Just kidding, it wasn't scandalous at all, but it WAS an amazing adventure I will never forget. Let me give you a brief recap of what I've been up to for the past two and a half weeks and then I'll go into some further details for those of you who wish to read on (ya'll are the best.) Ok so..
We flew out of London and into Trondheim, Norway where we stayed for one night and day and then took a train to Bodo, Norway where we caught a ferry to the Lofoten Islands, Reine on Moskenes to be exact, where two nights were spent and then it was another ferry back to Bodo where we caught a flight to Oslo, Norway where we stayed for two nights before taking a train to Stockholm, Sweden for three nights before taking a train to Copenhagen, Denmark for another four nights and then flew to Berlin, Germany where we stayed for three nights before finally catching a plane back home to Oxford. (APOLOGIES FOR THE RUN ON SENTENCE - but there you have it. My Scandinavian adventure in a nutshell. So now, we'll take it out of the nutshell.)
There is a photo gallery at the bottom with pictures of this leg of the trip! They're captioned and I'll also number which photo to look at when. ('Cause I know you're just on the edge of your seat..)
First of all, when I say we, I mean I was travelling with my two good friends that I met here while studying in Oxford: Marisa (California) and Tyler (New York.) (1) Tyler bravely agreed to spending 2 and a half weeks traveling with two women who very much love to talk and laugh and discuss things he never wanted to know about either of us. The good news is **SPOILER ALERT** we didn't kill each other and we're all still good friends! It's a traveling miracle. Anywho..
Trondheim, Norway (2, 3, 4) gets an A in my book! It was a nice city to start the trip in because it was a nice, small place that we easily covered within about our first 2 hours of exploring. Like so many other European cities, the buildings were beautiful and everything had history. The city sat on a river that we walked a long to enjoy the scenery and get a feel for the area. I will firstly point out that what we mostly felt was cold! It was about 20 degrees or so, which I know for a Pittsburgh girl is normal, but that doesn't mean I'll ever LIKE being cold. Fortunately we bundled up well and were so excited that it didn't much phase us. However, as the sun went down (along with the temperature) we found ourselves looking indoors for some warmth! I'll say again, this is a small town, and the nightlife wasn't exactly popping. So we ended up in a bowling alley. I haven't bowled in I don't know how long, but for how random the decision was, we had a blast. We went on to a cool, hipster bar that had xBox, board games and shuffle board for a few beers and games before getting a sushi dinner. The fish in Norway is darn fresh, I recommend it for every meal! I was in sushi heaven!
We went straight from exploring Trondheim to the train ride to Bodo, Norway, which was nine hours over night. (5) It was similar to sleeping on a plane, which for me means not sleeping at all. While Marisa passed right out next to me, I didn't sleep more than a few hours before arriving in Bodo at 9 AM. But alas, I am young and can run on very little sleep so I made it through (thank you for your concern.) Bodo is kind of boring, there really isn't much to see. So because we were so tired we mainly just figured out when our ferry was leaving for the islands, ate and relaxed until we could catch the boat to Reine on Moskenes, where we would be staying for the next 2 nights. The ferry took about 3 hours but it wasn't bad at all. It was more like a mini cruise ship, with food so we could have a small dinner, and plenty of room to doze off on the trip. (6) Upon arrival a the ferry dock our taxi was waiting for us (Thank God because otherwise it would have been a 3 mile hike in the snow and dark to our cabin.) Now our cabin.. was adorable and perfect. It was an old, restored fisherman's cabin right on the water next to beautiful mountains. Seriously could not have asked for anything better! (7,8) (Eliassen Rorbuer on Reine, I highly recommend it.) So the point of this leg of the trip was to see the Northern lights. That first night we thought we kind of saw them right from our porch and we were pretty excited. But we were also exhausted so we had our dinner of Pringles and Snickers (it was too late to hit up the grocery store) and passed out.
The next day, our main mission was finding food - and boy was it a mission. The island was almost deserted this time of year which means the only 2 restaurants on the island were closed for the season which led to our 2 hour hike to the grocery store. We were kind of running on empty but the sights on the walk were more than worth. (9, 10, 11) We got to see the island and stay outside which was awesome because all the tourist stuff was closed for the season so all there was to do was see the scenery and wait for the lights at night. After we made it back to the cabin and cooked dinner and settled in to watch Making a Murder (I could write a whole blog post on that subject alone.. maybe I will.. I HAVE MY THEORIES.) The lights are supposed to be most visible between 10 and 2 AM so were were hoping and praying we'd see them as this night was our last chance. A couple of episodes in (just loving the Avery accent which we adopted for most of the trip) the cabin owner texted us and told us to go outside.
If we thought we saw the lights before we were wrong.. that night they were amazing. I mean they were going directly over our cabin, all over the mountain next to us and the water. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life and, all jokes aside, I know how lucky I am to have witnessed that in my lifetime! Although they were clearly visible from our porch we walked to a darker part of the island, right on the water, to see better. We watched them for about an hour - completely fascinated and all giddy with excitement. We managed to capture some pictures with the help of an app on our phones but they don't really do them justice. They were moving and changing and really dancing, just like everyone says. (12, 13, 14, 15, 16) If we looked behind us, away from the lights, the view of the stars was almost as spectacular. I have never seen such an open sky full of stars it was incredible. I think when I get rich I'll take my family to that spot so that they can experience it too.
We caught the ferry back to Bodo the next morning where we had some time to kill before evening flight to Oslo. Like I said before, the city didn't have much to do and it was cold so we ended up.. BOWLING. Again we had a blast and a feeling we were creating our own tradition for the trip. (And I was improving every game - I even broke 100...)
When we arrived in Oslo, Norway we went to our AirBnb (which is basically like someone renting out their apartment to us for a few days, for those of you who don't know.) And that's where the fun started. The owner's friend met us to give us a key and we huffed and puffed up 6 flights of stairs to the flat only to find that the key didn't work. We were told to wiggle and push and pull the door but it wasn't budging. So when the friend also tried and failed to open the door (turns out it was frozen shut?) we ended up back at her place while the owner figured out what to do. Eventually she decided to put us up in hotel for the 2 nights of our stay. It ended up being a blessing in disguise.. We stayed in the nicest hotel right in the city center and enjoyed the roof top bar and the views happily. (17, 18) Number one rule when traveling: don't panic, don't get angry, just go with it and things will work themselves out!
Now for my next post I will continue the adventure with Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin but really I doubt many have read this far and if they have I don't want to put them to sleep! So take a break, do you, and check back in a day or two for the rest of the story! (or don't.. but you'll miss out on some kick ass writing of a great experience - BOOM.)
xo,
Just Wandering
We flew out of London and into Trondheim, Norway where we stayed for one night and day and then took a train to Bodo, Norway where we caught a ferry to the Lofoten Islands, Reine on Moskenes to be exact, where two nights were spent and then it was another ferry back to Bodo where we caught a flight to Oslo, Norway where we stayed for two nights before taking a train to Stockholm, Sweden for three nights before taking a train to Copenhagen, Denmark for another four nights and then flew to Berlin, Germany where we stayed for three nights before finally catching a plane back home to Oxford. (APOLOGIES FOR THE RUN ON SENTENCE - but there you have it. My Scandinavian adventure in a nutshell. So now, we'll take it out of the nutshell.)
There is a photo gallery at the bottom with pictures of this leg of the trip! They're captioned and I'll also number which photo to look at when. ('Cause I know you're just on the edge of your seat..)
First of all, when I say we, I mean I was travelling with my two good friends that I met here while studying in Oxford: Marisa (California) and Tyler (New York.) (1) Tyler bravely agreed to spending 2 and a half weeks traveling with two women who very much love to talk and laugh and discuss things he never wanted to know about either of us. The good news is **SPOILER ALERT** we didn't kill each other and we're all still good friends! It's a traveling miracle. Anywho..
Trondheim, Norway (2, 3, 4) gets an A in my book! It was a nice city to start the trip in because it was a nice, small place that we easily covered within about our first 2 hours of exploring. Like so many other European cities, the buildings were beautiful and everything had history. The city sat on a river that we walked a long to enjoy the scenery and get a feel for the area. I will firstly point out that what we mostly felt was cold! It was about 20 degrees or so, which I know for a Pittsburgh girl is normal, but that doesn't mean I'll ever LIKE being cold. Fortunately we bundled up well and were so excited that it didn't much phase us. However, as the sun went down (along with the temperature) we found ourselves looking indoors for some warmth! I'll say again, this is a small town, and the nightlife wasn't exactly popping. So we ended up in a bowling alley. I haven't bowled in I don't know how long, but for how random the decision was, we had a blast. We went on to a cool, hipster bar that had xBox, board games and shuffle board for a few beers and games before getting a sushi dinner. The fish in Norway is darn fresh, I recommend it for every meal! I was in sushi heaven!
We went straight from exploring Trondheim to the train ride to Bodo, Norway, which was nine hours over night. (5) It was similar to sleeping on a plane, which for me means not sleeping at all. While Marisa passed right out next to me, I didn't sleep more than a few hours before arriving in Bodo at 9 AM. But alas, I am young and can run on very little sleep so I made it through (thank you for your concern.) Bodo is kind of boring, there really isn't much to see. So because we were so tired we mainly just figured out when our ferry was leaving for the islands, ate and relaxed until we could catch the boat to Reine on Moskenes, where we would be staying for the next 2 nights. The ferry took about 3 hours but it wasn't bad at all. It was more like a mini cruise ship, with food so we could have a small dinner, and plenty of room to doze off on the trip. (6) Upon arrival a the ferry dock our taxi was waiting for us (Thank God because otherwise it would have been a 3 mile hike in the snow and dark to our cabin.) Now our cabin.. was adorable and perfect. It was an old, restored fisherman's cabin right on the water next to beautiful mountains. Seriously could not have asked for anything better! (7,8) (Eliassen Rorbuer on Reine, I highly recommend it.) So the point of this leg of the trip was to see the Northern lights. That first night we thought we kind of saw them right from our porch and we were pretty excited. But we were also exhausted so we had our dinner of Pringles and Snickers (it was too late to hit up the grocery store) and passed out.
The next day, our main mission was finding food - and boy was it a mission. The island was almost deserted this time of year which means the only 2 restaurants on the island were closed for the season which led to our 2 hour hike to the grocery store. We were kind of running on empty but the sights on the walk were more than worth. (9, 10, 11) We got to see the island and stay outside which was awesome because all the tourist stuff was closed for the season so all there was to do was see the scenery and wait for the lights at night. After we made it back to the cabin and cooked dinner and settled in to watch Making a Murder (I could write a whole blog post on that subject alone.. maybe I will.. I HAVE MY THEORIES.) The lights are supposed to be most visible between 10 and 2 AM so were were hoping and praying we'd see them as this night was our last chance. A couple of episodes in (just loving the Avery accent which we adopted for most of the trip) the cabin owner texted us and told us to go outside.
If we thought we saw the lights before we were wrong.. that night they were amazing. I mean they were going directly over our cabin, all over the mountain next to us and the water. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life and, all jokes aside, I know how lucky I am to have witnessed that in my lifetime! Although they were clearly visible from our porch we walked to a darker part of the island, right on the water, to see better. We watched them for about an hour - completely fascinated and all giddy with excitement. We managed to capture some pictures with the help of an app on our phones but they don't really do them justice. They were moving and changing and really dancing, just like everyone says. (12, 13, 14, 15, 16) If we looked behind us, away from the lights, the view of the stars was almost as spectacular. I have never seen such an open sky full of stars it was incredible. I think when I get rich I'll take my family to that spot so that they can experience it too.
We caught the ferry back to Bodo the next morning where we had some time to kill before evening flight to Oslo. Like I said before, the city didn't have much to do and it was cold so we ended up.. BOWLING. Again we had a blast and a feeling we were creating our own tradition for the trip. (And I was improving every game - I even broke 100...)
When we arrived in Oslo, Norway we went to our AirBnb (which is basically like someone renting out their apartment to us for a few days, for those of you who don't know.) And that's where the fun started. The owner's friend met us to give us a key and we huffed and puffed up 6 flights of stairs to the flat only to find that the key didn't work. We were told to wiggle and push and pull the door but it wasn't budging. So when the friend also tried and failed to open the door (turns out it was frozen shut?) we ended up back at her place while the owner figured out what to do. Eventually she decided to put us up in hotel for the 2 nights of our stay. It ended up being a blessing in disguise.. We stayed in the nicest hotel right in the city center and enjoyed the roof top bar and the views happily. (17, 18) Number one rule when traveling: don't panic, don't get angry, just go with it and things will work themselves out!
Now for my next post I will continue the adventure with Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Berlin but really I doubt many have read this far and if they have I don't want to put them to sleep! So take a break, do you, and check back in a day or two for the rest of the story! (or don't.. but you'll miss out on some kick ass writing of a great experience - BOOM.)
xo,
Just Wandering