last summer I spent 4 days in the city of love. Unfortunately not with my lover but with my best friend. We took the 6 am. TGV to Paris. If you ask me this is way too early to get up! But we wanted to make the most out of our limited time.
After arriving at the East train station we took the metro to the Basilika Sacré-Cœur. There have been so many people it was impossible to take pictures without thousands of people. We decided to not go in because of the huge line in front of the basilica and instead move on to the next program point. For EU members under 26, the entrance to many sights in Paris is for free, one of them is the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile. The walk up the stairs was hard, especially with our big backpacks. We were really lucky to climb up at all because bags are only allowed until a certain size, ours were too big but the nice guys at the entrance let us in. You should not take big bags with you, you could get into trouble! The view from up there was just amazing!
View over Paris – France
The next stop was the Pont Alexandre III bridge. From there we walked to the Eiffel Tower. By accident, we found the most amazing photo place to take pictures with the tower! It was a cute little street with the tower in the background and the sun was shining perfectly at us. We really made a lot of pictures with the tower from different places and perspectives. But you never know, you might be there only once in your life 😉
Eiffel Tower – Paris – France
The next stop should have been the Louvre Museum but unfortunately, it was already sold out for the day… So we move on to the Sainte-Chapelle with its amazing glass windows. We were the last ones to get in on that day. Lucky us!
Sainte-Chapelle – Paris – France
Notre-Dame was closed all week due to renovation work, and the road to go there was blocked, sadly we could not even get a close look at the cathedral. On our second day was Disney Day! We went to Disneyland and made thousands of pictures in front of the castle to get the perfect one^^ We also made a picture with Mickey for which we had to wait for nearly 2 hours!!! We drove some things but there were just too many people. We had to wait a very long time for everything. The waiting was really annoying and our backs hurt from the standing in line all the time. We also missed the time for buying dinner, they closed before we even thought about eating. The fireworks were amazing! All the Disney songs, the light show, and fireworks. This was a real highlight at the end of a really nice day.
Disneyland – Paris – France
On the third day, we wanted to visit Versailles. The castle is huge and breathtaking and worth waiting. The garden is so beautiful and again everything for free for under 26-year-old. But it was a really hot summer day without clouds or anything to protect us from the sun and heat. We had to wait 3 hours in the line! I thought we will never make it! Never again^^ Probably summertime is not the best season for Paris. You have to wait FOREVER!
Versailles Garden – Paris – FranceVersailles Castle – Paris – France
The same day, we wanted to visit the Pantheon as well but we arrived 2 minutes after the last entry time. We could not go in anymore. REALLY! But well, we then went to the Jardin du Luxembourg. The garden was so super nice, with all the pink flowers and the beautiful Palais du Luxembourg in the background.
Jardin du Luxembourg – Paris – France
The same night, we also watched the 5 minutes of the sparkling Eiffel Tower. This spectacle happens every full hour of the night. This was nice. Some Asian people had some LED balloons to take some really pretty pictures in front of the sparkling tower. When they left, they asked if we want one of the balloons. Soooo kind of them! The pictures were brilliant *_*
Sparkling Eiffel Tower – Paris – France
On our last day, we climbed up the Eiffel Tower because the elevator tickets were already sold out. We also entered the Louvre Museum and had our 5 seconds with the Mona Lisa and we managed to see the Pantheon from inside before we took the train back home. The last 4 days had a tight and tough program with more than 20 km walking daily. But these days have been great and worth all the exertions. On the border to Germany, we had to stop for a while and the police searched for someone in the train. I guess they looked for the person who escaped from prison that day. I do not know if they found what they were looking for but we drove back without any further stops.
To hear from my India roundtrip come back to my page 🙂 Love,
During my semester abroad in Norway, I met an Egyptian guy. We got really good friends and he invited me to come to Egypt in July and stay with his family. First I thought this was a joke or an offer out of the moment but he didn’t mean it. But we talked again and it was a real offer. So I am finally going to EGYPT! After all these years of the desire to see the pyramids, I will finally go! We made some plans, decided on a route and organized everything, the hotels, the car, the train tickets and I looked after possible flights.
I flew there on the 3rd of July and will be staying there until the 18th. One other friend from Norway was staying in Egypt at the same time as well, so we organized some trips with her too.
My flight was very pleasant but we were delayed and in the airport terminal was a huge line to get out to check the visa etc. I waited there forever and when I finally reached the counter they told me I had to pay the fee for the visa at another counter first! So I had to go back and pay for it and wait for an infinity AGAIN! It got already really late and I didn’t have Internet to contact my friend. When I finally got out there he said he was really worried about me and why this took so long. We still had to drive around 1 hour to drive to their house. I was really tired and I had kind of a cultural shock with all this noise and this many people and how they drive!!!
We arrived at my friends’ house around midnight. But as a good Egyptian host, they had to serve their guest a Welcome Dinner, and it was a huge one. The hospitality of Egyptians is amazing! They are sooo friendly and interested in you and your country. But I was sooo tired. I think I was not really a good and communicative guest…
On the next day, we had to wake up early, around 5 am., to pick up the other friend and head to Alexandria. I did not sleep well because of my full stomach and I nearly got a heart attack when the prayer calling happens around 3 am. I really can not believe how they are driving there! And how they don’t have car accidents all the time! It looks like lane marks are just decoration, rules are not existing, the horn is their best friend, they overtake from every side, they do whatever they want during driving, like texting or eating. Sometimes they don’t even use their hands to steer the wheel!!! This was scary but fascinating at the same time!
In Alexandria, we went for breakfast. They ordered way too much after all this food late last night! We couldn’t finish it, obviously. It is really strange for me, what they eat for breakfast. Super heavy meals with bread, fries, falafel, cheese, beans, and everything. I can’t do that! I am more of a sweet breakfast person^^ In Alexandria, there was a lot of dirt on the streets, a lot of people everywhere and a lot of beggars and creepy people, which followed us to take pictures of me and the huge presence of military with huge machine guns! I don’t know if I feel saver by that or even more scared because of that. SUPER SCARY! I didn’t know how to react to all that. It was a bit much for one day. I couldn’t really enjoy the sightseeing as much as I would like it but I was terrified to get robbed, stabbed or anything. I was really glad to have the 2 locals and another girl with me. Without them, I would have turned around and taken the next flight back home.
We visited some nice places like the Library of Alexandria, Pompey’s Pillar, the Roman Amphitheatre, Qaitbay Citadel, the jewelry museum, and some tombs.
At some of the sights, we had some issues because the tourists are with some Egyptians who are not official tour guides. They didn’t believe that we are friends. So they send us someone with us to show us around and give us some background information. They were happy to get a tip and we were happy to get some information. Win – Win 😉
We found out, that it happened before that tourists were with unprofessional guides and it is kind of a big crime here to take away the jobs of the real ones and give a bad light on Egypt because of the bad tour guides. The government wants the tourists safe which means they have a lot of military with these scary big guns so that they leave the country happy and gain more tourists through their stories and recommendations.
The same evening we left Cairo with the night train to Luxor. We got special treatment in the waiting area because I am a tourist waiting for a public train. They tried to prevent us from the looks of the other people, which was unnecessary and didn’t work but I felt really special^^
In the hotel in Luxor we have been the only tourists because it’s not tourist season in summer. For us it was great. I feel more comfortable with fewer people around, the pics are much nicer without thousands of people and it was much cheaper in the off-season. If you are unmarried then you have to book to separate rooms in Egypt, it’s not allowed to stay in one hotel room together. But what’s unfair is that the Egyptians get special prices. They have to pay less than the tourists in hostels, for taxis, tour guides, trips and sightseeing places. They paid a few cents and me normal European prices… unbelievable. I am only a poor student xD
Luxor was amazing *_* We had great weather not as hot as expected and our hotel was directly next to the Nile *_* We have been to the Karnak Temple and walked 3 times around the Beatle for good luck. Our tour guide was amazing. The story about the temples is incredible and he showed us some secret spots and places for really nice pics 😉 We also visited Luxor Temple during sunset! We have been to the West Bank with the Valley of the kings, the Medinet Habu Tempel and Hatshepsut Temple. Just beautiful!
After 2 wonderful days living next to the Nile and enjoying ourselves, we took the train to Aswan, where we visited the Nubian Museum and the Nubian Village. In the Village, they held crocodiles as pets!!! The village is really nice, beautiful, colourful, joyful and really lovely paintings. Just amazing! In one house the owner put a baby crocodile on my head! In the same house, I also found my new favourite drink, hibiscus juice. I LOVE IT! We bought 1kg dried flowers on the market to take home with me and make the juice myself *_*
Nubina Village – Baby Crocodile – Aswan – EgyptNubian Village – Aswan – Egypt
We also saw the Philae Temple or Elephantine, the high dam, and the botanical garden. It was so super nice! I could have stayed forever! One evening we made a sunset sailing trip with one of the typical traditional sailboats. A perfect trip! Really beautiful.
Elephantine – Aswan – Egypt
The next day was a very long and boring day just taking the train back to Cairo. The first day we spend in the Egyptian Museum. After all these sculptures and mummies we went to the citadel and its mosque. We searched for the perfect Egyptian lamp at Khan el Khalili bazaar. I found a really nice one to take home with me 🙂 We also went to a traditional Tandora show and to a Belly Dance Contest. This was crazy how long the Tandora Dancers can spin without getting dizzy!
Mosque – Old Cairo – EgyptKhan el Khalili bazaar – Cairo – EgyptTandora Show – Cairo – Egypt
The second day was all int the spirit of the Pyramids and the Sphinx! We visited the Pyramids of Giza, climbed somewhere we shouldn’t have to take the perfect pic, made a super cool ride on a camel and ‘kissed’ the Spinx. I couldn’t believe it, but I am finally there and I have touched the stones, which is kind of forbidden and we got some trouble, and we have been into the middle pyramid!!! I was super disappointed by the inside of the pyramid. You have to squeeze through a tiny hole to bow and give the Pharao his respect. The tomb is unspectacular, just the grave but nothing else. No paintings or engravings. Nothing!
Pyramids of Giza – Cairo – EgyptCamel Trip next to the Pyramids – Cairo – EgyptKissing the Sphinx – Cairo – Egypt
After that, we have been to the Ziggurat of Sakkara. There we visited another tomb. A really pretty one, with beautiful engravings and everything. This was what I have expected in Giza. The same evening we listened to the Sound and Light Show in Giza. The show was really expensive and not that good. The idea of letting the Sphinx and the Pyramids speak is great but I couldn’t really follow the whole story.
On the last day in Cairo, we have been to the religious part. We visited the hanging church, a synagogue, and some more mosques. I really had bad luck with the mosques! I couldn’t enjoy it and I just wanted to leave as fast as possible. In one of the mosques was a funeral so there was a lot of screaming and drama. When they were gone and we could go in, one guy came storming towards me, screaming I have to take off my shoes in front of the carpet. But I was already removing them. After that, at the entrance, I couldn’t go in because I had a way to ‘sexy’ outfit, which was not showing anything! I was really shocked by all this resentment towards me. At the second one, I had to wear a super ugly overall thing which was super tied around my head. This didn’t feel comfortable at all. With all this pent up anger and frustration, I just wanted to leave.
We spent the last few days in Egypt in a really nice resort in Hurghada. The resort has an own part of the beach, a super funny animation team, evening shows and very delicious food! I really don’t want to go! I really liked Egypt. The sea was amazing! I went snorkelling until my goggles broke 😦 I got some nice tan 😉 And we made a desert quad safari with a Beduin Camp visit. It was gigantic! I raced with 50km/h through the desert. It was so much fun! Just way too short, as always. The camp was super interesting, how they live with nearly nothing.
Desert Quad Safari – Hurghada – Egypt
Unfortunately, time was flying and my last day arrived way too fast… We spent the last day at a hotel pool in Cairo and went up the Cairo Tower for the sunset as a goodbye.
My 2 weeks in Egypt are really over… It was a great but very different and sometimes scary. But I had a great local guide with me, who looked after me. The time was definitely not enough, I still want to see more about this beautiful country with its extremely friendly people.
To hear from my Paris trip come back 😉 See you soon. Love,
after I have finished my semester abroad my parents drove up to Trondheim to pick me up. First, we had to manage, to fit all my luggage into the car and after 2 rainy non-welcoming days in Trondheim, we started our roundtrip around Norway.
We headed up North first. We visited the museum Stiklestad and the stone drawings in Bøla, the good thing was, that the tourist season hasn’t started yet, so we nearly could visit everything for free and there weren’t any other tourists 😉
We camped somewhere close to Torghatten. Due to the fact, that it nearly didn’t get dark we made an after-dinner hike up to the hole in the mountain at 9 pm. It was a great but really short walk of only 30 minutes and the view from above was amazing!
View from Torghatten – Norway
We then went to an amazing waterfall called Laksfossen and to the Polar circle. We also saw some wild reindeer and moose *_*
Wild Reindeer in Norway
We visited some more small sights, like the Tranøy fyr lighthouse, on the way to Lødingen on the Lofoten Islands. On the next day, we rushed through the Lofoten Islands in one go. We saw some nice beaches, the Lofoten cathedral, Stockfish, Reine, Henningsvær and Å I Lofoten. The Lofotens are great! But unfortunately, we had only so limited time!
On the Lofoten Islands – NorwayLeaving Lofoten Islands – Norway
Then we visited Romsdal and the Atlantic Ocean Road. On this day I also had a job interview like a real Jetset girl xD P.S. I got the job 😉 When we then arrived at the Atlantic Ocean Road, we couldn’t stop anywhere and there were helicopters and skid marks everywhere. They recorded some scenes for the new James Bond movie there!! How cool is this!
Moreover, we visited Slettafossen, another waterfall, Åndalsnes, and Trollstigen. In Åndalsnes we made another evening hike to the Nebba Viewpoint and further up the hill. It was great and fun hiking in the woods. But we thought we never find our way down again. It was always just going up and up. We made our way somehow without a real path and luckily we got down. But we were really dirty afterward^^
Trollstigen – Norway
Then we went to the Geirangerfjord and up the hill to a really nice viewpoint. After that, we saw Ålesund and Lom with its famous Stavkirke. In Urnes we visited another Stavkirke and followed the Kongensveg. The walk was great, adventurous, but there were little worms hanging in the trees and falling on the people everywhere! It was kind of disgusting but funny how the other people reacted^^
Geirangerfjord – Norway
The next stop was Flåm and the Flåmbana museum. We continued to Voss and Vøringsfossen. This evening we also visited Bergen. We saw Brygge and drove up the hill with the Fløybana. From up there, we had an amazing view over Bergen.
Bergen – Norway
We walked down to the city. Lucky how we are there was a Phil Collins concert in Bergen. On the way down and in the city we could listen to the great music for free 😉 The next stops were Haugesund, the Viking Village, and Stavanger.
Before we climbed up the Preikestolen we saw the 3 big Sverd I Fjell Swords. The hike up to Preikestolen was ok, not as hard as expected but there were some parts to climb as well. So you need some good hiking shoes. There were so many crazy people doing dangerous stuff near the edges and not wearing proper shoes at all!! The climb was totally worth it! The view was amazing. But way too many people… But I could manage to make some nice pics, that’s all that matters 😉 The way down was hard for the knees. Better not going up if you have problematic knees and not getting down again.
Preikestolen – NorwayPreikestolen – Norway
The next days we have been to Sauda, Odda, Langfossen, Låtefossen, Røldal, Lindesnes fyr, Risør, and Kristiansand. We made a little draisine bike trip in Veggli, which was super fun! We visited the Heddal Stavkirke, made a 10,5km Walk around the Fjord in Geilo and ended our trip in Oslo. There we have visited the ski jump Holmenkollen, the botanical garden, the Royal palace, the Frogner park, and the norsk folkemuseum.
Norway
On the 17 hours drive home we made one last sightseeing stop in Fredrikstad, Northeurops best-preserved fortress.
This roundtrip was the perfect ending of my year abroad and my Erasmus semester in Norway. But it is great to be back in good old Germany, especially with the great weather in the summer. But it wouldn’t be me if I haven’t already planned some more trips 😉
To hear from my trip to Egypt come back. See you Love,
today I want to tell you about my hammock trip. I have never been sleeping in a hammock before. It was a totally new experience for me. But unfortunately, I couldn’t have chosen a worse weekend to do that then the one I actually choose xD
On Friday I arrived at the Kobberdammen bus station, then the group I went with and me, looked for our way to the actual Kobberdammen to put up our hammocks. Obviously, none of us knew the way, so we just walk straight, walked through the bushes and jumped over a little river to find the right spot to sleep. When we arrived at the perfect place to stay, we already had wet feet. Directly a good start for an outdoor night!
Relaxing in the hammock
Some of the others actually went for a little swim or more little dive in the maybe 3 degrees cold lake! Obviously not me^^ They were so crazy!!! It was freezing and yes really brave!
After that, we went for a little hike on top of the Geitfjellet. The way was really nice and the sun came out for a bit *_* The view from up there was amazing! It was a super day and experience so far.
Geitfjellet – Norway
In the evening we had Tacos and a little campfire. We played some games and it was really fun. When it started to rain it didn’t even bother us. The night was interesting. It was raining and winding all night and my sleeping bag was not supposed to be outside with weather under 12 degrees, but we had maybe 3 degrees or less. It was really cold and wet that night and the next morning I had kind of back pain from lying in the same position all night. During the night I had to put my sleeping bag over my head to fall asleep. I woke up a lot of times but the experience was worth it. Sleeping in a hammock could be really fun and I really want to do this again but next time maybe with better weather 😀
I can just recommend you to try it out. It really connects you with nature and it is really relaxing. See you soon. Love,
today I want to tell you about my spring break holidays and my first big trip. I joined the Geiranger and Ålesund weekend trip of ICOT, a student organization from NTNU. In the beginning, I was really suspicious about the trip because we didn’t get a lot of Information about the activities or the accommodation.
Geiranger Fjord – Norway
On the way, we visited a few viewpoints, in the mountains and next to the fjord. We also visited Trollveggen, Europeans highest mountain wall. In the evening we arrived at the Geiranger Fjord and the coziest cabin ever! Our accommodation is awesome.
The next morning we left early to a hike in the mountains. First I tried to keep up with the guys and I was actually on the second spot and the first girl. But after half of the way, I felt like dying and that’s why I decided to just walk my own speed. After that decision the hike was amazing, the view on the Fjord *_* The sun and nature! Just BEAUTIFUL. We were so lucky with the weather. Much too early we had to leave the Geiranger Fjord and headed to our next stop on the road trip, Ålesund. This accommodation was nice but not as nice as the last one. In the evening, I made a little walk next to the water and afterward I got a nice Indian Curry.
The next morning I felt total happiness when I was sitting on the terrace, with the sun and the beautiful view on the water. It totally felt like a summer holiday in Croatia or anything. It was great! I could have sit there all day. But we had to leave… We left with a big delay so unfortunately, we couldn’t visit the city of Ålesund, but at least we went to the Aksla viewpoint and walked down the 400 stairs to the city. On our way home, we visited the rollercoaster bridge on the Atlantic Ocean Road and the port city Kristiansund. It was one of my best weekends in Norway. The trip was amazing and every penny worth it! Everything was perfect.
Hiking Trip Geiranger – Norway
On the next day, I went on a day trip to Røros. I had to leave Trondheim really early in the morning and then I took the bus to Røros. There I went to a Husky sliding trip, I got a big snowsuit and snowshoes and a little introduction on how to handle the sleigh. The trip was breath-taking! The dogs are soooo sweet. I had great fun and I was after a failed start, with falling of the sleigh, very good at it^^ This was one of the best things I did in my life! I was so happy and at least I could tick one of the things on my Norway To-Do List. After this amazing memory I also visited the old town of Røros. It was an amazing day!
Husky Sliding – Norway
My 3 trip for this week was the Surf trip to Hoddevik over easter. On the first day, we drove through Kristiansund and the Atlantic Ocean Road and Ålesund to Hoddevik on the Westcoast. The trip was very long and unfortunately, I saw the exact same sights and street the week before. But it was nice anyway 🙂 When we arrived at Hoddevik it was already really late and we couldn’t find the house. The good thing, our accommodation was great and had a Sauna *_*
On the next day, I made a hike on top of the mountains next to the beach. The view from there was amazing *_*
View from the top of the mountains in Hoddevik
In the afternoon I had my first of three surf lesson, the weather was great and the waves small means perfect for beginners 🙂 I had sooo much fun except for drinking half of the Ocean and that I was not talented in surfing at all!!! But I definitely had a great time and I looked at least good on my picture 😉 And that’s what matters^^ I definitely want to try again and practice more during my summer holidays in Portugal.
do you know these people who always have a plan for a new trip or adventure when they are still somewhere else at the moment? I am totally one of them! The planning, dreaming and thinking about the new trip, what I will see, what I will do, how the weather will be and the research for the trip, is nearly as exciting as the actual trip.
I really love all that and I love to know what I can expect. My program is always really busy because I don’t want to be bored during my vacation or have nothing to do, so mostly I also have a backup program 😉
Due to the fact, that I will be done in Norway by the end of May and back in Germany, after my roundtrip in Norway, at the end of June and Uni doesn’t start before October, I definitely need something to do for the summer!
I was looking and searching for a long time and couldn’t decide what I want to do. I was looking for a voluntary project in Guatemala and Costa Rica, a language course in Kuba, a photography course in Bali, a surf camp in Portugal, a fitness boot camp in Spain, a Summer Au-Pair Programm in Singapur, an India and Nepal Backpack tour and a working student job in China.
Some options I declined because of the price, some are not suitable from the dates or are too dangerous as a blond woman traveling alone. Others I sorted out because they are not ‘fancy’, not long or far away enough. It was really a hard decision. I had a few interviews and email conversations. Still, in the run are the working student job and the photography course or backpacking, but the country is not clear yet. The working student Job in China would get me some experience in my field and it would look good in my CV.
Unfortunately when I got an anwer to my application they told me I wouldn’t earn money and they wouldn’t pay for anything, flight, visa, etc. So I declined the offer, for just work this is too expensive to go to China without any benefits for me.
I was standing right at the beginning of my planning again… But after a while, I decided on a 4 weeks backpack and road trip in Portugal with a surf course and mostly hiking. I will also do a trip through the Netherlands by bike, like a typical Dutch person. It is not really what I wanted first, because it is in Europe again but I am sure this will be a really active summer with lots of fun and possible stories to tell 😉 See you next week. Love,
within an ESN Event, I joined a photography course. It was 20€ for 1.5h every Wednesday for 6 weeks with a professional photographer. I would say pretty good deal 😉
In our first week we heard about the basics of photography, which rules exist to make your picture the best picture you could do. Rules like the rule of thirds, frame in frame and negative space. After each session we got a little assignment to go out and try to apply the learned theory. I worked together with another participant and we used each other as comparses. I also played around with some filters and stuff of my camera.
Frame in Frame Rule
In the second week, we learned the theory about the camera settings, like ISO, aperture, and shutter. Unfortunately, I only have a compact camera with me, so I couldn’t practice this part. But I will practice this when I get back home.
The next two weeks we met in different galleries and looked at pictures of professionals and talked about them.
The last two weeks we went outside together and made some pictures together with help and tips from the pro.
Old Town Bridge with blurry Bakklandet
We also should hand in some of our pictures to get feedback and it is planned to make a little exhibition after the course with one picture of each participant. I decided on my following picture. I hope you like it as well 🙂
Beautiful Norway
I had a great time during the course, I learned a lot and it was really fun. I will definitely continue taking pictures and think a bit more before I take pictures to reduce the amount of pictures I take and make only good pictures! It was really good to get to know my camera a bit better, find out about the things it can do and try out new things. I can really recommend this course for Beginners, but I think for more experienced photographers it is a bit too less information. See you next week. Love,
today I am talking about a really important topic, how to keep the expenses for food, drink, and activities as low as possible in Norway.
Norway is known as one of the most expensive countries in the world, and that is definitely true! Everything costs at least twice the price we pay for the same product in Germany.
But there is a way to reduce the cost at least a bit. The main grocery stores are Bunnpris, Rema 1000 and Kiwi, my personal experience is that Kiwi is the cheapest of all 3, but there are sometimes some good sale prices at Bunnpris for bread or cereal bars and so on. And for Rema 1000 there is a mobile app with good deals, the only problem with that is, that everything is in Norwegian and you don’t really understand how it works and you need a Norwegian phone number to use the app.
Because these options don’t really make a big difference there is a bus, called the Bacon Bus to Sweden from Moholt studentby every Thursday at 4:30 pm. to a co-op directly at the border. If you want to take this bus you have to call them until Tuesday and sign up for a spot, or you can sign up online. If you want to buy alcohol with a higher percentage than 3.5% you can preorder alcohol and they deliver the order to the co-op, where you can collect it and bring it back to Norway. The prices for food is near as prices in Germany and the drinks are half of the price in Norway, they are still expensive but not as bad as in Norway, where a beer in a bar is around 10€!
There is also the possibility of a people’s kitchen every Tuesday, where you can cook and eat together for free. The food they use for the meal is food from the stores, which would go to waste otherwise. You can also take food they don’t use to cook home. This is a good thing for you and the environment! A similar date to remember is every Saturday, where you can get leftover bread from the stores, which would go to waste.
Enough of food and drinks, in Norway are nearly endless opportunities for activities in your free time. Trondheim offers a lot of cheap or free concerts or theme festivals. There are clubs as Speed-friending or other associations which organize some events and trips, where you can participate for free or just a small fee. The library in Moholt has its own activity house where you can meet, play cards, board games, table tennis or watch movies on the movie nights.
In Moholt there is also an NTNUI club called Bumerang, where every student can rent ski and snowboard equipment or mattresses, tents, and backpacks for a cabin trip and other stuff as fishing equipment or balls for free!! You can also go for a hike in the beautiful nature of Norway, there are a lot of hiking trails around Trondheim and next to the fjord. At NTNUI Koiene you can rent one out of 24 cabins, you can rent it for every day of the week, not just for the weekend. Some of them have fishing equipment, musical instruments or a sauna to guarantee a great time there.
Other possibilities are joining one of the NTNUI groups like dancing, rugby or other sports teams. Mostly they have in addition to the NTNUI membership their own little membership fee but this is only around 30€ per semester or year. For people who don’t like doing sport in a team, there is a gym membership from Sit for 115€ per semester or 180€ or one year. With that membership, you can go to 5 different Sit Training Center to do weight training or join one of the classes organized by Sit.
There is also normally one open day at the Rockheim Museum and the Cathedral of Trondheim, where you can go inside for free. At NTNU you can join courses for 3D printing or how to deal with Norwegian winter and there are a lot of student associations which are happy to help you with your studies or just to meet and drink together. They mostly have a basement room in the buildings in Moholt as well to meet with other people.
A lot of clubs and meeting places for students have their own membership card, where you can get free entrance to the parties or reduced ticket prices for concerts and with the membership card, you can get better deals for the drinks as well. Membership cards I own are the Studentersamfundet card (30€ for one semester) and the ESN card (13€ for one semester) for the Studio 26 entrance and cheaper trip prices.
This list are just a few things you can do in this amazing country. You see, Norway don’t need to be expensive. You can have so much fun here without spending a lot of money. Come back next week to hear about my new plans. See you soon. Love,
today I want to show you the sights of Trondheim. I totally forgot about this topic, when I arrived here. That’s why I will tell you something about Trondheim a bit delayed.
Trondheim is a city with round about 180.000 inhabitants and lots of students due to the fact, that it has the biggest technical university in Norway. Trondheim is located at the Trondheim Fjord in Mid-Norway.
The first sight obviously is the Fjord, there is a very beautiful walk path next to the fjord in Lade, a part of Trondheim. On the following picture, you can also see Munkholmen a little island with a monastery from the 12. century, 2km outside of Trondheim.
Trondheim Fjord – Lade – Norway
The next sight is the Nidarosdom a gothic cathedral from the 11. century. The Cathedral was built on the grave of St.Olav. It is well known as the heart of Norway and is considered as a national sanctuary.
Nidarosdom – Trondheim – Norway
Gamle Bybro is right next to the cathedral, this means translated Old Town Bridge. This bridge connects the new part of Trondheim with the old town and the traditional colored wooden houses of Bakklandet. Every tourist in Trondheim has to have a picture of the bridge with these houses. If you don’t have a picture of this spot you haven’t been in Trondheim 😉 Following my version of this typical picture because I was there 😉
Wooden Houses in Trondheim – Norway
Another spot is the Tyholttårnet or Tyholt Tower. There is a restaurant, with a super Pizza buffet, located inside with an amazing view over Trondheim. Trondheims most famous museum is the Rockheim museum, with an exhibition of Norways Pop-, Rock- and Folkmusic. The Harry Potter Building from the NTNU Campus Gløshaugen is also a uniqueness in Trondheim.
NTNU Gløshaugen – Trondheim
The Kristiansten Fortress on top of the hill is another sight of Trondheim. At the foot of the mountain, there is a bicycle lift, this is the only bicycle lift in the world!
Trondheim has a lot of opportunities and nice places. Go to Trondheim and see yourself 🙂 See you next week. Love,
next week – next story! During our next party weekend the guys from last week asked us to join their cabin trip from Sunday to Monday.
Obviously, we agreed. This time we knew how to get there and what we have to bring. MASSIC IMPROVEMENT! But as always we were running late and so we drove in the dark. This wouldn’t be a problem when the cabins wouldn’t be in the middle of nowhere.
On our way to the cabin the car stuck in the middle of the hill. Pushing didn’t help. We tried to place the chains on the wheels for at least 1 hour but they didn’t fit to the wheels. The wheels were too big for the chains. SUPER! At this moment I really wished we stayed home or just go back, I was hungry, tired and I was feeling cold. Something always happens on the cabin trip, otherwise it would bo to boring…
So we turned around the car and tried to push it the other way around. AND IT WORKED! 🙂 We pushed the car up the hill and we could continue our trip. When we finally arrived at the parking area we got a warm welcome of one of the surrounded dogs. He was sooo sweet *_*
And then it was time to walk or more run behind the guys, in the dark, without any lights. We take turns to light with the phone camera because we couldn’t risk that every phone dies in case of an emergency! It was very steep and exhausting! Once in a while we had to hop over a small river or a hole. I thought we never arrive there!
But we did and it was totally worth it! The cabin is awesome and the view is amazing!! I really loved the time at Stakkslett, it is a unique and modern cabin with a charmful interior. And the sky with all the stars *_* UNBELIEVABLE!
On the next day, we made another hike over a frozen lake and made some really funny and stupid pictures.
Good times on a cabin trip in Norway
After cleaning up we head home again. Another nice day is over… The time in Norway flies way too quickly! Next week I will write about how to have fun in Norway without spending a fortune. See you soon. Love,
Jenny's Travels 