Sorry, You're Being Deported. Your Car Isn't Expensive Enough.

So we went to the bus station the next day, only to find it closed. How wonderful. Turns out that particular station was closed all day on Saturdays. We finally found one that was open, hopped on a bus, and found our ways there. Unfortunately, the bus we were going to take on Monday was full. Again. Our next option was Wednesday. We took it. At this point, we had to yet again go back to our hostel and book 2 more nights in Nice. It was getting complicated. Once we had it all figured out, we walked around a bit more, looked up some places to explore outside of Nice, and headed to our other hostel for the night. Now, due to our stressful situation, we had failed to look up anything about this hostel. We walked there, and found the reception in an odd, kind of creepy restaurant. This little old lady walks up to me saying, "Jessica? Jessica?" I respond in the positive and she starts going off in French. I had no idea what she was saying and I'm pretty sure that was clear by my confused state. We paid our night and I gathered that we weren't staying in a dormitory, but in a studio. She then starts moving towards the door and begins walking towards our studio, still speaking to us in French and kind of laughing every now and then. It was awkward to say the least. She finally made it to our studio, which was kind of old, but pretty cool. We went to a cheap place we saw on the way to our room, called Taco Loco, where I got some long missed Mexican food (don't judge me for eating non-French food in France). It was then off to bed so we could get up in the morning, check out of the sketch hostel, and get some free breakfast back our usual hostel (called home at this point).

Finally, at this point, we had everything squared away and could actually do something besides stare at the beach. We decided to first go check out Monaco. Monaco is actually an entirely different country that is so small, it only really fits one city, Monte Carlo. Only about 35,000 people live there, if that gives a good idea of just how tiny it is. However, it was hosting the Rolex Tennis Masters (or something like that), so the train ride there was packed. We finally got there, walked down the steps from the train station, and instantly felt a bit too undressed just to be walking around outside. There were giant yachts and beautiful sail boats in every spot in the port. Outside the really expensive boats where extremely expensive cars parked like they were no big deal. It was insane. We walked around the port a little bit more, just staring in awe. Eventually we made our way to the beach, which actually had sand on it (Nice is a rock beach). We wondered around a bit more, somehow stumbling across the tennis tournament.

We walked around a little bit more, got a little lost, but finally found our way to the Monte Carlo Casino. Unfortunately it costs 10 Euro just to have the privilege of walking in, but seeing the outside was still pretty cool. Parked outside the casino were some of the most expensive cars I have ever seen. There were Ferrarris, Roy Royce's and Lamborghini's like it was no big deal. I think more people were taking pictures with cars than the actual casino.

Right next to the casino were some fountains and a cute little park. We spent some time strolling through that area, snapping some photos and pretending we were gazillionaires.

We then headed to the Palace. Monaco has a royal family, but instead of calling the heads of these kings or queens, they refer to them as prince and princesses. The palace sits on top of a cliff, so the hike up there was a bit intense. But no worries, because we made a pit-stop at a local grocery store to grab a giant thing of iced tea and some cookies to split. We finally made it to the top, where we had a view of two sides of the city. Along both sides there were loads of old cannons and cannon balls on display. Outside the palace, a guard we patrolling back and forth. We then went in (of course, no pictures allowed), where we saw all the rooms set up in a variety of different styles. Some were bedrooms, others areas where guests are received. I also learned tons about the Monaco government and royal family. It was really interesting.

Afterwards, we headed back to the train to go back to Nice. That night, we enjoyed a wonderful three course meal (courtesy of my wonderful parents) where we got to try some delicious and authentic French food. I had some gnocchi, fish and veggies, and creme brulee. It was all amazingly delicious. During dinner, as we were sitting outside enjoying our food, this African man walks up to us and notes our laughter and how laughter comes from the hear. He then says something about how its Africa week and hands us each an elephant. We take them, still smiling. Suddenly he says, "Pay whatever you want. Whatever you have. Or nothing is fine." Being the kind soles we are, we each hand over a few Euros, but he asks for more. It was crazy, and we are all still really confused how he got the few Euros he did out of us. But now I have an African elephant I got in Nice, France...so that's interesting.

The next morning we went out for another adventure, this time to Cannes. Cannes is a town about the size of Nice, but every year, it hosts one of the most famous film festivals in the world. It also has some sandy beaches and some crazy expensive stores. Now, coming from Monaco to Cannes, the cars weren't quite up to par, but it was still way out of our league. After wondering around a bit, and not really finding anything of too much interest or importance, we hit the beach. It felt wonderful to actually feel sunlight and dig my feet into some sand. I just sat there for a while so my skin could remember what it felt like to have the sun hit it. The beach is quite beautiful. Behind the sandy coast and aqua water, there are these beautiful mountains.

Once we had enough of the beach, we went to find the sites. We first found our way to the theatre where the film festival is held every year. Along the walkway there are a bunch of little stones with handprints and signatures of stars from all over the world. To name a few stars I recognized: Julie Andrews, Michael Douglas, Spike Lee, Pink Panther, Mickey, Jane Fonda and Bruce Willis. We passed by a few famous hotels on the way to the next landmark, a castle on church which overlooks the city. There was a decent view, although some spots had some rather large trees obstructing pieces of the view. After, we headed down the hill in a different direction and stumbled onto some of the coolest streets I've come across. Finally, we made our way back to the train station. Since we were so close, we took another trip to Tacos Locos to buy some cheap, filling food.

Our last full day in Nice was, as Quinn called it, activity day. We each rented some form of wheeled transportation. Quinn rented roller blades, Santiago got a skateboard, and I got a bike (I tried roller blades at first, but after falling three times just crossing the street from the rental place, I quickly swapped). We were then off. We rolled, and rolled, and rolled, all the way until we reached an entirely different town, called Ville De Saint Laurent Du Var. We took a short break at their beach, then headed back to Nice. On our way back, we stopped at a market, picked up a snack and ate it by the beach. Once we had returned our rentals, we stopped by a small grocery store and picked up some food to make pasta at the hostel. It was a lovely and exercise filled day.

Our last part of Nice was a sad one. Although we were excited to be heading to a new and different place, we were a bit sad to be leaving one we had gotten to know so well. At our hostel, there were a group of people who had been there as long as us, along with the receptionists, who we had come to consider friends. Nice is also a lovely and beautiful place. But it we had so much more to see. It was just bittersweet. Before heading out, we walked over to the remains of an old chateau (which, ironically, we had planned to do just about every day since we had been in Nice). The ruins are on top of a large hill, giving you a beautiful view of the entire city. It was remarkable and a lovely way to say goodbye to Nice. On our way back to the hostel to pick our stuff up, I stopped in my last French pastry shop, grabbed and amazing sandwich and pastry.

We left incredibly early to ensure that we were, indeed, on the bus to Barcelona that left at 5. Twelve hours later we finally made it to Barcelona. Unfortunately, we had to wait two more hours for our bus to Valencia, which were not very fun or exciting. By 11:30 we were in Valencia. Tired, but there.

Kind of Missing Nice,
Jessica

Bilingiual, Skiing, Onsie-Coat-Wearing 5 Year Old Norwegians

Thursday morning I left at 9:05 from my room to catch a cab to the train station. There, I boarded a train, with 2 transfers, finally arriving in Liverpool at 12:45. We got off the train, and walked out of the station, asking the people working there where to catch a cab. The lady told us to go to the street and we'd be able to flag one, locking the doors to the station after us. We assumed this meant that there would be a lot of taxis driving by. There were not. Finally, after 5 minutes of standing on the side of the street waiting for a car to come, a taxi came and took us to the airport. We hopped off and walked in, instantly realizing how closed everything looked, including the check-in desks. We then found out that the security desks didn't open until 4, with our flight leaving at 6:25, so we had 3 hours to kill in an empty airport. It was not the greatest experience of my life, to say the least. Some people slept on the cold, tile floor, while others of us just ate our weight in chocolate covered raisins as we all shivered, since apparently turning the heat on is too much to ask of the John Lennon Airport. Finally it was 4. Exhausted and sleep-deprived, we wondered to the desk, checked-in, and strolled into the waiting area to sit around in a comatose state for another hour. We boarded the plane, and everyone passed out for the 2 hour flight to Oslo, Norway. When I woke up, I looked out the window to see some of the most beautiful, snow-covered landscape below me. I instantly remembered that snow is just a part of Norway and wished I had brought my snow boots like a smart person. At least I wasn't like Paige, who didn't bring a coat and had to buy one (and Oslo is extraordinarily expensive).
So we finally got to Oslo from the airport, via bus. We wondered into a mall, got some food (I got this delicious Pesto and Tomato Calzone thing), and got Paige a coat. We then made our way to our hostel. We were a bit early, so we just sat around (or fell asleep) until it was time for check-in. After check-in, we wondered around Oslo. We made our way past the Mini Bottle Gallery (the only one in the world) and eventually to Akershus Castle. As we walked around, I realized how happy I was to be there. It was absolutely beautiful. We also saw a guard with the most intense weapon for guarding a castle with.

After the castle, we strolled up to the palace, where we could see a lot of the city. It was quite beautiful.

After that, we were all exhausted, so we went back to the hostel and crashed...at 8:30 pm. Sad, yes, but we hadn't really slept in 36 hours. The next morning we started off going to a bakery that Quinn's friend had suggested. I got this crazy twisted cinnamon and sugar deliciousness. It was so good!

After breakfast we went to this peninsula where they have a bunch of museums. We first stopped at the Viking Ship Museum. It was much smaller than expected, but it was still pretty awesome to see some old ships. I also learned that they used to "retire" old boats by using them burial boats, sinking them to the bottom of the sea with the deceased wealthy. There were burial carriages, wagons, and so much more, similar to how the Egyptians buried their dead with goods.

We then went to the Kon Tiki Museum, which explained that Kon Tiki was a reed boat in which 5 people, one from Norway, traveled from South America to Polynesia in 101 days to see if South Americans could have completed such a feat and been the first to settle in Polynesia. They proved it was possible. It was actually kind of crazy. We then walked around the peninsula and stood in awe of landscape surrounding us. It was truly remarkable.

We then headed back to the city. We tried to go to the National Gallery, but only got there 10 minutes before close, so we ran through it pretty quickly. Afterward we went ice skating in the middle of city centre. It was pretty cool, and made us feel rather Norwegian. Once our feet were exhausted and sore, we headed over to a restaurant to get some Norwegian food (and our only real meal of the weekend considering how expensive it all was). I got some Norwegian meatballs, salmon, potatoes, and veggies.

After dinner we were going to go to the Ice Bar, where there everything is made of ice, including the bar and glasses. However, they do not let people under 19 in after 9, so Paige couldn't get in and we just went back to the hostel and fell asleep yet again.
Sunday was a day of being barely late for everything and falling way too many times. We were going to get up around 8, and wound up waking up around 9. This meant we missed the first ferry, but decided to catch the second one. We first went to the Opera House, where you can actually walk on top of the roof, which was, of course, covered in ice. Here begins the falling. It was a rather pretty building, though. From the top you could see a lot of the city, too.

From the opera house, we went to go catch the next ferry to see the fjords. We had a little difficulty actually finding the ferry, though, and by the time we got there, the ferry was gone. The next one was an hour away, so we chose to go to the top of the mountain to check out Holmenkollen Ski Jump, where there was also a Ski Museum. The Ski Museum taught be how serious the Norwegians take their skiing. Not only have they been skiing for at least 4000 years, but some kids start skiing at 9 months old. It is legit. After exploring the museum, we headed to the elevator to go to the top of the jump. The elevator moved on a diagonal along the jump, and was rather frightening. From the top of the jump, we could see all of Oslo and look over the mountains. It was absolutely beautiful. The actual ski jump seemed incredibly scary, though. I have no idea how people go off something so steep and so high up.

We then headed back down the mountain and got off at the Vigelandsparken, a sculpture park. On the walk down to the metro, I literally fell four times down one hill. At one point I was on the ground, and a one year old and her mom just glide right on by me. It was rather embarrassing. The park was pretty, and the statues were...interesting. It was a lot of naked people in odd and awkward positions. More falling occurred, as all the steps were sheets of ice.

After the park, we were too late to catch the last ferry, so we decided to go to the Nobel Peace Center. We learned all about the new Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Liu Xiaobo, and about China, in general. It was really interesting. We then had to hurry back to the hostel to grab our stuff and catch our bus back to the airport. As we got to the bus station, we were there with no extra time. Quinn ran ahead to make sure the bus didn't leave without us. He saw the bus backing up, and tried to get out there to stop it, but the sliding doors wouldn't open. We went to ask when the next bus would leave, and it was another hour, which would mean we would get to the airport with hardly any time to get to the gate before the plane leaves. So we ran over to the train station. Luckily, there was a train that was leaving soon to the airport that would get us there on time. So we forked over $20 extra and jumped on the train. We got there with enough time and everything worked out just fine. From Liverpool, we still had to ride the train, with 2 changes again, to get back to Leeds. At 2 am we finally made it. I got back and completely passed out from exhaustion. But it was totally worth it. Oslo was beautiful, everyone there was incredibly nice (and spoke English...literally), and despite the expensive prices, I would definitely go back again some day. Completely wonderful weekend.

Your American Norway Expert,
Jessica