Month: January 2015

At the hotel they have a New Europe pickup for a ‘free’ walking tour of Berlin. The tour gives an overview of city with alot of emphasis on the wars.

It started at the Brandenburg Gate, continued past some of the memorials to the murdered people from WWII with the Jewish one being the main focus and the most strange.

We also walked past the Parliment house and the Old Nazi Air Force building, which is now the Tax Office, so people still hate it.

Towards the end of the tour we went past Check Point Charlie, the most tense spot during the coldwar in Berlin. Could also see where the Soviets built the wall 1m behind the border so the allies couldn’t do anything about it. read more

So Wednesday started off rather early due to breakfast being served early and know I had to check out I wanted to get out and look at a few more things in Stockholm.

After checking out I realised I still had entry to the Royal Palace’s internal museum so I headed that way to kill some time, which upon arrival I happened to turn up at the changing of the royal guard.

It had snowed a bit that morning and night so it looked at lot cooler than usual. Once it had finished I could go inside and look at the museum which documents construction, fire and reconstruction of the Palace. read more

Monday started off the same as most other days, although I am getting really addicted to cornflakes in the morning.

The plan was to walk around the lslands and get some fresh air. I figured I’d get some exercise and save some money on transport as it was killing my bank balance.

Drottninggatan is a pretty cool and very long walking street that goes down the city centre and also goes the same direction as I needed to go so that was handy.

The first stop was by the Palace and Old Town, mainly because I missed the street. But the headed towards Skeppsholmen (ships Island). Most of the houses are yellow due to it being the old Navy colours, lots of house boats and houses all around it. read more

Well with a 4am start I was feeling pretty tired on arrival to my hotel, which I missed by 6 blocks due to me just putting the street into my phone without the number. The hostel is more like a hotel with shared bathrooms but it does have breakfast included.

After a small nap and a shower I set out to go for a walk around the city. It’s hard getting used to using a paper map again since i’ve had a local sim card for the past month and a half.

First stop was Kungsholmen to see the City Hall. read more

New Years Eve started off packing up and driving back from Åal where the cabin was back to Mjøndalen, a 3.5hr trip. Reasonably uneventful drive with the most exciting thing being the icy road coming down the mountainside.

Sadly I have all but one photo from New Years Eve as I didn’t think to take my camera and my iPhone was useless in the dark. But it was spent eating seafood with Anders’ family which I don’t usually eat seafood, but this stuff was rather mild and tasty. It’s amazing the amount of fireworks a little town lets off and they are so much better than the ones back home. I attempted to take photos but it was just a blur on my phone. read more

One of the big sports in Norway is cross country skiing, which there is several hundred kilometres of in the mountains. The temperatures were rising from -15 to a nice -2 which is much better for trying to ski.

Literally 10 metres before I was on my ass, and it wouldn’t be the last time. Once we were on the tracks I was told I was doing ok for a first timer. At least the snow on the tracks was nice and soft.

It was a pretty fun experience, although i’m not convinced i’m suited to it. But the hills were fun to go down, uphill not so much, reminds me of mountain biking.The snow off track was about 30-40cm deep. Lunch was pancakes and cheese and bread, I could get used to this! read more

Saturday night was a great night. We got the see Anders’ brother Mats play jazz in Mjøndalen with his band.

The night was started off with pre-drinks at their friends place. Another day of -15 so we were all rugged up.

The night was an interesting one with Norwegian quizes and lots of drinks. And even found the Smegal doppleganger.

Mats’ band were pretty tight and he is an amazing drummer, only managed to get a few crappy shots on my phone.

The band was a drummer, trumpet, trombone, tuba, and guitar player and they were good. I have a few videos but can’t get the to upload due to the upload limits on the blog. read more

Xmas eve started off with me still feeling pretty rubbish still. But was a great night and I got a white Christmas! Norwegian’s celebrate xmas on the eve with presents and a big dinner, followed up by 3 days of eating afterwards.

With everyone dressed up headed to Anders’ parents house for the night. A few beers in a we were opening presents and I even managed to Facetime dad back home.

Was a good night with amazing food. The traditional meal was Norwegian Lamb ribs cooked/steamed over berch wood in a pot, together with potatoes and other bits a pieces. read more