To Copenhagen:

Looking back at pictures just two months after coming home from my time abroad, I wish I had the words to describe how grateful I am to have experienced a place as beautiful as this. When I think about my time traveling and studying abroad, I have so many things to be thankful for. You are one of them. Copenhagen, I miss you.

Thank you for your pastries and for your coffee shops.

Your quaint corner open-air cafes taught me more about snegels and hygge than I could've imagined. (Not to mention, your coffee spoiled me and changed me for good...nothing in the states could ever compare.)

Thank you for teaching me that bikes are a thing of beauty.

I've also been spoiled by your bike culture--basically every street corner looks like this one. Not to mention, taking the short trek down to Nyhavn becomes significantly more enjoyable with wind in your hair. Sometimes I swear I can still hear bike bells when I cross the street near home.

Thank you for hygge.

The signature Danish word for "coziness", I fell in love with the quaintness that is your streets, your restaurants, your language, and your atmosphere...I realize now, the word "coziness" doesn't quite begin to cover it. It's easier now to understand why you're one of the happiest places on earth. It is a gift to be simple, to be warm, to be friendly.

Thank you for the friendships I made.

You introduced me to incredible people from all across the country, people who introduced me to new cultures and new lifestyles, new movies and new foods. People who fell in love with you as much as I did. Thank you for bringing me to them...even if we don't get to meet again, I have been changed for the better because of them.

Thank you for your colorful buildings.

There's just something about all of the bright colors that makes you different from the rest.

Thank you for making it so easy to travel new places.

I can't think of too many other locations where the beach, the mountains, the forests, the cities, and the cliffs are all within driving distance, but thank you for showing me the best of all you have to offer. From the coasts of Denmark to the cliffs of Zealand, you truly are the whole package.

Thank you for teaching me more about myself.

The cliche saying that you grow and learn so much more about who you are while abroad proved to be absolutely true. You gave me the confidence to be on my own in a place where nothing (and no one) was familiar, and, while I was pushed out of my comfort zone, it was in the best way possible. I grew to learn the ins and outs of what it meant to live in a foreign place, and I learned so much from my time with you.

Thank you that I learned a little bit of Danish.

(But also that everyone was so kind in helping me when I butchered a word, a phrase, or even a sentence.) It was pretty incredible to get home and be able to stumble over a few simple words in Danish. Someday I hope to learn more. (Mange tak.)

Thank you for being you.

Thank you for feeling safe. For becoming a home away from home, if only for a month. I'll never forget your city streets, your beauty, your quaintness. Thank you for taking part of my heart, for being the adventure of a lifetime. Miss you already, Copenhagen.