I just caught myself writing
November. Can you believe it is already December? And wow! What I weekend I
just had. Norway was absolutely amazing. I skipped a couple of classes last
week and was off to Trondheim by Thursday afternoon. I definitely got to the
Vienna airport way to early though. It took me twenty minutes to get through
security without even a Passport check. I was the only one in the terminal for
about an hour and a half and started to worry, but all was okay after one of
the security guys told me that it was normal for people to only show up an hour
before. By that point I had decided to treat myself to a chair massage and some
gummy bears. My layover in Amsterdam was a breeze and I ended up getting to
Trondheim a little late, but not too bad. Get this: I just walked right out of
the airport without any checks or anything, right outside into the cold. I
really could not believe it and I was also worried about that too, but I found
my friend Tonje and her husband, Alen, waiting for me back inside the airport
and we took off to home. I was in love with the city even in the dark. We drove
through tunnels and past the water and then drove through city lights. We
arrived at their quaint little home on top of a hill overlooking the water.
They had the fireplaces going and welcomed me to anything I wanted. I also got
to sleep in my own bed in my own little room. That alone was enough for a
perfectly relaxing weekend. J
The next morning Tonje made waffles
with all kinds of toppings and we sat at the table and watched the view of the
water with all of the houses nestled into the hill across the way. We took our
time getting ready and then bundled up to head out into the 20-degree weather.
Tonje and Alen took me into Trondheim to see the big cathedral of the Vikings.
It was so interesting hearing her tell me about all the history she used to
learn about when she was in school. Her great, great grandfather had made the
golden ball on the point of the cathedral. She took me all around it and pointed
out the creepy gargoyles on every inch of the cathedral. I had never seen so
many!
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| The Nidaros Cathedral |
Because it was so cold we walked
through the mall a little bit and then headed to the car so we could go to the
spinning restaurant in the Trondheim tower. It was the cutest atmosphere. There
were so many little odd and unique decorations at every table, very Nordic. We
took a lot of pictures, ate some great food and made sure we sat there long
enough for the restaurant to make a complete spin. The sunset was absolutely
gorgeous. I wished my camera could have captured the real colors of it. After
our late lunch we stopped by another mall to pick up Tonje’s gift to her niece
and then we went to the store to get some things for our authentic Norwegian
dinner that night. We came home and relaxed for a while and then Tonje’s dad
started making the dinner. (I’ll have to find out what they call it.) It was
kind of like rice pudding. They made the rice, and then it’s tradition to top
it with some butter, cinnamon and sugar. Doesn’t really sound like a dinner,
but that’s what made it so good! That night we watched some movies and played a
song game on the PlayStation. So fun!
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| Tonje and I at Egon, the Tower Restaurant |
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| Norwegian dinner |
On my last
morning Tonje made us some eggs and we sat and drank some coffee as we watched
the view outside again. We were waiting for Tonje’s dad to pick up Tonje’s
sister, Elise, so we could go into the city to see the famous houses on the
water. It was absolutely freezing when we finally got there, but we stuck it
out like champs and had so much fun taking pictures. At one point, as we were
walking to the bridge to take pictures, we had to stop inside a Persian rug
store just so we could warm up. We got our pictures and walked around another
mall for a little bit and grabbed some lunch. Then we took the car up to the
top of a hill to see a really cool, old fort. It was even colder there, but
somehow we seemed to have even more fun. We had to laugh at how silly we were
being in the cold to keep warm. When we got home that night Tonje showed me how
to make a chicken and pasta dinner. I had fun helping her cook and it was such
a good meal! When we were done eating we decided to set up the living room so
we could keep a look out for the Northern Lights. Tonje was so sure that we
would see them that night. The sky was crystal clear and it was freezing cold.
We didn’t see any, though. I think it was because the moon was so bright and we
were still near city lights. It was funny though watching Tonje and Alen debate
over dimming the TV so we could see the lights. Those two are so cute.
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| The view from Tonje and Alen's house |
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| The beautiful river houses! |
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| Kristiansten Festning (Fort) |
Today was
my travel day home. We had to leave at 4 in the morning so I could get to the
airport. I was so thankful for the both of them for putting me up all weekend.
I got through security in less than ten minutes and then I was off. It was hard
to sleep on my first flight, but I was out on my second one to Vienna. I was
fortunate enough to see some flurries of snow when I landed, but that didn’t
last very long. I’m starting to get very fed up with the weather. I just want
snow!
I’ve also
just remembered that I forgot to tell you about my weekend before Norway. I was
so excited to have had my named bumped up on the waitlist for the IES ski trip.
It really was such a great weekend. I was worried that I’d be leaving Austria
without having skied the Alps, but I made it! We went to a little village
called Kaprun, south of Salzburg, and skied on the mountain Kitzsteinhorn. It
definitely wasn’t ski season. The slopes were icy and the sun made it very
warm. We still had fun and we got some great exercise from it all. It’s truly
amazing on the tops of mountains. Let me tell you though, I’m sure glad that I
had Vermont mountains to prepare me for the Alps. Skiing on Indiana hills does
not compare!
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| Kitzsteinshorn skiing! |
I have so
much coming up in these next 13 days. I have a birthday on Tuesday, papers and
presentations to give, Spain to visit and finals to ace! I hope to get one more
blog out to you all before I head home on the 15th. Can’t believe
it! Until then, I’ll be enjoying the Christmas markets and trying to motivate
myself to actually get some work done.
