Blogs from Lillehammer, Eastern Norway, Norway, Europe

Pre-conceptions of Norway before boarding the Oslo-bound flight were of a clean, pricey nation blessed with awesome natural features, a high standard of living, a civilized society and the only existing country on earth with no external debt. Upon arrival in this Scandinavian country, it soon became apparent that all of these pre-conceptions were not only true, but palpably so, in the sense that you could actively 'feel' the shocking expense, the standard of living, the cleanliness and, surrounded by nature in the likeable ski resort town of Hafjell, the effects seeped into my system, in a way which made it hard to even contemplate how contrasting the place might have looked if the blanket of snow were removed. The ski terrain itself, while being relatively limited, was enough scope for a full 5 days of ... read more

Our last day in Oslo was raining, so we went to more museums. I finally saw "The Scream"; in fact we saw 2 versions of it at two different art museums. Frankly, I think Munch's other paintings and etchings are better than the "The Scream", but that's just my opinion. I'll post some of my favorite art that we've seen so far on a later blog, rather than bore some of you who don't share my particular taste. Thursday, we picked up our rental car and headed out of Oslo to Lillehammer. It was an easy and scenic drive of about 2 hours. This is the furthest north either of us has ever been. It's the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. We arrived around 3pm yesterday, and spent the afternoon walking around the town, which is ... read more

Okay! Yellow fever inplanted in my arm! And thypoid is on the way. Two more pills to eat, last on sunday. Ah! It feels great to have had this done. Just have the cholera/ETEC left after that, a drinking vaccin but I will not take those two doses untill the 7th and the 14th of April. Only thing we miss now is the visa for Mocambique and to pack our bags, and of course to endure the last weeks here. Sweetness! Edit; Ah.... maybe I will need one more vaccination. Meningococcal encephalitis, lethal if not treated. Maybe there are awesome hospitals in Mocambique, but what if there are none nearby? Better safe then sorry! I think I will have to go back to Lillehammer on monday or maybe thursday to fix this.. ... read more

Hey Guys! Yesterday was a wonderful day in the beautiful country of Norway! We somewhat figured out how to navigate the bus system. we have to scan a card and then we had to figure out all the different stops where we had to get off. there is one main station downtown were all the buses go to so even if we got on the wrong bus, we could figure it out. We took the bus downtown and walked around to all the different shops and stores. there are a couple streets that are just walking streets and we saw a lot of people there. It is super slippery on the roads!!! I have almost wiped out about fifty times already because my boots have ZERO traction! They don't actually remove any snow here, they just ... read more

Hello All, After a great weekend in Switzerland, Amanda surprised me with a plane ticket to Lillehammer, Norway to take in some skiing. I have not done a lot of skiing, however, every time I have gone skiing it was been a blast; so I was very excited. To cut some costs, Amanda decided to leave early Friday morning and wait for me to arrive later that night. I couldn’t afford to miss work on Friday, so I took a half-day and landed in Oslo, Norway around 10pm local time. Poor Amanda. She had to wait at that airport ALL day. While my flight landed safely, the stress was about to begin. It turns out that the airport was a two hour bus drive away from the Oslo train station. We planned to spend the night ... read more

Hello all! I know, I know it has been FOREVER since I have written. I kinda forgot about this travel blog. Well I have survived spring break! My first destination was Copenhagen. There were five of us who met up in Copenhagen. I was being cheap so my flight was an hour before everyone else's. So I left at I think 3:20 am by the taxi and then got on the train to Oslo. It was kinda nice to travel alone and take a breather before I began the week. After I got to the airport I cut it super close checking in. I think I was one of the last people to check in for the flight and then after I went to security I got to the gate right as they started boarding!! Yeah, ... read more

So this weekend was super fun. The international buddies took most of the international students to a resort called Fagerhøi. While waiting for the bus to come pick us up, we saw a car spin 180 degrees. Then it calmy turns back around and drives away. This was a car with a family in it and they acted as if it was normal. Then the bus comes... It slows down to stop but it didn't stop, it kept sliding a little bit. So the driver puts on the gas to move forward but then the front of the bes starts sliding away from us. He puts on the breaks and the tail end starts moving away from us! I Seriously thought the bus was going to tip over! It was quiet scary! Eventually the bus stopped ... read more