Switzerland is behind us now. Unfortunately we left it for the next most expensive country in Europe. We left our cozy home in the mountains with our excellent host for the big city of Geneva. The last day was a bit crazy and stressful. Everyone was rushin to do laundry and make the 12:00 train. I never once walked to that station. I ran almost everytime. We had a workshop from our most grandfatherly professor, Lynne Petit. He is a stake president in Logan and professor at USU. He was a senior board member and big shot at that big chemical company I can't think of the name. He's very quiet and shy but has lots of good stories. He served a mission on the Navajo Reservation. He is very friendly and genuinely kind. He talked about time management, making a personal mission statement. When practiced interview techniques.
Arriving in Geneva gave us some free time to see the city a bit. We wandered a bit and looked at watches and knives and such. I remember eating at McDonald's there, for like $15. We went to the Red Cross (which as an organization didn't really impress anyone, it appeared to be poorly managed and have a strange mission.) The stories of reuniting families though were pretty heart breaking. They showed a pretty emotional video at first. But on speaker went on and on. We also visited the World Health Center and learned about the polio eradication. It may happen in the world within the next year or two. I knew 2nd counseler in the Philippines that got polio when he was 24 and has a limp leg because of it. We also visited the World Trade Organization. That was the best visit yet. The speaker was entertaining and funny and answered our questions. Many important decisions and debates go down there. It was facinating.
Well we all left at the same time for our long weekend. All of the group were basically on the same train to Italy. Some groups were doing Italy and a few groups tacked on Greece or Malta. Theres riots there by the way. It all sounded way fun. Instead we went to Milano and then to Bergamo to catch a flight to Oslo. Well it was obviously a cheap flight because it flew us out of Bergamo. We didn't think we'd get there so late, around 1am. We couldn't find a taxi and we missed the last bus to the airport by 10 minutes. Fortunately a little bravery on the part of Eric a friend and we had a Taxi to the Airport, which at 1:30 looked like a refugee camp. Our flight was at 6 am so we had bagged the hostel idea. Some Euro Elliott gave me really saved the day here. I slept great on the floor. I was getting a bit sick however. Some sort of Head cold. I totally lost my voice but felt ok otherwise. We made it to Norway despite doubts. Were stranded at an airport far from Oslo. An hour bus ride and $50 later we made it.
Along the main drag in Oslo we saw a line of people waiting for Snoop Dogg. We didn't stick around because he's not "in" anymore right Sierra? We walked the main drag and saw some shops. We didn't have alot of time before a super long train ride to a town called Bergen. We should have reserved this train for seats. We ended up meeting another America traveling Europe solo for a few months, and two Norwegian girls. It was about a 9 hour train ride (I'm not sure if that's accurate but it felt like it.) I had the first of a few bacon wrapped hot dogs. There about the cheapest thing in Norway at about $4. They are amazing however, Norway is known for hot dogs, and I love hotdogs. We made it to Bergen in the middle of the night. Found our Hostel. We all slept really well that night. The next morning we linked back up with the American and girls. We ate at the Famous Fish Market. Some tried Whale, I ate Salmon. It was definately fresh, they aren't known for cooking the food like we do in America. It was a bit on the rare side. We saw a castle and road a train to the top of a cool mountain and walked down. The girl invited us in to her apartment for a bit before we had to head back out. We had spend about the whole day with her and the American dude. We departed for a small town. This small beautiful town was located right on a lake. It was night time when we rolled in. The air was crisp. Our hostel was like a lodge. It had a fireplace which we used. We also enjoyed the sauna, a nice touch. The sunrise was beautiful and so was the lake. From here there was a short bus ride to another "town." We took a ferrie through some of the most beautiful fjords. It was pretty raw and untouched nature. Much like Alaska. Really pretty. The cold really chills you to your bones though. In Flam we ate at the only open cafe. Me and Dan went on a hike which was really a bushwack straight through some stinging nettle to a small waterfall. The stream produced by the fall magically disappears into the stream bed. It was crazy, it just ends. We may have seen a few trolls too. The river through town was so clear you could see about 20 feet to the bottle anywhere on it. It was painfully cold. There were some thoughts about jumping in but it didn't happen.
We took a famous train ride home. The train does a 180 turn in the mountain tunnel. And then another long haul through the arctic tundra to Oslo. Our hostel there was in the Ghetto and a bit sketchy itself. We had four big strong smart boys though (I'm including myself.) And one girl. Norway was a different pace than other places. We wandered quite a bit and rode the trains much of the time. Norway doesn't have iconic places to visit like many other european destinations. It was very much about the raw nature and scenery. Small towns depended on the tourism. This could help me out for my report. My next post will just be for my homework.
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