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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Oslo, Norway

My first real day in Oslo was really beautiful.  There were blue skies and the views were great.  First I met some people from a Hangout to do slackline.  I was introduced to slackline last year from a friend and wasnt sure if I would do it again, but I thought I might as well because the park was so close to where I was staying.  Then I met a really nice guy from Afghanistan (new nationality for my blog!!) and he showed me all over the city.  We walked by the Royal Palace and then we went to the sculpture  park.  The park was really impressive with all the different statues.  Apparently all the statues were made by the same artist.  Then at night I decided to check out the weekly Couchsurfing meeting in Oslo, but it was quite disappointing because of the organizer.  The organizer basically didnt exist.  Luckily we were all able to find each other and another good thing about the event was that I got to experience Norweigan Jazz.  It was a completely different sound than what I am used to and that was interesting.


Norway  8355

laying on the slackline!!

Norway

BLUE SKIES!!!

such a gorgeous day

Afghanistan 

Afghanistan

the royal palace

statues everywhere

the angry child, one of the most popular statues in the park

gorgeous red roses

nice fountain

cool iron gate

so many statues

what??!!!

view of the park

peek-a-boo!


Turkey

Norway  8360

Norway

Ukraine

Netherlands

Ukraine  8364

the band

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

SampoSauna Helsinki, Finland

When I was taking the ferry from Tallinn back to Helsinki, the rugby guys suggested that I should check out the free public sauna.  I  was too tired to go after the ferry, so I thought that it would be a good thing to do on my last day before I had to fly out to Oslo.   My friend's friend met me in the morning and we biked to the sauna.  The bike ride was really cool because we got to bike through some parks and he explained some of the buildings that we passed by.  When we got to the area, it looked like the set from Mad Max.  It was like a wasteland, but once we got in front of the sauna, the structure was so cheery and cute.  The sauna was made by locals and was actually removed by the city several times, but the locals kept building new saunas until the city finally gave them permission to keep the  sauna  in the area. Since its taken care of by the public, the first ones to arrive for the day need to chop the wood and help make the fire for the sauna.  We were one of the first, so I helped out by chopping some wood.  I wanted to contribute and not have just the guys do the work.  The thing about Finland is that they go into the sauna nude.  Since this was a free public sauna, both men and women would go into the sauna at the same time.  I was the only woman and it felt a bit weird to be totally nude, so I wore my bikini bottoms.   Finnish people like their saunas hot.  There were two saunas the locals built.  The bigger one could fit around 10 people and the smaller one could fit 3.  I went into the smaller one with my friends and the temperature got up to 120 C, when they put water on the rocks the second time I thought I was being cooked alive.  I had to escape the sauna and go into the sea to cool my hands.  I just dont understand how my friends were able to stay in the sauna!  All the locals that were at the sauna were really nice.  It was a great thing to experience on my last day in Finland!  On the bike ride back, my friend showed me where I could pick some wild blueberries and showed me what wild cranberries look like.  It was a great day!  Thanks for everything!



a new sauna being built next to the two already in use


cool structure that got burnt down

rules to the sauna

water people brought to be used in the sauna

so sea water ever!!

inside the sauna

the heating stove

Finland   8351

Finland


the main sauna

makeshift fire pit

sompa sauna!

great view from the sauna

apparently what the president looks like?

Finland

Finland   8354

fellow sauna"ers"

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Ferry from Tallin, Estonia back to Helsinki, Finland

I felt like I really needed to take a photo of the ferry because it was HUGE!!!!   When people were telling me about the ferry, I had a completely different image in my head.  I really didnt expect it to be so big and fit so many cars, trucks and people.  There were so many areas in the ship and I was just shocked that such a huge ship went the short distance from Tallinn to Helsinki and vice versa. To be honest, I think it was the biggest ship I have ever been on.  My friend´s friend is on a rugby club team in Helsinki and he happened to be on the same ship as us because his team was playing in Tallinn.  They also happened to be on the same ship on the way back to Helsinki. They were really nice guys and it was nice meeting them all.  Better luck in your next game!!!    😉



the HUGE ferry

Finland

Finland   8345

New Zealand

Finland

Finland

Finland

Wales    8350

Tallinn, Estonia

Decided to make a quick detour to Tallinn, Estonia.  They also use Euros in Estonia, so it made my decision to go there pretty easy.  Took the ferry there and was so surprised on how big the ferry was.  It looked like it could be a cruise ship!  I got pretty lucky with the weather, even though it rained for a little bit, it really wasnt that bad.  I was able to meet a fun group of people with Hangouts.  The Old Town area in Tallinn was quite beautiful and my favorite thing that I tried there was the honey beer.  I really dont like beer, but this was DELICIOUS!!!!!  Its a must try if you go to Estonia!!!!


walking into the Old Town

the main square

some musicians

church in the background

the flags

nice chuch

another church
nice view of the city

another cool view

close up of the towers of the wall the used to surround the city

ship

old prison

no idea what this says

graffitti and the city


blue skies

entrance to the Old Town

Germany   8330

India

Belgium

Germany

France

Macedonia

Estonia

nice group of people

Canada

"brothers"

Australia

Turkey

France   8340

Italy

France

cheers!!

Ecuador  8343