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Europe 2023

August - November 2023
Our 3 month sabbatical in Europe! Read more
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  • 15countries
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  • TravelerEurope 2023
    1
    Day 3

    Copenhagen, Denmark

    August 8, 2023 in Denmark ⋅ 🌬 64 °F

    Places we visited:
    - Nyhavn
    - Canal tour with Hey Captain
    - Freetown Cristiana
    - Palace District
    - 28,000 steps so most of Copenhagen

    Hit some awesome restaurants:
    - Dinner at Royal Bistro
    - Union Kitchen for Brunch
    - Reffen for snacks/drinks
    - Gorilla for dinner

    Fun Facts:
    - Had a nice night cap at Drop Inn where we were talking about Trent’s confusion of the bathrooms here. Apparently there is no nudity laws here so we all use the same bathrooms? 🤷🏻‍♀️
    - Denmark rated the “Happiest Country on Earth” but our boat captain wants this clarified to “most content” as it’s also the country that takes the most antidepressants. 65% tax rate buys you safety but 17 hours of darkness in the winter sucks    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 4

    Ålesund, Norway

    August 9, 2023 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 55 °F

    What we did:
    Flew into Alesund to start our Norwegian road trip! Pilot announced there was an “issue” with our plane and we’d be diverted to Trondheim. He later came on to tell us that we were good and landed in Alesund correctly. However, they grounded the plane the rest the day...

    Places we visited:
    - Kiwi supermarket to stock up on road trip essentials
    - Hung in the Airbnb enjoying the view of the Fjord as it was pouring

    Food:
    - Zumma sushi (our first taste of Norwegian salmon) since Ålesund is the biggest fishing hub in Norway.

    Fun facts:
    - Landed and discovered that we had traveled to Norway during the biggest storm they’ve had in 25 years named Hans (yay for us)! We then debated pulling an audible and heading to a southern country to get out of the rain. Flights from Alesund to Greece may allegedly have been looked at.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    1
    Day 5

    Åndalsnes, Norway

    August 10, 2023 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 52 °F

    What we did:
    - First day road tripping through the Fjords. Drove the Atlantic Ocean Road that meanders through the ocean, voted one of the prettiest roads in the world. Bit rainy though.
    - Cabin #1 stay in bunk beds including drinking wine on the patio in the rain
    - Slept in until 11 due to rain but then drove the windy bends of Trollstigen, which was timed well with clouds clearing. See pics!

    What we ate:
    - Saving money time! Bars and road-trip PB&J’s for breakfast/lunch.
    - Thai food in town for dinner!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 6

    Loen, Norway

    August 11, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    Our FIRST beautiful day of the trip!!

    What we did:
    - Norwegian roadtrip continues! Stopped in Valldal for lunch.
    - Drove to Geiranger Fjord and rented a kayak on the fjord (thanks Aileen & Chris). Saw Seven Sisters waterfall from a distance in the kayak.
    - Stayed in our second cabin of the trip and it was much more spacious! Ended the day with Norwegian beer and some wine on the patio.

    What we ate:
    - More breakfast bars and PB&Js! (Trent dropped Steph's PB&J on the ground so we opted for trying our first Norwegian cinnamon bun!)
    - Norwegian Kit Kat
    - Pizza for dinner (maybe our cheapest dinner of the trip thus far?)
    - Ringnes beer

    Fun facts:
    - Norway is the country with the most tunnels, including the longest tunnel which connects Trondheim and Oslo (~20 mins).
    - Geiranger Fjord is the most visited fjord in Norway.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 7

    Balestrand, Norway

    August 12, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in again! S/O life with no work or responsibilities
    - Trent took “the most scenic jog of his life” although he spent more time taking pictures than running
    - Day 3 of the Road-trip meandering through more fjords and beautiful landscape, including a nice two-hour hike to Briksdalsbreen glacier
    - Decided we are out on the long 15 minute Norwegian tunnels due to highway hypnosis and claustrophobia
    - After dinner grabbed our Rignes beers and hung by the harbor enjoying the views! Capped by a nice FaceTime from Mom/Helen and Claire from the Macy’s dressing room

    What we ate:
    - No shock here - granola bars and PB&J!
    - Snack of freshly picked raspberries. Easily best ones we’ve ever had as they were huge juicy and fresh. Norway grows a TON of berries in the summer and we saw the vines everywhere.
    - Dinner of Norwegian meatballs in lingonberry sauce and fresh salmon. Finally fitting in with the locals

    Fun facts:
    - Sognefjord (what Balestrand overlooks) is the 2nd largest worldwide fjord behind one in Greenland
    - Longest tunnel in the world is outside of Oslo at a shocking 15 miles. They had to put in four rest areas and colored lights to help the drivers
    - Most vacationer's lodging is just rented vans/small cabins alongside the fjords so not many hotels and so seasonal, so that means minimal restaurant options
    - Fjords have sharks! But no great whites….yet    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 8

    Bergen, Norway

    August 13, 2023 in Norway ⋅ 🌧 63 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in…again and tried to find coffee. However it was our first Sunday here where we realized everything was closed.
    - Road-trip to Bergen. It was raining so drove straight through to Bergen. We were sad to leave the fjords.
    - Fire alarm went off in the hotel that night. Most of the hotel evacuated to discover it was a false alarm
    - Caught up with Sally / Mom for first call check-in before going to sleep that night for a bright and early 3:30am wake up call for our hike the next day.

    What we ate:
    - Oatmeal for breakfast. Not sure we had lunch?
    - Trent tried reindeer sausage at the local fish market in Bergen, but out of principle couldn’t bring himself to try the whale or moose sausage.
    - Trent tried the local delicacy “fish cake” (aka cod pancake) and panicked because it was gross. Then bought a crappy overpriced hotdog that he regretted for the rest of the night. Steph smartly chose a Norwegian cinnamon bun.
    - Went to a local pub to try some other Norwegian brews. Steph’s was a lot more manly than Trent’s.
    - Dinner at Kafe Spesial in the local college town to capitalize on those college prices. Split shakshouka (picture) and a lamb burger which was not very good.

    Fun facts:
    - Bergen is Norway’s second largest city.
    - There are free range cows and sheep roaming everywhere in Norway. We had to drive at a good pace at all times to make sure we didn’t hit any.
    - We didn’t take any pictures in Bergen! This was a first of the trip.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 9

    Stavanger, Norway

    August 14, 2023 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    What we did:
    - 4:30am wake up to make our 6 hr drive and multiple ferry trip from Bergen to Pulpit Rock hike. Had to beat the afternoon clouds and rain!
    - Hiked the 3hr round trip hike to Pulpit Rock, enjoying the expansive views and sheer cliff face. Weather turned out great too. Trent did great keeping his fear of heights at bay until Steph said “You know I could just run off this right now if I wanted to”….
    - We spent the afternoon/evening exploring Stavanger - our favorite Norwegian town! Enjoyed drinks on the patio on “Color Street” before our 🔥 dinner.

    What we ate:
    - SUSHI!! The best Norwegian salmon sushi we ate at Sushi Sabi. Our favorite salmon sushi ever!
    - Trent had 3 ham sandwiches in the morning - one on each ferry. The PB&J/Oatmeal diet may have finally caught up to him

    Fun facts:
    - Pulpit rock was a location used for Mission Impossible 6
    - Japanese sushi never used salmon until 1985, and in fact they thought it repulsive as their local salmon had too many parasites. Norway had a glut of high quality salmon around that time and the fishing minister convinced Japan that they needed this fish to add to their sushi. By the mid 90’s Salmon became the most eaten fish in Japanese sushi.
    - Aurora salmon >>>> . Typically Norway exports all of this breed directly to Japan for use in their luxury sushi offerings, but the place we ate at had a deal to get a small quota.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    1
    Day 10

    Stockholm, Sweden (Day 1)

    August 15, 2023 in Sweden ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Day 1:
    What we did:
    - Caught a very early flight from Stavanger through Copenhagen and landed in Stockholm at 10am. Walked in the rain to find our rental car in Stanavager and couldn’t figure out the rental car drop off location. We flew with a bunch of smelly trekkers.
    - Grabbed some brunch and did our first free walking tour! Tour included 2 hours of info on Stockholm Old Town (Gamla Stan).
    - Started to rain so we grabbed a drink in Gamla Stan and checked into our Airbnb in the heart of old town. Our nicest Airbnb to date, we were very pleasantly surprised considering the building was likely in built in the 1600s - maybe earlier?

    What we ate:
    - Brunch at STHLM Brunch Club. Bacon break or plate and chorizo eggs benedict.
    - Pho at Vi-Na Fresh - much needed and delicious once it started to cool off for the day.
    - Tried to find a night cap in the middle of a downpour in Gamla Stan and stumbled into Steph’s favorite bar of the trip - Corks, a Portuguese wine bar! Amazing wine, the friendliest waitress, and lots of free bread (Trent had 12 rolls). We sat under an umbrella in the rain until we were moved inside. The restaurant was so cool but we didn’t take a picture.

    Fun facts:
    - Swedish pancakes are not really a thing. They only serve them every Thursday with pea soup!
    - Sweden has picked a lot of fights with Norway and Denmark. Seems to be the main theme of all of our tours. They came out on top though!    Read more

  • TravelerEurope 2023
    Day 11

    Stockholm, Sweden (Day 2)

    August 16, 2023 in Sweden ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    What we did:
    - Slept in and Trent went for a run and grabbed a late breakfast in Gamla Stan.
    - Caught a boat tour on the bay. Our guide was very nice and brought his guitar to play us some songs. No one was really paying attention so it felt like he was mostly talking to Trent the whole time.
    - Walked along the bay and grabbed a drink in Ostermalm on the water at a trendy spot called Strandbryggan.
    - Went to a lookout suggested by some local Swedes called Mariaberget. Best view to see the city from afar!
    - Our waitress from the wine bar told us to go to a beer garden overlooking the city - Mosebacketerrassen. This place was awesome - full of locals grabbing drinks after work. We got a couple of local beers and enjoyed the weather/scenery.

    What we ate:
    - Breakfast/brunch at Coffee Stop. We got carrot cake, coffee, and the local favorite Raksmorgas (aka an open faced shrimp sandwich).
    - Stopped at a local fish stand Strommingsvagnen to finally try some herring. We got the knackis (fried herring on crispbread)
    - We had a craving for American food and got our first burger of the trip at Barrels. These burgers were awesome! Definitely hit the spot. However our tummies did not fair well the next day due to all the things we ate and drank that day as listed above.

    Fun facts:
    - Sweden had such a large cigarette problem, that they subsidized snus/zyn which is now a giant industry in itself. They chew it like gum now and you can find it everywhere.
    - Pippi longstocking originates here.
    - Stockholm syndrome originates from a bank robbery where the hostages fell in love with their captors.
    - Sweden's current king became king at 18 and was nicknamed the party king. Now that he’s older he focuses on environment initiatives and building as many museums as possible. There’s now 50 museums in Stockholm alone.    Read more

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