Long Live The Goblin King

David Bowie's death on January 10th had a big impact in London, and on my sister Holly's life. There was a big memorial in south London for Bowie that I hadn't had the opportunity to visit until early February. The mural had already been there for a few years just steps from the Brixton station, and now is a famous landmark to pay tribute to the Goblin King. There was a massive pile of flowers in front of the painting and people had been putting up drawings and writing beside the mural about how Bowie made an impact on their life. The best part was that there was even a pizza. I am lucky I saw it when I did, as I found out that a few days later all the flowers had been cleared away.

Some days I just like to walk around the downtown and see my favourite landmarks. This was an especially hazy day which made a great shot of Parliament and Big Ben. 

Marcel and I love to go on day trips to random places around England, this time we visited Cheddar Gorge on the west coast of England in Somerset. The gorge is about 400 feet deep and 3 miles long, it was quite spectacular. I had no idea that there was anything like this in England. My favourite part was seeing a mountain goat standing on the edge of a cliff. There were also some people free climbing the side of the mountain.  There were some cute shops in the town and of course a place that sold cheddar cheese. though I don't think the village has anything to do with cheddar cheese.

Although Marcel is Irish, he didn't want to do anything for St. Patrick's Day so Shannon and I decided to head to Trafalgar Square for the big party. As usual, any even that is in Trafalgar Square is insanity, but lots of fun!

Stockholm

We took a short plane ride from Copenhagen, to an even colder Stockholm, Sweden. Sadly, we were all too cold to do anything so mainly spent our time and didn't really get the full experience of Stockholm.

Stockholm's waterfront was beautiful

Can't really say I'm a big ABBA fan, I've seen Mamma Mia and know their famous songs, but the ABBA museum was fantastic! There were so many interactive aspects where you perform karaoke and be rated on your performance, dance on stage with holograms, and become a fifth member of the band. Each time you want to participate in something you scan your ticket and at the end, you get emailed all the videos. After all the ABBA memorabilia, there is a Swedish Hall of Fame where it is split into decades and looks at all the famous Swedish artists.

This red phone is reserved for when real members of the band call the museum, unfortunately no one did when we were there.

Katy was brave enough to be the fifth member of ABBA 

Next we went to the Vasa Museum which is centred around an authentic 17th century war ship. The ship sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and sank, but was salvaged 333 years later. The museum explains the history behind the ship, with exhibits explaining what life was like on board.

Although we were already freezing, we stupidly thought a visit to the Icebar would be a fun idea. I feel like it's one of those places you should visit once but I wouldn't go back again, not worth it for the price. The bar is kept at -7 degrees and is quite small but decorated in beautiful ice sculptures. You are given a warm poncho with mittens to wear before entering.

If you don't particularly like the cold,I would recommend waiting and visiting Sweden in the warmer months. Even though we are Canadian, we were used to the mild London winter and found the temperature too cold for us to want to spend much time outside.

Copenhagen

My February half term break was spent in Scandinavia (well Stockholm + Copenhagen) with Katy and Shannon. I have had a few friends who have been to Denmark and really loved it, so I had high hopes. The three of us were a bit hesitant to go because we knew that it would be cold, and even though we are Canadian and should be used to the cold, living in London for the past year and a half has turned me into a whimp when there's cold weather. We stayed at the Generator Hostel in Copenhagen which I would highly recommend. It was one of the nicest hostels I've stayed in, was in a perfect location, and each night had a special social theme (Tuesdays were game night, Thursday there was a local DJ.) The only downside to Copenhagen (and Scandinavia) is how expensive everything is, so if you visit be prepared to spend a lot.

My first view of Denmark - haven't seen real snow since 2014!

Frederik's Church

Nyhavn is a 17th century waterfront and entertainment district. The newest house in Nyhavn was built in 1681. I couldn't believe how much Copenhagen reminded me of Amsterdam - we took a canal cruise and the guide explained that King Christian IV loved Amsterdam so much and used it as inspiration.

Christianborg Palace 

While in Denmark, you must have a danish pastry. We got the most delicious cinnamon buns!

Before the trip, I did a little research and found an area called Freetown Christiania. This little area was established in 1971 as an alternative to mainstream culture and is its own self-governing town with its own currency and flag. Upon entering you'll see a wooden post that says you are now leaving the EU. Its quite small, but the main attraction is Pusher Street, where its major export is cannabis. Photography is strictly not allowed, where I actually saw a woman have to delete her picture from one of the security officers. It's really a strange place, I felt like I was in some sort of psychedelic dream but it's worth seeing!

We took the train just north of Copenhagen to Hillerod to see the beautiful Fredricksborg Castle where King Christian IV resided in the 17th century. 

I had my fill of castles, so while Katy decided to go visit another one, Shannon and I went to the Carlsberg brewery. Carlsberg was founded in 1847 by J. C. Jacobsen and also brews Somersby, Tuborg and Kronenbourg.