Yay, I am finally officially done with my Master degree! I could finally fetch it from the deans office as i was home for the first time in 4 months. I spent home 2 weeks, saw friends, had my graduation ceremony, went skiing.
On the 23rd, I came back to Oslo, to leave for the next trip to Belgium on the 24th of April.
We arrived late night and just found our way to our couch surfing host.
On the 25th, we had a look on Brussels, did the EU walking tour and mainly just walked around and enjoyed waffles.
On the 26th, we took the train to Bruges, then to Ghent, where we met our host who showed us the city for a bit.
On the 27th, we had another 2 or 3 hours in Brussels before we had to head back to Oslo.
Belgium seems to make a lot of things right. All of the three cities, specially Brussels, seem to be à l'aise (chilled/comfortable with themselves) and not making their lives comfortable. Thus, its a comfy place to be in. Also, the weather was really nice during the whole time. In Bruges, there were more tourists than inhabitants, but therefore the city is really picturesque. Ghent has a vegetarian Thursday, all official places just have vegetarian food. It's all so international and multicultural in Brussels, so many languages!
Recommendation to go and spend some time in Belgium: yes.
Sorry for the short post, it is going to be busy weeks again, lots of assignments and the first exam beginning next week....
2014.03.30 - Riga
As you may know, I participated this semester in the buddy program of the University of Oslo. Buddy system means the following: Students, who are already familiar with how the university works (how to deal with the organisation of the courses, registration progress, where is what on campus) are helping new international students to find their way. Another student and me decided to take part in the progress.
15ish students became part of our group, and we had weekly dinners, other activities and much fun together. (Becoming buddy is awesome, you never know who you meet there!)
For this weekend, a latvian student invited all of us to come to Riga to see the city and the culture and discover Latvia. He did a stunning job in organising everything, even opened a closed museum for us or got us onto a tower where we were not really supposed to be.
We arrived on Friday, had a wonderful dinner and very adventurous and diverse nightlife. On Saturday, we had a breakfast with a little health related calamity (everything turned out well), 1 hour train ride to Sigulda, where we went bungee jumping, back to Riga, then we had a cosy come-together in a flat, with seven giant pizzas, all gone in several minutes. On Monday, the last day, we had delicious breakfast in a cafe. Later, three people of the buddy group were interviewed by national TV on their next project: read https://www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com/teams/pumba/37/ -it starts in a couple of days. So, national TV, life, exciting! Afterwards, the occupation museum taught us many things about history. Then, we had some hours to explore the old city on our own and buy some cheap food. Then, already -back to Oslo. Thank you Riga!
15ish students became part of our group, and we had weekly dinners, other activities and much fun together. (Becoming buddy is awesome, you never know who you meet there!)
For this weekend, a latvian student invited all of us to come to Riga to see the city and the culture and discover Latvia. He did a stunning job in organising everything, even opened a closed museum for us or got us onto a tower where we were not really supposed to be.
We arrived on Friday, had a wonderful dinner and very adventurous and diverse nightlife. On Saturday, we had a breakfast with a little health related calamity (everything turned out well), 1 hour train ride to Sigulda, where we went bungee jumping, back to Riga, then we had a cosy come-together in a flat, with seven giant pizzas, all gone in several minutes. On Monday, the last day, we had delicious breakfast in a cafe. Later, three people of the buddy group were interviewed by national TV on their next project: read https://www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com/teams/pumba/37/ -it starts in a couple of days. So, national TV, life, exciting! Afterwards, the occupation museum taught us many things about history. Then, we had some hours to explore the old city on our own and buy some cheap food. Then, already -back to Oslo. Thank you Riga!
2014.03.23 - Oslo Voices Sørlands-tour
Oslo Voices, my choir at the moment, traveled again. This time, we had a concert in the church of Kristiansand, took part in the mass in the church of Arendal, and had another concert there. A full week end with a nice glimpse on how the Sørland of Norway looks like.
It didn't really help though that I was and still am a bit sick... (Germs from Dublin?)
It didn't really help though that I was and still am a bit sick... (Germs from Dublin?)
2014.03.17 - St. Patricks Day
2014.03.17 - St. Patricks Day
Our host drove us to Glendalough, one hour south of Dublin: a graveyard and landscape awaited us, and we were early enough to avoid the tourists.
Afterwards, we were driven to the city, and it was not surprising to see many many green people. We managed to find relatively good places to see the parade, and see the whole thing (-> pictures) before we had to head back to the airport.
On the way, of course, I couldn't stop myself to buy nine KitKat chunky for 3 EUR. What nice prices. (I am not affiliated with Nestle, unfortunately).
6 hours later, we were already home in Oslo. Travelling is a nice thing!
2014.03.16 - Hop On Hop Off
2014.03.16 - Hop On Hop Off
Today, we had basically just a lazy day. We took the hop on hop off city bus from next to the river. We saw how big Trinity College actually is, had a look in the national gallery, participated in the festival life of Merrion Square, had a look at Dublin Castle, and enjoyed a hot chocolate at a cafe nearby. We spent the evening with cooking at our host's place and watching a quarter of a movie. (Being tourist is exhausting ;))
Today, we had basically just a lazy day. We took the hop on hop off city bus from next to the river. We saw how big Trinity College actually is, had a look in the national gallery, participated in the festival life of Merrion Square, had a look at Dublin Castle, and enjoyed a hot chocolate at a cafe nearby. We spent the evening with cooking at our host's place and watching a quarter of a movie. (Being tourist is exhausting ;))
2014.03.15 - Howth
2014.03.15 - Howth
We took the bus to Howth, a peninsula in the northeast of Dublin. It it more green and windy there, and the landscape is really amazing and reminds me of landscapes on the other side of the world instead of right next to a city. Also, we saw a group of dolphins, additionally to seals.
That's why we were too late and didn't quite make it to the rugby game, where our host had invited us to come to. Green hills and the Irish Ocean win over an overcrowded place and people watching other people running around and throwing a ball.
We had bought a ticket for the national concert hall, so we went to see and hear 'Ceili House Live in Concert', five groups performing really good Irish music. The concert was even broadcasted live on the radio.
After this 3 hr long concert, we had a slice of pizza, and then were already too late for the regular bus home, so we went into a pub in Temple Bar/Fleet Street where I tried to feel comfortable - but it was nevertheless full of energy. At 2, we took the night bus home.
We took the bus to Howth, a peninsula in the northeast of Dublin. It it more green and windy there, and the landscape is really amazing and reminds me of landscapes on the other side of the world instead of right next to a city. Also, we saw a group of dolphins, additionally to seals.
That's why we were too late and didn't quite make it to the rugby game, where our host had invited us to come to. Green hills and the Irish Ocean win over an overcrowded place and people watching other people running around and throwing a ball.
We had bought a ticket for the national concert hall, so we went to see and hear 'Ceili House Live in Concert', five groups performing really good Irish music. The concert was even broadcasted live on the radio.
After this 3 hr long concert, we had a slice of pizza, and then were already too late for the regular bus home, so we went into a pub in Temple Bar/Fleet Street where I tried to feel comfortable - but it was nevertheless full of energy. At 2, we took the night bus home.
2014.03.14 - Dance in Dublin
2014.03.14 - Dance in Dublin
On 13mars, we took Ryan air to get to Dublin. We were picked up by our host who drove us to his apparent in Lucan, a village 8 km west of Dublin. Nice, cosy village!
In the morning, we decided to walk to Dublin, it was a 2 hours walk, partly along the highway, but also next to nice landscapes. In Phoenix Park, we saw some deer.
Approaching the city, we already saw the huge Guinness factory - welcome to Dublin. Next to the huge (and impressive) Spire, we bought tickets and got our first orientation. A little cafe got us our first warm meal, and the prices were comfortably low compared to Oslo (not surprising, though).
At St. Stephen's Green, the Festival Céilí was kicked off; "where the public are invited to put on their dancing shoes and get involved in a unique outdoor celebration of Irish dance." It was a really good introduction to the Irish culture, and it is always fun when a crowd of people is trying to dance, watching step dance and listening to music.
Afterwards, I was invited to a nice birthday dinner, and we had a Guinness (which tasted way too bitter, IMHO). Good day!
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