Brown Cheese, Mozart, and Castles
Hello All!
I hope all of your winter vacations have been fantastic! Mine has been great. After the holidays, I chose to do a bit of traveling before my classes started up again. I decided to visit Norway and Austria.
I know what you're thinking, yes it was cold in both places, but I was really glad I experienced a different side to these countries...what most other travelers might not get the chance to see. Plus, I loved both countries, and now I have a reason to go visit again in the summer months :).
The first plane I hopped on was to Norway, the land of salmon, fjords, and so much more! My friend, Ragnhild, lives there, so I payed here a visit. She lives in a small town near Bergen, on the western side of the country. The area where she lives is made up of a bunch of fjords and islands - a very pretty destination. Many small towns were situated right on the waterfront or in between jagged rocks. In the distance, you could see snow-capped mountains.
Ragnhild showed me a lot of neat things, plus introduced me to this awesome food: brown cheese. Sorry, I don't have a picture of it, but I will to my best to describe it for you. The name gives away its color, brown, and it has a medium texture...not too soft, to too hard. The best way to eat it is on a slice of bread with black currant jam. This combination is awesome!! Hopefully, when I get back to the States I will be able to re-create this combination. :) I also got to help out with making a typical Norwegian meal. I was in charge of making this tasty sweet roll, with ingredients of butter, sugar, and cinnamon, wrapped in a tortilla. Yum!!
I also got to meet Ragnhild's friend, Linda. The three of us went exploring in the back-country of Norway, and visited Linda's cottage. The back-country in Norway is pretty rugged. With uneven rocks, clear water, and steep cliffs, you could tell that most of it was still wild, but had a special beauty.
Ragnhild showed me around Bergen too, the city closest to her. The city has a really nice charm to it. Houses and shops surrounded the countryside and climbed up the hills. I especially like the old town of Bergen, with it's close, wooden buildings and colorful paint.
My next stop was Vienna, Austria. The baroque architecture was in full force here, from the Hapsburg's Palaces (they were the Austrian royal family), to the everyday business buildings in the city. I got to learn a lot about the history of this city on the tour that I participated in.
After Vienna, I traveled traveled to Salzburg, Austria, a city right on the edge of the Alps. I think it's fair to say that this city has deep musical roots, considering it was great composer Mozart's birthplace and residence, birthplace of Joseph Mohr, who wrote the famous Christmas carol "Silent Night", and the filming spot of a movie you might know, The Sound of Music. To top it off, the city is surrounded by the towering Alps on one side, and rolling hills on the other.
Heading back to Sevilla was an adventure in itself. Europe has one of, if not the best, rail system in the world. You can travel within 3 countries in one day if you wanted, and no one would blink an eye. I decided to take this method of transportation back to Sevilla, over several days. The first trip was from Salzburg, Austria to Geneva, Switzerland. This train ride was gorgeous - right in the middle of the snow-covered Alps. In between the sky-scraping mountains were little towns dusted lightly with snow. Each town had its own church or castle, which was the highest building in the town.
Even though I spent less than 24 hours in Geneva, I managed to see some cool things. One spot was the United Nations building. Hundreds of countries were represented there, with their flag blowing in the wind.
My second train was from Geneva to Barcelona, passing through France. The french countryside was full of small towns and large vineyards. I'm sure it is beautiful during the spring and summer. The last train was from Barcelona to Sevilla. I didn't know how much I missed the Spanish countryside until I was looking out at it from the train. The rough landscape and farmland is like no other.
After a whirlwind 10 days criss-crossing all over Europe, I am happy to be back in Sevilla, starting a new, exciting semester.