whirlwind tours

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this trip is a little bit crazy. we've been in copenhagen, gothenburg, oslo, bergen, and roskilde all in about a week. we came up to copenhagen from hamburg and spent two nights and toured the city. its kind of a dull city, but nice enough. we stayed at the sleep in heaven hostel, which although was a little bit out of the way was not a bad place. they had free internet and a cozy lounge area. unfortunately it was a monday when we toured the city, so all of the museums were closed. we did make our way out to the little mermaid statue though, and that was a nice frosty walk. i wasn't really disappointed by it, like i was expecting to be from the way others had referred to it, but I wouldn't recommend walking all the way out to it in the winter time like we did.
from copenhagen, we booked it to bergen. I had been hoping to tour bergen, and then head up to the stave churches in laedel and vik, however a rockslide made train travel impossible, and getting there by bus wasnt something i really wanted to do, as we had to travel from oslo to bergen by bus the day before (and i get really motion sick on buses). bergen was a picturesque little city, nestled in hills and covered in fresh snow. the harbour is quiet and right in the center of the old city. when staying in bergen I do not recommend staying at Jacob Apartments. It was a nice enough place, but there were bedbugs and i have bites all over me.
From bergen, we went to oslo and unfortunately for us there was a music festival on and we couldn't get a place to stay. so we didnt get to tour oslo, but i'm hoping to swing by there again before i head home in january. next time i will book ahead.
From oslo, we went down to gothenburg. this is a sleepy little city, and everyone there was very laid back. people walked down the streets in a leisurely fashion, and no one seemed to be in a hurry. we went to the museum there, and saw the kroyer exhibit. this is actually the first museum i've been to since i started my trip. From here we went to roskilde, and once again the hostel was booked. we really need to start booking ahead instead of trying to find a place when we get there. i didn't really think the hostels would be busy in the winter, but apparently they are.
on a last note, i have to say that i am really impressed by the rail system in scandanavia. the trains are always on time, are very spacious and comfortable, and when things go wrong the rail employees are right there to help and make things right. even with the rockslide, the rail companies still got everyone to their destinations by providing a bus instead. thats all for now, and i'm off to berlin to meet an old friend.

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