Heaven in Norway

I got back last night from a five day trip up to the west coast. I have to say that this was the closest I have been to heaven in my entire life. All of us stayed in a cabin that was at least 200 years old right next to the Atlantic Ocean. I can't even begin to fully describe what it was like but I will try my best.

Each day we woke up around 11 and ate breakfast at the table with everyone around in our PJs. We usually played cards for a while and around 1 we would venture outside. Outside is where we would be for the next 12+ hours. Everyday was a cloudless day and we were able to be out in shorts and t-shirts which was amazing. We went fishing out on large ships as well as small row boats, we hiked all around, we sat on the dock mesmorized by the snow-capped mountains that surrounded us, we played card games. Everyday was so perfect. Every night we would have dinner altogether as a group. We grilled the fish we caught and we made chowder with all the crabs we got. We learned how to gut fish and kill crabs. We would eat around 10:30 but that was ok because it didn't even begin to get dark till around 1am and even then it was a simple dusk. Every night after dinner it would get chilly and we would have to put on our sweatshirts (one thing in life that will always bring a smile to my face is getting to put on a sweatshirt on a cool summer night after a long day in the warm sun) and we would sit around the camp fire and talk and eventually crawl into our beds to do the same thing the next day. Everything was so simple and we all helped out with all that needed to be done. It was so peaceful.

On the way back we stopped for a while in Trondheim. We went to the church where Olav Haroldsen (later St. Olaf) fought for the spread of Christianity. It was super awesome because we were actually able to attend a service. I think about getting to see this church and being able to go to church in Lillehammer and a Russian Orthodox service while in Russia and I think that it is so awesome that we can all be so incredibly different yet we are all connected with God and then I smile.   

While it would be silly to say that I am friends with everyone here, I can honestly say that the ten other students I am here with have become a family to me and getting to be together on this relaxing trip was a great way to start our close to our time here. I can't believe that I will back in the US in 9 days. It has gone so very fast. I am really starting to get to sad to leave this place and I know that Norway will forever have a spot in my heart along with traveling in generally.

Small side comment: Norway's weather is nothing like ours when it slowly moves from one season to the next. On May 1st it was snowing, cold, and gross. Yet somehow in one week's time it has become spring. There aren't clouds anywhere and all the snow is gone and everything is green and it is 65 degrees out. Gosh I am super happy.

Love you all and now I can say see you soon.

More Pictures

I just put up some more pictures. As my time goes on it is becomig harder and harder to find time or energy to put all my pictures up and tell all their stories. I tried to put up some better people pictures. However, please know that I will love to share others once I get home because I am sure I am going to need to talk about some of this stuff. 

An Attempt at Sharing My Life

I am safely back in Norway and it feels like it has been forever since I have been in this place that I have learned to call home.

I spent four days in Russia and got to a part of something so different and amazing. I thought that it would be easier for me to talk about Russia as time has passed but it doesn’t seem to be coming to me any easier. I was in a place I could have never prepared myself for before hand. Life in Russia is so different than in the states. Their current culture is so new and they are still struggling to find their identity and reasons to be happy about life. I think that the best way to deal with Russia is to just have people ask me questions when they have them.

 

After we were done with Russia we headed to Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm is a very gorgeous city and it was a really nice change from the grey feeling of Russia. We stayed in a boat hotel. It was really funny to be on the boat and have the endless movement throughout the day. Our time in Stockholm was really relaxed. We visited some art museums and mostly had time to ourselves just get to walk around and take in yet another city to add to our list of visited cities.

 

On Wednesday some of the group came back here to Lillehammer and the rest of us left for more travels around this silly globe. Myself and three others headed to Budapest, Hungary. We didn’t have any expectations about the city, we were simply going because it was one of the cheapest places to visit. We were so awesomely surprised once we got there.

 

Budapest is one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen. The Danube River is so peaceful and just getting to walk along it every day made life seem just a little bit more manageable. I think what added to the awesomeness of the trip was that I was traveling with my best friends from my group and so there was not a single feeling of stress the whole time. We had a really cool balance between seeing sites and finding time to relax. We continued to get closer which I didn’t think was possible and I loved it.

 

I am now down to two weeks and the school work is piling up with papers and presentations and tests. Yikes.

 

I leave tomorrow for a three day fishing trip along the coast and I will be back late Monday and then we leave again on Wednesday night for some more touring of the country.

 

Time is flying faster than it ever has before.

 

Love you all.

Really Bad Update

I am going to apologize now because this is going to be a super lame update but I just wanted to let you all know that I have spent the last week in Russia and Sweden. I need more time to think about what Russia was and how it has impacted me. Yet again I am filled with so many thoughts and am having a hard time understanding what it all means.

I have just arrived in Budapest with some friends to have a nice long weekend. I will be back in Lillehammer on Sunday. Once I get back I promise I will write a more extensive explanation of my life.

I am down to three weeks and I can’t believe that.

Love you all!!!

Pictures

I have been posting my pictures now for over an hour and it has become overwhelming. I have lost all energy to put a new title and description on every photo. Instead I have been really simple and am trying to select the ones that show what we did the best. 

I want you to know that I came back with just shy of 350 pictures so please when I come home if you want to see them ask me and I will LOVE to show them and explain them.  

Home For Now

The rest of my time in Greece was really wonderful. We just had some lazy days at the end and spent our time just walking around and slowly seeing what we could see. We did a lot of sitting at cafes and just watching life pass us by. On Saturday we had to check out by 11 so after packing up we headed back to the National Gardens and just enjoyed the sun for one more day with our Frappes and Greek Salads. We headed back to get our luggage and flew out of Athens at 9:30. We got into Oslo at 12:30 but then had to sit in the airport till 8:30 Sunday morning when the first train to Lillehammer was available. It was a long night with very little sleep. 

It was so nice coming back to Lillehammer. I love how this has become a home for me. As more and more familiar things came into view our spirits got higher and higher. There is still some snow on the ground but it went down dramatically from where it was when we left and although it is colder than Greece, there is a nice warm sun and blue skies and mountains which makes me happy. Yesterday we spent the day welcoming everyone back and starting to hear stories of everyones trips. It felt so good to be back with our Norway family. I really missed them and it felt good to be all together again.

As I went to bed last night I realized I had been up for 41 hours. I don't really know how I didn't crash earlier but everything was just so exciting and apparently I had fumes that just kept pushing me along. I think today might be harder to get through.

I don't think I will comment much on what spring break really meant. I learned a lot about myself and what I am capable of and how I handle unknown places and situations. I love the experience I had and totally love all the lessons I learned.

We have class tomorrow and then leave at 5:20 Wednesday morning for another 12 days to Sweden, Russia, and Hungary. Between now and then I need to do some laundry and try and write some papers and get some energy back. Wish me luck.

Love to all!!! 

Athens Update Number 2

My time in Athens has been perfectly amazing. On Tuesday morning we left the hostel around 10 and went and spent the whole day in the sun at the Acropolis. The history at that place is so crazy. I just couldn't get enough of what was seeing. We came back around 5 and just hung out before going out for our Greek gyros.

Yesterday we went to the Temple of Olympian Zues. Again the history just pulled me in and I couldn't seem to pull my eyes away. The day was gorgeous so we headed across the street to the National Gardens and found a cafe and enjoyed the sun with some Greek Ice Coffee or Frappe. We then headed down to the port to see about going to an island.

This morning we got up early and took an 8:30 FlyingDolphin to the island of Hydra. It was this crazy speed boat and we got there in 1.5 hours. We spent the whole day today just sitting in the sun enjoying the water and good conversation. We took the cheap ferry back which took 3.5 hours. The scenery was ridiculous and the sunset took my breathe away. We are back at the hostel now with tans and tired bodies. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain so we are going to hit the mall.

This is way too simple an update and I will do better once I get home but I wanted to share what I could.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Smiling in Athens

Life continues to surprise me with what I am doing everyday.

On Sunday we woke up and walked to the Academy Gallery where many famous artists studied. While there we got to see Michelangelo's David. That was so crazy. I couldn't believe I was seeing that in person. Don't worry, I snuck the forbidden photo. We then headed off to the Duomo which is one of the oldest Cathedrals ever. It is made completely out of marble. It has the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante, and others don't I can't remember at the moment, they are written in my notes.

After some lunch and gelati we found a courtyard and ended up taking a two hour nap in the sun and it was perfect. We headed back to our hostel and got our stuff and made the journey to the train station. We had a 3.5 hour ride back to Rome. One of the neat things about traveling is getting to meet so many cool people. We set next to a couple from Isreal that were 23 and we had the most amazing conversations. It's talks like that that help pass the time.

We thought we were doing really well with all of our planning but we were presented with a loop hole once we got into Rome. The subway had stopped for the night and we needed to find a way to get to our hostel. We called the hostel and told them we would be later and they told us not to take a taxi because they would rip us off so he was trying to give me instructions on how to use the buses. It was really hard to understand what we was saying and even more difficult to then take those instructions and put them into action but we eventually found ourselves in our hostel where we were able to get a short nights sleep of 5 hours before heading back out to the train station to take the express train to the airport.

We arrived in Athens around 2:30 and then had to take an hour bus ride and then a sub ride to the stop 10 minutes away from our hostel. After navigating our way through the streets we found our hostel around 5:00. We plan on having a really early night with a lot of sitting around. We found a grocery store and snuck some food into the hostel and we will probably be in bed before ten.

Tomorrow we are heading off to do all the tourist stuff we love. Wish us luck!!!

Miss you all and love you more.

Hello From Italy

I am currently sitting in an internet outlet in Florence, Italy. Crazy!!!

My break started on Wednesday afternoon with a four hour train ride to Sandfjord, Norway where our airport was located. We then hopped a bus which took us to the airport. After finding out our flight was delayed an hour we had some time to get a little something to eat. Our flight left around 11:30 and we flew into Stansted, England. There two from our group broke off and the four of us took a taxi to our most splendid bed and breakfast. After a wonderful night's sleep and breakfast we made our way back to the airport and took a 1:00 flight to Rome.

Rome is where things got a little crazy. We needed to catch a bus into the city center so we needed to get those tickets. However, we needed cash so we headed to the ATM for many different reasons, I was the only one of us four that was able to get out money so I payed for all of our tickets and we were the last four that were allowed on the bus. We then had a half hour bus ride that took us to a main sub station. From there we had to buy tickets and get the most ridiculously packed sub I have ever been on. Keep in mind that the other girls were trying to get money from ATMs at every chance they could. We got off at our stop and walked the ten blocks to our hostel (a little harder than we thought). Unfortunatly, the hostel we booked has a silly way of directing everyone to main meeting place but then being sent elsewhere around the city, so when we thought our walking was done we were surprised with some more treking. We then were taken to our hostel which was actually another bed and breakfast that was being redone. What this meant for us was that we booked a twelve person mixed dorm and we got a four person private room right across from the Vatican. Let me tell you, that's a sight to see every morning. We finally got into our room around 7. By 8 we had figured out all the money silliness and were on our way to explore. That night we saw St. Peter's Basillica, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Castle St. Angelo, and Foutain Nervona. The city was so pretty at night. It was really hard to not cry at what I was getting to see.

The next morning we got up bright and early and went through the Vatican, St. Peter's Basillica, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. I was seeing so much history, it was overwhelming. Seeing places that Ceaser walked and standing in a building built in 70 is just insane.

While in Rome we had plenty of pasta and pizza while sitting in cafes watching life pass us by on the streets. We had our share of Gelato while walking the entire town. We didn't want to spend money on transportation so we have been walking everywhere. I think we burn off everything we eat.

This morning we left at 6:45 and walked back to the subway and took it back to the train station so that we could make our way to Florence. The trip had been too perfect thus far and here was where our first mistake happened. Our train was set to leave at 7:53 and at 7:35 we were asking someone to help us locate our platform and he showed us on our tickets that we were at the wrong train station!!!! Who even knew there were more than one? We needed to take yet another sub line four stops to another train station. What resulted was four crazy Americans running, frantically buying sub tickets, running some more, sweating on the sub, running some more, frantically asking directions, and finally running some more to the train that was 5 minutes late. We were all praying so much and it completely paid off. We got to our train and had a much needed rest on the two hour ride here. Once we got here we took a taxi to our hostel and after setting down our stuff attacked the city like we do so well.

After a quick lunch of pizza and gelato we headed to the Uffizi. We waited in line for a little over two hours and had a glorious time with our new friends James and Mark who are Americans studying in Barcelona for the semester. We stayed there for a little over three hours and then did some walking around and had yet anothe pasta dinner and gelato for dessert which brings me to now.

Tomorrow we have a couple more things to see before catching a train back to Rome and yes we know the right trains this time. We then get up early Monday morning and fly into Athens.

Traveling has become a part of me completely. Everyday is an amazing puzzle and I love getting to figure it out.

I want to share so much but I also wanted to give a quick (but long) update for my own sanity so I don't go on overload.

Love and miss you all!!!!

Start of the Journey

In less than two hours I am leaving for 10 days in Italy and Greece with a two day stop back here and then I will be off again to Russia, Sweden, and then Hungary with a final return date of April 30th.

I will try my hardest to keep everyone up to date with what I am up to next. 

Love you all!!!