Today, April 16th, 2010, was Queen Margarethe II's 70th birthday. Yes, it was insane. Pictures of her appeared on banners, paintings, postcards and cakes. Danish flags were placed and hung everywhere. They were on every building, every bus, ever light post, every little danish child. As she does every year on her birthday, she came out onto the balcony of her palace and waved to her people. Like every member of the Danish population, I tried to view this. However, me and my friends barely got into the palace grounds because there was so many people. It was just a sea of red flags swaying back and forth in anticipation of the pageant like wave of her majesty. So we headed back to school before we got a glimpse of her. However, we waited on a street where she soon passed in her carriage (which we thought might be bejeweled, but unfortunately wasn't) waving to hundreds of others doing the same as us. Who knew the queens date of birth would cause so much enthusiasm?
To top off such an historic day in Denmark, I rode an Icelandic horse. My host family owns this beautiful icelandic horse who is just like a big dog. He is so well trained and playful. I've been with the mom to feed him once before, but this time I got a chance to ride him. I was excited, but I figured it wouldn't be that different from riding any other horse. I was wrong. The saddle didnt have anything to hold on to. It didn't have an foot holders. And I had to use a rock to pull myself onto him. After I found my balance and my heart stopped pounding from thinking I was going to fall off, it was an amazing experience. We rode through the quiet woods as the sun was setting, past little lakes and streams, along side deer prancing through the leaves. It's like everything else in my life drifted far away. Suddenly there wasn't anything to think about. That is until we started galloping. I thought I was about to get thrown off, especially with nothing to hold on to. However, once he gained speed it felt amazing. It felt like when a hero in a movie is on a fast moving horse shown elegantly in slow motion.
Today, April 16th, 2010, was Queen Margarethe II's 70th birthday. Yes, it was insane. Pictures of her appeared on banners, paintings, postcards and cakes. Danish flags were placed and hung everywhere. They were on every building, every bus, ever light post, every little danish child. As she does every year on her birthday, she came out onto the balcony of her palace and waved to her people. Like every member of the Danish population, I tried to view this. However, me and my friends barely got into the palace grounds because there was so many people. It was just a sea of red flags swaying back and forth in anticipation of the pageant like wave of her majesty. So we headed back to school before we got a glimpse of her. However, we waited on a street where she soon passed in her carriage (which we thought might be bejeweled, but unfortunately wasn't) waving to hundreds of others doing the same as us. Who knew the queens date of birth would cause so much enthusiasm? 
To top off such an historic day in Denmark, I rode an Icelandic horse. My host family owns this beautiful icelandic horse who is just like a big dog. He is so well trained and playful. I've been with the mom to feed him once before, but this time I got a chance to ride him. I was excited, but I figured it wouldn't be that different from riding any other horse. I was wrong. The saddle didnt have anything to hold on to. It didn't have an foot holders. And I had to use a rock to pull myself onto him. After I found my balance and my heart stopped pounding from thinking I was going to fall off, it was an amazing experience. We rode through the quiet woods as the sun was setting, past little lakes and streams, along side deer prancing through the leaves. It's like everything else in my life drifted far away. Suddenly there wasn't anything to think about. That is until we started galloping. I thought I was about to get thrown off, especially with nothing to hold on to. However, once he gained speed it felt amazing. It felt like when a hero in a movie is on a fast moving horse shown elegantly in slow motion. 
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