Lisbon, Portugal

Hello from Lisbon,
Its a beautiful country with lots of colors....I really expected it to be much hotter here but I think with the breeze from the river....it has been kept bearable

I flew from Oslo and had been staying in the city center for two days and am now located at a hostel on the outskirts of town near the very large river...It is the newest part of town built for the Expo 1998 that was held here...its really new and trendy...

I tried to tour around the city center and see some monuments the first day on my own but ended up getting nowhere...so yesturday I took a guided walking tour...it was much better...I got to see alot and get some history in as well...

We visited this beautiful white stone port that looks like a castle in the water...I wish I could send pictures but the net cafes I am writting from dont allow me to...Also a giant church all made out of stone material which is now a monestary...the sailors who ventured out to discover the world used to gather there for prayer from the priests and monks...

A friend of a friend took me to his university two nights ago for dinner...we got a full meal for only about $2! Lisbon is much cheaper than the rest of Europe but I havent quite got the nerve to go out to eat at a nice restaurant alone....tomorrow I am planning to travel to a nearby town that was developed by one of the former kings who imported exotic trees and plants from all over the world...it is now a unique town that has its own eco system...Lisbon may be hot while that town (Sintra) is over cast and cold...it looks like there are many palaces to visit..and maybe I will get to see a ballet or opera!

The intersting thing about Lisbon is that it has a great public transport that was just implemented five years ago with the aid of the European Union...in two years they will stop recieving money from the EU and I am curious whether things will go down hill again or not...the tour guide said that money coming in just happens to disapear into the hands of the government leaders and never really reaches the economy...though the least corrupt of the four Latin countries in the EU.

More Norway

Okay...I just have to say that I just loved Norway...Randi did a wonderful job of showing me around the town...and her family farm...I got the whole traditional Norwegian experience...which I really wanted.

Telemark only has 4000 inhabitants so the word was out that an American was hanging around...we spent days visiting the family farm...a part of Telemark..which produced heavy water during WWII...which is a unique town situated between two mountains....that dont get any sunlight during the winter so they built a cable car for residents to go up to a mountain top to get sun for a few hours..

We spent alot of time outside in the sun! Slide rocks and beaches on the most beautiful silvery lake (which actually means tin!)....

Telemark, Norway

I took a two and half bus ride through the breath-taking mountains from Oslo to the region my friend Randi lives in...she said.."I am sorry but you will have to wait fifteen minutes for me to get off work and pick you up"...what she did`t tell me was that the bus stop was on the edge of a bright blue lake surrounded by mountains!!!
I was more than happy just sitting in the cool sunshine and eating chocolate to enjoy the sweetest wait of my life!!!

And her parent`s house has an even more spectacular view...Situated in the mountains with the perfect view of a lake that reaches from mountain to mountain and far past where my eyes can see...

The house is entirely made of a light colored wood from floor to ceiling...in Sweeden my friend Nathalie were talking about how much we would enjoy a week at a spa...well...I feel like I couldn't be in a more beautiful and relaxing place in the world...it feels like taking the beauty of Flagstaff, Arizona and magnifying it ten times!

Night train

I took a sleeper car to Oslo, Norway from Malmo, Sweeden two nights ago...it was a new experience... two bunk beds piled three high in a small room just large enough to get in and out of the bed...I unfortunately was on the top bunk...it wasn't quite bad...the constant movement of the train was enough to get used to and what woke me up was when the train would stop...the air became still...three African guys were in our room as well who thought nothing of talking on the phone all night and conversing with each other...so I have to say next time I will pay the ten extra euros to get a room with only three beds...

Malmo, Sweeden

So yesturday I managed to travel through four countries...from Italy to Holloand to Denmar and fianlly to Sweeden...today my friend Nathalie and I paddle boated in the Malmo canal then she threw a Crayfish party in my honour...Sweedish tradition...they usually have Crayfish season in August so she had to pull a few strings to get the little buggas for the party...they are just like miniature lobsters that taste to me like King Crab meat...then of course came the Sweedish drinking songs...which I find really fun...she thought about me and provided several different flavors of Sweedish cider...since Im not a big driner...which of course dissapointed the guys as usual..but it was really fun and Nathalie will be taking me to Denmark tomorrow to tour around and go to an amusement park...she is quite the planner and party thrower...

Florence, Italy

Florence was by far is our favorite!!! I loved the beautiful colors used to decorate the buildings...one huge church was decorated completley by green, red, and white marble on the exterior!!! We stayed in a beautiful venician hostle in the forest which reminded me of Sedona, Arizona...it must have been a former family mansion or university....Waited in a hot line for two hours to see The David statue...(yes its huge but the recreation in Vegas is just as nice...and I think it is amusing that they would make David to be so masculine when in reality he was a weakling using the Power of God...but he was really nice to look at...

We mountain biked in the Tuscan mountains for 15 miles and ate at a delicous restaurant then toured an Italian vineyard and tasted fresh white wine and extra virgin olive oil...

Venice

Beautiful!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately we were there on the hottest day of the summer...but our hostle was right on the water;)

WORLD CUP!!!!!!Rome, Italy

Okay...this city was so beautiful...we (Galena and I)took a six hour train ride and were much happier the moment we landed at the Roma train station....we visited the Piazza Venezia, The Colosseo, The Arch of Constantine, the Santa Maria Delgi Angeli Del Martiri (Designed by Michaelangelo), Vatican City, The Sistine Chapel (where the hand of God is touching... I illegally snapped a picture...ooops..)the , Tevern River, Campo De Fior, Piazza Novona,...The Jewish Ghetto... .and...toured the entire city by bus...well we got on the wrong bus...but still was a tour;)...

And YES...I was in Rome when Italy won the World Cup!!!!!!!!!!! You will not understand how crazy these people went!!! I didnt get any sleep that night...or the next when we welcomed the players back to Rome and celebrated in the Ceasars Pub...I know for sure that this chaos wouldnt go over well in the States where public disturbances such as honking horns and stripping, being drunk and playing accordians in the streets all night long is not a public normality...

It was so exciting though!!!

Milan, Italy

When I got off the plane I was so excited to see blue skies and mountains for the first time in six months that I almost started crying....well...the rest of Milan almost did make me cry...it pretty much sucks...I will just leave it at that..

EuroTrip!!!!

My last couple of weeks in Gronigen were spent with friends...I was happy about that...it was hard to say goodbye to several of them but I do now realize that I will see my closest friends again some day...this summer I will be visiting two friends that were exchange students at my highschool so I take comfort in knowing that the friends I have made from all over the world will be seen again...I was living in this bubble in Groningen that was created for that one moment in time, I can return to Groningen again some day...but it will never be the same...and for now I understan and accept that...don't get me wrong...I didnt conclude this on my own... Jorn (my student manager) and Omar (one of my best friends) gave me alot of speeches in preperation...

So officially, in less than seven hours (I really should get some sleep in here somewhere) I begin my EuroTrip!!!!! I will begin my backpacking in Italy for nine days, then off to Denmark, Sweeden, Norway, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, and back to Amsterdam to fly back to the States on the 20th of August....stay tuned for the latest news on my adventures;)

Last days of Groningen

Well...school is over and gone...I ended this quarter (alongside exams and papers) with a huge "research project" that involved me and two other hard-working classmates from Portugal and France. We did internal and external analysis of a Mediterranean restaurant....who's owner's main focus was to educate the Dutch on the Mediterranean culture...we ended up producing a 75 page single-spaced report...that concluded with personalized marketing schemes for this particular establishment...I have never had such a project and really actually enjoyed it...

Here's another fun fact try pronounce these Dutch boy's names...and distinquish them well enough to identify my friends...haha...Thijs, Mathijs, Marijn, Martijn, Marien