Tomorrow night’s the farewell dinner for the Norwegian School of Economics exchange students. This semesters gone by faster than I thought it would, but I still have a few weeks after class is over to check out Europe. I thought I’d post before I have to do all the studying I didn’t do this semester for exams.
After exams, I have the next 6 weeks booked up and it’s going to be non stop traveling. A few days after my last test is Norwegian Constitution Day, it’s called syttende mai and the whole country takes the day off. I’ve heard great things about this holiday and even Norwegians saying things as far as there are no rules on syttende mai. Here’s a picture from Fløyen of the firework celebration they put on in my city to end the day.
After this my fellow Norwegian viking Graeme and I are flying down South. Real South. We’ll finally get some weather in the 80’s in Portugal. We’ll be staying for 6 days in Faro and Lisbon. Hopefully get the chance to ride some 4 wheelers and whap some lefts on the surf board (shout out to Laidlaw). One of the coolest parts of the trip is spending the whole time right on the Atlantic coast and maybe even getting the chance to do some diving in the Algarve beaches. Apparently you can see up to 30 meters in the water at this spot.
Some of you may know my cousin Andrew. He grew up down the block from me and has also got some Norwegian in him. We’ll be meeting up in Oslo, Norway after I get back from the beach. He spent six weeks there last summer and is going to hopefully show me a few spots I missed since being in Oslo for X Games. After a couple days we’re going to take the train to the mountains where I live in Bergen, Hordaland. I’ve heard this train ride is supposed to be the most scenic one in the world when Norway turns green in June. It takes 6 hours, but there’s no strand of monotony.
Once we get to Bergen we’re going to visit Ulvik, a small farm town in Norway that only a few people I’ve met have heard of. Mine and Andrew’s grandmothers heritage started in this town before they emigrated to the states. They had the surname Knutsen, along with the majority of Norway which makes it hard to look up any family heritage while we’re here. It’s pretty cool to be the first in our family to go back to Ulvik where it all started. After growing up my whole life in Seattle with my cousin this will be surreal. Here’s a picture of one of these cabin houses in the summer time.
We’ll definitely try and take advantage of the summer weather on the fjords doing some kayaking and camping. If we’re feeling adventurous with a rental car we may even hike it up Trolltunga or Preikistolen.
My last stop in Europe before heading home to Seattle will be with one of my French friends Baptiste. He’s moving home to Marseille for work and offered to show me around France for 9 days. I’ll be meeting him in Paris and we’ll be staying with a few of his buddies for a few days. Then we’ll drive his car down to the South of France for the rest of the trip. Spending a few days in his hometown Marseille and then a few in Nice. I’ve heard it’s pretty amazing in these cities during the summer.
I’ll post one last time when I’m back in Seattle. Hopefully bring back a few good GoPro flicks from these last few weeks in Europe. Hope springs been off to a good start back home and I’m stoked to see everyone again.
Skål
uw2nhh 