Euro Tour Information!

Hey super exciting news,

Yesterday the information for Euro Tour was released, including buses, dates, stops, and itinerary!  Here is the itinerary for you to see what I will be doing on the 18 day trip of a life time.

1st day: 

Departure early in the morning by our own bus from Denmark. The destination on the first day is Berlin, the world famous city where life is exiting, and where you can still experience both East and West Europe. 

2nd day: 

We shall spend the day in Berlin, seeing some of the famous sights, among others Brandenburger Tor, Kurfürstendam, Unter den Linden, Dedächtnisskirche, and what is left of the Berlin Wall. 

3rd day: 

After breakfast we will continue to Prague in The Czech Republic. On our  way there will be sightseeing at the concentration camp Theresienstadt. 

4th day: 

"The Golden City" Prague stands on 7 hills on the river Moldau. We shall go sightseeing to the old castle and the Royal Palace, Hradchin, the Teyn Church, St Veits Cathedral and "The Golden Street" Zlata Ulica. 

5th day: 

After breakfast the tour will continue through beautiful landscapes, and the border of Austria will be crossed before we arrive at the glorious capital Vienna, in which we shall stay overnight. Sightseeing in the afternoon. 

6th day: 

Among other things in Vienna we shall see the beautiful Schönbrunn Palace. There will also be time for you to be on your own and to experience the special atmosphere, listening to Viennese music. 

7th day: 

After breakfast we shall continue through small picturesque towns in southern Austria. The tour from Vienna will take us through a typical beautiful Austrian landscape. We will arrive at Lido di Jesolo in the evening. 

8th day: 

Lido di Jesolo is a beach area of paradisiacal beauty at the Adriatic cost of Italy. We will spend the day bathing and basking in the sun. Next morning we will make a trip to Venice. 

9th day: 

Venice, town of gondolas, is one of the absolute climaxes on the journey. We will go sightseeing in Venice, visit the Marcus Square, the Doge Palace and the Bridge of the Sighs. After the sightseeing we will go back to Lido di Jesolo, where we will have supper and stay over-night. 

10th day: 

Early in the morning we shall leave Lido di Jesolo and make a pause in Verona where you will have the opportunity of seeing the Arena and Juliet’s balcony, before we continue to the Riviera of Italy, where we shall arrive for a late dinner.

11th day: 

After breakfast we shall drive along the beautiful scenery of the Riviera. There will be time to stop over for a visit in the principality of Monaco, where we shall se the Royal Palace. After a colourful tour along the French Riviera we will arrive Avignon, the famous residence of the Popes in the 14th century. Overnight in Avignon. 

12th day: 

We shall spend the day in this very special atmosphere of Southern France. 

13th , 14th and 15th day: 

Our goal is Paris, the city of cities with its big boulevards and small bistros – the city of thousands pleasures. We shall stay in Paris for two days, and the time  will mainly be spent on sight- seeing. It  will be possible to see Louvre, the Triumphal Arch, the old as well the new one, The Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, the Sacre Coer, the Concorde Square, the Latin Quarter and the Centre Pompidou. 

16th day: 

We leave Paris and will arrive in Brussels in the beginning of the afternoon for sightseeing to the Grand-Place, Manneken Pis and Centre de la Bande Dessinée. 

17th day: 

After breakfast we arrive in Holland and will drive to Amsterdam for sightseeing and a canal trip. The last night on the tour will be in Arnhem. 

18th day: 

After breakfast we will drive from Arnhem via Hamburg and back to Denmark. Everybody is tired, but it is a pleasant fatigue after a tour through both ancient and modern Europe. 

I can't wait for this trip. It is really a great way to me to end off my amazing year. 

Oh and I shaved my beard.

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Jul i Tivoli :)

Hey,

So it officially feels like Christmas in Denmark now.  We (my host family and I) made the trip down to Copenhagen to visit a very old theme park called Tivoli.  The theme park during Christmas is very beautiful.  Lights on all the rides, trees, and when it gets dark at 4pm you have a lot of time to soak in the beautiful lights during the night.

We got up and were out the door by 8 and we were in Copenhagen by 11, ready to start our day.  We met up with other exchange students and I also randomly ran into people I knew.  Denmark is a pretty small country.

I went on all the rides I could with Frida, Frederik, and Nicole and it was lovely too see Caitlin and Elyse again.  I had the best time, and it was a great way to spend time with my host family.  Then we left for the long drive home where everyone fell asleep fairly quickly

Vi Ses,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

December 11, 2008 Update.

Hey everyone,

This is just a pointless update.  All i really wanted to say was "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH" because the legendary Bob Dylan is coming to Copenhagen on March 29th, 2009 and I have tickets!  Even though it is a long time to wait, I still am very, very excited!  

This will be the second time I have seen Dylan and concert and I am just as excited or even more excited then the first time.  I don't have too much information about it yet.  I don't know if there is an opening act, and I don't where I am staying after the concert, but I have a lot of time to sort that out thankfully.

I am lucky that he is making Denmark one of his stops on his "Neverending Tour" while I am living in the country!  I am so grateful.  I just hope the old guy doesn't croak before March 29th.  Fingers crossed everybody.  

Hej hej,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com

Galla At Tørring Gymnasium

Hey,

This past Saturday at Tørring Gymnasium was our school's Galla. Galla is the equivalent to the high school prom, except it happens in the middle of the school year. With smaller schools like Tørring, the whole school is invited. With larger schools, only the third years get invited.

With most of my class there at Galla it is nice to see classmates out of the classroom, having a good time. I was with many friends and it was the first "real" school party I have attended so far this year. I went to a first year only party with my class, only because we were taking care of coat check, and the other school party I was away with Rotary at district camp.

It was a lot of fun to see all my friends dressed up looking sharp and enjoying themselves. Galla ended at 2am and we headed down to Tordenskoild (the local club). I crashed at a friends place and got back to Brædstrup the next morning. All in all a very enjoyable night.

Galla is much fancier then any semi-formal back home, and third years have galla dresses like out of Cinderella. It was pretty impressive. I convinced some of my friends to vote for me for 'Canadian Of The Year'. To make a long story short, I didn't win. I thought I would have that award in the bad because I am the only Canadian at gymnasium. Oh well. The photo below shows you one of the votes.

My class is having a "Julefrokost" (Christmas Party) next week and I am really excited for it! We are having it on a Thursday because we only have one class on Friday! Friday should be quite interesting.

Vi ses,

Dillon

dillonrahkola@hotmail.com