Donde Esta La Biblioteca? Otra Vez

Upon our arrival in Oslo, we meet up with our first Servas host. Else and Karsten live in the heart of Oslo near Vigeland Sculpture Park with the sculptures and monolith by Gustav Vigeland. We stayed up very late learning about Norway, describing Texas, and discussing a mutual love of Spain. Else and Karsten were amazingly hospitable and our first Servas experience was great.

We got a good feel for Oslo during a busy day of touring the city. There was a thought-provoking climate change exhibit in the Nobel Peace center. Between that and the gorgeous nature photos by Steve Bloom (stevebloom.com) displayed in the area, Lauren and I were about ready to join Greenpeace and sail off to put the ice caps back together piece by piece.

Due to intervention from the travel gods, we had to abridge our stay in Oslo by a day. We caught the overnight train to Stockholm, Sweden that evening and got to our hostel at the crack of dawn. Needless to say this “Venice of the North” was impressive enough to cure our drowsiness, and we left to trek around our second Scandinavian capital city. We stayed on a small island in the middle of the city called Gamla Stan, or Old Town. Small pedestrian streets criss-cross the island and cars are found only on the parameter. The greater Stockholm area is littered with palaces, museums, parks, statues, and more islands. Never mind the nasty weather, Stockholm got us very excited about being in Sweden.

On our last full day in Scotland we hiked Arthur’s Seat and then caught a train to Glasgow. We explored Glasgow and discovered a nice area near Glasgow University with a skate park full of rebellious youth and a tag by Banksy (banksy.co.uk) The next day was a big travel day from Edinburgh to Bergen, Norway. We noticed two things about Norway right away; everything is super expensive and everyone is tall and blonde.

Bergen is a quaint harbor town with a lot of history. We got most of our meals from the fish market – essentially a big, daily farmer’s market with vendors selling anything and everything delicious. We tended towards the pancakes with fresh jam. Whale meat was available, but we passed. With so much history all around, the guided walking tour is almost mandatory for any traveler in Bergen. It was extremely interesting and gave us a good lens through which to view Bergen and Scandinavia in general. Our tour guide looked just like Dave Grohl from Nirvana.

The Floibanen (funicular) took us up to the top of Bergen and we stood in awe for a good hour before walking back down. We couldn’t help but notice an abnormal amount of ‘goth’ people all over Bergen and staying in our hostel. I later found out that one of the largest Black Metal music festivals was going on in Bergen – thus the abundant jingle-jangle of piercings and thud of big black boots.

Between Bergen and Oslo, we followed the ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ route. A train takes you about an hour out of Bergen, where you board a bus heading to the fjord country until you reach the water and take a ferry through the magnificent fjords. A symphony of camera shutters played as we made our way from Gudwvagen to Flam along the Stojer fjord. From Flam a train climbs up into the fjords as you head to Oslo. It’s an all day fjord-fest chock-full of landscape that makes a career in geology seem more thrilling than Formula 1 racing.

Edinburgh day four. Lauren and I hit up St. Giles Cathedral and scrutinized the usual stained glass and priceless craftsmanship as well as a modern museum type installation about the troubling problem of human trafficking and slavery in the ... [Continue reading this entry]

On August 20th, Lauren and I started the day back on the Royal Mile. Near the Castle is an old tourist attraction called Camera Obscura. You pay for a ticket, climb up through five floors of crazy optical ... [Continue reading this entry]

From the Lowlands of Edinburgh we took a tour of the Scottish Highlands. We left early in the morning and got back twelve hours later. Andy, our unabashed tour guide, entertained us with tales of Scottish history as ... [Continue reading this entry]

Our tenth day in Europe was one hell of a day. Norrie cooked us a hearty breakfast and as the Spanish would say, “salimos rodando,” “we rolled out” onto the misty Royal Mile in our matching rain jackets. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Between Ireland and Scotland we listened to Spanish brain rumbling all night and traveled by bus and plane all day. The countless city lights were illuminating every exquisite building when we stepped off the airport shuttle and made our ... [Continue reading this entry]

In Galway we stayed in an eight-bed dorm at the Barnacles hostel. Two of our roommates from Long Island showed early signs of snoring, which was troubling at first, but thankfully everything cleared up later that night. Throughout ... [Continue reading this entry]

On our second day in Dublin we hopped on the commuter rail to a small town just 20 minutes outside the city called Dun Laoghaire (pronounced ‘Done Leary’.) It’s a quaint, seaside Irish village with a beautiful park, a ... [Continue reading this entry]

Eleven in the morning might seem early to tour a brewhouse and enjoy a free pint, but not when you’re in Dublin. The Guinness Storehouse tour does a good job of telling you how amazing the most successful stout ... [Continue reading this entry]