France. Paris and Nice.

I think that every stereotype I have of french people has been broken while traveling through France. To begin we arrived in Paris and planned on only having about 14 hours to wander around before we caught a night train to southern France. The problems began though when we realized that Paris is so much larger than any other city we have been to. There is no central part of the city because everything is so spread out. As such, we had no idea where we had to go to catch our next train. So we just walked into one of the train stations and asked which one we had to get to to get to Nice. He said Gare de Lyon. So we figured we had little time before needing to get there so we might try to see the Eiffel tower. Which ended up being quite a walk, but completely worth it. It was so cool to see it and I had forgotten just how large and magnificent of a feet it was to complete.

So we headed off toward the Gare de Lyon only to find out upon our arrival that it wasn't the train station we were suppose to be at after all. Welp, that sucked. Luckily the one we did need to be at was only a bock or two away- only our train was leaving in about twenty minutes. So we headed back out to the next train station. However, we soon found out that to leave Paris on a night train required a reservation... we didn't have one. And the station was closing in an hour with no trains available for us to take. Turns out though that we were not the only one in this predicament. We met a girl named Sophia who also didn't have a reservation and missed her train. She was Awesome. Super quirky and funny and she wanted to know if she could hang out with us until the morning when we would all be heading back to the station. We figured we would just go out to the Canal and sit on a bench. When we were about to leave a korean woman who spoke very little english cam eup and asked if she could come with us. Why not? So it was the five of us, me, Destiny, Logan, Sophia and Mi'young all heading out toward the water at 1 am.

The funny part is that we just kept walking until we were stopped by this young group of kids who had been sitting by the water drinking drinking wine and hanging out. They could clearly tell how confused we were and a few of them spoke such great english that they invited us to sit down and hang out with them. Most of them were 21 &22 and were so much fun! They asked us where we were all from and what had happened, so we told them about being stranded in Paris. Then one of them Tomar, offered for us to sleep on his floor. Having five of us  and no place to sleep, we said sure!

I have realized while traveling that no matter what goes wrong it will all work out in the end. Even in the moments when I had no idea what we were going to do, I knew that tomorrow was a new day. That even if we stayed up the until 5am and caught another train, everything will work out. I have enough faith in humanity in believe that.

Belgium

We began our belgian adventure with... WAFFLES! And man were they tasty. I had mine with some nutella but Destiny got hers with white chocolate instead. Brussels is such an interesting city, but definitely don't spend longer than a day or two. Everything is pretty concentrated and there were a lot of cool shops, but when you're a poor traveler it can be a little redundant to pass by stores you can't buy thing from... waaa..waa...waa... So we took a train to Brugge! Ever seen In Brugge?? If you haven't, you should. If you have then YES! You know exactly how cute/creepy the town of Brugge is. It is a fairy tale. Plus we got to see the tower that mad eyes commits suicide on in In Brugge (not HP to clarify). But Brugge was awesome.

The night before heading there though we learned that you can not sleep in the train station in Brussels because they will kick you out at 12am, when it closes until 5am. So yea, don't try that. That being the case though, we decide to stay in a hostel that we found while in Brugge. And it was definitely a good choice. Funny enough we ended up staying in a room with 5 guys from Austin, Texas. They were all super chill and one guy we ended up talking for a bit after dinner. In general, hostels are just a fun environment and it was great to have a bed and internet.

Amsterdam

Oh man, Amsterdam. We started off our first day in Amsterdam with our pack on our backs and no place to stay. Getting off the train I was instantly overwhelmed by the tourist focused center of the city. We decided to chill out on a bench in front of "Beer and Babes" bar, while we figured out our next plan of action. We figured having internet might be beneficial to figure out where to go. We found this tiny hole in the wall bar/cafe with THE COOLEST bar tender. The internet wasn't working so he just gave us his iphone to look things up, and was so helpful in telling us where to go and what to see. Our main goal at this point was to find a place to lock up our pack and then rent some bikes for the day. After talking to the bar tender we were directed to one of the tourist stores which then agreed to lock up our packs if we rented bikes from them. Double Win. We were able to rent bikes for 24hrs which took care of both our needs.

So we set off on our bike ride. Not having a place to stay that night we figured we could just ride out of town and find a place to camp for the night. So we took off and rode through the city. Amsterdam kind of reminded me of a one night stand. Just a hot mess all around. The architecture of the city was absolutely awesome, but when riding through there was so much trash and beer cans everywhere it was hard to enjoy the city. At one point we literally washed a woman hose cigarette buds across the street. A broom would have taken far less time and been far more effective. It made no sense. However, being able to rent the bikes was awesome and we got to see most, if not all, of the city. As we made our way out of the city we found a great place right by the canal where we laid out our sleeping bags and slept for the night. We woke up the next morning and made our way back to town.

When in Norway our friends had used couch surfing in France and had recommended us to use it. So while there we had sent out message to people and we got a response in Amsterdam. His name was Robert, and for the most part it didn't seem like he was going to kill us in our sleep. After meeting him my affirmation was confirmed as he was super stoked to host us and so helpful in helping us around the city. Plus we got a free shower, couch to sleep on, and a kitchen to make some pasta- which after only eating peanut butter for a whole week was very much appreciated.

Munich, Germany

So after a lovely ten days well spent in Norway, Logan and I headed off to Munich, Germany to meet up with our friend Destiny. Let it be known that if you ever need to just have a long layover in any airport- have it be the Munich airport. It is SO cool. Straight up there was a wave house in the middle of their airport. It was a little ridiculous. While we opted to pass on the wave house we did decide on having a nice beer outside would suffice. We figure for Destiny's sake, after having just traveled 9 hours, an hour or two sitting down might be nice.

So after a relaxing afternoon we took a bus into the main city center of Munich. We arrived at the bus station and to our pleasant surprise we were able to put our bags in lockers for only 4 euros. Such a great deal! So then we just walked around downtown. Even as the sun began to fall asleep we were exploring the city and soaking up the beautiful architecture and lifestyle. While our stay in Munich was short lasted, as e had to take a train at 3am to Amsterdam, we thoroughly enjoyed being able to walk around and take everything in. Luckily, we were able to just post up camp in the train station and sleep until our train left at 3am.

We also got the Eurail pass to be able to travel within four countries and have 6 travel days. We chose Germany, Holland/Belgium (they count as one country), France, and Switzerland. So we set off on the train to Amsterdam, having no clue what the next fifteen days would hold for us.

Blueberry Pie

The wonderful thing about Norway is its vast forests and outdoors, and the specifically wonderful thing about Norwegian forests are the native blueberry bushes.

So yesterday morning Jess and I went for a little hike and picked blueberries along the trails for about two hours. Then we made this:

Here is how: Ingredients: water, vinegar, butter, flour, sugar, and berries of your choosing (preferable wild norwegian blueberries if you happen to have them on hand).

Mix 4 Tablespoons of water, 1.5 teaspoons of vinegar, and 200 grams of butter(approximately 1.5 cups) of soft butter in a large bowl. The key here is to let the butter soften- you can't go for any of that melted butter nonsense, as that just won't do. So you mix those and then add flour until you meet an almost crumbly consistency. You don't want it as soft as say a pizza or bread dough, but not so crumbly that it is too dry. You just kinda gotta wing this part. Then you let it cool in the fridge for a couple hours. Once cooled you roll it out and place in a pie tin. In another bowl mash the blueberries and mix in roughly a cup of sugar- really just until you like the sweetness of the berries.

We used the left over dough to make a cute little design on the top. Put it in the oven for 20-30 minutes then let it cool so that the berries don't run. And Voila!
I recommend a side of vanilla ice cream to go along as well.

Summer Adventures. Part One: Norway

Well, I'm off on another adventure! For those of you who have not heard, I am studying abroad in Lithuania this fall. Yea, I know.. Lithuna-what? Well, Lithunaia is a little country situated along the baltic sea next to Russia. Why lithuania you may ask?? Well, random fact- I'm Lithuanian!! And of course, as a young child who loves the weird/unique things about themselves, I have been obsessed with the country since I did a report on it in sixth grade. So upon my arrival to APU, and finding out that they had a study abroad program located in Lithuania, I was pretty stoked on the idea. Now, while one might say that a third semester abroad is a little much, I say "Nay!" I like to think that I'm taking the most out of my college experience. I mean lets be serious, a semester in Yosemite, South Africa, and Europe all sound way better than main campus.

So.. now Norm and I are off again, to adventure, explore, learn, make friends, and find out if my weird family tradition of putting butter on your nose on your birthday, which my parents have always claimed to be a Lithuanian tradition, is actually Lithuanian. My semester begins at the end of August and my friends, Destiny and Logan, and I have all decided to travel together before hand. Logan, Norm and I are traveling to Norway for 10 days then meeting up with Destiny in Germany where we plan to travel from for the remaining 11 days until our semester starts.

Step One: Norway We made it! We are currently staying with one of my close friends, Lisa whom I know from APU, and who is a native norwegian. Today she showed us some great little hiking trails that can be taken to the grocery store. Literally, through a forest. It was awesome. Norway is absolutely beautiful. Lisa's house which is located on a peninsula, along a fjord, across from the main city of Oslo. The view from her balcony is stunning as we look out upon the sea and city. Along with the beautiful scenery and bountiful amount of wild berries, I have simply enjoyed relaxing and being with friends. I was surprised upon our arrival to find so many wonderful APU people waiting for Logan and I at the airport in Oslo. There are currently four of us staying together at her house and we all played a thrilling game of Hand and Feet, a popular card game which is slightly similar to Rummy with a few exceptions.

I certainly think that Norway has stolen my heart, along with my money. The only down side is how expensive there food (to eat out) is. However, being smart and savvy shoppers we plan on simply making our meals and enjoying the simplicity of life. I think we'll be eating a lot of peanut butter and bread. Yummmm....