36 hours in copenhagen.

this fall my niece and her husband planned a trip to europe.

the only weekend of their trip they were to be in copenhagen, so i flew there to meet up with them.

i took the day off friday and arrived early enough to have some time to explore. i have been in copenhagen before, but it had been several years.

i remembered this little market and that it was super cute and a great place to grab some lunch while you're out wandering around. it was one of my first stops.

there are so many options at this market. you are sure to find something to satisfy everyone's tastes.

walking the city i was reminded of the beautiful architecture and details that can be found.

i love the rounded edges and curvy spirals.

i met up with melissa and kevin at this easy to find place with a ton of beers on tap.

later in the evening, i met up with some other friends at this great beer place. it was a little more out of the way, if memory serves, and a louder environment, but lots of beer choices on tap.

on saturday, melissa and kevin chose to check out some copenhagen sites and having been previously i enjoyed the gardens and took some fun photos with the flowers instead of going inside.

we tried this ramen place, where you order your desired version from a vending machine basically and then take your receipt to the counter where they actually make the food. verdict: it was good, but not great.

it was such a treat having family show up in europe! i hope they'll come to visit me again soon!

you might also check out this article and this one for other ideas about how to spend your time.

public transport was pretty easy to figure out and i bought 24 hour tickets that offered unlimited rides. it was a rainy weekend and walking everywhere just wasn't going to happen. this ticket can also get you from the airport into town.

i've yet to make it to this crazy cool ceramics place, but my friends talk about it all. the. time. and i was gifted one of their ghosts. #nexttime

lastly, i stayed at this airbnb. it was just a rented room, but it was fine. prices are high in copenhagen and apartments with fair prices seemed hard to come by.

traveling stateside: first stop? seattle

as part of the #summerof40 my family and i planned an alaskan cruise.

i decided to try to sloooooowly acclimate to the time zone difference by swinging through seattle for a few days on my way to that side of the us.

i had wanted to visit more of the west coast of the us for awhile, and this was a great chance to explore more while headed in that direction.

of course i had planned to visit the space needle, a seattle tourist mecca. it's a little expensive for what it is, but you have to do it, right?

views from the space needle

right next door to the space needle is the chihuly garden and glass. this was an amazing place. i've always loved chihuly's blown glass artwork and this museum and garden is just full of bright, colorful and unique pieces.

i happened to be in this area on the 4th of july and happened upon a rush of people in red, white and blue pouring into a local convention center. after looking around at what was going on, i discovered that all these people, carrying american flags, were racing to try and get a picture with the mayor after they became us citizens.

seriously?

they were all so happy. it was hopeful to see so many people thrilled to become americans and be reminded that despite my current disappointment with the government that being american is something to cherish.

i tried out the free tour in seattle. after trying them all over the world, thought i'd give one of these a shot on us soil.

i spent the rest of the time in seattle eating. and eating. and eating. the public market area is so full of food vendors you could eat there for days. i saw the fish being thrown through the market.

Piroshky Piroshky Bakery yum! 

Rachel's Ginger Beer

awesome grilled cheese from Beecher's

Rainier cherries
I actually think I was allergic to them. Eeeek!

i drank starbucks in seattle.

repeat.

i drank starbucks in seattle.

i saved none of those snaps apparently.

#theoriginal

the line for the "first" shop is ridiculously long and i never was willing to wait when there was a starbucks around the corner with no line.

seattle was really great! i loved all the food options and the beautiful views of the water and the nearby mountains. the one downfall i'd say is the homelessness that has overrun the downtown area. there were so many destitute individuals, and many who were mentally ill, that at times it felt unsafe.

from seattle i flew to anchorage to wait for my family's arrival!

travel tip:
-buy your tickets for the space needle when you first arrive to the area or order online in advance. they are set with a time, so you will usually have to wait for your time window to start. buying in advance should limit your wait.

saigon. land of the motorbike.

There are around 8.5 million motorbikes in Saigon.

With only 8 million people in the city, there are more bikes than people.

Simply set foot in this bustling city center and you won't doubt this information.

Bikes are EVERYWHERE. Even crossing the street here is an event in itself.

Walking on the sidewalk is dangerous, as some of the motorbikes simply skip the road and pass the traffic by weaving through the pedestrians.

Sadly, we didn't have a ton of time in the city, so we tried to make the most of it.

Our co-worker Stacia had previously lived here and gave us plenty of recommendations.

We had an awesome American style breakfast here.

pancakes!

We wandered a bit around the neighborhood close to our hotel.

We went to Starbucks!

#ofcourse

We lounged by the pool. We read a book.

We went for a massage.

I can't even.

It was quite unlike anything I've ever experienced.

Well, maybe that co-ed Turkish hamam was almost as awkward.

We went for drinks at this local beer brewery.

There was a total downpour happening in the midst of this.

We went for pizza here.

The next day we did a motorbike tour that was a ton of fun.

We toured on bikes through this crazy city with local students guiding us around.

memorial to honor Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc,
who burned himself to death in 1963 at the adjacent intersection

They zigged and zagged through the traffic to each destination.

Total craziness.

Notre Dame Cathedral in the city center

notice the total pro on the left
I was holding on for dear life on the right.

One of our early stops in the day was to a local market.

We were offered some desserts, which I politely refused...
milky, yogurty type products that are not cold or refrigerated? ugh. 

you can however buy your fish alive
or frogs
or eels
super weird...and kind of gross!

to go drinks from a road side kiosk
I managed to hold on with only one hand for a few minutes.

local temple that we visited

we loved our xo tour!
#jumpingforjoy

Wrapping up our short stay in Ho Chi Minh City, we were off to a few days of beach time!

Odds and Ends. Volume III.

Let's see...

Latest happenings around here:

Caitlin, Sofia and I went to see Troye Sivan at Alcatraz at the beginning of May. It was like going to a Justin Bieber concert before Justin Bieber was Justin Bieber.

Lots of screaming teenagers.

But we still had a good time.

Can you even enjoy a concert through your eyes any more? It seems like it is easier to watch through everyone else's cell phone, which is frustrating.

I did a second round of Whole 30 recently.

I learned how to use cauliflower in a ton of new ways.

Like for the crust of this pizza. Unlike this recipe, I made it without cheese.

I finally put the comforter on my bed and made my new bedroom look amazing one day!

It did, in fact, only last one day, as I don't keep this comforter on the bed day to day.

I tried another well known gelateria recently.

La Bottega del Gelato is known for there many fruit flavors.

I had strawberry and peach.

It was delicious!

You can find this shop near the Loreto metro stop.

And Caitlin and I finally got around to trying Dry, a modern pizzeria we had read about. Since we had just finished the whole 30 we shared a pizza and a salad.

Our review: AVERAGE.

The pizza was small, but good. The salad was good. With 1 glass of wine for me and 1 beer for Caitlin, the bill came to €37.

And that's expensive!

My neighborhood is home to the Giardino delle Culture. Popcorn Blogazine recently held one of their garage markets in the garden and all kinds of vendors came to sell handmade goods and other vintage finds. A lot of the stuff was similar to what I saw at the East End Market a few months back.

Including these bags.

I had admired them back at the other market and resisted. 

This time I said yes!!

#happyCarrie

Other cool happenings in Milan to share? Let me know!