my norwegian adventure :)

and what a trip it was! last friday becky, my friend from australia, and i left on a night bus to Oslo at 11 pm. We looked ridiculous biking to the station, bundled up and wobbling from the bags hanging on the handle bars thinking to ourselves "what are we doing?!" The bus was less than restful... I was exhausted when we arrived in Oslo completely disoriented at 6 am. The city was asleep except for the large gypsy woman stumbling around the bus station. Excellent. We took an 8 am train to Bergen. The train ride is rated as on of the top 20 train rides in the world and it really was beautiful. Okay, so I slept the first couple hours, but I woke up to amazing views of mountains and glaciers.

View from the window:


The train stopped to let us take pictures of the glaciers:


We ended up meeting with a group of Australians from the exchange program who were in Bergen at the same time as us which was really nice. Bergen is a small town in the middle of the mountains and called the "gateway to the fjords." It was also ridiculously expensive. This goes for all of Norway really... a hamburger meal from mcdonalds is about $25 USD. WHHATTT?? yes. horrifying i know. We tried to bring food with us so that we would spend less money... and as a result I had ramen noodles for breakfast twice. Nothing like it to get you going in the morning!! We are so lucky because we had incredible sunny weather the entire time we were in Bergen. Bergen is the city that gets the most rain in all of Europe... it's record was 80 days STRAIGHT of rain!!! I am so glad that didn't happen when we were there...

the harbor area:


posing with the harbor:


other side of harbor:


Bergen by night:


with friends! it was a little cold...:


on the fjord cruise:


a house:


mountains:


So after almost 3 days in Bergen, we took the night train to Oslo. Oslo was cloudy and cold, but it is a beautiful city. We saw the opera house, went to the palace, an incredible sculpture garden, and the Nobel Peace Center which was amazing.

early in the morning at the opera house:


incredible imitations by me and becky:



I loved this statue:


We took a ferry overnight from Oslo to Copenhagen. This was our room:


We had such a great time on the trip, but I definitely was glad to get back to Malmö. After being here for over a month, it really is starting to feel normal for me to be here and I really love it. I have really bonded especially with the students from Spain.. they were upset that I hadn't mentioned them yet, so here I am! I understand almost everything when they speak and it makes me feel more at home being with them... they are very warm people, loud and crazy... I fit right in ;)

I love them:


My amazing Vecino who lives across the hall, Nano:


I will miss them so much when I go home, but we try not to talk about it. And they all have invited me to Spain, so I think I will hit that up this summer! I am so glad to finally really be happy to be here. It it is weird to feel so connected to people and places across the world, but I think this is going to be my life. I'm okay with it :)

copenhagen and more

this week i celebrated my one month anniversary of being here in sweden... i can't believe it! the time has gone by so quickly. my classes have started to get a little more intense. it is strange to have class only twice a week, but there is a lot to do in between. we had a "bring a dish" dinner with all the exchange students this weekend and i made an american classic: s'mores! i had to use the microwave since building a campfire indoors was problematic, but they were good and somewhat well received. when someone liked it, i told them "come to america!!!!!" i do this as often as possible, actually... just trying to spread some good parts of the USA whenever i can. last week, one of the swedish girls who lives on my hall prepared swedish food. we ate herring, potatoes, eggs with caviar, cheese and toast. it was... not italian. haha, well i liked the potatoes...



yesterday, i finally went to Copenhagen. it was so beautiful... a much bigger city then malmö, and reminded me a little of new york. it's weird to think that i went to another country and came back in a day, but what a day it was! after following a walking tour of the city including the oldest theme park in europe, the little mermaid statue, the Nyhavn Canal, and the Rosenborg Castle, we spent the afternoon in a park, basking in sunlight. it was fantastic!!!

the group in front of the theme park:


at the canal:


america is everywhere:


next to the tallest man in the world:


that's right.. awkward turtle!! from usa to sweden, denmark, and spain...


in the palace square... st. peter's look alike!!! italy in denmark!!


ferocious:


innocent next to the little mermaid? maybe just strange...:


danish church:


playing dead in the park:


well at the end of this week i am heading to NORWAY which should be awesome.. i'll let you know how it goes ;)

words to live by:

today i love sweden :)

the last couple days have been perfect. the weather has been amazing and i have been able to go to the beach everyday... im so happy! today especially was incredible. i went down to the boardwalk by myself and soaked up the swedish sun all afternoon. i found a great italian gelato shop where the lady thought i was italian (holla!) and told me the price in italian.. super sweet. i feel so good right now, so i just want to show you all some pics from the last couple days...

down at the beach:


i love sun:


crazy old swedish man swimming:


gelato made my day:


the boardwalk:


what a blessing.