The Travel Tales of Julia Sheldon

I spent 8 weeks in Denmark: 5 at a camp with 71 others, mostly 11 year olds, and 3 weeks in Copenhagen chillin' out after camp. I can understand a bunch of Danish now, which is super cool, and I think the language sounds hilarious. I'm a fan. So here are 10 Fun Facts I learned about living in Denmark. 1) Danes are super friendly, if you speak in English. Locals told me it's easier to speak in English when you need help, cause people are more willing to help silly tourists than people who "should" know where they're going. 2) You can't really find typical Danish food. It mostly consists of bread, potatoes, and some sort of meat. So, you'd make it at home - read: there are no restaurants. 3) Copenhagen is the only place that I know of that has an amusement park (with roller coasters, no less) in the middle of the city. It's literally right beside the central train station. And, it's really friggin cool! 4) There are more pigs than peopl

A week in Mallorca? Why not?! Chose to stay in Puerto de Soller, rather than in Palma de Mallorca. It's a half hour drive, through 2 tunnels. Not too shabby. Thus far, when it rains, it is only at night or in the morning. If clouds come, they don't stay for long. It is incredibly hot in the early afternoon, so we totally understand the need for a 3 hour siesta, and we take one too. Surprisingly, Mallorca is FULL of Germans. Most shop keepers speak German over English, because this place is swimming with Germans. We took a paddle boat with a slide in the saltiest water I've ever been in. But I mean, paddle boat with slide?! Heck yes. First, Mallorca is beautiful. Second, I am surrounded by mountains that are great for hiking, beaches great for swimming, and cute little towns that are great for exploring. There are olive groves, orange groves, beautiful views, old school trains, and a tonne of hiking trails. Also, as you fly over Mallorca, you can see a whole b

Right, so. Staying and visiting with CISVers for 3 full days in Brussels means getting to know a bunch of the local stuff rather than all of the touristy stuff. Fun things I did/learned: Brussels is French; around the city is Dutch; and then there's a Flemish part of the country. Apparently there's a bunch of drama between the regions due to culture and language. The Grand Place aka main square is totally beautiful, inlaid with all kinds of gold. It looks super old, but, turns out that Napoleon burned the crap out of the main square in the 1800s. They rebuilt it, so this square is quite new.  Brussels' big claim to fame is Mannenkepis: A tiny little boy peeing into a fountain ... he's maybe 2 ft tall. They dress him up in various costumes (firefighter, soldier, businessman, geisha, etc.), and tons of people take a photo with him. One idea for this: the mentality of "We'll never be better than France, so let's be funny!" They've got a peeing b

So, I am officially homeless. I'm staying with my grandmother in Florida for 2 months. I have a phone. I will have internet 2 days from now. I have 2 new catch phrases: "girl news:" and "real life"  While here, I intend to get fit. I swim laps to start everyday, walk a whole lot, and am eating good meals cooked by my super awesome grandmother. Real life. I'm working on a book of breast portraits, blogging, and continuing to work for the Acoustic Opera. I'm staffing a CISV village in Denmark in July, so will have various staff meetings. Here's hoping I manage to keep busy, otherwise, ima lose my mind. Thank goodness I now have a phone and can stay in touch with my peeps. So, Erin flew down with me, and we're on day 5. Hilarious moments: daily happy hour won a limbo competition at a bar Friday night: real life hit on by various attractive dudes mall security use segways grandma stories Disney Store ... way too much fun Oscars dri