Our final stop as a group was Copenhagen, Denmark. The weather was a bit rainy, but we are Seattleites, so it didn’t stop us one bit. We spent most of our couple days there wandering the streets, landmarks, parks, and city center. Copenhagen is a wonderful city I would like to spend more time in. A ‘not to be forgotten’ moment from this trip was Dana and I braving the fish ‘eating’ pedicure.
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway and is located on the western coast. It also the gateway to the Norwegian fiords. When flying in, a local told me how rare it was to be able to see the city from the sky as weather is usually windy and rainy in Bergen. Boy did I luck out! We had blue skies and sunshine my entire 3 days here, which made my trip that much more amazing. In fact, I learned that Seattle is the ‘sister city’ for Bergen. Many kids here were penpals with children in Seattle and the below totem pole was gifted by Seattle to Bergen (I also met this little friend in the totem pole who I was tempted to sneak into my suitcase). It did remind me of Seattle with it’s islands, greenery, water, and fish market.
The first evening I hopped on Floibonen a funicular (cliffside railway) that takes you up into hills of the city for amazing views.
I absolutely loved walking around the city of Bergen. The people were lovely, the town was cute, and even though the temperatures were quite low (40’s) the sunshine and clean air rejuvenated me.
The contrast of the water and the lush green mountains was breathtaking. I often wondered how those who live in the many colorful hillside homes were able to get around in the winter.
Bergen was also fun to explore at night…
An older section of Bergen, the old Hanseatic wharf, is architecturally unique and a World Heritage site.
I ate some great food while here including my first monk fish. A local specialty known as ‘poor man’s lobster’. It is a mildly flavored fish with a texture similar to lobster. I also got this fish skewer grilled up right at the marina near the local fish market. 
Across the street from where I stayed was the local marina. So I was often surprised by noises from the penguins and seals.
I fell in love with Bergen during my trip and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Norway (especially if the weather is nice). However, bring your pocketbook – Norway is the most expensive country I have visited yet. A glass of wine costing $20. Their minimum wage is equivalent to $25 so it is not as expensive for them, but for tourists – ouch!
The highlight of my trip, by far, was a tour of the Norwegian fiords called Norway in a Nutshell. When I confirmed I would be going to Bergen, my mother suggested I do this tour and graciously offered to buy it for an early Christmas present : ) She had been on this same tour back in 1999 when she was here.
While it has been raining steady here for weeks before my arrival, I was fortunate to have blue skies and sun during my entire visit (albeit still chilly) which made my sight seeing that much more amazing. Out of all the wonderful places I have been. This one is near the top of the most beautiful, for sure. For those of you who know me well, you know that when in nature, I am the happiest. It was an amazing day.
The tour took us from Bergen on a train to Voss where we boarded a bus that took us down a steep windy road (below) to our boat in Gudvangen. The boat ride was over two hours long and let us off in Flam (which I learned from a local a third of the families in Bergen have a vacation cabin here). We had about an hour to eat lunch in Flam and then boarded an old mountain train to Myrdal where we transferred to a larger train.
Unfortunately, the reflection from the train/bus windows made photos difficult (except the old train which had windows that you could open). But as you can see, I have no shortage of pictures from my day : ) There were not a lot of ‘stories’ to tell about this trip as I was just taking it all in. But thought it was neat that our boat delivered mail to a few of the local houses that live deep in the fiord – what a life! Needless to say, I highly recommend anyone travelling to Bergen or Oslo to take this tour. Thanks Mom – I can not imagine a better Christmas gift than this.
The second stop of our Scandinavian adventure was Stockholm, the capital and largest city in Sweden which is made up of 14 islands (there are actually thousands of others in the Stockholm archipelago which I regrettably did not get to visit). We were lucky enough to have the weather cooperate again with mainly sunny, clear skies during our visit. The first night after checking in we grabbed dinner and got a treat at the nearby bakery. As you can see, I had the chance to try some yummy Swedish food during our visit (I did not drink all this Absolute but thought these ‘original collection’ was pretty cool).
The next day, I met up with Dustin to hit the road early. We grabbed a coffee and headed to Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. Later we met up with the group to visit the Fotographiska Museum which featured some amazing photography (admittedly, some was too dark for my taste).
I was determined to see as much of Stockholm as possible and wanted to see some of their parks so I set off to visit Ladagardsgardet which was very green and reminded me of home. On the way there I got caught in a compete downpour and was soaked to the bone, but it was over before I knew it and gave me the prize of a rainbow at the end. 
Because I apparently wanted to punish my feet, I then decided to go to Skepps-Holmen island which featured many museums and even an amusement park. In the end it was about 12 hours of walking, I had seen much of Stockholm and had blisters to prove it : )
The last day, I explored Sodermalm, the island where we were staying. Overall, I really enjoyed our visit to Stockholm. It is a city with many parks and children’s play areas. I was surprised that most people were not blonde here though : ) The picture of the people walking below was essentially ‘rush hour’ after work was off. The picture of the stairs is an example of how many stairs were built with strollers and other rolling things in mind – smart! I got to see the surrounding countryside when heading to the airport – lots of green rolling pastures and horses. I would highly recommend visiting Stockholm, it is a beautiful city.
The last two days of our stay in Iceland were spent taking in some of the great natural treasures Iceland has to offer. Sunday we had planned on driving the Golden Circle, a 190 mile route which encompasses many of Iceland’s most famous landmarks. Needless to say we were ecstatic to wake up to blue skies and sunshine that morning. After renting a grossly overpriced van, our first stop was Thingvellir National Park, a valley created by two of the tectonic plates pulling apart. This is just one of the few places in the world where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs above the water. The park features the biggest lake in Iceland and spectacular cliffs which create a very magnificent scenery.
Next up was the site of several geysers in Iceland. Fun fact – The English word geyser comes from Icelandic. It comes from the name of a geyser (called Geysir) located in the South West of Iceland. While this geyser is not as active now, we were able to see its neighboring geyser, Strokkur, go off a couple of times.
The last stop of the day was Gullfoss, Europe’s largest waterfall. It features a 105-foot double-cascade into the Hvita glacial river. It was unbelievably beautiful. Here, we were also able to see one of Iceland’s many glaciers (pictured below on the mountains, a bit hard to see).
Sunday was an amazing day, but we could not leave Iceland without visiting the Blue Lagoon the next day. In the middle of a large lava field lies a natural spa with hot water which originates from over 6,000 feet deep. The warm waters average around 100 degrees and are rich with minerals like silica and sulpher. The bottom of the lagoon is black lava sand and areas of slimy silica mud. The later of which which is also available to put on your face/skin with promise of making you appear 20 years younger ; ) We had a fun time bathing for a few hours in the lagoon and were all very relaxed at the end of the day. As you can see, the surrounding area, while strange, was very pretty. I can confidently say we all thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Iceland and would recommend anyone to visit.
It has been two years since my big European adventure. As was promised by friends Erin & Shane who have travelled extensively once you get a taste of it, you will always want to travel. So when I heard my good friend Dustin Knievel was heading to Scandinavia with a group of friends, I couldn’t help but join them. There are a total of nine of us, all friends of Dustin’s, most of which he has known for many years and it is a great group.
We started our adventure in Iceland. After ‘checking-in’ and dropping my things off at my host family’s house, a young couple in their 20’s, I walked 15 minutes along the waterfront to get to the city. The blue skies were a lovely surprise but it was in the 40’s and chilly.
I found Reykjavik to be wonderful! It is the capital and largest city of Iceland, where most of their residents live, but it is small by our standards and very walkable. The city is colorful and features a lot of shopping, restaurants, and bars. The people here speak amazing English and are extremely friendly. Most everything is printed in English as well as Icelandic which is great because their language sounds/looks quite difficult. They appear obsessed with American culture (music, entertainment, brands, etc) so at times it did not feel like I was in another country at all. I did make it to the infamous pysla (hotdog) stand which always had a long line, no matter what time of day. These Icelandic hotdogs are made with lamb, pork and beef. Yummy!
Their brand new Harpa Concert Hall was beautiful. These pictures do it no justice, the contrast of different glass colors was so cool!
There was a lot of fun graffiti that I enjoyed capturing with my camera.
After retiring for a nap (afterall we flew overnight and arrived early in the morning –we were tired) we enjoyed a late dinner and then took on Reykjavik night life. We had heard the Icelanders really liked to party and that was no lie. What was a quiet uncrowded city by day became packed with people and cars. We started at Lebowski’s (named after the movie) which was decorated accordingly, including this random digital art with Sadam Husain going up in flames surrounded by bowling shoes? We then danced the night away at a night club, shutting the place down at 4AM (yes, even me, the girl who goes to bed by midnight usually). What a great start to what I am sure will be a fantastic trip.
Lisa's World Adventures 