Budapest

Yesterday I returned to Sweden from a three night class trip to Budapest. It was certainly a lot of fun and I have a feeling that I may return to Budapest sooner or later...

Anyways, we arrived on the 26th and would promptly visit the Fisherman's Bastion to have an incredible view over the city (see picture on the right).  To the left of my right shoulder is the famous Budapest parliament.  The detail is stunning.

Afterwards, we continued on our bus to the Atlas Hotel.  Already on the way from the airport, we became aware of the large disparities of wealth between Hungary and Sweden.  The road our hotel was situated on was rather poor. When looking from the window in my room we could witness one alcoholic after the other stumbling by as the communist era trams made a racket as they rolled past.

Among the sights we visited over the days there were the Gellert Baths, the City Center, The Jewish Quarter, the Dohant Street Synagogue and the Holocaust Museum. Below are some photos from the trip.

The Royal Palace

One of the greatest things about the trip was that the teachers were very relaxed and we had a lot of independence.  All they really did was (poorly) lead the way to the sights and show us the area where we could choose where to have dinner.  Otherwise there were plenty of opportunities to discover Budapest for ourselves which made it a much better experience.

Inside the Dohant Street Synagogue

The list of names at the Holocaust Museum

The First Day of my Gap Year!

My last IB exam has come and gone and I am free! Free of worry and free of routine! Today is the first day of my gap year and I intend to spend it with the utmost lack of productivity.  Here is me relaxing on my balcony on one of the counted days I remain in Sweden, and the first of 495 days until I begin at the University of Exeter.

Adventure lies ahead and I am excited. I have much planning to take care of, job applications to send but most importantly, fun to have. Nonetheless, posts during the summer will be limited as the majority of my activity will be during what would otherwise be the school year. In any case, gap year, here I come!

1st Post

Hello, my name is Daniel Kibsgaard.  I am finishing school this year but rather than going straight to university, I have decided to take a gap year.  As it stands, the plan is to live and work in Germany for a few months until the new year.  Afterwards, I will travel to Costa Rica to work in a microfinance NGO for up to three months while learning Spanish.  Ultimately, I will go to Addis Ababa to work as a journalist for approximately three months as well.  The latter two will be organized through a company called Projects Abroad.  Following my time in Ethiopia, I would like to journey down to Mt. Kilimanjaro via overland route to really experience adventure to the fullest. That said, these plans, in particular Costa Rica and Ethiopia are still subject to change to whatever circumstance or interest may lead them.

Update 23/06/2014:

As the posts of my gap year have shown, I never went to Costa Rica. Instead I decided to go to Malaga, Spain to focus only on learning Spanish through a language school called Cervantes. In hindsight I feel I made the right choice because of all the great friends I made, the experiences I had and the fact that I became nearly fluent in Spanish!