Last Day in Norway!

Today is the last day in Norway! A day full of cleaning and packing! In the afternoon we managed some time to finally climb up to the top of the ski jump and see the whole city! 956 steps later we reached the top! Pheegan too! Despite the near out of breath feeling, it was a neat way to say goodbye!

In the evening we had a get together with one of our program directors from HiL and said goodbye to all the buddies and international students! Tonight we have our last hurrah at the bars and nightclubs and then get on a train to head back to the states Thursday morning!
It has been a long, but quick semester! I feel so fortunate that I was able to meet so many people and was able to travel to so many places in Europe and Scandinavia! It was an unforgettable journey! Next stop, the United States!!
Thank you to all of those who read about my time here and I hope you enjoyed seeing Pheegan! Hopefully the next time I head somewhere, Pheegan's Adventures will continue...

Happy Syttende Mai!

The Norwegian Day of independence was a fantastic celebration that I took part in! Syttende Mai Norwegian style doesn't really involve fireworks, but a ton of parades and outdoor concerts! Oh, and the best thing of all is they all get dressed up in their traditional Norwegian bunads! They we are with a couple dressed up!Men and women, and even all the small children had on the dress that originates from the region they are from. We made it to the celebrations in the downtown area for the children's parade and the Russfest parade. We sat in the park and listened to concerts by traditional type bands. Although at one point they started playing Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and James Bond! To make the day even better they had ice cream and food to eat everywhere! I managed to find the cookie dough ice cream! Yum! It was quite the celebration!!

Dublin!

This is my last trip before I make the long flight home! This time we landed in Dublin! After a day of travel on Tuesday, we made it to the city! We checked out our hostel and the surrounding area for the following days before crashing for the night. We managed to spot the Temple Bar, not far from where we stayed!Our first full day began with a visit to Trinity College, where we thought we were on a tour of the college, but accidentally joined a paid tour for about 5 minutes! Whoops! We wandered around and found the bookstore and the Book of Kells - a must see! We then had lunch at a pub called Cassidy's which is apparently owned by the relatives of Bill Clinton! Who knew? In the afternoon we hiked it over to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour! It was a 7 story building with a glass bar at the top! I learned way too much about beer, but got a free pint out of the deal! Not bad, but I was the only one to finish ~ you don't let beer like that go to waste ;)

That night we hit up a pub for some authentic Irish dancing and singalongs!
Day 2 was our shopping day! We went to a couple cheap stores and then walked through Clery's and Co. - the oldest store in Dublin! In the afternoon we ventured by bus to Dun Laoghaire, a place from the book P.S. I Love You, but there wasn't too much to see and we ended up bumming around taking random pictures. That night we hit up our 7th and final Hard Rock Cafe of the whole semester! Later we hit up a night club called the Think Tank and had a great time!!
Day 3 started a little slow and we saw the landmarks of Dublin. First stop Dublin Castle, then St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and finally Old Jameson Distillery! We went to Murray's pub for supper and some last minute music!
The next morning we were off and back to Lillehammer before sundown, which I must admit is about 11:00pm here!

Weekend in Trondheim

As an end of the year get together, we Americans, the international students, and the Norwegian buddies planned a huge trip to Trondheim for the weekend.

We met up on Friday night, after the Gullstein trip, and headed to Egon restaurant on the top of a tower that rotated to view the entire city! It was gorgeous and we had a pizza party that tasted, in my opinion, the closest to pizza at home!
The next day we saw the sights of Trondheim! We came across the only cathedral, the Nidaro Dome, where St. Olav was buried. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon cruising through the street fairs and shopping malls. For supper we all met to grill out by the old fortress in town. That night a huge card game of Mafia was played Spanish style amongst a big group! So fun!
The last day we awoke and took the long bus ride home - back to Lillehammer! Great last moments with the internationals and buddies :)

West Coast - Gullstein

Our final group trip was to the west coast of Norway to a fishing village called Gullstein. We spent about six days there with one of our professors from Lillehammer as our Admiral of the 7 Seas!

Day 1 we left Saturday morning @ 1am to catch a bus to Trondheim, where after exiting the bus a bunch of us crashed in the bus station for a few hours while waiting for an afternoon ferry. Two ferries later we arrived on the Island of Tustna! Here we were greeted by Admiral Birger and made our way to our cabin of Gullstein! That night we had fish soup for supper! Not bad!

Day 2 we got to try fishing with our lines and a board, no rods. We also took turns rowing in Birger's authentic Norwegian row boat. Later in the afternoon we sat out in row boats on the lake and tried fishing - no luck! Took a walk and found a little farm with cute little lambies! Finsihed off the day with a group dinner and a fun quiz with Birger about the island and norwegian coast life.
Day 3 Hiking day! We set out early morning to find a couple cabins half way up a mountain! Took a little over an hour of slight uphill walking, and we found it! The cabins were well furnished and stocked with food for anyone to visit, use, and pay for. They are quite unique! That night we had a fishing extravaganza out on the sea with Birger's main boat pulling two row boats behind him full of all of us to see what we could catch! A lot of us managed to snag one and I even caught one! I couldn't hold onto it or I would have dropped it! Thanks Kevin!Day 4 we had some of Birger's friends come and visit us to learn about building boats, rowing, sailing, knotting tying, and making flutes from a willow tree! Yea we were wilderness girls that day! The local press even came and interviewed us about our visit and we will be in the Norwegian paper some time soon! That night we had a card championship with Birger, who is undefeated, and I unfortunately took a close second behind him! Too much fun!
Day 5 we awoke to pancakes and an early start to visit the local Nursing Home and craft store. At 3:00 we had an appointment on the shrimp boat so we could make it farther out to sea and catch some big fish! It was so unbelievable rocky and wavy, but still a pretty fun time!
Day 6 we took a hike over to another island that Birger knows well and he showed us around. We saw more sheep and it unfortunately poured on us! That night was our grill out night and I proudly made sliced potatoes with butter and garlic on the grill which were a big hit! That final night we had a talent show planned which included dances, speeches, slideshows, and songs! We ended with a game to reminisce our time together as a group in Norway!Day 7 we cleaned and packed up, took the ferry back to Trondheim and met up with our Norwegian buddies for the weekend!
I personally loved this group trip the best. It was super relaxing, got to hang out by the sea, fishing, checking crab traps, playing cards, hiking, and eating fish for every meal!

Two Intense Weeks

Here is a little update . . . After the return from Bergen, we no longer have classes with the school, but two weeks left of intense religious studies with a Concordia professor as well as finishing papers and projects! It is like finals week, but we managed to have some fun in between! Most of us girls out having a good time!Yes, there have been plenty of days where we have classes until 4:00 and then spend the rest of the day researching and working on homework. Yet on the other hand we have found some downtime to hang out in Lillehammer and see our international friends again! We have enjoyed a couple nights in where we have had random conversations around the dinner table after making suppers like our attempt at mac and cheese! Delicious, yet not quite Kraft! We have made a couple appearances outside our flat walls going to visit the international students, out to Bingo - one of the nightclubs, the local Brewery for drinks, and a neat bar place Nikkers was quite the night to remember in Norway! That's Kevin and I with our Captain Morgan glasses!!Also mixed in, we have had time together as a group included our leaders and visiting professors where we enjoyed a chili feed together, attended a mosque and muslim prayer service for learning purposes, and even made a return trip to Maihaugen to see the open air museum this time around. This week has turned a little busier with international students going away parties/grill outs, our schools choir concert that a few of us participated in, and a celebration called X-russefest is taking place with the High School students, a long-going tradition in Norway! It is like a month long celebration of partying where they wear red, blue, or black colored pants as part of graduation! Here I am with a bunch of guys who have previously graduated in red pants! It is a bit tough to explain :) We finish off this week by heading west to a fishing village called Gulstein where we will spend 6 days living in a peaceful fjord village area and just relaxing! Then comes a weekend in Trondheim, followed by four days in Dublin! The end is drawing near and I hope to be returning as scheduled on May 21st back to the states!

Bergen~Norway

This weekend, despite the fact that we had 3 days of rest after spring break, 5 of us were ready to see a little more of Norway! Bergen is a city on the west coast that has some gorgeous and well known fjords! We took off Thursday night and stayed on a night train to arrive Friday morning. We had one day to sightsee in Bergen before our tour on Saturday. We started by seeing the home and museum of Edvard Grieg. He is Norway's well known composer of Morning Mood and music to Peer Gynt. They say he was short and Pheegan liked that about him ;) Then we walked around town and saw the famous pier side storefronts while souvenir shopping and enjoying the unbelievable weather. We read somewhere that Bergen only gets 60 days of sun and we were fortunate to take 2 of them!! Saturday we headed to the train station to start the tour. We hopped on and off of buses and trains to see the mountain ranges, waterfalls, and forests as well as the boat ride in the fjord! It was truly amazing to see and was wonderful to sit, relax, and enjoy the view! The following day a few of us had another day in Oslo, seeing the last of the sites we missed previously this semester! This time the weather wasn't as slushy :) We visited the National Gallery and saw "The Scream" by Munch, the Royal Palace, Parliament (+Pheegan), and picnicked in Vigeland Park to end the visit!

LONDON!!

Last stop... LONDON, the spot I couldn't wait to get to and admit was so sad to leave! London as you all know is huge! So this trip we all sort of split up during the day and then came together for performances at night! So Pheegan and I were off in the big city!

Day 1 once we all got settled in our hostel and mastered the tube, we made our way to Piccadilly to search out cheap show tickets for the night! We grabbed at the chance to see 3 Days of Rain, a three person show which included James McAvoy as one of them! It was such an amazing performace and a wonderful play! For the rest of the day we walked around and found Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey!
Day 2 we made our way to King's Cross and found Platform 9&3/4 from Harry Potter. Then walked around Hyde Park, saw part of the changing of the guards, but decided to try another day. Took a ride in the London Eye and spent some time at the British Museum! One word to describe that place, massive! That night we had our tickets to the musical Spring Awakening! It was fantastic and so upbeat! All the actors are our age, so it made the storyline more relatable and fun! After the show we made our way to the stage door and got to meet some actors and even got a pic and autograph with the main guy!
Day 3 was Pheegan and I's busy day! We started in Hyde Park searching out the Peter Pan statue and Finding Neverland movie spots. Then we went to Buckingham Palace and waited for changing of the guards which unfortunately got cancelled! So we moved on and found St. Paul's Cathedral where we climbed to the very top, about 400 or so steps to see the city again! After that we jumped a bridge to the Tate Modern to relax and find some great artwork! Right next door we saw Shakespeare's Globe theater and took the tour. Down along the river we continued to the London Bridge - nothing to see ;) and then the Tower Bridge, another stunning view from the top! And finally the last stop was the Tower of London, which we saw the outside, but didn't have the time or money for the tour! At night Andrea and I took the infamous Jack the Ripper tour and saw some of the murder sites and dark alleys of east London! Very good, much recommended!
Day 4 was Easter Sunday and our day for a tour! We signed up for Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle, but unfortunately the royal family was celebrating Easter at Windsor, so we saw Hampton Court Palace instead. First stop was Hampton Court Palace where Henry the 8th brought all 5 of his wives, including Anne Boleyn! Then we continued further down the road to Stonehenge! Unfortunately you can only walk a clear distance around it, but I did take this photo! That one is for you Em! And finally we finished at Bath where we saw the Roman Baths and Jane Austin's museum! After the tour ended, the evening was not yet finished, so Pheegan and I were off again to search out Fleet St. and Baker St. to end our time in London!
The next morning we were off again, this time back to Lillehammer after a span of two weeks! Overall it was an unbelieveable trip considering all the places we managed to get to!

When in Rome...

To really begin our spring break Andrea, Mallory, Emily, and I made our way to Italy. Pheegan too! We had one flight to Bergamo, where Em and I spent 5 hours in the city before our 2nd flight to ROME! We arrived at night, found our hostel, had supper, and walked by the Colosseum at night!

1st full day we got up early to see the sights! We had a morning tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Then we started walking around and found the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain! In between we did some shopping and of course had gelato!
Day 2 was the day for the Vatican! Yes, we manage to go to another country :) We visited some of the many museums and Sistine Chapel inside. We had quite the time in the chapel because literally one guys whole job consists of silencing people and yelling "No photo!" Pheegan and I couldn't help it and secretly took a photo ;) So amazing it hurt my neck! Then we headed off to St. Peter's Basilica which is the biggest and most amazing church I have seen! Breathtaking!
Later on we found the Spanish Steps by accident and stopped for more gelato!Day 3 we had the remaining sights to hit and by the end of the day we realized we had walked all the way back to the Vatican which was pretty much the whole city! Our main stop was the Piazza di Navona, a stop on the trail of the Illuminati! P.S. can't wait for Angels and Demons to come out because we hit up all but one of the trail sites! Then we toured Castle Angelo and saw the city from the top! That night we had a wine night out and visited the Trevi Fountain after dark! Something magical I think about that fountain~I just loved it!
Day 4 was our shopping day that we spent on a couple of the main streets. We purchased a bunch of souvenirs and of course more gelato! Then we head to a hostel closer to the airport for our flight the following day! ~Ciao Rome!

Deutschland!

Here is the first entry in my two week long trip, which began with group travel for 4 days in parts of Germany and then to kick off spring break, a free day in Berlin!

Our studies for religion took us to Martin Luther sights all over Germany! To get around during all our travels we got to drive on the Autobahn which I must admit was crazy to see all the cars whizzing by! Day 1 & 2 were in Wittenberg! It was a small, but colorful little town!Here we met up with a tour guide who took us to the Castle Church, St. Mary's Church, the printing press place, the University of Wittenberg, Luther's House, and exhibition - trust me all important sites if you don't remember the history of Luther!

Here is Pheegan and the door where Luther nailed the 95 theses!Day 3 we took to the road and in the morning we visited Buchenwald Concentration Camp and Memorial in Weimar. Pheegan proudly shows his respect by the site.

In the afternoon we move on to Erfurt to spend the night in the Augustinian Cloister where Martin Luther fisrt became priest and so forth goes the story. That night I had my first meal of bratwurst and saurkraut in Germany- delicious :)
Day 4 we head out again, this time to Eisenach to see Bach's House, Luther's House (another one), and the Wartburg Castle! There's Pheegan!Every house and especially the castle had some interesting artifacts and gorgeous rooms!
Day 5 we were free for break and since our flight to Rome was the next day, we spent our free time in Berlin! We walked pretty much the whole city and saw the East Side Gallery (Pheegan again), a Holocaust Memorial, Brandenburg Gate, Parliament, Checkpoint Charlie, and even took a boat tour ~unfortunately it was in German - whoops! By the end of the day we were all tired and burnt from the fabulous weather we had!
For me I thought it was about time I made my way to Germany since I live in such a german town and I have to admit they are sort of similar! Even knowing a little german there helped everyone order and find directions better! Such a great trip!

Easter!

Today was Easter and unfortunately my last day in London! We have all made it safely to the last place over spring break and have a long travel day tomorrow! I wish you all a Happy Easter and will post the exact location I spent this holiday later :)

Travel Update

Hello Everyone!

I have made it safely through my group travels in Germany, spent a day with 10 girls in Berlin, and now I am in Rome! We are having a great time and will continue sightseeing and making our way across Europe! After a few more days I will travel to London and then back to Lillehammer to update further this blog!

Ciao

Homeland of ABBA & IKEA

This past weekend was my trip to Stockholm! It was another trip about sustainability, but because of some misunderstanding it was really 3 solid days of sightseeing! One of the neat things from the start was the fact that we lived in a hostel that was a boat! We each had a cabin type room with two people each. It didn't move with the waves, but it did tip to the left a little!

Day 1 we made it around to see the "old town" part of Stockholm with all the cute side streets, cafes, and shopping!Day 2 we started off by hitting up the National Museum where I managed to find some beautiful works of Monet! Then at noon we headed to the Royal Palace for the changing of the guards and then a tour of the palace! Next we hit up the music museum which had a lot of old instruments that we could play and listen to, which kept us quite entertained! We even found ABBA amongst the greatest groups of Sweden! After a long subway ride we came upon the motherland and found IKEA!! We just had to go and visit where this great store originated!! Later that night we found our way out to the Hard Rock Cafe and had a great night!
Day 3 began with a visit to the Skansen open air museum where we visited a bunch of old Swedish buildings and even found a zoo with lots of random animals! Inside the aquarium part we found the monkeys!! This little guy was my favorite!And yes you could literally walk and climb in and around with the monkeys! A little scary when they jumped and ran for food, but I just loved it!! Next we headed to the Vasa Ship Museum which is a recovered ship from Swedish waters after 333 years that has been restored and now displayed since 1990! I was just in awe! It really reminded me of the flying dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean!! So cool!!
Day 4 started with a quick stop to Hammerby Sjostad, a part of Sweden that has implemented the most environment projects. We didn't get a lot of information, but a quick rundown of what they have done and a few brochures. A bunch of us spent the remaining part of the day going to the top of the TV/Radio tower to see the whole city! We then headed back to Lillehammer! Definitely another great exploration!!
*A fun thing a bunch of us saw everywhere were perhaps some relatives of Pheegans? Maybe he has a little swedish in him? Who knew?