we saw the highest vertical waterfall on the island and the largest fortified round church, and then continued to Almingdengen; where we planned to see a famous lookout tower. Getting a little lost on the way, we decided to just turn towards Svaneke while in the dark forests of Almingdengen. Caitlin and I decided to continue on when we saw a sign that said it would take us 20km to get to Svaneke. We almost died right then, there was no way we could make it by lunch time. Honestly, I think the way was mostly downhill, but I prefer to think that we are superb bicyclers, because we made it in a little over an hour. We enjoyed a plate of smoked fish and wondered around the city before starting on our 18km ride back to Gudhejm.

There is one story that I will share from our journey back. As we were riding, some small children called out to us, “Do you want to buy some rocks?” Caitlin automatically said “No,” however, I made her stop. These boys had a rock stand, although lemonade would have been preferable, and it was simply adorable. We both spent around 10 kroner each on some rocks we could have picked up on our own. As we left, it occurred to us that those kids probably thought, “Those dumb Americans; they will buy anything, even some rocks we just picked up! I love tourists!”

Now I am back from my last travel while staying in Europe and the semester is coming to a close. Next week I have finals and then the week after I will return home. Please keep me in your prayers as I finish up my exams. I still have time for emails, so if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at dhgilley@wingate.edu.