Oslo, Norway

Ten of us decided it would be a fun to road trip to Norway. We rented two cars from EuroCar... Just so happens that American Licenses aren't allowed to drive through that company, which was probably for the best.. Kilometers instead of Miles, Reverse in the place of 1st Gear, and winding roads (not good driving conditions for me:)). And to top it all off it was a 4:45AM start time on a Saturday, and if anyone knows me in the morning, it is not a pretty sight! But the boys were nice enough to be the first ones to drive so we could all get our sleep! Granted if you have ever tried to sleep in the back of a VW Golf with it packed to the T... It is not possible!

It was probably for the best though. I saw some of the most amazing sights, but clearly I would leave my camera in my bags in the bottom of the trunk! There were many more view to see in Oslo though. We made it safe and sound despite miscalculating the distance a bit...

We all bought the Oslo Pass which allowed us to enter most museums and use the public trains and trams! It was a lot of fun and here are some of the pictures of the different museums and sights we went to:

Group Shot in front of a harbor...

The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet - The first Opera house to let visitors walk all over it... literally up the sides onto the roof.




Holmenkollen Ski Museum - We got to go all of the way to the top for the most incredible view...







The Fram Museum - The Polar Ship Frame - I didn't think I would really like going to this, but it was actually very interesting and you could go into the ship and see all of the little rooms.






Some Random views walking through the city...



One of the Harbors

We found some New Yorkers... In front of Franklin D. Roosevelt Statue:p

View from the Island

City hall

Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter)



Well that was Oslo in a nutshell! It was beautiful despite the rainy weather the second day! I would love to go back one day and see the infamous Norway Fjords... They look incredible.

Well stay tuned for some Ireland and Scotland pictures... I leave this Friday for a five day vacation:) I am so excited!

Love and miss you all at home!
-Rach

Björnö Island

Björnö is an island ten minutes from Västerås. Ten of us rented two cars for our adventure to Oslo, Norway and we decided to make a day trip to Björnö... Here are a couple of pictures. They do not do it justice at all.



On this bridge you can only go one direction at a time.... It takes forever, but the island really is beautiful.






Boys being boys... playing on the swingset.

Västerås :)

This is the most famous photo spot in Västerås. It is gorgeous and there is a cute little cafe that is really good to the left of the water.


A park I go to each day on my way to the city.


Engelbreksgatan... Part of one of the Pubic Libraries is on this street and I walk it each day.


Cute building on the walk to the city. Each night this building projects little stars on all of the surrounding sidewalks... Its very pretty...


Arriving into the City...


Middle of Downtown...


Ha Of course they have a MacDonalds...


Streets


The First Hotel... This also has the Sky Bar in it on the 24th floor


This is Linda, Anna, and I at the SkyBar


Night View from the Bar... Sorry about the reflection but it is gorgeous


and again..



That's all for now! I will take more pictures as I go!

-Rach

A sneak peak into my Swedish life...

Welcome to MHD...

This is the middle of the university. They call it the R-Haus...


Main Entrance Sign


Inside the main entrance


The pond where we have played the game Caps. I can say that this is the first university I have been at where alcohol is not a big deal. Each frat had big wagons and were selling all types of alcohol while playing this game. It is basically throwing metal caps into eachothers cups. Sounds stupid, but it was a lot of fun and I met some really nice Swedish people.


A tiny glimpse of people playing caps...


This is the Student Union building also known as the Kåron, the student bar and restaurant...


This is the odd art work that is spread out on the entire second floor of the main building... Our apartment has decided that is it called the "Circle of Life..." not quite sure if that is correct or not, but here are some "interesting" photos of it... lol






Soon to come are pictures of the town and where I have been so far!

Love,
Rach