Norway: Bergen & other notes

I can’t wrap up my posts about Norway without mentioning Bergen, our favorite city of the trip. It was adorable, charming, vibrant, historic, and fun – everything a European city should be. There’s a small market for extremely fresh fish (and other stuff, like local knitwear and cloudberry jam) downtown. This was a gorgeous sunset … Read more

Norway: the Lofoten Islands

The part of our trip I was looking forward to the most was the part north of the Arctic Circle, four days in the Lofoten Islands. The Lofotens form a big, mountainous wall in the middle of the ocean, and are speckled with lakes and fishing villages. These islands receive six weeks of constant sun … Read more

Norway: Oslo


Our trip to Norway was 10 days long, and we split our time between its cities, fjords, and islands as we made our way up and down this comically long, skinny country. We visited Norway’s three largest cities, all of which felt tiny and adorable compared to, say, Munich (which feels tiny and adorable compared to, say, Berlin or New York). Much like Swiss cities, they were all very clean and safe, and full of friendly yet reserved folks who tended to speak English better than I did.

Read moreNorway: Oslo

Back in the land of yummy, cheap, plentiful beer

Whew, that was fun! Our trip to Norway went very well, despite my ridiculously disorganized last-minute planning. It is an insanely gorgeous country, full of more natural beauty than you can shake a stick at. We covered a whole lot of ground, sleeping in eight different beds (two of which were moving) in 10 days. … Read more

7 tips for finding a job in Europe

[The tips in this post are aimed at Americans wanting to work in Europe, but most of the information is valid for those of other nationalities, as well.] So you want to get a job in Europe, but you have no idea how to go about such a thing? It might be easier than you … Read more

Eurovision 2008

We had a little party for the Eurovision finale again this year. At least half the guests came reluctantly… either not having heard of Eurovision at all, or wondering why in the world I’d want to throw a party for such a ridiculous event. But everyone had fun whether they liked it or not, even … Read more

Italy trip highlights: Sleeping in Tuscany

Scott was responsible for finding us places to sleep in Tuscany, and he did a fabulous job. For two nights we stayed at Hotel Il Rondo’, a gorgeous bed and breakfast in Montepulciano. Rarely have I stayed in a room so beautifully done. The ceilings had large square wooden beams as is typical in Tuscany, … Read more

Pici, delicious Tuscan pasta

Italy trip highlights: Eating Tuscany

After Rome, we rented a car and headed north to Niki de Saint Phalle’s Tarot Garden (a definite highlight) and then continued on to Tuscany. While I’d been to Siena and Florence before, this was actually my first time out into the small hill towns of Tuscany. Now that I’ve had a taste, I can’t … Read more