It felt like a quick week in Stavanger, as most of our days off were spent on the Bergen Railway, and in Bergen. I did get to walk around downtown for a bit, and Stavanger is a quaint and quirky little city. 

Our flight from Stavanger to Turku, Finland was unbelievable in itself. The views of the snow-covered fjords from the sky were breathtaking. 

Sonja Henie's home town. Simply the best. 

From the city of Oslo, you can take the Metro directly to the top of the slopes at Oslo Vinterpark. Amazing! We took advantage the first day we got in; so much fun to ski on thick, clean powder!! 

The best part about my week in Oslo was getting to see and spend time with my Uncle Tim, Aunt Tove, and cousins Emma and Nora. I have only known them from our family's joint lake house in the New York Catskills, and it was so much fun to see them in their home city! It is always a different experience to learn a city from those who live there. Apparently, I'm the first of our family to ever visit Oslo... and we have a large family! It hit the spot to have some good family time. 

Exploring as much as possible!

Clean, accessible, efficient public transportation. Free university. Excellent food. Close to amazing landscape for hiking, camping, cross country skiing, dog sledding. Free health care. Paid maternity and paternity leave. 5-week annual paid vacations. Sure, taxes are high - but so is health care and university in the States. The cold, short days throughout a long winter are the only thing that gets me!

The only downside to our day in Denmark was the pouring rain/sleet/snow that lasted the first few hours upon arrival. But hey, we might as well experience a country's typical weather to better understand its people and culture. And the time was not wasted as we watched the sleet come down from inside a relaxing coffee shop. 

The sun eventually came out (for a little while), and we walked our way to Freetown Christiania: an 84-acre self-governed commune in the midst of Copenhagen. Established in 1971 on an abandoned military base by hippies, squatters, and artists as a social experiment. Having been shut down at times by Denmark's governing body, Christiana is currently open as a community that governs themselves. Pictures are highly discouraged, so I only caught one at the exit, but it is quite a site to see. The concept of living communally is one I'm drawn to, but the state of the area made me wonder whether a balance between simply "being" and "being productive" is necessary. 

Our next stop was Nyhavn Harbour, a famous row of colorful houses, businesses, and restaurants that puts some waterfronts (I'm thinking of Myrtle Beach) to shame. This is a charming spot you can't miss when in Copenhagen! 

Last stop - gourmet food market and an excellent meal! If there's one thing I have found SO FAR in Scandinavia is that they take pride in quality food, and their chefs are top notch. I love the concept of a food market, where local restaurants, local specialty food providers, and chefs have a booth in a large market house. Think of a farmers' market but kicked up a notch. Some of the booths sold goods, but many others sold and provided samples of gourmet recipes, meals, snacks, desserts, and drinks. It makes for an easily accessible culinary experience! 

One of my favorite things to do when I don’t have many plans is to simply go, get lost in a new city, and figure out where I actually went later on. On one day off, my friend and I left with this mentality and a vague idea of some of the things we wanted to see. We walked along street after street, made it to the Malmo Castle, discovered a giant windmill in the castle gardens, and made it all the way to the coastline. We discovered that the best chai tea lattes actually come from the Scandinavian chain “Espresso House,” and not from Starbucks. We decided that there is so much more appeal to an Office Depot, or any store for that matter, with a picturesque medieval-style storefront lining cobblestone streets than amidst a big industrial strip mall in the States. We shared a carrot cake muffin, and took the silliest pictures around the city. Its days like these that remind me that planning can… on occasion… be a little overrated. Above all, it felt so nice to finally have a few days off. 

On tour in the States, if we stay in a hotel near a venue that's far from the center of town, far from a grocery store, or anything for that matter, it can be a challenge (and quite expensive) to get around with taxis. The thing I think I'll miss more than anything in Europe, honestly, is excellent public transportation. It is exactly why, when staying across the street from our arena and a few miles outside of the city center, I was able to hop on the tram that stopped right by our hotel and get out to see a good amount of Goteburg, Sweden.  Not really knowing where to start in this small Swedish city, I decided on the Goteburg city museum. This made for great overview of the history of Goteburg, beginning with the very first primates living on the land, going into the Viking era, and onward. I spent another afternoon visiting the city's famous fish market, and walking the picturesque streets full of shops and cafes, most of which displayed the typical Swedish cinnamon roll in the windows. A standard and famous Swedish treat, everyone must try it once upon visiting Sweden. 

With four days off into a Friday opening (this kind of schedule is unHEARD of, y’all), and an unexpected week off for my favorite guy ever, we decided to make a somewhat last-minute trip across the Atlantic happen for him to visit throughout my unit’s week in Prague. A huge thanks is due to both of our parents for helping us make it happen; I truly could not have asked for a better Christmas present.

We took advantage of each day hopping on and off the trams to each different part of the city (I don’t think we took a taxi once; the public transportation is so good); going on runs through the park near our hotel; frequenting the Christmas markets; walking the castle grounds; racing up the old clock tower; learning about the history of Prague and Europe at several fascinating museums; enjoying delicious dinners and quaint nights out with our good friends; climbing to the highest viewpoint of the city; walking the trails on the hills that oversea the city; discovering cathedrals; treasuries; and monasteries; enjoying the time we had and the magical city that is Prague, Czech Republic. 

Within the castle entrances lies a little village of it’s own. Shops, cafes, museums, and chapels line the cobblestone walkways and “streets” within the castle walls. We were particularly lucky to show up at the gates one afternoon in time for the Presidents’ procession. I’ve never seen anything quite like it!

One of the coolest things we saw within the grounds was the St. Vitus Cathedral and its Treasury. The Treasury of a cathedral often contains artifacts of immense historical, symbolic, or artistic value; I had never seen one personally, and the Treasury of St. Vitus Cathedral is the largest in the Czech Republic. Artifacts include relics (bodily remains of saints or objects that were in contact of a saint’s body), reliquaries (an elaborately decorated vessel for holding a relic), delicately embroidered vestments, and other liturgical vessels. We were not allowed to take pictures, but it was an incredible display of Christian history. The most amazing item on display, in my opinion, was a gold reliquary cross which was said to hold relics of Christ’s death on the cross including a portion of the cross and a thorn from His crown. 

First installed in 1410, the Prague Astronomical Clock is the third oldest in the world, and the oldest that is still working. It lies on one face of the Old Town Hall Tower, which was built in 1364 and is a must-see in Prague’s Old Town Square.

Similar to Zagreb, but on an entirely larger scale, Christmas markets in the form of miniature red-covered houses lined the streets of the city selling homemade crafts, ornaments, and gifts, local pastries (cinnamon sugar pretzel dough, wrapped into a cylinder shape; crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and warm all the way through; do you want nutella with that?!), and of course my favorite hot spiced wine that Europeans call gluevine. 

You can ride a funicular up Petrin hill, which sits on just behind the castle and “Lesser Town” (the opposite side of the river from the Old Town Square). Beautiful trails and a number of attractions line the top of the hill, all of which offer the best views of the entire city. We decided to climb the 299 steps of Petrin Observation Tower, which was built to be a miniature replica of the Eiffel tower. The views were definitely worth it. 

The trails we took along the top of Petrin hill led us to Strahov Monastery, which also sits above the castle grounds. It was a bit mesmerizing to stroll down the halls filled with Christian artwork that were centuries old, displays of liturgical vestments, and thousands of theological books. 

One of the best technical museums in Europe, we had to go! Exhibitions presented the history of time telling, clocks, and watches; the history of transportation; the history of printing; the history of household appliances; the architectural and civil engineering history of the city of Prague; and so much more! We also visited the Communist Museum (small, open late, and very informative; we couldn’t help but read everything!), and the City museum at the Old Town Hall. 

We spent numerous evenings enjoying various restaurants (or Christmas market street meat) and bars. My favorite was the Hemingway Bar. A classic early 20th century-style bar, reservations were required and the menu came with a list of “bar rules” on the back (i.e. Speak politely and do not use vulgar language; Do not use a computer in the bar. We’ll be happy to recommend an Internet café; and, If you want to buy somebody a drink, please ask the bartender first. He will find out if that person is interested in your offer.). The list of unique cocktails changes regularly; drinks come in different unique mugs and glassware; and the servers wear time-period trousers with suspenders. Only after having such a wonderful time there did I learn the Hemingway Bar has been named one of the top 100 bars in the world.