Suche zurücksetzen
Angharad Dowse
Angharad Dowse

Angharad Dowse

war bereits in 56 Ländern Weiterlesen🇦🇺New South Wales
FolgenNachrichtStatistiken
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Riga

    26. Juli 2017 in Lettland ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Left the hostel and first headed to the black cat that sits above the guild. (Thx google search)
    Hehe, I like it.
    We then went and got breakfast at some coffee shop because Will wanted a cappuccino. What I wanted they didn't have so I got the mango/passionfruit fruit thing.
    She pulled out a carton of store bought juice and added ice 😂😂😂
    Ermmm, it really shouldn't cost that much then lol.
    After, we went to the Museum of the occupation of Latvia 1940-1991.
    It was free so that's good but it had too much writing. Walls and walls of text.
    The video was great though and I learnt a lot.
    Very short version is they were occupied by both the soviets and the Nazis at different times and Latvia suffered a lot.
    Will didn't like the museum much either because of the writing I'm guessing.
    We then went walking through a park and ended up sitting on a bench for a while.
    I like the different birds, especially the little ones.
    Walk walk walk - we found a magnet shop. I got one of the black cat because it's different from my other ones.
    we then Just wandered back to the hostel and have been here ever since.
    I did some Iceland itinerary searching and found one that sound unbelievably amazing but is probably too much money 😔 still 🤞🏼
    Wills dad was on the news again so we watched that little short snippet on fb.
    We are going to go to Argentinan for dinner and I am so overwhelmingly excited. It's 4:40 and I want to go NOW.
    I'm currently captain pimple face but there is one under my nose that is so so painful.
    Will tried helping me pop it with his pliers 😂

    Jokes we didn't get Argentinan. It was so expensive and no variety.
    We got food to go and ate back in our room and watched some Big Bang.
    At maccas some weirdo got a Coke and then a shot of coffee in it 🤢🤔😷
    I need to shower and pack 😒

    Today we also walked past the freedom monument which kinda looks like the Statue of Liberty.

    I showered but the water was cold and I forgot to take soap with me lol.

    There is the most annoying sound that won't shut up.
    It's like that ding dong noise when you enter a shop?
    IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.
    Maybe it happens when you go to reception - we haven't been back since day one so don't know if the door makes that sound but something is, and I want to shoot it.

    Alas, I went and packed then sat down to read, but my kindle is out of juice and my charger is in the bottom of my bag... I'll just have to repack later lol.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Riga

    25. Juli 2017 in Lettland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Horrid night sleep hahahahaha 🔫🔫
    It was so hot. We tossed and turned the whole night. We finally left the hostel around 12:30.
    Our original plan was to go to some neighbourhood that was suggested on our map and a cat cafe. I looked up the cat cafe and it had been permanently closed down 😭😭😭 so our other idea for scrapped too because I felt let down by the map hahah. It was also 3km away and the pictures from my google search weren't very exciting.
    Our first task of the day was food.
    We OBVIOUSLY must try as many foreign Big Macs as possible so maccas it was.
    Will got a grand big Mac and it was friggen ginormous.
    The maccas was sweltering so we sat in a nearby park.
    The park was so pretty!!!! It has a waterfall, love lock bridge, flowers and was just maintained really well!
    We made a scene by feeding some birds some chips. 50 more came to join us lols
    We went for a quick walk around the park which also had little canal boat things and then headed towards the Riga Ghetto and Latvian holocaust museum.

    We had to walk through markets to get there. Goodness they sell some random crap. Some look more like pawn stores and Vinnies shops.

    I didn't have it loaded on my maccas so I only knew the general area it was going to be in. I was getting a little worried but we got there eventually :)
    It was free and actually very good. Wills favourite free one so far.
    The first room was an exhibition for the Armenian genocide where over 1.5 million died.
    I had never heard of it before which is shocking. The shit they chose to teach in school...
    that's a lot of people...
    they didn't hold back on the photos. Dead people eveeywhere.
    I need to go and research more in my own time because I should learn more.

    The second room was for the WW2 victims. The warehouses we were in and the ones around us where the original sort of holding sheds for Jews coming from Prague and other area who were then sorting into usable/non useful workers and then sent of the several camps including aushwits **
    It was a display with big cubes covered in information and pictures hanging from the ceiling; maybe 100+ of them.
    Because we couldn't read the Latvian, before we figured out what it was, we were hypothesizing if there had been a concentration camp in Latvia or if these people had been sent here and saved.
    We figured it out when most people's death date was 1942/43.
    The next room had another good display with a name of each victim with Jewish roots that went from Bremen to Theresienstadt and did not return. It represented the one way journey to the train station.

    Outside there was carriage with trees in it where it talked about "useful workers"
    There was also a alley fenced with barbed wire with all the names of the victims. a daunting amount. And realistically only still a very small section of the overall extermination of WW2.

    As I said The whole thing was in the place they were held. It still has some original doors and things that were completely rusted through.

    We then walked back through the markets. They have different berries.
    We walked home and I booked accommodation for Poland so everything is now booked except for our first 4 days in London :)
    Feeling organised.

    We then just went walking.
    Loving Latvia! The buildings are really cool. It doesn't feel as old as Tallinn nor as fantasy land but still, brilliant.
    Baltics are kicking ass.
    Had a look at magnets - they all had a black cat but i don't know its significance 🤔
    I got a photo with a big cat we found though :)
    It's not as touristy here and I like it.

    We went to the Aussie pub and they didn't have a single Aussie beer and out of the 4 that they do sometimes sell - I only recognized James Boarg*
    Crap.
    Will was devo, he was so excited lol.
    We walked past some nice churches and through different areas like a shopping district and an artsy vibing district.
    Apparently Riga is hosting the choir games 2017 👍🏼
    Riga city hall was really pretty.
    We had dinner at TGIFridays- the menu was different so I got a bruschetta- delish.
    We then went home, downloaded game of thrones then headed to the cinema to watch planet of the apes.
    it was pretty good.
    We made a realllly big boo boo though.
    We asked if it was in English which it was so we were like ok cool.
    We forgot however that the monkeys sign half the movie. The subtitles were of course in Latvian....
    we just guessed what they were saying the whole time
    How Dumb and funny.

    We walked home, watched game of thrones and now it's time for bed. 👍🏼    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Transit

    24. Juli 2017 in Lettland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Another terrific night on the floor ..
    We tidied the area and got ready to leave around 12. It was a 3.5km walk to the bus stop and it was so hot 😭 our backs were disgusting.
    We got there at 12:45 and the next bus came as 1 :) it was silly though because our bus line sold tickets in a different spot across the road which cut our time very short.
    While everyone was packing their luggage onto the bus I was asked to answer a random survey about Estonia - it was much longer than I expected - all about how much I'd spent, how long I'd been there, what tourist stuff I did etc.
    on the bus and off to Latvia woo 🇱🇻🇱🇻
    We made 1 stop - Will got off and got a few sausage In a rolls. I went to the bus loo and wasn't thinking and so now I probably have any number of diseases. I went barefoot. 😨I didn't even realize I wasn't wearing shoes til the floor became wet 😒😒😒
    It's a 4hour 40 min trip. The bus wifi is working for Will but not for me :( I do need to save phone battery though so we can find our hostel. I thought I would pass some time and start his though 👍🏼
    Went through the border - so far Latvia is just trees.

    Arrived at the bus stop and walked to the hostel.
    Our check in was the best so far - Will is signed up to beer tasting, we got a map and info about the area and free tour starting points.
    We also get free shot but we have postponed it til after dinner.
    Went to our room which is on the third level 😪
    Our room is awesome and so are the toilets. This hostel is rating well so far.
    The bar downstairs is also 24hours and has 1.5€ beers at certain times. Tonight I think it's from 7-10.
    Will is going to die lol.

    We went walking and got subway. I got a full length sub this time but our overall total for 2 subs was still 11€ cheaper than Finland lol.
    We went to an ATM and got money out.
    Will likes Latvia so far. So do I.

    We had our shot. The backstory is some dude invented it, it's 40%+, sugar free and the creator use to claim it cured anything including broken bones and cancers. It use to sell in pharmacies.

    I didn't mind it. Will hated it but he is pussy when it comes to shots other than sambucca* lol
    He is currently enjoying his first beer of the evening.

    There are 3 free tour options but I think we will do the one of the old town.

    I went upstairs and had a snooze while Will met people. he came up soon after though because he was the only one signed up for beer tasting lol
    Oh well.

    The room is really hot and it's annoying because it has double windows and also because they open in you can't have the blinds down so I feel like everyone is looking in.

    I have the worst pimples on my chin.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Tallinn

    23. Juli 2017 in Estland ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Woke up at 10:57 to talk to mum and dad at 11. We spoke for about 40 mins. Loved speaking to them, as usual.

    I am so tired. We considered going to the open air museum but it was a 10km round trip and we just simply couldn't be bothered.
    I went back to resting.
    We didn't leave the Bnb until 5 😂 ahhhhh wasting so much time but I feel like I could sleep for a week.
    It was my condition this morning if we stayed in - we would go to old town for dinner.

    We walked to the main square and took a different street and found this cute little place.
    I said to Will the streets look and feel like you're walking through a theme park only it's real.
    There are people in costumes and little stores, wooden signs ITS JUST SO WONDERFUL.
    I made the call - it's my favourite city. Wills is Ghent. But both agree the best country is still Macedonia.
    We tried some tradition pink spiced drink which was definitely different. I got the most amazing beef tenderloin 🤤🤤🤤 so satisfied with the food.
    There was a dog at the table next to me ^.^
    We also had garlic bread as an entree - it wasn't what I expected but it was still delicious. It was brown bread - like BBQ sauce coloured and it came with a white dip.
    After dinner we walked around and found St Catherine's passage - I don't really know what it is but it had signs for it and trip advisor said to go so..
    I bought a magnet and broke the bank.
    It was 10€ 😰😰😰
    Oops.
    On the walk there were a bunch of big tombstones on display. We think they are from one of the churches we saw yesterday where people were once buried but there was a plumbing/pressure problem and bodies went floating around so the tombs got moved lol.

    Walked home and I crashed again. I don't know what's going on. I just lay on the floor for an hour and now I feel a little more energized.
    On our walk there was a cat high above watching everyone hehe
    I spent my semi awakeness well and pre packed so I don't hate life tomorrow.
    We are out of toilet paper, I hope we don't need to poop.

    I re read the message from our host - I don't know if she understands that the bed is broken beyond repair... she said something like I'll fix the problem and make sure it doesn't happen again 🤔🤔🤔🤔
    Babes, you need to buy an entire new bed 😓😂eeeek.

    Very excited for a real bed tomorrow.

    At around midnight we walked down to a servo and bought some food cause we were both hungry again.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Tallinn

    22. Juli 2017 in Estland ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    so at 3am we broke the bed. It scared the shit out of me - we were both asleep and all of a sudden it gave way like it did earlier, only this time the center plank of wood cracked straight through the middle 😖
    Shiiiiit
    We were too tired at the time to deal with it so Will slept on the couch and I slept on the floor.
    Due to this event and the fact that the floor is not comfortable we changed our 12pm tour plans to 3pm lol.
    We had breakfast (Will has finished his pineapple juice but my pomegranate is only half gone 🙊), I showered then messaged our Bnb host to tell her about the bed.
    I tried to craft the message in away that made it not our fault. Lol
    She hadn't replied when we left so we won't know her response until we get home later.

    Ok so I am IN LOVE with this city. It's already skyrocketed to near the top spot and I haven't done anything yet!
    Our tour was meeting at the tourist info center. Our guide was Henri.
    He was very good and enthusiastic.
    He first gave us a big chat about the history of Estonia- he skipped the first 9 thousand years and talked about the several recent attempts at establishing their independence. They have had a lot to do with Russia and since getting their independence in 1991 it's now the longest they have been independent.
    First stop was the war of independence victory column. Which is a really ugly glass pillar for the men who lost their lives in the war of independence between 1918 -1920. It cost over 7 million euro - the locals were not happy!
    Next was the Kiek in De KöK. It's a defense tower. Pretty cool.
    We then went to the Danish Kings garden which I loveeeeeddd. It had dementor looking statues which were meant to represent monks. Its wooded bridge walk way was very game of Thrones looking.
    It had 2 fires lit on medieval torch things.
    It just had such a lovely vibe. The wall itself was built to segregate the lower old town - the craftsman, peasants etc and the top half was for nobleman. I had a good laugh at his truthful joke. In recent years there was a call for counties to put forth options for a new category of wonders of the world. Tallinn put forth their 3km walk ( now 1.8km left I think)
    He was like 'we looked hopeful .... until China put forth theirs." His delivery was very good 😂
    We walked up the hill 20 meters and he showed us the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It was similar in style to the Bulgarian one but not as good. It had different colouring. We were allowed to pop our head in - the inside didn't even come close to comparing.
    Still a splendid church to look at from the outside.
    There was also a flag tower nearby. They hoist the flag everyday and play the national anthem - it's the same as the Finnish - they stole it and just changed the lyrics. 😂😂 apparently it's awkward when they play soccer because they play the same song twice hah.
    The flags colours mean- black: basically because their history sucks ... he said lots of countries have red for blood and victory - he was like nope, not us. We always lose 😂 so black is death - it's also for the land.
    Blue: is the water because that's how they lived - fishing etc
    And then the white is debated but most people accept it as hope.

    We then walked past the presidents house - they have a prime minister and president. The president is more just a figure head who does the waving. The government elects the president. A woman got it for the first time recently. He said this was a good/big step for Easter europe.
    The building is pink though 😂 shockingly it was designed by a woman hahaha.
    We walked on to THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEW POINT - Toompea hill.
    Genuinely in love. I don't want to leave. It's so bizarre that this the countries capital. It's so medieval and not full at all.
    From the view point he pointed out their new section "over there are our skyscrapers- all 7 of them" hahah
    They aren't that tall though because they are not allowed to be taller than the St Olaf church. There was a silly folk tale that went with the St. Olaf church but it was ludicrous so nevermind.

    THE VIEW THOUGH 😍😍😍😍

    We then went to another viewpoint and I felt bad because there was a wedding couple trying to take photos. I feel like they should have right of way lol.
    Her dress was ugly though.

    Ok so on our tour there was a chick in a bride to be sash - who the crap goes on a free walking tour for their hens day 😂😂😂😂
    And/or wears it just coz?

    Our final stop was in the town square. Which was cool and would look amazing in winter with the Christmas tree and Christmas markets.
    In the middle were lots of markets.
    We tipped him 10€ then went to one of the restaurants he suggested.
    We only got drinks though because it was too expensive to eat then we went to another place.

    But first we went to the medieval pharmacy in the town square that has been operational since 1422.
    It's had some old instruments they use to use and lots of jars full of things.
    Personal favourite was the dried deer penis and sun sizzled dog poop.

    Very glad for modern medicine.

    New resturant sold ELK AND BEAR.
    Bear was really expensive.
    The food was really good. I was so cold in the resturant though! Lucky they provided blankets :)
    A horse and cart kept trotting by.

    We walked home.
    Again, still in loved with the cobbled streets and back alleys. 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
    We are home and watching Big Bang.
    Bnb person host messaged back and actually apologized to us hahaha wooo! My plan worked 💪🏻🤗🙊 hehe
    We're not actually sure how the bed broke - if it was us or if it was already broken from the people before.
    We didn't do anything that would cause it to break. Very strange.

    I have a very painful bruise on my arm or what I soon hope to be a bruise. It's kind of visible - considering the pain, my whole arm should be black, but anyway..
    I think I got it when I fell up a step yesterday in the middle of our apartment- why there is a step is beyond me.
    Will keeps poking it -.-

    We Skype Jess and Jaxon. He is so big! Getting really excited to see them both.
    I have a Skype date with mum and dad tomorrow so I'm excited. It's 2am so time to actually try sleep on my comfy floor. Lol    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Transit

    21. Juli 2017 in Estland ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Slept from 2 - 10. Sometimes I even impress myself with my sleeping abilities.
    Obviously missed the tour hahahah
    We packed our clean washing and only just made check out - we then went to the kitchen area and had the last of our cereal for breakfast. A Canadian dude from our dorm whom we had a few convos with sat down with us and we talked for about and hour before we went to find me a magnet. Lucky he mentioned he had just bought one or else I might have forgotten 😱
    He was a really nice dude but just boring. Like, I wasn't engaged and I just wanted it to end. He was telling these amazing stories and yet I just didn't care.
    Didn't walk far to get my 6€ magnet 😓I'm very happy with it though. It's of the market place and Helsinki Cathedral which is really the only 2 places we saw 😏
    We have every intention of visiting again in the winter so we can do shit then.
    Once we got our magnet we walked to the markets because that's were the terminal was according to my google search. There were 2 sides to the port though so I thought I'd ask.
    He said we were in the wrong place and the west terminal was over 3km away 😩😩😩😩
    We walked up a bit in search of wifi. I got help from a girl in the shop - she gave me the password .... yep, I can confirm we are indeed in the wrong spot.
    She called a taxi for us though which was fantastic because I asked her where we had to meet it and she said outside - the taxi literally drove up the gutter to the front door.
    It cost us 16euro which we were happy to pay if it meant we didn't miss our ship!

    We checked In then sprint walked down to a subway we saw on the way. We also walked past the 'bad bad boy' statue so I'm pretty happy to have seen that too.
    It was such h a hot walk with all our stuff. Will finally admitted this morning that my bag is heavier.
    Scoffed down our subs then got on the boat. We found very unfancy fold down seats but they will do. So many people have cabins. What a waste of money for a 2 hour trip!

    Have I mentioned the ridiculous hair in Finland? Every guy has a pony. People have odd shaved bits and even kids have colored hair i.e. Green man buns.
    They have a high percentage of facial piercings too.

    I went to the loo before and am happy that my own sexist presumptions were tested.
    I didn't look and saw the change table sign so assumed it was the female toilets. It wasn't, it was the mens.
    While there are a lot of crazy people going too far with gender issues. This is a fair one and I'm glad my assumption because it has no valid place. Men change nappies too.
    I had a giggle though because I then went to the female toilet which also had a change table sign but there was a guy inside. We checked the sign together - he became very embarrassed and yapped in Italian I think lol
    They put their toilet flick buttons in the silliest spot. You had to completely close the lid in order to flush it.

    Woo made it to Estonia.
    I had all but walked off the boat and I already like it. It's got a medieval vibe.
    We walked the 3 km to the little supermarket we were told to pick the key up from. The Russian lady handed me a little safe thing.
    I was a tad confused but then remembered an old message she sent me about a code box

    So our front door key to the building also opens our apartment door 🤔🤔🤔 not the best security. There are like 5 other apartments in the same building - can they get into my room? 😐

    Will is an hour nap while I tried to determine why we are gonna do here. He broke the bed trying to get up (the slates collapsed) Hahaha we fixed it. If he is going to sleep on the other side from now on lol.
    I woke him at 7:30 and we went for Indian food.
    It was probably the best Indian I have had in my life and not a single Indian person was in sight. I don't know what the cooks were but all waiters were white and it was the most untraditional place ever but omg so good.
    We then went to the supermarket and bough 2 cereals, 2 juices, milk, bananas, cherry tomatoes, salami, cheese, bread and chocolate all for only 16€ 🎉

    Now home I had a look at all my souvenirs- they are all piling up I'll have to send some home with Jess 😬

    I finally emailed my sponsor child back today. It was a solid email on my part and not just a flimsy hello so I hope he is pleased. I explained to him that I wasn't in Australia.

    We downloaded all seasons of Big Bang so we are now having a mini marathon of that. I bought pomegranate juice at the shops and I'm so happy because Will hates it and won't drink it.

    I'm not even going to write down our plans for the next few days cause if I do they won't happen 😂

    We only have one towel and it stinks and it's so ridiculous because Will malts so every time I try dry myself his old hairs attach to my body off the towel. I end up dirtier than I was 😖

    Where we got Indian was a cool little area. Like redone industrial area.

    There are Estonian chocolates on the table and we are not sure if they have been left for us or not lol. I want them though.

    Oh oh oh.
    Will didn't try a single Finnish beer but had an Estonian one tonight. He hated it.

    "do you know why this tastes like?"
    "What?"
    "a cow"

    I had a very loud laugh.
    He kept saying it tastes how he imagined a cow pat would. He forced me to have a sip and it was probably    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Helsinki

    20. Juli 2017 in Finnland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Heh. Quite the waste of a day lol.
    Last night I put Will in charge of the alarm.

    At 9:40 Will was like "quickly pack then we will go to the tour"
    I was like uhmm it starts in 20 mins and it's over a 1km away. We won't make it on time.

    Woke up and packed. We are just changing rooms this morning because when we booked an extra night all the dorms were full so we got a private
    We left our zipped up bags in the room then went to the supermarket to get cereal and juice. I also got a cherry tomato cup - soooo good.
    Walked back and ate it - our new room was ready so we put our bags in there.
    We had a semi plan to go to the fortress but I said I would only go if I was allowed another 1 hour sleep. Will agreed and actually granted me 2.
    This meant the plan was to get up at 1.
    It's currently 4.08 😂😂 I got up an hour ago and I woke Will 30 mins ago.
    We are both just pooped lol.
    We put our washing in this morning too but it's not ready yet.
    Thinking of going to the Hard Rock Cafe soon.
    Wasted our time in Helsinki but I don't feel too bad about it.
    I wasn't DYING to do anything. I'm happy with just walking the city.
    I've booked us on the free tour tomorrow. Let's see if that actually happens 😏

    Went and bought Will a computer mouse so he can play online games then went to the Hard Rock Cafe.
    Food was pretty good actually. Bought a Hard Rock Cafe shirt too 😎😎 the chocolate milkshake with Oreo bits was amazingggggg.

    Went home and I had another 4hour nap HAHAH 😓
    we watched "Yes man" which had me laughing quite a lot. Jim Carrey has some great films haha.
    It's now 2am and off to bed again lol.
    Tour probably won't happen aye.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Helsinki

    19. Juli 2017 in Finnland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Ok so we experienced the worst imaginable snoring last night.
    At about 4am Will finally lost his shit and yelled at him to shut up - he didn't even stir but other people in the dorm were still awake too because they made comment about the insane-ness.

    We were going to go on a 10am tour but there was no chance of that happening. At 7am Will haven't managed to get to sleep yet. THE ENTIRE DORM slept through until 1 😓 except the douche bag who thankfully checked out!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 he seriously shouldn't be allowed in dorms - Only private rooms.
    Because we missed the tour we didn't have a plan so we just went walking.
    Will wanted to try this chicken place so we went there for breakfast.
    We then went in a random direction and ended up in senate square next to the Helsinki Cathedral which is a massive white building - it would be hard to see in winter 😂
    It was nice to look at.
    We then walked down to the marina and strolled though the markets.
    I like Helsinki. It has a relaxed vibe and is spacious but still has character. It's boring as all hell but calm to be in.
    We had a look at the outside of the Uspenskin Cathedral.
    Again, nice to look at.
    We started walking home and walked past the presidents house - the flag wasn't there and their were no guards so he wasn't home. An average building at best but it had gold covered spiked along the fence which were fun haha.

    The city has a few mini parks to sit in with your standard statue, seats and a fountain - nothing to fancy but they add life to the city.
    A lot of the cities are blending into one... 😓 all I know is I do like Helsinki and Stockholm but not really Oslo.
    All were quite boring ( Helsinki doesn't even have museums) but there was something about Helsinki and Stockholm - I think maybe the water.

    I would love to venture up north in both Sweden and Finland just unfortunately there is little point in summer. maybe one day. We will hopefully get to Russia one day so maybe he can visit santas village then. 🙃

    We went back to the hostel for a toilet stop before we went and had a drink at the Wayne's coffee chain.
    I don't know why they are every where it was expensive and mediocre. You had to pay for the toilet and it had a stupid feature that made you check in on fb before you could use their internet. Smart marketing but annoying.
    Walked home and I crashed and had a 3 hour nap😆 we are doing well with beds atm. They have been really comfortable.

    Will woke me at 7 and we went first to buy shampoo and conditioner at the shops - dropped it home then went out for a Mexican dinner :)

    It was called iguanas - we got a jug of sangria and a burrito each. Will liked the burrito - I didn't but we both agree the sangria was probably the best we have ever had.
    We were discussing were we would go after the U.K. - I ended up emailing the Australian consulate in the Ukraine asking about entry requirements.
    It was only 60 odd euro to fly there from London which has Will super excited lol.
    We would only be going to Kiev though if we do go. Not silly enough to venture out. They have a security warning in place but so do most countries lol.
    Went home and finally showered with proper shampoo 😭😍
    Now in bed. I shouldn't be but I'm tied haha.

    I really miss Thaddeus.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Transit

    18. Juli 2017 in Finnland ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Egh. Didn't want to get up (do I ever?) but I did AND with time to spare for checkout. 💪🏻
    We stored our bags in the luggage hold ( took us a while to find - our first try we ended up in the basement 😂)
    We then headed out to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast 🙊 we got 3 each. The strawberry field one was divine.
    We walked on and found the Riddarholm church - this is the resting place for all the royals I mentioned before.
    I got a student discount wooo. I'm not lying when I say im a student - I'm technically enrolled 😆I told them I didn't have evidence though - they didn't mind lol.
    It cost 75 krone for the both of us which was totally worth it - we both enjoyed it.
    It had the floor style graves like a lot of churches do but also some outrageous crypts/coffins. It was sad at how small some of them were - there were actually quite a few child kings there.
    It had what we think were house banners everywhere too.
    We found Nelson Mandalas South African flag crest thing too. Don't know what that's about.
    Will thinks maybe Nobel prize winners because as it turns out the Nobel prize is a Swedish, not Dutch thing as Will told so the picture of me standing outside "the peace palace" in the Hague is a little embarrassing. HAhah

    We then walked to the palace and while looking for the royal armory checked out the royal chapel which was nice enough but not the most amazing thing I've seen.
    The royal armory was badass though.
    The first section had royal carriages and they were so very Cinderella.
    This section just made me feel happy inside.
    The next bit had clothing and weapons etc which was cool. some outfits truly were ridiculous - the amount of effort required to put some of these things on in the morning... oh and the poor horses! Some of there outfits must have been so uncomfortable!!
    We found the outfit king Gustav - I now believe it to be the third - was wearing when he was shot. He died 13 days later from blood poisoning. You could still see the blood on the clothes and rags which was gruesome - loved it! Haha
    Their masks weren't very good back then. They looked almost Ned Kelly like. Poor form especially for royalty.
    Unless it wasn't the real mask..?

    We walked on and found the most random thing to be in a palace - a Japanese inspired samurai sword section - it even had an info thing going on about him Michone uses a katana in the Walking dead.... zombie tv shows and royalty don't normally mix hhah. Seriously so random.

    We walked outside and it was time for the changing of the guard. It was packed - we couldn't get close to see them change but we saw then parade up the street so that was something. They had a marching band lead the way.
    We walked back to the hostel where I watched the new game of thrones episode then we got our bags and headed to the station.

    Can't wait to leave Scandinavia, their train prices are criminal.
    To get an express the the airport which was only 20 mins away cost us $45 each 😩😩😩

    When we got there we discovered Stockholm has the stupidest airport system in the world. We were not the only ones who had to ask for help.
    It had a do it yourself bag drop... which was empty because there were no instructions on what to do and how to use it.
    We used the machines to check in even though our tickets said not to then the worker we asked for help from had to put our luggage into a special section with things like prams and surfboards because they might get stuck on the belt ...
    ok?
    It was so silly. Literally everyone was confused.
    Went through customs and to our gate.
    Boarding didn't start when it was meant to then suddenly our gate changed -.-
    So we went to the new one only it didn't have our flight up. Everyone was very confused because we should have been taking off.
    After 20 minutes of no information we were finally told we had an hour delay. *grumble moan* at least it wasn't cancelled!
    In that hour a good 6 or 7 other planes also had gate changes. The airport was full of annoyed people aha
    Eventually we got on the damn plane - I think I had a mini nap on Wills leg because time went to quickly.
    I had a window seat woo and the flight was quick and easy.

    YAY FINLAND 🇫🇮
    got our bags quickly then went to the train station.
    OWWWW WHAT BEAUTIFUL PRICES - ONLY 5€ each to get to central 😍😍😍😍😍 that's even cheaper than Greece!
    Ok so their language is confusing as crap and we needed help buying the tickets. We then took a gamble and got on a train with hopefully central station as it's final stop.
    Woohoo it did.
    Walked to our hostel, checked in, dumped out bags, went to get dinner and are now back in the dorm.

    THE MOST EMBARRASSING THING HAPPENED.
    Will was talking to me - I laughed and did the loudest fart!!!!!!!!!
    Dying inside
    I then had a laughing fit where I couldn't breath which drew even more attention to myself 😶

    My feet really smell.
    We have looked up things to do here and there is literally nothing lol. I'm sure we will find something though.

    Our bunk beds have bars - I hope Will fits hah.

    I should shower but our only towel stinks.

    I have needed to wee more than usual today.

    We have lost an hour so our 8:45 wake up tomorrow will be 7:45 😖😖😖

    Ooh and I'm the Helsinki airport toilets they play bird music - too keep you relaxed as you poop? Lol    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Stockholm

    17. Juli 2017 in Schweden ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Big day planned today.
    I had to let Will into my room because I had his tooth brush. We pre paid for one days breakfast from the hostel so we went to get that - what a disgrace! At this "buffet" you are only allowed one of everything - too bad if you don't like something. So basically we paid $10 each for one croissant and a tiny glass of juice.
    My opinion on this shall be reflected in my review.
    We then walked about 3km to go to the Vasa museum. We saw the prettier side to Stockholm today - our walk alone the water was very nice.
    We got to the museum and it was pretty popular - supposedly it's the most visited museum in Scandinavia.
    So basically, the Vasa was a war ship that King Gustav? Number something, hired people to build. The people building it told the king that his requests were not normal and the dimensions were wrong ra ra ra but the king wouldn't listen because he wanted it to look a certain way and he was going to have it his way - so they built it anyway. Lo and behold it didn't make it out of the harbour before capsizing and killing 30-50 people.
    It was obviously such an embarrassment at the time that no one retrieved it and it lay at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years before finally someone decided to go get it.
    98% was well enough preserved which is really impressive - had something to do with the water.
    No one was ever convicted for its failure. Or at least no transcripts saying so have been found.
    They tried to convict many people with saying the captain didn't tie up the cannons or the crew was drunk etc etc but all survivors testimony stated everything was done correctly.

    Ok so the ship was friggen massive and so so impressive!
    The detailing was just ridiculous and no wonder it sunk lol I would loved to have seen it when it was coloured. You can always tell in museums what has be remodeled and what is old - it was all old.
    There were heaps of side rooms with different things to look at regarding the ship such as anchors, ropes, tools etc but my favourite part was obviously the ship itself and the 12 or so bodies they had on display from people found on board. They had remodeling of their faces and info on the ones with enough bones and shared info on how they lived - just like the tv series Bones - what she does. It was very cool. Who walked with a limp etc.
    2 women were on board too.

    We were both pretty hungry because of our crappy breakfast - we walked back 2 kilometers to find a place to eat - GUESS WHAT IT WAS?!? TGIFridays - right next door to McDonald's 😂
    We ate - not sure if we are meant to tip here - I never bothered looking it up. 🙄 we didn't lol.

    We then walked the 2km back to the Swedish history museum which was free entry 😬😬😬
    We like free things😝
    We first went to the gold room.
    I know gold is expensive and considered treasure but I just don't get it so I know I didn't appreciate this display as others might. I just looked at everything - pretty lol.
    We went upstairs and looked at other old things. Will doesn't give me enough time to read everything so I have to pick and chose haha. We went through a religious section and then a display which had helmets you could put on. One was really heavy and the other- pfttt you wouldn't even be able to see the enemy coming - it had such small eye holes!
    Feeling the chain mail was cool.
    We kept walking - it was a really weird set up and to be completely honest I didn't really take anything in because I forgot my pills this morning and was too tired too.
    We found the Viking section and I was a little disappointed by it. It wasn't as grizzly or badass as I would have liked. It had normal everyday farmer crap. I don't care about the plate and bowl they owned - I want to see their helmet and weapons! Lol
    We then went to walk to the next museum but my legs were dying and I had the tired giggles so we sat down.
    We decided we would do it in the morning because we have several hours to kill before our flight. But we did go to old town to get me a magnet 😜
    On the way home i finally bought a hat too. 🙌🏼
    I've been royalty spoilt the last 2 days. We need to get to Estonia so we can stop depleting the funds so much.
    Got home had pills and then I crashed on the couch for 2 hours.
    Will downloaded and watched the new game of thrones episode - I might watch it on the plane tomorrow :)
    He also joined 'Steam' and spent a long time figuring out an account name that wasn't taken (online games shop)
    We went next door to have Swedish meatballs because we get a discount because we are from the hostel. Well from 5-7 we do and it was 7:15 :(
    They were still really good - they came with these weird berries that made it sweet.
    Back in my bed now and ready for more sleep. Just posted my weekly update on Facebook #hilarious.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender
    prime ministers house

    Stockholm

    16. Juli 2017 in Schweden ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Bed was so comfy. I got too hot using my sleeping bag so I switched to the hostel sheet.
    Met Will about 10:20 in the common room section.
    We went for a walk with no real plan.
    We tried to find somewhere for breakfast but once again the ridiculous that is europe struck again.
    Once again the only 2 places available was tgifriday of McDonald.
    We went with the cheaper option... it was still expensive - more so than Norway. 😩
    I looked up the meeting place of our tour we are doing later and Will looked up shopping centers for us to buy me a kindle and him a USB wall charger for his phone.
    We found a dick smith type of place but it didn't sell kindles :( we bought Wills thing though.
    We found another shop in the shopping center - they didn't have it either but the guy knew where did and gave us directions and a street address- he even provided what number it was which I though was impressive and a little strange.
    Walk walk walk - it was called Webballen and

    THEY HAD KINDLES 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
    So $250 later 😶😶😶😶
    I HAVE A NEW KINDLE ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
    Thanksyou Wil❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
    We went and sat down in 'the espresso house' which is a really big chain here and had a drink because it was really sunny and hot. I had an iced passion fruit mint thing which was excellent and made me cold lol.
    We walked back to the hostel because I wanted to set up my new kindle 🤗🤗🤗

    Got the laptop out and had to change my amazon password because I can never remember which password I've used - it's always the same word/numbers - I hate websites that make you used a capital, number or symbol cause I can't remember which version I've used 😩
    Anyway, logged on, cancelled my old kindle so the THIEF can't use my account to buy anything but I didn't mark it as lost or stolen because I would rather the kindle continue to be used and not get throw away because it's now useless. They can read if they pay for it. Lol

    So bless the system - all my books automatically downloaded to the same page I was on 😍

    We left for our tour at 3:45 - on the way we realized we needed to find an ATM so we could tip at the end.
    An almost impossible task. We found on in the station but I am genuinely surprised not to have found one on their main shopping strip.

    Our guide had clear English but she had the biggest pointy out nippled ever and they distracted me the entire tour. It was like the mentors add. They were so thick 😂
    Anyway,

    Our first stop was outside the opera where she told a story about a murdered king I think ( someone important lol) and told us of the free museum that displays the clothing he was wearing when shot. We plan to go tomorrow.
    We walked to a bridge that had a nice view and found the very modest Prime ministers house. It's prime location because the parliament building is opposite lol.
    We walked on through old town and came to the palace. We learnt about the Royal family and how progressive they are - the eldest, not first boy gets the throne and there are some interesting characters married in such as a reality tv star haha.
    We learnt about the palace ghost - this bit interested me the most.
    Supposedly the ghost only appears when someone is going to die and was last seen In 1920?
    Story goes the princess was very sick - the flag was at half mast but no one had put it like that so so a guard was sent up to fix it but never came back down. A second guard got sent up and found the first guard quivering saying he had see the ghost.
    The princess then died that day. They were going to bury her in the veil she was married in but her husband wanted to keep it as a token of their love.
    This woman was the current queen of Denmarks (Margaret) grandmother.
    It got passed down ....
    When princess Mary married Prince Fredrick she wore that same veil.
    I think it's cool.

    They had female palace guards and I'm not sure if I've seen that before.

    The youngest daughter of the current king/queen married a suit. He didn't want to give up his money so when they are introduced it's princess Madeline and MR Something hahahah

    There is a church we are going to try go to tomorrow as well which has every royal family member buried there - except one who is in the Vatican.

    We walked on an got shown a Viking stone that a shopkeeper liked so then transported it to there house over 500 years ago 😂
    It's engraved with cool markings - it's in honor of someone's son.

    We then learnt a little bit about Vikings.
    She made it very clear that Vikings did not have horns on their helmets and that idea came from a play or something and the idea stuck lol.
    They did drink from then though.
    In Viking law you are not allowed to steal - you are allowed to kill though and a dead man can't own anything... problem solved lol.

    It started drizzling - she talked about the Vasa ship - we will learn more when we go to it's museum tomorrow. 👍🏼

    I can see lots of magnet options 🤗🤗🤗

    We tipped 50krone - I was going to give 100 but there was at least 30 people on the tour.
    She lost money for having distracting nipples.
    Seriously though put them away.

    She was a great guide. Me and Will both agree that Martin from Bulgaria is still our favourite. He was an unintentional crack up.

    We were going to have tacos for dinner but it was shut so we found Thai - it had a buffet and I finally got some fried rice 😬😬😬
    Back at hostel now - we've showered and are now in our separate rooms.
    I now plan to read :)
    Finished book :(
    But now I get to pick a new series 😬😬😬😬

    Also I don't remember if I stated my opinions on Norway.
    Basically Oslo sucks lol. Super boring and not pretty.
    Norway itself however is divine.

    Sweden I'm unsure of so far. It's just a another city really. I generally like somewhere if I do cool shit there though so hopefully tomorrow's activities are good :)

    There are gypsies here - have seen any of them in a while.
    Like shaking a cup in my face is going to convince me to give you money. I'm more sympathetic to the silent man sitting in the corner.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Transit

    16. Juli 2017 in Schweden ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Randi tried calling Europcar for us but it's closed on a Saturday..... beyond stupid.
    We figured we would just have to walk the 2km detour to go ask the man at the desk who is obviously a dick for ignoring the phones. We know he is there because we returned the car yesterday outside of open hours.
    Hmph.😤
    Said bye to Randi and headed off.
    We bought her flowers and chocolate to say thanks.
    The sun was shining today!
    While walking I was having anxiety because I was prepping myself for the blow and yet still had a small hope it would be there.
    There was a man at the desk...
    he took me to the car but it had been cleaned 😩😩😩 I couldn't find it.
    The worker asked the cleaner if he had found it....
    now, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but he was a suspicious looking character if I ever saw one.
    Ponytail with tats.
    HE SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE IT - LIES, I KNOW IT WAS IN THE CAR 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
    I'm gutted 😔
    We left to find something to eat. I feel a little more at peace knowing there is nothing more I could have done. I would be kicking myself if I didn't at least go check.
    As sheik as black looks I need all my possessions to be fluro orange.
    If Will hadn't have been rushing me with packing up the laptop I would have checked better - I normally do because I know what I'm like. 😔 not his fault, it's mine. Still sad.

    We walked to TGIFridays near central station - my back was dripping. Grey shirts show sweat badly.
    I had the sliders burger option and it was amazeballs.
    We went over to the station early to make sure we found the right platform in time and could ask if we needed to print tickets.
    We found it easy and we didn't - woo so nothing left to do but wait 40 mins for our departure.
    The seats were find and about halfway through the trip we found the power outlets which was great so we could use our phones without them dying.
    It's about a 5 hour train ride to Stockholm.
    I was tired and mopey so I had a nap on the table tray.
    I slept quite a bit actually but it left my neck a bit tight.
    We arrived with no issues - our hostel was only 409m away and easy to find.
    Check in was the most complicated we have yet had.
    We are in different dorms so different information was being flown about. We were each given maps to find our rooms and codes that change daily.
    It has a no shoes policy so we had to walk around in socks?
    It doesn't sound that complicated but that's because I cant remember half of it because it was too much to take in. lol
    I remember some doors only open at certain times and we were given info about where to our linen at checkout too? Idk. Too much
    It's a cool hostel though. Pretty big.
    I went to my room which was easy to find and put my bag in a locker and found a bed - top bunk - I don't mind though - I only hate it when it's a wooden frame.
    Met Will outside - he showed me his room - you have to go through a maze to get there...
    he gave me the laptop then he went and had a beer.
    He asked me to come join him in the 'party area??' So I did - the dj was terrible so we went for a walk.
    We had dinner and walked back.
    We booked flights to London for the 12th of August then we went to our own dorms. I have since booked a ferry to Estonia, and accommodation for Estonia and Latvia 👍🏼
    I finally did the schengen math and it turns out we probably can't do France with Jess - we only have 2 schengen days remaining. We have told her so we are coming up with a new plan - our London Bnb got approved though😬

    Will says we will buy me a new kindle tomorrow because he knows I use it all the time.
    I just want my old one back 😔 not to be a 2 year old but my daddy bought it for me 😔

    It's 1am. Should probably go to bed.
    We are meeting each other at 10am tomorrow.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Transit

    14. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Woke up 9:30 and got to breakfast just in time. It works out to be $15 for a bowl of coco pops 😑
    I went and paid the food bill which was $260. Wahh.
    We then left - good gracious a long drive. I tried to have a nap but couldn't :(
    OOWWWW forgot to write down yesterday - when we were walking we came across what we think was a little shrew. It was so cute ^.^

    Omg so tired. We pumped music. Will was tired too so after 3 hours we stopped for a break. I handed over 35 1c pieces to the lady at the store to buy tomatos and Oreos heheh Will gets so embarrassed when paying with coins. Doesn't bother me in the least.
    We both really needed to pee but there was nowhere to go.
    We drove the next 2 hours and dropped off the car - the last bit when re-entering the city was the most stressful bit but we got there.
    Woohooo we didn't crash I it💪🏻💪🏻

    We walked home and both deseperatly needed the toilet.
    Randi wasn't there when we got there.
    I did a big load of washing because a lot of our clothese were disgusting and then I passed out on the floorboards - no pillow, nothing. Just exhaustion.
    Will woke me up after 2 hours and I semi packed or rather tidied up.

    We went to maccas again lols.
    Had another look at their famous ski slope thing in the distance.
    Highlight of the day was patting a cat Will spotted on the walk back.

    When we got back I booked flight to Helsinki and a hostel for 2 nights :)
    We are probably not going to go to Santa's village anymore though because it looks shit in summer. :(
    Found possible Bnb for London too - sent the link to Jess.
    Randi came home and we chatted for a bit before I borrowed a towel and had a shower - the drain was blocked so I had to unclog it 😒ew.

    WORST NEWS EVERRRRRRRRRRRRR. *drum roll*

    I 98% sure I left my Kindle in the car 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
    I am so very sad.

    More photos from yesterday as I took few again. (Except the slope was today)    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender
    cute detour ....

    Preikestolen

    13. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Alarm was set for 8:20 we got up about 10:40. Snooze goes off every 9 minutes, I obviously pressed it a lot hhah.
    We left around 11 I would guess.
    At the start of our journey we found a petrol station so we filled up and bought some brekkie and snacks for our walk - Oreos and bananas :) heh.
    We drove up a bit and parked in a cute little rest bay thing. My baguette was delish. 👌🏻
    For our journey we had to stay on the same road until the ferry.
    We drove for about 30 minutes and then Will asked if we were still on track - it was rhetorical because why wouldn't we be but lucky he asked because nope, we were going the wrong way. 😓 a cute 2 hours later I finally was able to link us up on the map again. Longest detour ever.
    We arrived at the ferry crossing - it's the only way to get to that part of the country which is ridiculous- especially if it's such a big tourist zone.. anyway we waited only about 15mins until we drove onto the boat.
    It was a cool little experience - it didn't take long either.
    Once across we had to drive another 30 mins or so until we arrived in the car park. Another 200krone parking ticket 😩😩 this little side trip is so damn expensive - worth every penny but omg it's like 3 weeks budget for 3 days.

    It was 3:30pm by now so I enquirer at the info center when the car park closed and when the ferries stop running - 2am was the last ferry and it's a 24hr car park so we were good to go 🎉 a few time today I though we might not make it.

    Onwards and up!

    Oh god.
    The thighs.

    Within the first 50m I was sweating and already too hot.
    I preferred yesterday's weather.
    Oh how I hate hills.

    Once we reached the rocky steps it got better and I got into the zone.
    So many people were on their way back that it sometimes made it difficult to move because we have noticed all over Europe that they must not be taught the same walking courtesies as us as and they don't walk In Single file and just block paths - surely it's culture - they cant all be rude.
    Will was so impatient on many of the climbs because a lot of old people were attempting the hike and struggling hardcore. I didn't mind waiting haha.

    Let's be real walking on the flat wooden bridges across the marches was the best bits lols
    The trail got redone or walker friendlier in 2014 I think - a lot of rocks though.

    The last half of the walk was much better because it was up and down and so you got breaks.
    Didn't see a moose :(

    We finally found the rock platform. People were littered everywhere- we sat down and had some Oreos. I people watched. One little girl was crying hysterically and started screaming when her sister went near the edge - it was kinda cute.

    As expected,a lot of asians posing for photos and a few dangerously so. Don't dangle off a cliff face - this should be common sense, but no.

    As we were sitting there I notice I had a few bruises coming up from my little falls yesterday. Good, I like when my pain has evidence. It's like it validates my whinging. Though to be honest I have internalised my whining these last 2 days more so that usual because I have been having a great time. I don't often mean my complains. Well i do, just not as dramatically lol.
    Will didn't want to take a photo of me. I didn't just walk 4km for no photo on a cliff face. He ended up doing it 🤗 we for some nice couple ones too.
    The view was fantastic!

    And so began the rocky journey home.

    Owwwwww.
    Our legs weren't doing well.
    I had a laughing fit on one of the last hills because I felt like I was going to fall over. I had no more strength so I tried copying an old Asian couple in front of us who were walking down backwards. It helped a little bit becuse it was some different muscles but it was too steep to keep up with out tripping over a rock.
    We overtook the couple .. 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻 they were struggling too 😂😂

    We were keen to eat in the resturant only it was apparently completely booked ( there was only about 4 people inside but whatever )
    So began our journey home - we had to pay for parking when leaving so we sadly did that and drove back towards the ferry.
    #poor
    We waited 15 mins again for it.
    This area is nowhere near as pretty as some of the sights and landscapes we have seen.

    So obviously this time around I watched the gps like a hawk so we went the right way.
    We got to the intersection where we met up with the correct route on the way there only there were fluro signs - We had no idea what they said so we carried on.
    20 minutes later we figured out they must have said road closed - turned out we had to take the detour way anyway 😩😩😩

    Gah it's so far.

    The car gps wouldn't shut up - it kept wanting us to do a U turn because it didn't know about the road block -.-
    There were heaps of roadworks on the way back. I had anxiety it too was going to be closed and we would be stranded but we got there- phew!

    We were starving though because we got home at 11 😤😑 but the kitchen was closed 😫only the kiosk was open..
    We ended up buying a chocolate bar each and 2 mini packs of chips each.
    IT COST OVER $30 😭😭😭
    There is a lovely female worker here though ( I've only seen 2 workers for the whole place - the cranky man and her)
    She was very sympathetic lol.

    I have a blister on the under arch of my foot and when I was walking earlier I kept trying to figure out why I recognised the feeling because it's not a common blister spot.
    I cracked it. It's where I got them when I speed skated. oh beautiful nostalgia 😍lol    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Kjeragbolten

    12. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Right so I fell asleep around 8:30 - woke up at 12:30 because I was so hot, woke again at 4 and then again at 8. It was truly magically looking at the clock seeing I still had so much time left.
    I don't want to admit to Will he is right but I am probably tired because I overslept 😅
    We had planned to leave the hotel by 9 but that didn't happen lol.
    We left the room about 8:45 to go get breakfast from upstairs.
    It was buffet but average at best. We don't know how much it cost but again, no other choices.
    We left around 10.
    We had to drive about 30km to get to the there on another windy one and a half lane road.
    Stunning scenery.
    We got to the car park and it cost 200krones for the day ($30) 😒
    Will went and got the ticket and paid 40 but it came back with a timer on it - he said it was the only ticket option - We enquired and got told we bought the wrong one I went and bought a new one and it came out with the same thing on it. A different guy said the ticket I bought was correct- I said we already had a ticket so he gave me a 200krone refund.
    Went back to the car and realized actually there was a difference but we didn't want to walk all the way over again so we just left it and hoped we didn't get a fine/ would explain the situation in a kind manner. Lol
    Right so it was a 5km+ hike to the main boulder.

    THE FIRST BIT NEARLY KILLED ME. The option of turning around and quitting crossed my mind haha.

    It was so steep and never ending. We had maybe 10 breaks just on the first stretch. The air was so cold we were both just so breathless.
    My ear started hurting again so I put on Wills snow beanie.

    Honestly though the first bit was a nightmare. 1km straight up. It had chains for you to hold onto and pull yourself up with.
    We finally had a turn and going down into the most beautiful valley type area. Amazing, truly amazing.
    One guy had pitched a tent and there were some sheep around. We got lots of photos at this spot.
    And so began the second mountain. Not hill. It was a mountain.
    Their was less strenuous on the lungs but more so on the legs. It too had chains to drag my fat ass up with.
    A lot of the journey was very similar in that we climbed and discovered a new phenomenal view before continuing.
    At one point I went on a little detour down the mountain because I dropped my selfie stick timer button and it went tumbling off a rock.
    We found it though. 😬
    It was so beautiful that Will actually ASKED for a photo of himself to be taken and didn't complain once when I took them either.
    That says a lot btw.

    Yay next mountain...

    Send help, Lord.
    Dying. Death was so near.
    This but was difficult because it was just rockfaces i had to CRAWL up in my hands and feet.
    I did so many awesome and some disgusting failure snocket rockets. A lot of boogers are in my hair I think.
    The air just made my nose run like a tap.
    I kept thinking to myself it's gotta be over the next little bit, over the next one.
    I eventually got fed up and asked people on the walk back. They said we had 30 minutes to go which I didn't mind because it was now the anticipation rather than the thigh burns that were killing me.
    Their next bit was a gradual decline ( I didn't realise until we had to walk back up it on the return trip 😏)
    Easy to walk though.
    So many people have brought their dogs - 1 dog had shoes on hehehe.
    Some people brought with them their entire backpacking packs. I couldn't have done it if I'd brought mine. Crazy people.
    It started to drizzle and I prayed that the rain would hold off til we got there.
    Walk walk walk
    Death death death

    We finally found a 0.3km sign 🎉🎉🎉
    For the last part of the journey we had to walk on an ice bridge- I caught one lady who landed on her ass, stood up and nearly fell over again. Lol.
    This bit was super slippery
    It fell like it took an eternity and that we wouldn't never get there but WE MADE IT 😭😭😭😭😭😭

    There was a short queue to get on the boulder. Will was going to do it until he realized it was a 1km drop beneath it.
    I've never seen him so fearful. We couldn't even go close to the edge of the cliff.
    I obviously had no problem with it so I jumped in line.
    The girl in front of me bitched it at the last minute.
    On I got. I posed and Will took a photo.
    HUGGGE TICK FOR MY BUCKET LIST 😬😬😬😬😬
    I like the photo too! 🤗
    And so began the journey back.
    It was fucking FREEZING. I applied paw paw to my entire face.

    Angharad, You will just have to go relook at photos because no words I say can accurately describe the environment. It was surreal actually being there. Breathtaking.

    Ok so turns out going down is just as hard just in a different way. We both have dodgy knees and oh my it was not good. Not good.
    My knee gave way several times on the journey home and I landed in my ass over 5 times.
    The rain had started turning the dirt to mud and the mud makes my shoes loose grip so I went sliding down a few mountain slopes. It hurt really.
    The rocks are sharp little buggers and my hands began to feel like they had been slit by glass.
    Oh and my ankles hurt from walking on diagonal rock faces. It wasn't going well. 😂 We also hadn't eaten since breakfast and that was over 7 hours ago so our tummies hurt.
    We got overtaken by so many people who didn't have old grandma knees but there was also a lot of people struggling with us. On the second last decent my legs were shaking uncontrollably.
    Will had one fall too.
    I landed on my knees in a pile of mud so my clothes are really dirty and my knees were cold. Lol
    We took our camel packs with us which ended up being a fantastic idea!
    I could have walked for several more kilometers on flat but the last mountain nearly destroyed me. First was up and oh my word that was hard. Coming down was what made me miserable though. It was so bad I couldn't even admire the beauty anymore I had to focus on not falling of a cliff. I eventually gave up a little bit and dirtied my pants more by sliding down rocks.
    I stacked it again and hurt my elbow. Stupid shoes.
    I was ok though and certainly not the only one falling.
    We were both close to breaking point but we got there phew.
    WE DIDN'T GET A TICKET😎
    We drove home ate dinner at the resturant and then collapsed into bed. We both didn't move for a solid 20 mins before I had a shower. Our clothes were saturated!!! Wills jumper was completely drenched - the entire back and half the front.
    All my clothes were wet too. I didn't even realize I had been sweating.
    We looked at the go pro pictures together on the laptop. There are some good ones but honestly Wills photo takes the best.
    My phone is a piece of rubbish in comparison to both.
    Like, I prefer iPhones but they gotta improve their camera quality.
    We are now just sitting in the foyer because our room doesn't have internet. We have another hike planned for tomorrow. send help, I'm already having troubles standing. 💪🏻    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender
    cool flowers on our walk to get the car :)

    Roadtrip

    11. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    We went to bed late and I was stressed Will wouldn't get enough sleep.
    He got up earlier than me because unlike yours truly he didn't pack last night. Tut tut
    We left the house around 9:15 with the maps pre loaded for our walk. We took the same route we have taken everyday to the palace and just walked a little further.
    We got to where it should be and it wasn't there ... I re read the address and it mentioned the entrance was from a different street only we couldn't see it on the map 🤔😩We walked around the building and finally found europcar hidden underneath - the word they gave us must not be a street or rather mean 'under' or something similar There was a very stressed man having troubles getting a car. I pittied him until we ran into our own issues. Our card declined even though it had $4000 on it. So we had the plan that Will would get on the wifi and transfer it to his other card.
    Only the wifi password wouldn't work.
    We both typed it in slowly several times and it said it was wrong - the worker even tried hot spotting us... eventually the worker types it in for us and it worked..... it's not like it was a hard password - it was europcar ??? Whatever it worked, woo.
    Only then the card still wouldn't even let Will transfer money off it - it just said error. Trevor Dowse T- Dogg will be getting a 4am call about system failure for sure. 😬
    We left that money on that card and transferred a separate $3000. So much moneyyyyyyy - We have to pay a really big deposit which we obviously get back if we don't crash the car 🤞🏼
    We paid for GPS and unlimited tolls which was a bit mixed but it was needed.
    We finally went to get our car only we couldn't find it hahaha it was going really well...
    Found the cat park - we have a little red Toyota Yaris.
    It took us so damn long to figure out the address of where we were going because once again they have only provided a street name and not a number or suburb which the gps needed 😩
    We ended up putting in a suburb in the general area so we would go in the right direction.
    I was so stressed for Will and pleased I wasn't driver- we drove really slowly to make sure we didn't hit anything and got use to the other side of the road.
    The gps malfunctioned and though we were in the ocean but it finally got it shit together as we saw the beautiful golden M on the horizon.
    THERE IS NO OTHER FOOOOOOOOODDDDDD WHAT IS THIS PLACE?
    We used the maccas wifi to find out and input the right suburb - still didn't have a number but we would get 99% of the way before that was a problem.
    On the road 😎😎 it was over a 6 hour drive.

    Ok so considering this was the most direct route it's an absolute disgrace even though it is outrageously beautiful. We never once did over 80km p/h. Our average was 60 the whole way for a 350km journey.
    It was in and out of mountains but not only that the streets weren't always wide enough to let 2 cars pass each other so we were constantly waiting for people.
    I enjoyed driving past the watch for moose signs 🙊
    For the first half of the trip a non exaggeration guess would be that we went though 17+ roundabouts. Again, this was the most direct route.. through little towns.
    They need a highway.
    So apart from that the journey was lovely.
    The trees and running streams were gorgeous. It's how i imagine America/Canada to look where the bears eat the salmon.
    I felt guilty looking cause Will couldn't or rather shouldn't.

    We went in and out of the most beautiful mountains, driving past everyone's summer homes next to lakes.
    I LOVE THE GRASS ROOFS because it's not juts some houses, it's every house.

    We stopped for our first 'stop, revive, survive' and had a quick pee break.
    Our second break was much further on and in the middle of snow scattered hills. We wanted to touch some so badly. At this break we just got out to stretch and take photos.

    There are sheep everywhere in the mountain and cars dont bother them at all - they don't move. I like how so many have bells on and so many not baby but toddler lambs :) we had to give a beep of encouragement but even then many just looked at you.

    It was friggen freezing outside.
    I want to see a bear and a moose.

    It rained for so must of the journey - the mountains were so misty.

    For about 40km we had a van on our ass which was annoying and stressful.

    It took 3 turns to find our hotel but we got there :)
    The dude at check in was rude.
    We couldn't get into our room and unfortunately we had to contact me happy agin. He came and open it for us - we felt silly but ALL European doors have been a nightmare for us.

    So since that maccas we didn't see another place to eat or shop for the whole 350km.
    So we were forced to eat at the hotel resturant. My salad was disgusting but our Oreo flavored drumsticks were amazingggg.

    We went back to our room and couldn't get in again. Will refused to ask again so we took turns trying until Will finally got it.

    I'm honestly exhausted - even though I didn't drive I was stressed the entire time and followed the roads as closely as Will.
    It's only 8 but it's time for bed - big and exciting day tomorrow!!! :D

    Oh and they serve moose fillet at the resturant 😂    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    10. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We are both so stiff and sore lol. 🐴

    We slept in until 12:30 before I got up to have a shower and Will went to have breakfast - halfway through my shower I hear "we've ran out of cereal are you right with not eating?" 😂😂

    We went to TGIFridays in attempt to finally get me my Oreo madness dessert Randi and Andrea rave about.
    We went to the same one as last time which had the freezer disaster because they should have restocked by now.
    The service was shocking, the ONE worker they had was doing a splendid job but he had the whole floor to himself and couldn't manage - no one could. Poor guy was struggling big time. He was a nice English man.

    I had the Oreo thing and was grossly disappointed. I dont think the pre hype was a problem - it just wasn't very nice lol.
    We walked home and got organised. It was a veryyyy expensive hour.
    We have booked a car for tomorrow for 3 nights ($450) booked accommodation near the hiking routes we want to do ($550 for 3 nights 😭😭😭😭)
    Then we booked our train from Oslo to Stockholm which was $200 and then we also booked a hostel in Stockholm $300 for 3 nights.
    Can we go back to the balkans yet?

    Also, we spoke to Jess this morning about her and Jaxon coming to Europe.
    The plan at the moment stands at - They will fly over late august early September and we will meet in London. We will look after Jaxon for the first 2 weeks while Jess goes to Iceland to finally escape. She will then come back to London where for the next 2 weeks we will do London and Paris together.
    Jaxon is going to be the biggest pain in the ass but I'm still excited.
    She plans to drug him on the plane hahah

    And, Grandma had a fall 2? days ago.
    Grandma and Grandad have been causing issues in the hospital wanting to see the other so now they are in the same room 😂😂 cute date night.
    She is fine though, nothing broken 👍🏼

    I hung out with Randi for a bit before she left for some family members house. I have a set of keys and will see her again on Friday when we stay one more night so we have saved our goodbyes for then.

    Ohh and this morning Will freaked out because $182 got taken out for petrol yesterday - I spoke to Andrea - she called the petrol station and I so very pleased to announce that foreign cards deduct 1100 NOK every time until the proper payment goes through.
    We checked and it did say pending so hopefully things work out.

    I cooked soup but it was lumpy? We sivved/strained it and still ate it lol.
    Her stove is so stupid.
    I watched it rain out of her windows for a bit. 😍
    I watched some classic Aussie idol clips and am now in bed.

    Oh oh oh and earlier today I also read a bit and pre packed for tomorrow.

    I have a sore tummy :(

    I didn't take any photos today (except the Oreo) so I'm adding more from yesterday :)    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Venabygd

    9. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Woke up at 10 - Andrea said she was on her way so we started getting ready.
    She arrived around 10:40 - we gathered our stuff and went down to her illegally parked car out front haha.
    She put on some tunes and away we went.
    Norway is becoming prettier the further we drive, as expected.
    We drove past/near the building their constitution was signed in and past Norway's biggest lake. Very pretty.
    We stopped at a service station because she was insistent that we some Norwegian food thing.
    She bought 10 - there was an option of buying 100 😂you could buy relevant souvenirs hahah.
    We found Bundaberg ginger beer so we bought one each.
    We kept driving for a long time but I had a little snooze 🙊
    The views are incredible. This is proper Norway, I love the forest trees.
    We got a call that the horses weren't ready yet so we went on a hike first. 🙃
    Andrea has worked at the horse place and in the adjacent mountains for the past 10 years so she picked a mountain for us. Lol
    The different fauna really interests me.
    I love the 2nd half of mountain hikes - the downhill part...
    We walked a decent way - I don't know whether this is specifically a Norwegian thing or a hikers in general thing but once you reach the top you out a rock on an already big pile of rocks. So at the first "summit" we did that :)
    My ears, mainly my left one really really really hurt - it was sharp like when you need to pop it on a plane only i didn't need to. It was ridiculously cold and windy too so I thought that might be a factor so I put my hood up and finger In my ear which seemed to help.

    The views were marvelous - you could see out so far.

    We walked over to another peak and pile of rocks.. Will naturally felt the need to put the biggest one he could find at the tippity top which later fell down and took other people's rocks with it. Tut tut.

    At this peak there was a guest book which we signed :)
    Oh and a bench so we sat for a bit. Some other crazy people cane RUNNING up the mountain and signed it too lol.

    Andrea hot-spotted me ( mum, that means she gave me some of her internet ) so I could download a 360 degree photo taking app to try capture the whole area. It semi worked. I'll need to read up on the proper instructions.

    We walked around the mountain on the way back rather than back over. Phew.
    My ear was feeling better at this point - I did a wee in a bush hehe but then as I was running to catch up to everyone I started running to fast down the hill and had momentary concerns about not being able to stop but after a lot of effort and a laughing fit I managed.

    We got back in the car and drove over the horse place.
    There was a different group getting ready to go.
    Our horses weren't saddled up so we did that ourselves :)
    Will got a horse called Olaf, I got Svarten ( black in Norwegian) and we're not 100% who Andrea rode because we think she might have taken the wrong horse 😂
    I gave my horse the biggest hug. He wasn't as fluffy as i would have liked but it was nice hugging something other than Will hahah
    He was really friendly and didn't mind my affection hehe.
    We both brushed down our horses while Andrea checked their hooves. Then we put the saddled on, put our helmets on then got on.
    Will claims not to be scared and that he just doesn't like horse riding. I don't believe him. It's like the BS claim he made when we visited Jaxon in the hospital the day he was born and he wouldn't hold him because "I just don't care".
    Nope, he was scared.
    The same thing today.
    We walked for the first hour without any issues and we could hear Will talking to his horse in the same voice he talks to Jaxon and the cats.
    He was warming up:)
    Andreas horse went first which my horse didn't like but my horse was a good boy and obeyed the rules.
    Wills went wandering off paths and tried to eat every minute which Will let him do lol.

    We walked through a river which was really fun.
    We also walked to a massive crevasse I think you would call it? Basically just a massive hole in the middle of the mountain. Will became nervous again lol.
    Our asses were hurting big time by now.
    Will seemed to be enjoying himself well enough by now.
    this all changed quite quickly lol.
    Will had a retard horse who fell down the hill - lucky Will jumped/ran off the horse in time but the horse went rolling. It has a little blood nose - we think jut a scratch - it got up and started eating so we knew it was fine lol.
    Will handled that pretty well and was happy to get back on.
    He started complaining a lot about his balls and their slow death...
    AND THEN.
    His feet are to big for the foot holders so 10 minutes later when an unidentified insects stung his ankle and he couldn't reach to get the wasp off and started screaming - that wasn't too fun..
    I jumped off my horse and tried to get the sting out for him.
    Getting back on my horse was interesting lol - it kept moving because it wanted to be the leader
    The distance back to the farm is normally run by the horse but because lWill didn't even want to trot the walk took a long time.
    He was in a FOUL mood which was magnified when, once we arrived a horse stood on his foot. Lol
    Originally I thought maybe I would be able to go riding with me again. HA that possibility went out the window very quickly lol.
    We had to walk the horses back to the paddock which i didn't want to do because Wills mood effects mine and he was done. Completely done.
    Oh and I had food In My pocket the horse wanted to eat so wasn't being cooperative lols
    But we managed and got them home.
    Andrea drove us to the reception to pay. Our first card declined, not sure why but the 2nd one worked. It was only $15 each so actually really cheap.
    Forgot to mention earlier we paid for Andreas petrol because it's a 3hr drive each way so we needed to be good people lol.
    The drive home was good cause it gave Will time to calm down and because the sun doesn't set I saw all the things I missed on the way there.
    They grow grass on their roofs and it's awesome.
    I love the style of houses. It's very 1800's - like wooden cabin style things except they are ALL like it.
    We stopped in at McDonald because once again NO OPTIONS AVALIABLE.
    Drive drive drive. We listened to some tunes and now we are back home. So happy to be back. Tomorrow we need to figure out how to get to a big risk thing we want to see on the other side of the country.

    Side note: I have never met a bunch of such gassy horses and Will wants me to note his horse walked into a tree that's why he got stung.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    8. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    I set my alarm for 9:30 because we planned to clean the house but for unknown reasons my phone didn't charge and died so obviously the alarm didn't go off. At 10:45 we woke up naturally and then got up.
    Because Will malts like a damn dog we got out the vacuum. It was a shifty quality but picked up enough hairs you could see an improvement. We then vacuumed his chest and back to get some of the loose hairs off before they fell off naturally 😂
    Will went on a bin run too. Once things were looking cleaner we went walking towards the Vigeland sculpture park.

    We had McDonald's for breakfast - bad Harry and William - and only had to walk a little further to reach it.
    Of course it started to rain once we got there. Lucky we had our water resistant jackets.
    It wasn't pouring but nor was it sprinkling.
    We found the main line up of statues and had a geez.
    It's a park with heaps of staues all from the one sculpture. I think it's meant to represent the human form. Some of them were quite beautiful really. The facial expressions and body posture of some were real and relatable.
    My phone was dead so I couldn't take photos - Will managed to get 1 of me though with my favourite statue - man attacked my babies "eeekh get them off" hahaha
    There was also one of a toddler having a tantrum that was great.
    We walked up stairs to another section of statues- there was a big tall tower one in the middle which had 100+ figures built into it.
    I noticed a lot of the statues up top had disproportionately large feet.
    We popped into the cinemas on the way back but they just don't seem to have a very good system- they show something only once or twice a day and that's it.
    We moved on.
    We sat in a bench for a while because Will don't want to go home. A man started feeding birds then another one did too. The first man lost his shit at the second man... it was so strange. Crazy old people. I THINK he was angry cause the second man was giving the birds big chunks of bread not small ones?? He yelled and blubbered something, switched to broken English and then calmed down. He soon left but came back to check on the second man again hhah

    We walked home. I read my book and (finished it - i asked the author when the next one comes out - he replied and said hopefully sep/oct 🙃)
    We then went looking for dinner for fussy Will - he wanted Thai but the place we found was dodgy. He ended up with pizza.
    Continuing my efforts to try and save money I cooked tomato soup on the stove for myself - it took a long time typing the packet instructions into google for it to translate for me. I MUST get the translation app Dad told me about.
    Randi came home as I was setting up so she supervised haha.

    IT WAS SO DELICIOUS - I put cheese in it and nearly choked on it but omg amazing. I had 2 bowls and now I feel so full!
    Me and Randi chatted for a while - nothing too interesting. Lol
    She went to bed, I showered, started a new book and now it's bedtime for me too.

    Oh I had fun trying to play Randi's flute before - I'm not very good lol.

    Ok So Oslo is actually super boring but we kinda did something today woo.

    HORSE RIDING TOMORROW 😬😬😬😬😬😬    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    7. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Another amazing day doing literally nothing.
    Got up at 12:30, had breakfast, had a shower, looked up movie times - postponed it and lay on the couch and had a snooze. It's now 6pm. ✌🏼
    We walked to McDonalds for dinner about 1km away.
    We walked through what is now my favourite street in Oslo. It's houses had charm and were covered in vines. It was beautiful.
    We ate - they have the best Big Mac of Europe so far then we walked back.
    I started reading kept going well into the night and did an above average amount of poops today ✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼
    I had another shower - used all the hot water then Will got cranky when it was his turn and it turned cold while he was still soapy heheh.
    He also had a big whinge at about 11pm about being hungry so I made him a sandwich to try shut him up. Ut the bread was stale 😒
    Oh at maccas they had a straw/napkin/salt station - its the first I've seen in Europe.

    Randi has the BEST mug I have ever ever ever seen and I must get one. She got it from Matilda the musical.
    it's a must.

    I like her apartment except she needs blinds, toilet locks (not keys) and handled to open her kitchen draws - atm they are the spring activated ones that open when you push onto them.

    For the last 2 nights a couple has been having VERY LOUD sex outside and the girls ridiculously UNNECESSARY noises have annoyed me at bedtime.
    I had a look out the window and I can't see them. It sounds like they are on the street - it's definitely not coming from next door - they aren't on a balcony either... it rained during the night so the show was postponed for the evening. 👏🏼👏🏼
    Didn't sleep well again.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    6. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Didn't set an alarm which meant I woke up at 12:30. I thought Will would have woken me earlier but he let me sleep 😘
    Randi had left so we had the apartment to ourselves.
    We had showers then did nothing really. We planned on walking to a park but wanted to get food first - we walked to a different TGIFridays about 2km away. I have been dying to try the Oreo dessert so naturally they had a freezer malfunction yesterday, had to chuck everything out and didn't have it 😫
    Devo.
    Will ordered another ridiculously expensive steak. We agreed it would be his last one. At least this one was bigger - it didn't even come with chips though - they cost extra 😒
    I like the free Coke refills though ✌🏼
    I got just the chicken wings - someone has to try save money .. lol
    We were going to walk to the park but decided to just go home instead.
    We walk past Bislett stadium on the way which hosted the 1952 winter Olympic Games which is cool.
    We were thinking of seeing a movie tonight but they don't show movie very late? We will do both things tomorrow lol. Lazy day.
    Ok the walk home some kid was playing with a bow and arrow at the park hahaha.
    We are also doing a load of washing. Randi has like 10 different washing detergent options.

    They take their disposing of rubbish very seriously here - they have 10 different categories to sort their shit into. As if you could be bothered?!
    I popped down to the shops to buy more cereal and juice - I ended up with cherries and oreos too 🙊

    We had planned on going to a festival with Andrea on Saturday but it's more expensive than we expected and she can't really afford it so we have scrapped that idea and are just going to do the horse riding part on the Sunday instead 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 YAYAYAY. I wasn't too keen for the festival anyway - the photo of Randi at it last year looked very Texan.

    We are having some chill out time. I'm reading my book and Will is watching videos.
    Our second load of washing is nearly done.. she has a dryer though so we don't have to hang them - woo!
    We went to bed around 1. I read a good chunk of my book and Will listened to an entire audiobook on YouTube of his favourite science guy lol.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    5. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Woke up and wanted to press snooze but because I had a skype date with mum and dad I got up - or rather sat up. Lol
    Strong evidence of my love.
    We chatted for 40 mins or so - it was sooooooo good to talk to them. I really love and miss them.
    I told them which rose product is for who so that's one thing down ✔️
    Once we hung up we had coco pops and brushed teeth before heading off to the Viking ship museum.
    It was a 5.5 km walk there, a lot of it was slightly downhill so I wasn't looking forward to the uphill walk back.
    It took what felt like a very long time to get there - we had to walk through this patch of farmland which was the best bit of the walk - there were so many geese and some Norwegian birds (black with white faces) sitting on the grass - at least 50.
    It was a lovely scenic route.
    Finally made it and we were so excited.
    It cost about $15 each.
    Inside were 3 differtn boats - 2 of them had been excellently preserved and fixed up - one was in the condition it was found - I think.
    The first boat at the entrance is the most decorative they have ever found and was used to bury 3 people I think - the 3 people's skeletons in the museum.
    The woodwork was spectacular! I loved the design of the whole boat.
    The second boat was pretty dodgy looking - it too was used for a burial. I thought they pushed people out to see and burnt them but apparently they also bury you with the boat - a lot of soil would have been needed to cover these ships! Lol
    It had a triangular structure that the bodies were in so the soil didn't collapse onto the people. The people were buried with animals, food, weapons etc. A similar system to the Egyptians in that they give you things to help you in the afterlife.
    It had a video presentation on the ceiling and walls which I really enjoyed.
    The 3rd boat was used on voyages and burial - its section was where the skeleton left were. One lady was approx 70-80years old which is way older than I was expecting. The other was around 50 - the bone people can't find a cause of death so they think it is possible she was sacrificed to keep the First Lady company. Lol
    There was also a section of things they found buried with the boats such as the silks, weapons, shields, carts etc.
    I found it all so interesting.
    There was a little section with stairs you could climb up and look into the boats from.
    Fantastic museum.
    Will was hungry so we went looking for food. The only place we could find was the cafe at another museum I wanted to go to but decided to skip because Will was dying and I didn't NEED to go to.
    We bought a drink for the journey home and it was delicious.
    The walk home felt longer - always does - the fun part is over.
    Will said something to me and you know how smells trigger memories? Well, he had Pupa Fisher breath.
    I checked like 5 times. It was bang on. I knew that smell.
    Even I think its weird.
    We had to keep stopping in our walk to get rocks out of our shoes.
    Will wanted a beak at the half way point so we sat for 10 minutes.

    Walk walk walk.
    We got some food in the 711 which included an awful, stale donut and a new Fanta flavor.
    Will stopped for a kebab. I had a bite and the meat was gross - probably horse rectum.
    We got into Randi's building no problems which is good because she is going away for the next 2 days for an internship and we have the place to ourselves.

    Will went and lay down - I watched friends with the girls - they both fell asleep but I had a blast laughing my head off. Will doesn't like friends. Yet another reason why I should dump him lol.
    Randi went off to a family members birthday dinner snd I cooked some pasta for me and Will. 🍝
    I got the first step wrong which Andrea and Will both found funny and yet shameful.
    You have to boil the water before you put the pasta in 🙄 ... they both know it's true and yet can't believe i dont have an oven or stove ... I wish I could cook but I don't even understand the basics 😔 never been taught 😔
    I'd like to say I cooked the pasta by myself but really without Andrea there would be no pasta lol
    Will didn't like the sauce but I didn't mind it. It was just a Dolmio bottle so wasn't expecting much anyway.
    After dinner we finished our card game from yesterday and then played the Norwegian version of go fish which I like better - you have to get all 4 not just pairs.
    Andrea went home, Randi panicked and I went to bed.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    4. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Randi is sick so we all had a sleep - in 🙌🏼
    About 1 she got up. We thought about going to the Viking museum but Andrea was planning on coming over after work so we didn't have enough time - no complains here - I planned on getting having a nap - first I had my coco pops though 😬😬😬 it's my new favourite thing - I get excited every night because I get to eat it again soon. lol
    I went to have my nap and I swear not even 15 minutes later the door bell rang and in came Andrea which was awesome but I would have liked another 30 minutes lol.
    We chatted for ages while Randi slowly died in the corner. She needs to go to the doctor but is in denial at the moment.
    We eventually decided to go get something to eat.
    Andrea drove us in her car to the harbour which is opposite the fortress and we went to Jamie Oliver's italian resturant there. Fancy fancy.
    Will bought a $50 steak 😒😒😒😒
    I got a $20 pizza. It was very yummy but not the best I have had - again they didn't cut the pizza for me so there I was hacking at it like a goose and messing up all the ingredient ratios for each slice. The knife always pulls the cheese off 😫
    I'll admit the harbour was very nice.
    We walked around an obviously rich area and found a pharmacy for Randi to buy drugs in - while she did that i amused myself with putting on different "tester" creams.
    We drove home - Andrea spent $30 on parking - we intended on paying her back but forgot - must remember when she comes back over tomorrow because that's not fair to put that on her.
    When we got home Randi went to bed and the 3 of us played cards - first we played president and hobo which is really similar to big 2 and then we played a game of 'long and short" which I found really really fun!!
    We pigged out on Norwegian chocolate and chips.
    The chocolate was so good! Better then Belgium for sure!

    Oh forgot! SO EMBARRASSING!
    When we were walking around the bay thing, Randi said something really funny so I laughed really really loudly - at the exact same time a person ran into us with a pram.
    I looked over and noticed the lady had an extreme walking disability.
    Talk about bad timing. She must think I'm a terrible person for laughing at her - even though it wasn't actually at her... 😩

    We played cards for hours - so fun! Randi woke up and put on some music for a bit before Andrea realized the time and left.
    Everyone is in bed now.

    Hopefully dad responds to my skype date invitation- I'd really like to speak with them. I miss them.
    So our plan for tomorrow is to talk to them then go to the Viking ship museum.
    We often don't stick to plans but we are both really keen.
    Will has downloaded a new MMA game so that has amused him a lot today haha.

    Also Wills comment from yesterday evening as we went to bed

    " I feel like the sun is closer here"

    While that may be true - a few thousand kilometers closer is hardly note worthy or going to be noticeable when you consider how far away the sun is. Hehe
    Randi needs to go the doctor so she gets better. We think she has a cold and an ear infection.

    We had to pick between going to her Sweden house or summer house.
    We have picked her summer house where we can go fishing.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Oslo

    3. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Ok so some dude came into our room at 1am and woke everyone up with his ridiculous snoring.
    I think he has sleep apnea because it would stop for 10 seconds - relief would wash over my body and then he would start again.
    At 3am the sun was completely up so I played sim city on my phone for a bit and found ear plugs for Will.
    Went back to bed - we had to pay for linen which we didn't want to do so we went without which is totally disgusting BUT I actually found the bed to be quite comfortable for the rest of the night.
    Woke up at 10 so that was great.
    Checked out and they stored our bags for us for free so we dropped them and went exploring.
    I picked up a free map at the desk - we headed towards where we were last night because apparently the royal palace is nearby.
    The streets were cleaner this morning but still quite empty.
    Ooo forgot to mention last night we walked past a man covered in bumps. I discovered on my google search this morning that I correctly identified him as a leper.
    Poor man.

    We walked a while and found the palace. It's a crappy outer design but I'm sure the inside is just fine lols.
    I liked what the guards were wearing - I don't think he was allowed to speak but he did communicate with people who asked him for a photo by nodding.
    I got one 🤘🏽
    Their march is much faster than other countries guards - its normal walking pace.
    We sat for ages and looked over the map we were given. There was a fortress on there so we decided we would go there after we had eaten.
    We found a place that did a great burger.
    It was $30 each for a proper chips and burger meals which was much more reasonable that expected.
    Not ideal but it wasn't $50 each.
    We walked past the harbour which was quite nice and found the fortress. It's called Akershus fortress.
    It was free to wander around so we did. We walked to the top and sat for ages just looking at boats and escaping the sun in the shade.
    You could pay to enter the castle but but it really didn't look that exciting so we didn't.
    We were really just wasting time waiting for Randi to get home.
    It had a sign saying the place has significance but no other real signs explaining why... lol
    Either way - been there done that.
    We decided to go back to the hostel and chill for a bit.
    Bless google maps.

    We got back and both used the loo then hung around for about 2 hours before we decided we would start walking towards Randi's and on the way find a pub to sit in for Will. Apparently his liver is hurting from lack of alcohol. Lol

    Found one - it was about $9 a beer which again is crap but still better than expected - he was allowed 2.
    It was then about 5:30 so we started the walk

    Oh my god she lives on the top of a mountain.
    The whole walk was uphill 😩😩
    So sweaty, yuck! 3 Kms later we found her front door.
    She buzzed us in - the elevator was so small we went one at a time - I went first but when it arrived at her level I couldn't turn around to get out because of my backpack - Will must have called for the elevator because back down I went. When I reappeared he just looked at me like I was a retard.
    I got out, turned around and got back in - she met me at the door.
    She hates feet so I found it odd we had to take our shoes off haha
    We just chatted for ages and made up a very basic possible plan for the next week.
    She has given us her room and she will sleep on a mattress in the upstairs bit.
    Bless.
    So keen to spend time with her.
    We had a cup of tea - once again when someone has offered tea it hasn't been black tea with milk 🤔. Very strange.
    We went down to the supermarket - she put on a jumper she knitted herself - I was very impressed with it.
    But get this - you need a PERMIT to knit. HAHAHHAH What the actual crap. Where the hell are we ?!?!
    Supermarket was down the road we bought some basic food. It will be the first time she has had milk in her fridge so she is excited by the novelty (vegan) lol.
    We got a decent amount of stuff and it was only $50👍🏼
    She has bought us some Norwegian snacks too 🙃🙃🙃 oh and some brown cheese which tastes delicious!! I had some when we got back - it has a caramel taste to it. Yummmmy!
    We walked back and ordered pizza because everyone is pooped.

    This is why we are friends....
    I noticed a bowl full of lettuce and asked what it was - she answered very embarrassed
    "Those are my pet fish"
    I looked closer and there are 4 soy sauce fish things in the bowl too 😂😂😂😂😂
    Amazing.

    She went and slept, our pizza arrived (it was too oregano-y) I showered and now in bed. Keen for a good night sleep.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Transit

    2. Juli 2017 in Norwegen ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    7am starts are ew.

    We said bye to the man host at 7:40 and walked down to the bus stop.
    It was a little awkward cause we were going to leave the keys on the table but accidentally woke him up - he was sitting in his chair with his shirt unbuttoned, massive gut hanging out and little short shorts on haha
    The bus stop is just outside..
    We at first were like phew! We have come at the perfect time - because it's Sunday there is only one bus every hour and it comes in 2 minutes.
    We waited
    And waited
    And waited
    But It didn't come.
    Panic set in.
    If we didn't get to the station on time we were totally screwed because we would miss the ferry and everything else that came after -.-
    Fk.
    Will wanted to walk to the shops and catch a different bus but I had other plans.
    We walked back to the house and I rang the doorbell, explained the situation and the lovely human that he was - he drove us 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
    I just didn't want to risk walking to the shops to find out that bus only comes once and hour too because then what??
    I had privately guessed he would offer to drive us. I felt bad even asking but I was pretty stressed and desperate.
    Nothing was open at the station - including the ticket people...
    we had a go at the automatic machine.
    Bloody hell our ticket broke the bank.
    1000krone =$200 TO NOT EVEN GET A SEAT
    We have been told Denmark only has the one train company and no competition so they can charge whatever they want -.-
    We got breakfast then went and waited on our platform. The train came early so we got on - as everything around us was deserted we decided to sit in some of the seats and wait and see if we got kicked out.
    But no one came so we got to stay woohoo!!
    I had a little snooze. Will is listening to YouTube talks - its his new thing. I think the current one is about the Big Bang.
    Last night we watched one of top 10 countries likely to cause WW3.
    It's about 20 minutes before we have to get off and change trains.
    Another ticket person came and asked in a confused could if we were a group of 4. We said no and asked why....

    WE BOUGHT 4 TICKETS 😡😡😡
    Each ticket covered 2 people.
    I'm so angry about it because if the stupid ticket people had been there we would have gone to them and not wasted $100

    Genuinely upset and annoyed.

    We changed trains without any issues - it was a very small station so our train was the only option.

    It was like a bus train - it had many scheduled stops but only actually stopped if you pressed the buzzer in the train.
    Everyone was going the same place we were so it was easy to find.
    We went and checked in again without any issues which was a relief because my email was in Danish so i had no clue lol.
    We sat upstairs for a bit because we were an hour early.

    We didn't end up having the magic truffles in Amsterdam and I had completely forgotten that I still had them until a sniffer dog walked by 😐😐😐😐😐 shit shit shit shit lol

    I went to the toilet and put them in the sanitary bin HAHa my bad.
    #schapelle
    Mum don't stress, it's fine ✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼

    We made it on board. The boat is HUGE. It's more of a cruise ship than a ferry. It's got shops everywhere, money exchange, restaurants etc
    It's 8 levels and transports cars too.
    We found seats.
    It is wayyyyyyy more rocky than I expected such a big boat to be.
    Good luck Will - lucky he took a motion sickness pill before we got on.
    I went up to exchange money - there 200 note had a big fish on it which I found amusing. Must be an important type of fish. Maybe a Viking related fish 🤔
    Lol
    As I was changing money I didn't know if It was the boat or if I was about to faint. It was such a bizarre feeling.
    I went and sat down and after a while decided it was the boat.
    Apparently sea legs don't happen automatically.
    I'm more use to it now.
    Wifi costs on the boat which is a bit of bummer.

    To try and promote Will not vomiting I went and got us food.
    It was difficult balancing.
    He has eaten now and is trying to sleep - he doesn't look very comfortable so I doubt he will be successful but he has 3 more hours to try.

    I ended up having a snooze myself. Lol
    The boat got less bumpy by the end. I watched the waves out of the toilet window. ✌🏼
    We got off the boat and I couldn't believe it - A CUSTOMS PERSON DOING THEIR JOB. 😍
    We had to show her our passports AND she even made a full enquiry about when we entered the schengen zone and checked our stamps. Good for her. She deserved a sticker.

    I don't know if I have previously mentioned this but I made a Facebook status when we went from Belgium to the Netherlands without anyone checking our tickets or passport saying like good job Europe in a sarcastic tone and literally every European person i know commented saying like derrrrr it's a free travel agreement.
    Tony Lloyd commented too in what I interpreted as a condescending tone so I double checked

    As it happened once you're in the EU you're in and dont need to show documentation even though I'm not an EU member which is frankly ridiculous..
    BUT I am also suppose to be checked so I don't overstay my welcome.
    Denmark and Norway thus far are the only people taking security seriously.

    You shouldn't trust your neighbours to do their jobs - I could be anybody.
    EU people should have to flash their EU cards which is what I assumed was meant to happen..
    those tightened border security measures are really working out ..

    The dock was a 3km walk from Larvik station 😒
    Luckily there was a big group walking that way so we followed them cause my maps weren't properly loading. But being prepared for such events I print screened the route lasts night just in case - it's just easier when the live movement dot thing moved with you.
    Made it. The walk was quite boring really. It's quite an industrial area.
    My heart sank.. on the board next to every train for the rest of the day to Oslo - it said cancelled.
    Gah.
    I asked the kiosk guy and he didn't understand the word cancelled
    So we got on the train currently waiting for people to board. I think we got lucky because it is going to Oslo 🙌🏼
    Our tickets were again expensive. Another $100 gone 😩😩😩
    The scenery is pretty. The quality of houses is higher so far.

    Our train was 2 hours which is longer than I had told Will it was going to be so he had the grumps.
    To be fair I did think it was going to be an 1.5 hours. It's what google said lol.
    Some of the stations we went through were surrounded by wonderful areas.
    I feel like they look like the type neighborhoods you would live in if you were part of a yacht club.

    The man across from us had such smelly armpits. 😷Shock horror he was Indian.

    Our train was running about 7 minutes late which doesn't hold up to the European standard we have come to expect. Tut tut.
    We arrived in Oslo finally - everyone had to get off due to track work.
    🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴 YAYAYAY

    And so began our next and final leg of the journey.
    I loaded the map through the hostel website and not through google so we went on a slight detour but no harm done.
    Well maybe a little, Will was whinge bag. So much so he actually apologized later for it 😵😱😮
    Unheard of.
    His exact words were " sorry for being such a poo head" ❤️❤️ Nawh.

    The city was pretty dead but I suppose it is a Sunday night...
    walk walk walk.

    Found it. Or at least thought we found it.
    We found it's sister hotel. We figured that out when our name wasn't registered - 50m down the road... FOUND IT 🎈🎈🎈

    I think I spend more time documenting our 'getting lost' adventures than actual tourist stuff.
    Being lost just takes up so much of our time 😂

    This hostel is super shitty. It screams houso's but it's just for one night.
    We have been assigned beds but cant find the letters so we have just picked 2.
    We did a tag team poo then went to TGIFridays for dinner or as they call it TGIPridays - rainbow flags everywhere.
    Oslo isn't as clean as we expected. I dunno, I expected more. It's dirty and there are a lot of homeless.
    The food wasn't great. Our chicken wings were cold.
    Our food cost $100. Booooo.
    WE HAVE SPENT $500 TODAY 😭😭😭😭😭
    Transport, checking in and food 🔪🔪
    Our room is full of retards.
    Will is so bad with people who aren't strong with English.
    It's like he has to make it known he is Australian and pulls out the most bogan, complicated sentences he can think of.

    This place is a Hole.

    Randi's tomorrow :) she should get home around 4 - we will have to amuse ourselves until then.    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen
  • Angharad DowseEuropean AdventureReisender

    Aarhus

    1. Juli 2017 in Dänemark ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Our alarm was set for 7. We got up at 11 😅 we were both just too tired.
    We talked about it and decided to not go to lego land for several reasons.
    - it's 2 hours away
    - it's expensive
    - it's a sunny Saturday and will be so packed
    - it's not the only lego land in the world
    And the real reason - laziness.
    We didn't go see Tolland man either which I can deal with.
    WE DID GO BACK TO THE DEER PARK THOUGH 😍😍
    If sacrifices have to be made then I'll make them! Hahah
    We walked to the shopping center and bought 4 bags if carrots hehe.
    I needed help stuffing them all into my back pack.
    The LIDL (I think that's the right letters) is their woolies - they had this fantastic fresh baked goods section.
    We got a donut each and I got a pizza flavored pastry too - he got a sausage in a roll.
    The ATM was out of order 😒
    The carrots made my bag really heavy.
    We took a gamble and got on a random bus going in the right direction and got off near to town.
    Walk walk walk.
    We found the station and then began the stupidly long walk to the deer park again.
    The weather has done a complete 180
    It was so bloody hot we were sweating like pigs.
    I was trying to walk in as many tree shadows as possible.
    Wayyyy more people were out and about today - lots at the "beach", walking their dogs, sun baking and admiring the sculptures along the shoreline.
    Walk walk walk.
    Made it - by feet hurt and I want a hat and sunscreen. Im never prepared cause 90% of days are crap.

    A lot more people today.
    We just wanted to sit for a bit so we found a bench to sit at.
    One male deer was near by so I tried to coax him over but he was a scared cat. He made me laugh though he would almost tiptoe over quickly snatch it out of your hand and back away.
    He wasn't a fun deer to pet so we walked on to find more.
    They soon spotted the carrots and we had quite the little herd following us up the hill. Hehe
    Mainly boys today. One doe was great and so pushy / she want taking crap from the men.
    She jumped up onto her back legs, put her front legs on my chest and succeeded in getting the carrot I was holding up high.
    Well played. She dirtied my shirt though lol.
    My most favourite deer of all was a boy deer from today that didn't mind pats and kept rubbing me with his antlers.
    He got some secret carrots the others don't know about 🙊
    I got a good hold of his antlers and they were really warm - the blood flow maybe?
    He was so trusting and let us pet him far more vigorously.
    I named him Arthur. The clear favourite.
    We had a group of about 8 with us.
    So greedy.
    On had a sad eye but he wasn't the nicest deer. It didn't look "sick" more like a birth defect.
    I always felt so satisfied when a new deer came almost anxiously to the group as if "oh no I haven't missed out have i??"
    So desperate for a carrot. I always delivered 😍💪🏻
    We left that group having fed them 3 whole bags 😂 and wandered though the park.
    We found one deer and she was a right wuss.
    We threw her carrots though because she probably doesn't get many cause she is so scared.
    We spent ages trying to get her trust.
    She was still very wary.

    This little 2 year old African kid was the best.
    He had a carrot as big as him and was trying to feed a deer that was already eating. He was trying to stuff it into its mouth.
    It was unbelievably cute.
    We watched him for a few minutes.
    Walk walk walk.
    I love the deer. I want a pet one. It can live with my pig, goat and donkey. 😍😍😍😍
    We gave out our last carrots at the door and said goodbye 😭
    Greatest park everrrrrrrrrr.
    Would travel back to Denmark just to visit.
    I asked Will what his thoughts on Denmark are and I agree.
    It's suited for an older generation. Not that we haven't both really enjoyed It...
    It's just quite, has culture and art (Aarhus is Europe's cultural capital for 2017) and not party central.
    Lego land is at billund airport so you never know - we might have to fly through it went we fly to Iceland with mum and dad ... 😜😜😜😜😜
    My legs and ass are cramping up. It's just so darn farrr.
    We went to maccas for a Coke and wifi to figure out where to go for dinner.
    Our search didn't amount to much.
    We walked to the bus stop and popped into the street food section which turned out to be wayyyyy bigger than it looks from the outside and awesome!!
    We shared nachos.
    It's called 'Aarhus street food'
    Waiting at the bus stop now - 45 mins to go..
    we are not convenient located at all but we made it home.
    I have gotten organised for tomorrow and booked our hostel - it's going to be such a big day!!
    We have to get 2 trains to get to Hirtshals (the port) by 11:45 tomorrow morning.
    Then it's a 4 hour ferry ride
    Then a 3km walk to Larvik station then another train then another small walk to our hostel 😭
    Send help.

    We watched videos and I packed.
    Norway tomorrow 🖖🏿    Weiterlesen

    Übersetzung anzeigen

Erstelle dein eigenes Reiseprofil

Kostenlos

QR code

FindPenguins für iOSFindPenguins für Android

  • 2025© FindPenguins
  • Start
  • Über uns
  • Gruppen-Tracking
  • Presse
  • Nutzungsbedingungen
  • Datenschutz & Cookies
  • Hilfe-Center
  • Impressum