Eating Ribe

I just got back from my first weekend excursion outside of Copenhagen! Those of you that know me well know that I can be a little ... impulsive ... at times, and when the Study Tour people were presenting this little weekend trip called "Reading Ribe," to a cute little medieval town on the west coast, I pretty much jumped on it without even thinking.

Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark, and is about 3.5 hours from Copenhagen. It's pretty secluded... no, that's an understatement. And before the trip I didn't know anyone who was going with me, so I started to question my rash decision. Oh, and my host family of course didn't make me feel any better. Copenhageners believe that there is nothing worth seeing in Denmark outside of Copenhagen... especially on the Jutland penninsula. Ribe? Why???

Well it turned out to be completely worth it. I mean, it was a pretty low-key weekend and I missed out on a lot of the shenanigans that went on here, but I really had a great time. There were 16 (I think) students, and 2 DIS people, Carsten (this awesome history teacher who studied in the U.S. in the 60s and has some of the greatest stories ever) and Anders (a 24 year old Danish student who is, in a word, hilarious).

Our hostel was actually really nice, and provided us with a huge breakfast both mornings. Nice change of pace from the salty cornflakes. Both days we had great breakfast conversations with Anders about silver hightops and how it is acceptable to date someone as young as "half your age plus 7." Do the math and get back to me people. (P.S. this conversation was initiated by me saying that I have 16 year old host brothers..... and Anders asking me if they are hot. I said ew. And then he went on this ramble.)

Saturday morning was kind of rainy. And REALLY windy. We did a scavenger hunt around the city, but my group's answer sheet blew into the river. It was probably for the best. Then we climbed the church tower & the wind was so strong that --- I kid you not --- I was reclining back into it w/ almost all my weight and it was holding me up. We ran all around, took lots of unnecessary pictures of buildings, did some sketches of the architecture, and called it a day. For dinner we went to a Mongolian Barbeque (....think Danish with a Chinese accent, it was weird) and chowed down. Then Anders and Carsten used the DIS emergency money to take us to pretty much the only bar in town and buy everyone a drink. It was an emergency, according to them, we looked dehydrated. It was a good time.

Then this morning, we went to the Viking museum ...... and I just kept thinking about how Rob from Tivoli (the cafe) told me that I look like a Viking woman, and named me Helga. Too bad I'm not even Danish.

We topped the trip off with a traditional Danish buffet, and I am proud to say that I tried pickled herring. It's not as gross as it sounds, but it's pretty gross. The rest of the food was fantastic though and I don't think I need to eat for another week. If nothing else, this trip was definitely worth the food. I think next semester they should consider naming it "Eating Ribe."

I only have 2 days of classes this week, so start looking forward to more stories to come!