Ørsta

Åsne's mom picked us up from the Ørsta-Volda airport Thursday night and took us to the museum where Åsne works, where she and Rachel were reunited after two years! They lived together as interns in Washington DC and have kept in touch since then. After we went home and ate a traditional Norwegian fish with a Spanish twist, Åsne took us out for ice cream, which we soon learned she is addicted to. Then we went for a drive to see one of the most famous fjords in Norway (spelling unknown). She told us all about the culture in Ørsta, which surprisingly sounds a lot like small towns in the Southern US. The local hangout for teens is a gas station, and all the "cool kids" drive around town with one hand on the wheel and slumped over--not unlike Chamillionaire or his friends. So basically replace tiny European cars with large pick ups, and it's the south. After we saw the fjord, as well as a wild hedgehog and some fisherman, we went straight to sleep.

Åsne had to work on Friday, so we slept in very late, did laundry for the last time (!!!), went for a beautiful run beside the mountains, and hung around the house. It wasn't hard because even the views from the kitchen window are incredible. There is a stream and garden in the backyard, and a mother and baby horse live next door. It should be noted that in an attempt to see the horses up close, Colleen electrocuted herself on an electric fence. When Åsne came home, we (okay more like she and her mom) barbecued on the grill outside. Meanwhile, we realized that our flight on Monday from Oslo to Liverpool arrives at a different airport than the main one. We spent the next two hours rearranging flights and looking up bus systems. Gotta love Ryanair. 

Anyway, to work off some of our dinner (but mostly to prepare for dessert) we hiked a steep hill to the "cup" of a nearby mountain. We could see the whole town of Ørsta--gorgeous of course. On the way down we learned that to be a true Norwegian, you have to run down mountains when you hike. No wonder these people are so much more fit than Americans. Except that when we got back to the house we tried another Norwegian delicacy: heart waffles with brown cheese or sour cream and homemade strawberry jam. Brown cheese is, of course, brown with a consistency like Colby but a taste like caramel. US supermarkets need to discover this. Soon. 

Saturday we went for a very scenic drive with Åsne and one of her friends. Rachel held an ice pack on her hand for a few hours in the car after being stung by a bee at breakfast. Our first stop was at a very well-known Norwegian rock called the Kannesteinen, which has been weathered over many years and is now shaped like an hourglass. 

We then stopped in a small town named Måloy for a very nutritious lunch of Norwegian sugar-loaded pastries before heading to the most western part of the country. The drive itself was a thrill, because we were winding our way up to the top of a mountain on a very narrow road with sharp turns. The views were definitely worth it and looking over the edge of the cliffs felt surreal. Hopefully this was just a preview to the Cliffs of Moher! On the way back we took a ferry across one of the fjords, which is very common for locals to do instead of winding around them all. By the time we got back to the house it was time for dinner, and we had another delicious meal. This time we had a veggie chili and we both were sure to write down the recipe. We were all in the mood to relax, so we spent the rest of the evening being typical girls by watching Pitch Perfect and eating ice cream.

Sunday (our last day in Ørsta) we got a late start to the day because we had to figure out how to print our boarding passes for today's flights. Ryanair charges €70 per pass to print at the station--glad we read that beforehand. After we had everything squared away, we took off on another scenic drive in the same direction as Saturday to visit a famous glacier (again spelling unknown). Even though it was pouring rain and roughly 50 degrees, this was hands down one of the coolest places we saw in Europe. We walked about forty five minutes up to the base of a mountain covered in a giant blue glacier. Along the way there were signs detailing how much the glacier has shrunk in the past 250 years. We even saw little pieces break off while we were there. Regardless, it was totally pristine, and the waterfalls lining the path were astounding. When we got home we were definitely satisfied with the amount of scenery we had photographed in three days. The rest of the night was just spent reminiscing and packing (and not sleeping for Rachel, whose hand now looks like a bear paw). 

By the end of today we will have ridden a train and a bus and taken off and landed in planes five separate times, but we will also (fingers crossed) have landed in Dublin, our home away from home!!

Copenhagen and Oslo

We managed to get by the next day in Copenhagen without any coffee. We stayed awake pretty much all night, watching a lovely sunrise from the train. By the time we got to the apartment we stayed in, it was time for lunch, so we ventured out in search of something reasonably priced. Of course we found more falafel! To be exact, we ate falafel pizza sandwiches from pizza house...these were exactly the same as doner kebaps. We found a bench outside of a park to sit on, then went for a walk. At this point, Colleen realized she no longer had her phone and our searching was unsuccessful. So, we got to see what the police system is like in Denmark. It turns out that smart phones are stolen quite frequently in the city, and the police were friendly albeit unhelpful. By this time, it was too late to really explore so we decided that the time had come to start running again. We went for a painful 3 mile run along the back of the zoo.

The next day, we wandered and explored the city. We walked along Nyhavn, the major harbor, which can be described as the scenery that comes to mind when you hear the word 'Denmark.'

Continuing through the shopping district (which was too pricey to even look at), we stumbled across another street performer. This one was unique because instead of breakdancing or playing music, he was juggling fire.

We found Rosenburg Castle, which was surrounded by a moat and botanical gardens. Inside is a museum, dungeon, mausoleum and other attractions, but again we did not go in due to the prices. We did enjoy the scenery, though.

Our walk took us to the Royal Palace, which consists of a main square and four architecturally identical buildings surrounding it. (Maybe they aren't exactly identical, but they looked the same to us.) Just beyond the square was another beautiful church that we poked our heads in.

On the way back, we bought some cheap salads from a grocery store and sat by one of the five "lakes" in the city. We would consider these to be ponds, but they provided a perfect picnic spot regardless. On our way back to the apartment, we discovered an amazing little store that sold fresh juice, smoothies and sandwiches. Of course we had to splurge on smoothies, and thankfully they were worth the price! Later, we decided to run along the "lakes" for a little more scenery than the backside of the zoo.

Early the next morning, we made our way to the train station to continue on to Oslo. Of course, there was another train strike. All of these little obstacles have made us very thankful to have had our Eurail passes! By the time we made it to Oslo, it was 10 pm. The first thing we noticed is that it was still light outside! In Norway, there is much more sunlight during the summer than we are used to. It never really gets dark because the sun doesn't really set...it just moves behind a mountain eventually.

Anyway, we woke up the next morning thankful that we only had to stay in our hostel for one night. It was not the cleanest or friendliest place we have stayed, but it did the job. We walked about 6 miles to explore the city. Just a few blocks away was the Oslo Cathedral, and a few blocks from there was a gorgeous harbor with mountains in the distance. Here we stopped to walk into the gift shop for the Nobel Peace Center. We didn't get to see the actual exhibit because you had to buy tickets, but at least the gift shop was cool.

The next stop was Akershus Festning, which is a military fortress. We got to explore most of it, take more scenic pictures and take one with one of the silent guards. He probably didn't like us very much.

Continuing on our journey, we saw the Parliament building from afar because it was under construction. We also stopped for lunch at 7-11 due to Norwegian prices. We were able to stomach the yogurt and granola, but the pastry concoction with spinach and feta was too disgusting for us to handle.

Our walk led us to Vigeland, a sculpture garden. It seemed to be a very popular place, with a lot of picture-snapping tourists and locals hanging out in the park. The granite sculptures were all of people, and we cannot imagine how long it must have taken to make them all.

By the time we got back to the hostel, we had just enough time to pick up our luggage and head back to the train station for our last train ride in Europe! It took us to the airport, where we boarded a very tiny plane with 25 other people on board and took it to the smallest airport we have ever seen.

We are now in Ørsta, which is on the west coast of Norway. It is absolutely amazing!

Utrecht, Netherlands

After our first train ride with wifi since..actually since the ferry ride from Dublin to Wales, we arrived in Utrecht, a college town thirty minutes from Amsterdam. Rachel's friend Nabi greeted us at the station with water (not quite a 30 pack of beer, but still a nice gesture). Nabi attended an international student conference at MSU last October, which he and Rachel worked on for two weeks. They kept in touch knowing a Eurotrip was in the works. First Nabi led us to his friend's centrally-located bachelor pad for dinner--he turned out to be a chef. We ate a truly fabulous meal with about eight different dishes, including mashed "carrot potatoes". We're still not sure what the vegetable is actually called, but boy it was delicious. We also ate steak (well...Rachel ate the steak while Colleen indulged in baked goat cheese), two more kinds of potatoes, spinach, salad, onions, and the list goes on. 

Nabi spent the entire meal scaring us about where we would be staying for the weekend. It turns out we could not actually stay with him, but instead were staying at his old house where no one had lived for weeks. We thought he was kidding, but for the most part he really described the place accurately. After dinner we brought our luggage there and found that he was serious about the lack of furniture, collection of garbage, and plethora of crawling residents. To be fair, we slept in a clean room, had light and hot water, access to a kitchen, and hey, it was free! Colleen essentially slept on a pool raft, while Rachel lucked out with a real mattress. For two nights, it was actually kind of perfect (and honestly how many college guys live all the time--probably minus the shower in the kitchen). 

Saturday morning Nabi met us at the house, we picked up an armful of fresh foods from the supermarket across the street, and we ate a huge breakfast in a nearby courtyard. The Dutch definitely know how to eat healthy; they also know how to eat anything but Dutch food, opting mostly for Mediterranean cuisine. After breakfast we headed downtown for very sour Dutch espresso and a surprisingly lengthy conversation comparing American and Dutch cultures--don't worry we'll spare the details. In short, we wonder why Americans lag so far behind the Dutch in social progress.

We then spent the afternoon wandering along Utrecht's beautiful canals--see, we didn't need to stay in Venice anyway! First we saw a cathedral built in 1295 that lost half of its nave to a hurricane in 1674. They're finally turning the empty square between the front and back of the church into a courtyard. The cathedral's gardens happened to be hosting a dog show that paired neighborhood dogs with nursing home residents, so of course we stayed until the end. It was adorable. 

We also walked into a few interesting shops along the canal, including a game shop where 10ish year old boys were painting very (very) intricate action figures, an antique store, an art gallery, a chocolate shop, and a workshop where a man was chiseling sculptures from logs. The Dutch are much craftier than we are. While walking we had to be on high alert because Utrecht is dominated by bikers. As in their rush hour is not on the roads, but on the bike paths. 

That night we ate dinner on a small boat Nabi and his friends built. Of course we got lucky again, and dinner was made by two people who work in the food industry. Even if we get lost all the time, at least we do know how to find very good cooks. We floated along the canals for a few hours, then returned home for the night. 

It's important to note that, overall, The Netherlands does not fulfill its reputation of being a radical drug-infused country. While marijuana is sold legally to residents, we really didn't notice more than four people using it during our couple of days there. Instead, the area was full of very quaint shops and bustling activity the whole time.

Today was a lazy day, mostly spent catching up on sleep and chilling in a cafe. Now we are on an overnight train to Copenhagen, which is proving to be most uncomfortable. We did not luck out with beds like the first overnight train we took, and are sitting in very upright chairs with people on either side of us. It is currently 3:24 am, and we have yet to get any sleep. Hopefully Danish coffee is good. And strong. 

Brussels

We only wandered for about 10 minutes this time before just asking a police officer for directions to our hostel. This was a new record for us! A striking feature of the city that we noticed very quickly was its diversity. Maybe it was because we were staying on the outskirts of a professional area, but we seemed to come across the most eclectic array of people in all of Europe (so far, at least).

The hostel was very luxurious for our standards, because we had beds that weren't bunks, a clean bathroom and a TV. We took advantage of this the first night and stayed in to sample some beer and get lots of sleep.

On Thursday, we set out to explore the city with absolutely no plans in mind. Among the many chocolate shops, we found the Town Hall (a main square where there are light shows at night), the Grand Place and the Royal Palace.

We came across the Parliamentarium, which was another pleasant surprise since it was both free and very interesting! It was an interactive type of museum to educate the public about how the EU government operates. This was perfect for us, since we really had no idea prior to visiting. They gave us iPhones that we could use to scan certain spots on the wall to read or hear about various historical facts. We then entered a room with mobile podiums, which we could hover over a floor map of Europe to learn more about specific cities. Following this, we sat in a simulation of the actual Parliament to see how decisions actually come about. We even got to cast our own votes and see how they matched up with others'. Last, we saw a display that explained the many political parties that comprise the Parliament and their membership. Ironically, all of this EU education took place on July 4, so we felt slightly unpatriotic.

Afterwards we decided to visit our first science museum of the trip, which we were pretty excited about. We made it to the Museum of Natural History and quickly realized that we were the only people over the age of 10, besides parents. We walked through the many fossils and dinosaur skeletons anyway and let our excitement build up for the temporary baby animals exhibit. We quickly deflated when we realized that the exhibit was full of dead baby animals. Apparently it was too much to hope for to see some live babies.

An interesting part of the museum was their dedication to biodiversity and preventing future climate change. Even though the exhibits were definitely not age-appropriate for us, we appreciated this aspect.

On our way back to the hostel, we deliberately walked by the Mannekin Pis. This is a very famous statue that the Belgians are quite proud of. It is a statue of a little boy that was turned into a fountain. The distinguishing feature is that the fountain was accidentally placed so that it looks like the boy is going to the bathroom. The locals came to love this hilarious mistake, and dress the little boy up in costumes for various occasions. Coincidentally, he was decked out in red, white and blue for the 4th of July and even had a hat on that read "Yes We Can." We were sure to take advantage of this photo opp before heading back to the hostel.

We weren't entirely sure what to do on Friday, so we started our day the best way possible. We ate the most delicious waffles we had ever experienced.

Our next stop was the Atomium, which is known as the Eiffel Tower of Brussels. According to Wikipedia, it was built for the World Fair in 1958 and has remained in place ever since. This was simply another photo opp for us because we were told that we had to visit this stop, yet it left us feeling very confused about the purpose.

Before leaving the city, we stopped at a Doner Kebap shop again. This time we both got falafel doner kebaps. They were absolutely scrumptious, though no match for the waffles.

Kassel and Berlin

The minute we arrived in Kassel, we knew we would have a good time. We went to visit Rachel`s friend Patrick, who she met in Montana but hadn't seen in almost a year. He greeted us with a 30 pack of Beck's beer (in true MT fashion). We dropped our stuff off at Patrick's house, including the bright blue garbage bags of wet clothes. Luckily there was enough room to hang everything up. Patrick has a year-long internship in Kassel and is living with a host family for the next month. His host mom and siblings speak nearly zero English, and Patrick speaks very little German, so dinner was interesting--although they all seemed very nice! Then we went to the apartment of Patrick's colleague to watch the FIFA Confederation Cup final between Brazil and Spain. We met a few people from Spain, one from Brazil, and one from Germany. By 3:30 am on a Sunday night, we figured it was time to sleep.

Yesterday we got a "guided tour" of Kassel, which despite being mostly demolished during WWII still had some beautiful sights. The main attraction in Kassel is (fittingly) a castle that overlooks the whole city and has waterfalls cascading down from the top of the hill to the city below. We spent most of the day wandering around this site and wondering why Patrick felt the need to run up and down the hill as a work out. After eating dessert and then two dinners, we felt it was time to make the journey to Berlin, where we had a hostel booked.

This is where the trip went awry--it really gets less surprising every time. We got on the 9:40 pm train to Berlin with the intent of arriving at 12:30 am. Since the hostel is only a 15 minute bus ride from the main train station, we figured arriving at 12:45 am was not totally unreasonable. We checked into our hostel at 4:30 am. Here's why:

1. The train was delayed and arrived to Berlin Hauptbahnof at 1:30 am. 

2. The directions to the hostel applied only during the day, so we had to ask a help desk which night bus to take.

3. The help desk told us the wrong night bus to take.

4. Buses apparently do not drive in circuits, so we were kicked off the end of the wrong bus line at 3:15 am. 

5. By the time we got on the right bus, the night buses ended. We were only two stops away from where we needed to be when it happened.

6. No other buses ran to our stop at 4:30 am, so we finally hailed a cab for the final 5 minute drive. 

7. We are the most unlucky travelers in Europe, and apparently Germany has had enough of us.

After falling asleep by 5 am, we forced ourselves to wake up at 9:30 so as not to miss our free breakfast. These things are very important to us, especially at this point in the trip. We immediately went back to sleep and woke up at 1:30 to explore the city. This ended up being perfect, because apart from museums (which we are just not meant for) and the zoo (which is expensive), we were able to see everything we wanted to within a few hours.

We began by going to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Luckily we had read a little bit about it, which gave us a bigger appreciation for the structure itself in addition to its meaning. It is actually a very controversial memorial, because a company hired to weatherproof the pieces actually produced the Zyklon B gas used in gas chambers. This was not revealed until after the construction had begun, and it was decided that it would be too expensive to undo the progress that had been made. In addition, there have been many complaints that the memorial gives the impression that Jews were the only people murdered, when in reality many other groups were persecuted. Overall, it was very profound, along with a description that stated the memorial was "designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere and the whole structure aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason."

From there we ventured to the Brandenburg Gate, which stands next to where the former Berlin Wall was. The gate was mostly destroyed in WWII, but was refurbished and is now a well known site in Germany. It is the entry to Unter den Linden, a street lined with linden trees that used to lead to the Prussian palace.

Only a block away is the Reichstag building, where the Bundestag (modern German Parliament) meets. Until 1933, the Reichstag met there, and since then it has been through a fire and war before being restored to today's use.

We then spent a couple of hours wandering through Tiergarten. Europeans sure love their public gardens (and so do we)! It would be so nice to have these at home...minus the pockets of nudist colonies.

On one edge of the Tiergarten is the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, which was constructed after the controversy surrounding the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

After some more wandering, we had an amazing (and cheap!) dinner of a donor kebap and a falafel donor. We succumbed to the cheap German shopping down the street for a while before meandering back to our hostel for the night. We are off to Brussels tomorrow!