Well, this most recent vacation is now just about over. I'm at the airport in Oslo, Norway, waiting to fly back to Berlin in an hour or so. It's been a great week of traveling through London and Trondheim.
Here's a recap of my day yesterday and a few more pictures from Trondheim. I should also mention: this post is my 200th post ever on my blog. I only know that because my dashboard tells me that when I log in. So here it goes!
After sleeping in and waking up around 11 AM, Jess and I headed out to explore more of Trondheim. We took a bus up to the tower on the hill, which looks kind of like the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
There was a restaurant/cafe at the top that had reasonably manageable prices, so we decided to have lunch there. Glad we did 'cause I was starving. The restaurant level actually spins, so we got a full 360 degree view of Trondheim. Nice, eh?
The menu had all kinds of food, so I decided to mix and match a bit. I had a quesadilla and a bowl of fish soup. The quesadilla was pretty tasty, and I'm so glad I could drench it in garlic and green Tabasco sauce.
After finishing all that food, we were pretty stuffed. The spinning level made me a bit dizzy, probably because I was facing the opposite direction, so it felt like we were moving backwards.
We went from the tower to fort, which was a short but steep stroll through a nice area of Trondheim. I imagine with views overlooking the fjord those houses must cost quite a bit.
The fort was pretty cool. Pretty empty too as no one else seemed to be up there.
Glad to know that their economic stimulus money is being put to good use though.
From the fort, we walked back into town and crossed the bridge of happiness again. This time, Jess convinced me to get a picture there. I used to like taking pictures in front of stuff, but I've found that the more I travel the less excited I get to do it. Haha.
Jess picked up a local candy bar (called Hobby, I think), and I took a bite. It's quite good. Marshmallows and banana covered in chocolate.
Later, after stopping by the house briefly, we met up with Fredrik and went grocery shopping. It was quite fun to learn about all the various Norwegian delicacies that you just don't see much in Seattle (or Berlin, for that matter). Here's a bunch of meats like reindeer and deer.
Dried cod, just like the Vikings used to eat back in the day.
Sheep. I can't explain how it was made to be like this, but Fredrik did tell me. I just remember it being interesting.
Norwegian brown cheese. There's brown cheese made from cow's milk and goat's milk. The one from cows is a bit more sweet, while the one from goat is a bit more tart. I tried some of the brown cheese made from goat's milk, and it's really quite good. Apparently, you eat it with Norwegian waffles.
Here's the only Starbucks you'll find in all of Norway. No Starbucks shops anywhere, although one is scheduled to open in 2014 in Oslo for a short trial period.
Canned reindeer meatballs. I would have liked to take a few of these home.
More reindeer. I like the label.
Tubes of caviar. You can take your pick: big tubes and small tubes.
After grocery shopping, we walked home and Jess and Fredrik made an amazing dinner. We had whale meat! You can see it on my plate next to the broccoli. We also had some potatoes (on the right). Delicious.
I was so spoiled at Jess and Fredrik's. They fed me such great food, and then they shared their Norwegian Easter eggs with me. You eat your cream-filled chocolate egg with a small spoon. Check out the directions on the left.
Jess decided it was epic enough to be documented, so here's me eating my chocolate egg.
Happy Easter!
Sam
Here's a recap of my day yesterday and a few more pictures from Trondheim. I should also mention: this post is my 200th post ever on my blog. I only know that because my dashboard tells me that when I log in. So here it goes!
After sleeping in and waking up around 11 AM, Jess and I headed out to explore more of Trondheim. We took a bus up to the tower on the hill, which looks kind of like the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
There was a restaurant/cafe at the top that had reasonably manageable prices, so we decided to have lunch there. Glad we did 'cause I was starving. The restaurant level actually spins, so we got a full 360 degree view of Trondheim. Nice, eh?
The menu had all kinds of food, so I decided to mix and match a bit. I had a quesadilla and a bowl of fish soup. The quesadilla was pretty tasty, and I'm so glad I could drench it in garlic and green Tabasco sauce.
After finishing all that food, we were pretty stuffed. The spinning level made me a bit dizzy, probably because I was facing the opposite direction, so it felt like we were moving backwards.
We went from the tower to fort, which was a short but steep stroll through a nice area of Trondheim. I imagine with views overlooking the fjord those houses must cost quite a bit.
The fort was pretty cool. Pretty empty too as no one else seemed to be up there.
Glad to know that their economic stimulus money is being put to good use though.
From the fort, we walked back into town and crossed the bridge of happiness again. This time, Jess convinced me to get a picture there. I used to like taking pictures in front of stuff, but I've found that the more I travel the less excited I get to do it. Haha.
Jess picked up a local candy bar (called Hobby, I think), and I took a bite. It's quite good. Marshmallows and banana covered in chocolate.
Later, after stopping by the house briefly, we met up with Fredrik and went grocery shopping. It was quite fun to learn about all the various Norwegian delicacies that you just don't see much in Seattle (or Berlin, for that matter). Here's a bunch of meats like reindeer and deer.
Dried cod, just like the Vikings used to eat back in the day.
Sheep. I can't explain how it was made to be like this, but Fredrik did tell me. I just remember it being interesting.
Norwegian brown cheese. There's brown cheese made from cow's milk and goat's milk. The one from cows is a bit more sweet, while the one from goat is a bit more tart. I tried some of the brown cheese made from goat's milk, and it's really quite good. Apparently, you eat it with Norwegian waffles.
Here's the only Starbucks you'll find in all of Norway. No Starbucks shops anywhere, although one is scheduled to open in 2014 in Oslo for a short trial period.
Canned reindeer meatballs. I would have liked to take a few of these home.
More reindeer. I like the label.
Tubes of caviar. You can take your pick: big tubes and small tubes.
After grocery shopping, we walked home and Jess and Fredrik made an amazing dinner. We had whale meat! You can see it on my plate next to the broccoli. We also had some potatoes (on the right). Delicious.
I was so spoiled at Jess and Fredrik's. They fed me such great food, and then they shared their Norwegian Easter eggs with me. You eat your cream-filled chocolate egg with a small spoon. Check out the directions on the left.
Jess decided it was epic enough to be documented, so here's me eating my chocolate egg.
Happy Easter!
After dinner, we watched a few shows. We saw the first episode of HBO's new series, Game of Thrones. It was pretty solid. Then we watched the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother, which was awesome.
Then we watched a movie called The Black Book or something like that. It's about a Jewish woman living in Nazi-occupied Holland during the last year and a half of World War II. Most of the movie was in Dutch, but there were also long stretches of dialogue in German. It was quite a good movie. I think stories like that are important to tell in order to never forget the atrocities that happened in the 1930s and 40s.
It's been a long day of traveling already as I took a train from Trondheim to Oslo this morning that was delayed by almost an hour, making the total train ride nearly 7 hours long. After a three hour or so layover here in Oslo, I will be back in Berlin by 8 PM German time. Then I'll need to take the S-Bahn all the way back to Pankow, which will take at least 90 minutes.
I have another week off from interviews as the schools are still on Easter holidays (two weeks off), but I have plenty to do as I have to transcribe all the interviews. I will also be tutoring one student as she preps for her English presentations next week. Other than that, I'll need to do some prep work for my next trip next month: Paris, France. :)
Toodles!
Sam
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