Snakker du engelsk? (Do you speak English?)

This past weekend was spent in the frigid, Scandinavian air of Oslo, Norway. I took off from the Florence airport before 7am on Friday, watching the sun rise over the Swiss Alps. Upon arriving in the Munich airport 20 minutes late, I had to find the bus to my terminal and ran to my connecting gate. The flight was basically empty, leaving me with a whole row to myself. I guess Oslo isn’t a popular destination for those Germans. When we were landing in Oslo, I could see snow on the ground! I could spend no time worrying about whether I packed the right clothes or not, as I was more worried about finding the express train to the Oslo city center. Thank god for English signs in these major airports. I quickly exchanged my Euros for Norwegian Kroners, or NOK, and headed to buy my express train ticket. I had expected to buy the ticket from a ticket window, but a nice, English speaking man told me they charge 30 NOK extra to use the ticket window and guided me through using the machine.

Swiss Sunrise

The train ride was 20 minutes into the Oslo city center. We passed through the countryside, where the snow was beginning to melt in the midday sun. I got off at the Oslo S station, where I whipped out my directions to the hotel. The hotel was conveniently located right across the bridge from the train station, or so I thought. I found the hotel and upon getting to the front desk, I was told that I was at the wrong hotel! Supposedly they had two hotels in Oslo, and I was at the other one! Sick of lugging around my huge bag (never bringing my computer again), I hopped in a cab to go five minutes up the road. I dropped off my bag and decided to get in some sites because Carolyn, Hilary, and Katie weren’t getting in until late that night. My first stop was the Nasjonalgalleriet, or the National Gallery. My trusty Scandinavian Europe guidebook said this was a must for any trip to Oslo. There was an impressive collection of Edvard Munch’s best known works, including The Scream. I also loved Harald Sohlberg’s Winter Night in the Mountains. The painting depicts both isolation and beauty- the image below doesn't do the real piece any justice.

Winter Night in the Mountains

My next stop was the Radhus, or Oslo’s City Hall. From the outside, the building looks like a plain, municipal building, but the inside is covered with colorful murals that depict Norway’s rich history. I was able to walk though the entire building, including the assembly room where meetings are held and banquet hall. From one of the windows on the second floor I could see the water and resolved to head in that direction. 

Inside of the city hall

I left the City Hall and found the main shopping street and the docks. It was chilly down by the water, but it was so worth all of the goosebumps. I walked along the docks admiring the Viking ships and sailboats before my fingers were numb. I ran into a café and grabbed a coffee before heading up to the Akerhus fortress, where there were amazing views of the Oslo Fjord. It was nice to see all of the fall foliage and leaves on the ground, something we don’t have in Florence and what I miss most from home! By then I was exhausted and headed back to the hotel to check in.

Carolyn, Hilary, and Katie were to arrive in Oslo around 11:30 that night, so for dinner I grabbed a sandwich and hot chocolate at a café recommended by our hotel and headed back to get a goodnight’s sleep before a full day of sightseeing on Saturday. Carolyn and I woke up bright and early to get a head start on our day. We wandered downstairs before 8 to have some breakfast before heading to meet Katie and Hilary (who were consequently staying at the other hotel I originally went to).  We were surprised by the odd breakfast selection of meats, cheeses, vegetables, sausages, and other hot dog looking things. Luckily we found some fresh fruit and yogurt- I was not going to settle for cucumbers and tomatoes at 8am.

I brought Carolyn down to the water where I was on Friday and through the Akerhus fortress before making our way over to the Oslo Opera & Ballet House. The hall is an architectural phenomenon, with the roof sloping down to the sidewalk. The Opera & Ballet House looks out over the water, with amazing views of the city. We were able to climb all the way to the top, careful not to slip on the ice! 

Katie and Hilary met us here and we had a Wilton reunion before heading to our Viking ship cruise. The cruise took us on an authentic Viking ship all the way to Bygdey, where many of the museums are housed. We opted to see the Vikingskiphset, or Viking Ship Museum, first. We had no idea how to get there and decided to follow everyone else from the boat. The museum houses three Viking ships excavated from the Oslo fjord region. We still hadn’t thawed from walking all of the way to the museum by the time we were done, and decided to grab a coffee on our way back to the ship. We stopped at a cute Norwegian coffee shop on the side of the street and sipped on cappuccinos and hot chocolates while catching up on everyone’s Euro adventures. We headed back to the ship just in time and were off to the City Hall stop. We were able to snag seats and blankets this time on the ship, making the ride much more bearable.

Our Viking Ship!

I had read in the guidebook and on several websites that the restaurant Frognerseteren was highly recommended. Upon reading the reviews and looking on their website, there was no way I was going to leave Norway without going. Getting to the restaurant was going to be a challenge in itself, but we were up for an adventure. We headed to the tram station to find out our best route to get up into the mountains. It turns out we had to take a bus and tram to get there, so we opted for the 24 hour transportation pass, allowing us to use the bus, tram, metro, and boats to our heart’s content over the next day. To all of our parents: you would have been so impressed by our use of public transportation to get around the city. But, no, we wont be taking the buses in NYC any time soon.

After a couple of mishaps, including getting off at the wrong stop at the famous Holmenkollen ski jump and running up a hill after our bus, we finally reached Frognerseteren. The restaurant is perched on a mountainside overlooking the city, with big fireplaces giving it a ski lodge feel. We decided to sit inside, Hilary and I opting for a brie salad, Carolyn meatballs, and Katie, our resident daredevil foodie, an elk burger. Our visit would not have been complete without taste testing the famous apple cake. AH-MAZING. 

Frognerseteren

After taking some scenery pictures, we caught our bus back down to the city center and headed over to Vigeland Park. We had a quick pit stop to buy some Norwegian hats to keep our heads warm and entered the vast sculpture park. There are nearly 200 sculptures of granite and bronze by Gustav Vigeland presenting human form in a variety of emotions. The most impressive structure was at the end of the park, which was a huge sculpture of intertwined bodies.

We took the tram back to the hotel to pursue our hunt for Norwegian sweaters. After trying several different stores that were all closed, we deemed our search an epic failure. Supposedly nothing in Norway is open on Sundays, so we were straight out of luck! We went to three different concierges to ask if they knew of any place that was open on Sunday that sold sweaters and we were told that our only chance was an open air market. (Note: We found the market on Sunday and it wasn’t open). We also asked for a dinner recommendation of where we could get fondue and took the tram to a very residential area in the western part of the city. Just our luck: we could not find the restaurant and called the number, which was ultimately out of service. We resolved to go back down to the water and try one of the other suggested restaurants. Our luck turned around, as we were able to be seated at D/S Louise. This was a fabulous restaurant right at Akker Bridge. There were Norwegian nautical themed pieces on the wall and even a stuffed polar bear, conveniently towering right over our table. In the mood for something very warm after our day spent mostly outdoors, we got warm goat cheese salads and french onion soup. Our meal wouldn’t have been complete without a round of desserts, including crème brulee and chocolate torte. Our meal ended around 9 o’clock and we were exhausted from all of our walking, so we decided to call it a night!

Sunday morning got to sleep in a bit, knowing that nothing opened in the city until later. Carolyn and I grabbed breakfast and headed to Hilary and Katie’s hotel to store our bags and find the market. I must say, we got to know the streets of Oslo pretty well this weekend. We ended up finding the market, which was just a bunch of empty tents. So, we hopped on the tram to head down to the water to get a coffee at one of the outside cafes. All of the cafes in Oslo have outdoor seating, even when it is below freezing. They have heat lamps and fuzzy, fur blankets for everyone to wrap up in. When we walked by these restaurants on Saturday night, people were eating even outside with their hoods of their jackets up! We Oddly enough, T.G.I. Friday’s is very popular in Oslo, and they even have T.G.I. monogrammed blankets for customers to wrap up in. ended up sitting inside by the fireplace at the nearly empty café, The people of Norway must sleep in on Sundays because there was not a soul walking around even at 11 am! After a quick trip to the souvenir shop to buy a pair of gloves (the only shop open at the time), I parted ways with the girls, who were going to head to the National Gallery, and made my way back to the airport. On the tram back to the hotel to get my bag, I was mistaken for a local and asked by tourists if I spoke English and could point them in the direction of the Opera House. This is one of my highlights of the trip, as I knew exactly how to get there! Maybe I have a future as a Scandinavian tour guide! My trip to Norway has inspired me to learn a Scandinavian language… Swedish Rosetta Stone is definitely on my Christmas list!

Ha det!

B

When in Venice...

The weekend of October 8-10 we traveled to Venice to celebrate Jenny’s 21^st birthday. I fell in love with Venice from the second we got off the train.  I had seen pictures of the city, but it wasn’t until we were on our water taxi to our hotel that I could believe the city is literally surrounded by water. With no cars, everyone walks or takes the water bus to get around. We grabbed a quick lunch and met up with three of Pam and Jenny’s friends from Furman that are studying abroad in Brussels before heading to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. The museum was filled with plenty of modern art. Pam, our resident art history major, was the critic and walked us through some of the pieces. Before Jenny’s birthday dinner, we met up with everyone at Harry’s Bar, famous for their Bellinis. Although we paid 15 euro for a single Bellini, it was well worth the birthday toast to Jenny!

Jenny's 21st

The next morning we got up bright and early before heading to the San Marco Piazza to see the San Marco Basilica. The inside of the basilica was absolutely incredible. We were shuffled along in a line throughout the entire church and decided to come back the next day to experience mass. When we got out of the church, the tide had risen and the piazza was completely flooded. We had to walk on ramps to get from one side to another, taking fifteen minutes for what should have been a two minute walk. People were yelling in all different languages and being really pushy, so we decided to get out of the main tourist area. So, we boarded a water taxi to the island of Murano, famous for their glass blowing. The ride took an hour, stopping at various other islands before finally heading to Murano. We jumped off the boat in search of the restaurant famous for their seafood recommended in our guidebook. At the other end of the island we found the restaurant and were lucky to get a table outside in the sun. We wandered through the shops after lunch, in search of presents for people at home (Grama, you have something on the way!) and decided it would be best to take a water taxi back to Venice so we would not waste any more time. After haggling down the price of a water taxi, we jumped onboard, where Sally decided to become best friends with the driver. He let her grab hold of the steering wheel and the two shared their life stories while Lindsay, Pam, and I enjoyed the view from the back.

Flooding in San Marco

As our birthday present to Jenny, we went to a wine tasting recommended by our hotel. After getting completely lost trying to find the restaurant (note: give yourself double the time you think you need to get somewhere in Venice…you WILL get lost, even if you have a map) we sat down and tested our first of five wines. Each glass was brought out with a little dish, such as bruschetta or cheese, that complemented the wine.  We quickly became best friends with the owner of Enoteca Cicchetteria and ended up singing karaoke behind the bar. We even had a diverse audience of local Italians and tourists from San Diego. My one complaint; however, was they that didn’t have a single Journey song on the playlist. We then made our way to a “funk” bar, recommended by the locals. After a couple of Marvin Gaye songs, we resolved to go home and get a good night’s sleep. Since the bar was so far away from our hotel, we resolved to get a water taxi home. We were pointed towards the Venice Casino, where there are always water taxis parked. Since we were going to have to walk through the casino to get to the taxis, why not gamble? We had to show our passports and get our pictures taken (very high security) and we received our vouchers. Intimidated by the tables at first, I was the guinea pig to use my 10 euro in the slot machine. Epic failure. After losing 8 euro at the machine, we decided to head upstairs to the blackjack table. There was something very James Bond-esque about sitting down at the table with men in suits and the women standing behind them holding their drinks. While the men were betting 100 euro chips, we started with 10 euros. Low and behold, after a few hands, we were on a winning streak. (Thanks to John, Papa, and Dad for all those games of 21 and Ashton Kutcher for just being in the movie “21”) We left the table 50 euros richer, with more money on our vouchers to use at the slot machines. Pam played the “Buffet” slot machine, winning another 20 or so euros. I must say, I can now see how people get addicted to gambling. We decided to call it a night, hoping to get in more sights the next day before leaving.

The next morning we set off for an 11am mass at the San Marco Basiliica, which was more crowded than we expected. The time extended all the way out of the church, across the flooded piazza. By the time we were inside, there was nowhere to sit, but we stood and marveled at the interior of the church. The combination of the architecture and murals, along with the Italian hymns, seemed like something out of a movie. After mass, we headed next door to tour the Doge’s Palace and headed across the river to see a couple more churches before heading to the train station. We even enjoyed some entertainment from a little man who played the accordion, drum, and other instruments all at once. I can see this as a possible career for my brother.

Future Career?

We decided not to travel last weekend because this past week were midterms. Why can’t midterms at Vandy be like study abroad? For my fashion marketing class I had to develop my own fashion brand and create and marketing and retail strategy, which I will be presenting to our class after fall break. I created a sportwear brand called “Studio 10,” which has retail locations in the ten fittest cities in the United States according to the American Fitness Index. I also had to give a presentation in my Public Relations class on a brand strategy for the Aveeno Positively Ageless line, which included a big social media campaign, benchmarking Dove’s Evolution of Beauty YouTube video (check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U). On Wednesday I had my Italian mideterm and spent the rest of the day studying for my Business Strategy midterm, which was my final midterm before fall break.

Our fall break is ELEVEN. WHOLE. DAYS, with classes starting again on November 2^nd. This weekend I am meeting up with Hilary, Carolyn, and Katie from home in Oslo. We have a full weekend planned- I’m so excited to visit my first (of hopefully many) Scandinavian country! On Monday, I’ll be meeting up with my mom and dad to do a trip down the Almalfi coast. It’s hard to believe that once we get back from break, we’ll have less than two months left in Italy! There are still so many things to look forward to, including my cousin Melissa’s visit for her 21^st birthday and trips to Paris, Copenhagen, and Madrid!

"The trouble with eating Italian food is that 5 or 6 days later you're hungry again."

Its been almost a month since I’ve updated our blog. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and designate a chunk of time to get our travels down on paper. When I left the states, I thought I’d be blogging several times a week, instead of once a month. However, I am currently on a 2 hour plane ride watching the sun rise over the Swiss Alps while headed to Oslo, Norway for the weekend. What a perfect opportunity to update everyone. (especially because no one on my plane speaks English and therefore can’t read over my shoulder, my biggest pet peeve when using my laptop on the plane)

Our weekend trip to Sicily (Oct 1-3) with our program was basically a never ending cycle of meals. I think my stomach must have expanded three sizes this weekend (thank god for my gym membership). We ate our way through the weekend, with feasts at local restaurants and ranches near Siracusa, on the eastern coast of Sicily. Upon our arrival in Sicily, our guide greeted us, complete with his Gucci sunglasses and SAI program t-shirt and bag. He had just landed form Milan and told us we had to wait for the students from Rome before getting on our way. We checked into the hotel and headed straight to dinner. Our group dinner consisted of various Sicilian delicacies, such as grilled eggplant and rice balls. There was plenty of bread and wine to go around as well. The waiters brought out dish after dish, finally ending the meal with a lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate. We didn’t realize how much food there would be, so we made a mental note not to eat everything at the beginning of the meal the next day and pace ourselves. And I quote, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Sicilian Sunset

Our next day in Siracusa began with a trip to the local market. Our tour guide brought us around to different stands (my favorite being the fish stand of course), ending with a cheese and dessert tasting. We then boarded a bus to take us out to the Pantalica Ranch for surprise, surprise, meal #93845 of our trip. After another round of food, we basked in the sun and waited out our food comas. That evening, we got a group to go to the rooftop bar at the Grand Hotel Ortiga for drinks and apperitivo before meeting our group for dinner. After taking in the gorgeous view (and some Bellinis) we headed to what seemed like our sixth meal that day. The next morning we headed to the Siracusa Archeological Park, where we saw the Theatro Greco and various other ruins. Before no time, we were headed back to the airport. A trip with Sicily is not complete without a cannoli, and we heard through the grapevine that there was an excellent bakery in the airport. Cannoli in hand, we headed back to beautiful Firenze.

Lindsay, Pam, and I in a cave at the park

Teatro Greco

I guess this is the ironically appropriate time to talk about the gym Jenny, Noelle, and I joined. Our gym is called “Swan Gymnastics Center” and is only a five minute walk from our apartment. It a great activity to do in between class and dinner, since we usually eat around 8 or 9 at night. There is no place to compare this gym to in the states. There is only 1 elliptical, 4 treadmills, and 8 bikes, in addition to plenty of weight machines for those macho Italian men. We usually head to the gym and go on a machine before taking one of the many classes offered. We’ve tried “Fit Boxe” (kickboxing,) “GAG” (arms and legs), and Total Body. The best part about the classes are the remixes, including our new found Replay mashup. We usually stand out like sore thumbs in our Nike shorts and bright tank tops amongst what seems to be the Italian work out uniform of black pants and a t-shirt. The best part about the gym is the owner, who sits on his laptop on Facebook all day and plays 90’s throwback music videos on the flatscreen TV. We’ve seen everything from Britney Spear’s “Oops I did it Again” to Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Needless to say, there’s no need for an iPod or magazine. The environment of the gym provides entertainment in itself.

On Wednesday after our weekend in Sicily, we were graced by the presence of Carolyn and Lauren and their friends from London Maggie and Ashley! The girls had just finished finals for their program and were on their whirlwind tour of Italy before starting their internships. After they hiked Cinque Terre early Wednesday morning, we met up for dinner at none other than Francescovini. We introduced them to some real Italian food, including Vivoli, or “Pam’s Gelato Shop.” The girls were exhausted, but got up early the next morning to head to the leather market and the Duomo, where we said “ciao” and they were off to Roma!

Playing tourist at the Duomo with C&L