Anyways, back to the adventure: so, we started off by flying to Helsinki and spending a few days exploring there. This was just Mike and me on our own, and aside from the hacking cough I had for a few days, we had a pretty good time. Helsinki is a cool place to visit, but it wasn't quite cool enough to break into our favorite-cities list. It does have a fabulous market on the waterfront, where we enjoyed the most succulent, juicy strawberries I have ever had in my life -- it was a good thing they tasted so amazing because we paid I think 5 euro for ONE cup of them! Ouch...
The hits just kept on coming money-wise: there were days when we literally just had to skip meals because we couldn't afford it! Scandinavia is a great place to visit, but it's VERY hard on the wallet. We tried not to let that ruin our fun though... Another highlight of Helsinki was this incredible Orthodox church that has 12 golden onion-shaped domes on top of its spires. That was quite a sight and Mike proclaimed it his favorite tourist attraction of the day.
After Aland we took a ferry to Stockholm and explored it for a day and a half. Stockholm was much more impressive than I had expected - in fact, it has become one of my three favorite cities in all of Europe! We had a fantastic time exploring the old town and climbing up into the tower palace (although on this particular excursion I was forced to face my two biggest phobias: heights and spiders! -- I'm proud to say I only shrieked once and that was Jared's fault!). Another highlight was visiting the Nobel Museum. It was especially thrilling to visit this year, as a family friend of ours, Mario Cappecchi of the University of Utah, was a joint laureate this year in Physiology and Medicine, so I got a chance to see the digital plaque honoring his contributions to science. Way to go Mario!
After Stockholm it was on to Oslo, which was by far the most expensive city we have ever visited. Everyone there is incredibly thin too... probably it's because food is so expensive no one can afford to eat! Anyway, we arrived in Oslo late one night and made our way to our hostel -- a hostel that turned out to be the worst accommodation I have ever encountered on any trip, anywhere. Mike nicknamed the place Shawshank and it was quite fitting: there were broken bits of pipes and other plumbing parts from toilets strewn about the hallways, and the showers were huge communal affairs with no privacy whatsoever. Luckily we didn't have to spend much time in this wretched place...
On the train from Stockholm to Oslo
On the train from Stockholm to Oslo
The next morning, after a fitful night spent hugging my bags to my chest in the female dorm room (yep, I couldn't even sleep in the same room with my husband in Shawshank) and listening to one of the most massive women I've ever encountered shatter the night with her snoring, we made our way into town and met up with our good friends Alex and Ellen. The six of us caught the ferry out to the Viking Museum and had a great time checking that out. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Oslo - we saw the changing of the guard at the palace, we viewed Munch's "The Scream" in the National Gallery, and we wandered around an incredible sculpture garden.
Our group (minus photographer Joan) on the ferry to the Viking Museum
Mike and me resting in the park after a morning spent exploring Oslo
After another exciting night in Shawshank, we caught an early train to Flam, which is a teeny tiny little town on the banks of the Sonjafjord in Norway. My father, who visited Flam thirty years ago, calls it the most beautiful place on earth, and that's no exaggeration: it was absolutely stunning! We spent two nights there in some cabins and had a blast. There was a rockslide on the mountain just behind us the first night, which was part exciting and part scary (though no one was hurt) and the next day we trekked several kilometers along the fjord to a little farm up in the hills. We also spent the equivalent of $70 to buy a kilo of spaghetti, three jars of sauce, three bell peppers, a bag of carrots, and some ranch dressing to cook dinner... OUCH! Our poor friend Alex lost a bet and then had to buy a round of beers for the group... we took pity on him and subsidized it since the beers - no kidding - cost $13 for a pint!
Mike and me resting in the park after a morning spent exploring Oslo
After another exciting night in Shawshank, we caught an early train to Flam, which is a teeny tiny little town on the banks of the Sonjafjord in Norway. My father, who visited Flam thirty years ago, calls it the most beautiful place on earth, and that's no exaggeration: it was absolutely stunning! We spent two nights there in some cabins and had a blast. There was a rockslide on the mountain just behind us the first night, which was part exciting and part scary (though no one was hurt) and the next day we trekked several kilometers along the fjord to a little farm up in the hills. We also spent the equivalent of $70 to buy a kilo of spaghetti, three jars of sauce, three bell peppers, a bag of carrots, and some ranch dressing to cook dinner... OUCH! Our poor friend Alex lost a bet and then had to buy a round of beers for the group... we took pity on him and subsidized it since the beers - no kidding - cost $13 for a pint!
Then it was on to Copenhagen. The four of us had a lovely dinner together on the banks of the canals the first night, and the next day we wandered around the city and saw some of the highlights. The canal tour was lovely, although the sun beating down on us for two hours in an exposed boat tired us out quite a bit. After a simple lunch of bagel sandwiches in the park, we trekked out to the Carlsberg brewery on what turned out to be the adventure of the day. It took us at least 30 minutes just to figure out the subway system, and when we finally made it out to the actual brewery, we found ourselves on the wrong side of what turned out to be an absolutely enormous complex. We hiked around looking for the tourist entrance, and we must have walked two miles before we finally found it... only for it to be - wait for it - closed for the day! What a shame that the otherwise very helpful employees we encountered who guided us to the tourist entrance in the first place failed to inform us that the brewery is not open for tours on Mondays! Ahhhhh well... so it goes. The 45 minutes we spent walking around the darn thing was probably tour enough anyway! Although the boys were quite disappointed not to get a free pint at the end... After this Bataan Death March II, we were too exhausted for anything else and went back to the hostel for a much-needed nap.
That evening, Mike and I had one last dinner with Alex and Ellen and then headed home, which turned out to be an adventure in itself as our flight was delayed for three hours, which caused us to miss the last bus leaving Stansted at 1am, thus necessitating a painfully long wait for the next bus to Heathrow. Upon arriving at Heathrow, we then spent the next three hours curled up together on a cold cement floor trying to sleep! I do not recommend this as the resulting muscle cramps proved to be nearly unbearable. Finally 5am rolled around and the X70 to Oxford arrived. We limped back to our flat, grateful for the chance to see the gorgeous cities and landscapes of Scandinavia, but oh so excited to be sleeping in our own bed once again.
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