A whole lot of random!

Hoooola! I am writing a midday blog because my body has suddenly decided to have a really bad cold. Mayu made me tea and I'm just starting the day off muy relajada...Yesterday I went to Dali museum in Figueres (about two hours north of Bcn by train) and I HIGHLY recommend it! The stuff was so random and literally made me laugh outloud. I felt like the crazy girl--walking, gazing, giggling...all in a day's work. Even the train ride out was amusing because Spain (and Latin America) just beat to a different drum than Swiss, German and Norwegian railways. Things were delayed, but have no fear, they don't tell you why. You buy a roundtrip ticket, then get scolded on your way back that you bought the wrong ticket and need to add fair. Silly Spaniards. Luckily it was only 1.50 extra! Many things that you just don't question here:)

Anyway, Figueres was more how I've envisioned Spain to be...countryside with old houses, lots of open space, rolling hills. When I got off the train, it smelled like cows. Clearly, I was meant to come to Figueres. I bumped into a few little markets. I LOVE fruit markets! I successfully bought two mandarinas in Catalan. The woman seemed impressed, I mean, I didn't really have to talk....I then went to the museum and by the time I came out everything was closed. I was sad because it had been bustling before and I knew I just had to wait until 4:30 for stuff to reopen . I found an amazing little cafe (even though I wasn't hungry) and ordered a 4 Euro salad. Now begin the reflections:

1. 4 Euro=$5. Now, in the US a $5 salad really wouldn't be that glamorous. This salad, was on a glass plate with real silverware...it was. an. amazing. salad. Top 10 salad of lifetime, for 4 Euro. It had hardboiled egg, olives, white aspargus, tuna (not even from a can); however, the highlight was the piece of toasted bread with a HUGE portion of goat cheese. I took a picture. Trust me. To make matters even better/worse I also had an Estrella (national beer here) and it was only 1.45 Euro. So in conclusion, for about $6 I got a lot. What happened to value in the US? This really frustrates me. Things may be slightly more expensive in Europe, but its served with quality and class. Sorry, had to rant.

Where was I? Yes, so after lunch and some journaling I walked around through all the shops. I loved the town. I could live there. Then I trained home. GREAT DAY!

Earlier this week I did a lot! I explored Parque Guell--very famous by Gaudi, saw la Pedrera another famous Gaudi building, caught up with two American friends from college living in Barcelona!!!! (so fun!), made rice balls with Mayu (i LOVE them and haven't had them in years), went to the zoo!!!!! GREAT zoo! had tapas many times-->i LOVE the tapas culture!!! Favorites so far are grilled giant green onions that you peel and dip and eat and patatas bravas (obvio). It is still surreal to finally be in Spain because I'm only now seeing places and landmarks that I've read about for so long. My itinerary got jumbled lightly so I'm still trying to figure out next week, but I think I may go down to Sevilla or somewhere out of huge city...when in Spain...

Finally I will leave you with impressions, because traveling does give me a lot of time to think and reflect:

1. The European economy feels way less gloomy than that of the US. People are out in hoards shopping every night. From conversations with Spaniards I know they're having unemployment issues etc too, but the daily life as an outsider doesn't feel as terrible yet.

2. The Barcelona zoo is amazing because you can get SUPER close to the animals. However, I did watch a 2 year old climb over the, oh i don't know...1 FOOT fence, into the giant tortoise cage at which point I really thought I was going to watch her get trampled by the giant tortiose. It was not okay with me. Her vigilant dad rescued her, thank the lord...Also, it was a really neat zoo. Lots of animals I've never seen before and THREE varieties of flamingoes...who knew?

3.They have table wine here as cheap at .65 euro for a bottle. wow.

4. Why is an espresso shot called coffee here?

5. Traveling alone leads to very long meals.

6. I'm starting to wonder if Spanish people ever actually eat. I've seen them drink, have coffee, and an occasional tapa, but I really think they all must be malnourished.

7. I am very content and could see myself growing old in the countryside of Spain (with my whole family there too, of course).

Freezing-->Sunshine!

Hola a todos!!!! I have arrived in Barcelona!!!! For the first time I feel completely relaxed on this trip. I have so many guesses as to why: a) it is not subzero, raining (yet), or snowing here; b) I am done with my preplanned intraEurope flights; c) I speak the language here!!! (or at least a feeble attempt); d) I'm here for 2+ weeks, entonces, I can just take a deep breath. That said, allow me to tell you about my glorious week. It's so awful, but I just feel like I'm gloating in these updates. I'm just so thankful that so many people supported me to allow this experience to happen and that I'm healthy and young...etc.
ANYWAY, Norway---very well, where shall I begin? I don't even know how to express how wonderful Scott and Jill were to me on me trip there. I felt like part of their family in their cozy flat. 5 people in a 1-ish bedroom flat. I'll be forever indebted! Their home was such a happy environment to pass time. Good laughs, GREAT homemade food (thank you Scott) and baked goods (Jill:)), I was introduce to "Dr. Who" an old sci-fi British comedy (I too was skeptical with the aforementioned description, but it proved hilarious and entertaining), I got to get a goodnight hug every night from Aurora-amazing, and I got to hang out with the coolest and cutest 10-month old in the world (I'm completely unbiased). Scott and I did Norway in a Nutshell (thanks Ann for the suggestion!). For those of you unfamiliar, you take a boat, train and bus through the fjords of Bergen. The boat was the most amazing part. I felt SOO tiny compared to the massive frozen and snowy fjords. The water was completely still and the reflections of the fjords on water actually looked completely fake. The whole area was mystical and for lack of a better word, majestic. It reminded me of Patagonia in Chile, another extreme environment, which, until you see it it's nearly impossible to explain the energy/describe it in words...Because we took the tour in winter, it was practically empty. Scott says that in summer its hard to get photos from the boat without other tourists in them...Hard to imagine on our frigid February experience. We "saw" or were pointed to the oldest Stave church in Norway, built in 1180. yes, 1180!!! It only seats 14. Clearly only heathens and vikings...psh. Just to humor Scott, I composed a haiku on the bus ride home. Please judge:

I am overwhelmed

Stunned with reverence and awe

Fjords of Bergen

Other highlights of Bergen: I ate Reindeer--DELICIOUS, ate shrimp and enjoyed it for the first time in my life (wonders never cease), drank the national liquor (I've already repressed the name, I wouldn't really recommend it) with video game theory scholars (seriously, real job--Kenneth, get on it!), fun fact: on our tour we stopped in Voss, they have the REALLY fancy water and it's sold in the US in cylinder bottles--look into it, and I just generally REALLY enjoyed family. THANK YOU SCOTT AND JILL!

After a long train to Oslo and a grand night of sleeping on the airport bench (I've gotten smarter and remembered my eyemask for darkness this time) and then a bumpy flight...I have arrived in Barcelona! Mayu met me at the airport and took me to tapas with her friend, Juan Pedro. I'm so glad to have him because it makes me speak Spanish, granted it's so weird to see Mayu speaking fluent Spanish. so weird. We had tapas, I ate some sort of long shell fish type of something that I don't know what it's called, but hm. I will just say it was only the result of peer pressure and I probably won't do it again. Then we walked along Las Ramblas to Colon and sat on the dock in the sun. I love it here. I love hearing Spanish and I love the food. It is so wonderful to have friends around the world...I just got back from watching Mayu coach synchro at their Catalunya training center. It is really an amazing lifestyle--athletes live there, go to school there, train there. Jealous. If anyone knows of coaching jobs in spain, please, remember me:) Hope all are well!!! Les extrano!

Miscellaneous Musings..

Hei (look at that norwegian in practice) All! Sorry for frequently posting, but when in Norway and with internet...and a baby sleeping:)!
Here are just some random thoughts I've been having lately. I believe they were inspired by Munich, Athens, spending the night a London airport alone, exploring Copenhagen and arriving Norway. Feel free to argue/enjoy!

1. Scandinavia does not smell. (see smoking in restaurants allowed in Switzerland and Greece...just think Latin America). I have attributed this to low poverty and LOTS of wealth in these countries, which I actually think comes from inhabiting these parts for thousands of years. They have a BIG head start over the US. It is also freezing here right now, so logically it doesn't smell--freezers do not typically smell either:) Finally it is safe to drink the water in Europe. This makes it wayyyy better than Mexico, for example.

2. I am convinced it is possible to learn languages from TV. When I was in Munich by myself, I watched Germany's next Top Model, hosted by Heidi Klum (logically). I easily watched for over and hour and completely understood what was going on...in German. Imagine the possibilities of coupling that with a grammar class!

3. Scandinavia seems to lack diversity--extremely homogenous. Hm. (Europe 1-US 1)

4. Scandinavia does seem to have energy efficiency down. See wind power in Copenhagen. They have windmills on the water that you can see flying in. At my hotel everything was sensor lighting and you can opt for quantity of water to flush the toilet depending on...tehee!Also, their bike culture BLEW MY MIND! I'd live there just for how well organized the city is with bikes. People were biking in all weather too. A-mazing!

5. I am learning to eat good food and look better while eating. In Greece I was properly trained how to use a fork and knife the European way. Next lesson is to learn how to make the PERFECT stackable bite. I will keep you posted and probably document it with a photo.

6. In Copenhagen the SUN came out for day 2 there!!! AMAZING! I still lack an internal compass however, so I walked senselessly and saw very little. I did see the Little Mermaid statue by Hans Christian Anderson, but to be honest, it was a REALLY long walk for a REALLY tiny statue.

7. I have decided to move to the next level of love for my President, Obama. Not only do I want him as my leader, but I want apparel with his face on it. Lloyd donned his "Obama is my homeboy" shirt in Athens and really has never looked better. It will only improve my situation to own Obama apparel. I recommend it to everyone.

8. Why do people choose to live in freezing weather climates? My guidebook for Norway says it rains 275 days of the year here. Scott confirmed this detail begrudgingly. Regardless, I'm very much enjoying family time here in Norway. Scott and Jill are AMAZING hosts and quite gourmet chefs. Yesterday I got to go to Jessica's music class--15 babies playing and listening to music! It was all in Norwegian, but since it was spoken for infants, I got by just fine.

9. It is amazing how much you get across with non-verbal communication. I have seriously been very amazed and am enjoying it:)

10. I think I could travel and not work, for the rest of my life?

That's all for now. Someday I'll figure out how to upload photos properly...Happy Thursday! Tusen tak for reading (a thousand thanks)!!!

photos!

Hi all!

I attempted to upload photos! But ran out of time/haven't used flickr in ages...soooo if you feel like looking please look at flickr.com...add me as your contact! LaurenRettberg is my name:)

Enjoy! more to follow soon hopefully. Off to Bergen now! Cannot wait!

Whirlwind touring!

So...I apologize in advance if this post is incoherent, but I'm passing time in the middle of the night in London en route from Athens to Copenhagen!

So much to share--for those of you that want to read no further here are the main ideas:
1. Munich=freezing, delicious beer, nice people, lauren getting lost/has no sense of direction/still not really fluent or with any sort of working german:(

2. Athens=deceptively freezing when sun was not out. longer days this time of year which was refreshing. Plane ride in most beautiful part, dirty dirty dirty city, AMAZING food, i'd stick with the islands.

Ok, so about the actual trip. I left Jessica bright and early on Thursday and took a 4.5 hour train to Munich..use clickandrail for discounts!!! I mainly slept, which is always awkward when traveling alone because each time I woke up, a new stranger was sitting across from me:) Closer to Munich there were many giant grave stones with Jewish stars--fairly overwhelming as Dachau was just outside of Munich. I opted not to visit alone and irritable...
I stored my stuff in a locker at the train station ( i LOVE european public transit) and took off on an adventure. At one point it was -10 C and snowing heavily, I couldn't warm up and ducked into a pub for lunch. I had goulosh (say it outloud, so much better!) and a half liter of DELICIOUS lager. The old man bartender and some retired BM'V' workers served as company (and my journal) and I warmed up. I then braved the weather again and genuinely enjoyed Munich--successfully navigating their subway to the airport. I stayed in a hotel which I regret not documenting. I opened the door and laughed. The room was SO small. It was also FREEZING. I couldn't warm up, there was no heater..it was only after i showered etc that i realized the window was open...a good 3 hours later:(

The next day it was off to Athens! I caught up with my friend and we explored many ruins and enjoyed the Greek culture. Greek sounds a lot like spanish and it gave me a false sense of comprehension. We soon established that when spoken to in Greek, you could just mumble nonsense and people understood and thanked you for your help. Everyone also spoke English so I felt less like a 5 year old compared to Germany. We met up with a local friend--Carolina, on Saturday and she TOOK our Saturday. It was great to be immersed in her journalist, bohemia society, but we literally were with the woman for a good 6 hours and kept trying to leave. She started us at a fruit market and then we drank ouzo on an empty stomach. Wow. I would not recommend this. Regardless it was great to have a local tour guide, but we felt EXTREMELY liberated when we got to roam freely. The food in Greece was a definite highlight (and the acropolis...). They put a huge slab of feta on their greek salads. also, sesame seeds, why does our culture fail to use them as effectively? Well, I would love to share more, but my internet is about to run out...Soon I'll be on my way to Copenhagen! Hope all are well!

Bern, Fribourg, and Zürich!!!

I am just wrapping up my time in Zürich with Jessica.  It will be very challenging to travel without her, as she has planned, facilitated, educated, listened, laughed and walked a lot with me.  I am so thankful for the Rüeggers:) Tomorrow I will continue to Munich alone and Friday I am off to Greece!

Yesterday we visited Bern, the capital of Switzerland.  We saw parliament and I got a free postcard of the current 7 "presidents" serving the country.  They alternate each year which person has to serve as the head, but otherwise they are equals and are elected by representatives, not the people directly.  We saw a huge tower--Zytglogge which has moveable parts (think giant cuckoo clock, only medieval figures instead of birds!) Switzerland was founded in 1291. We also climbed a huge cathedral, Münster, and had a vantage point of Bern.  Bern used to have bears in pits because bears are on the flag, but thankfully, animal activists finally won their battle and Jessica and I were please to not find bears in captivity:)

Next we continued to Fribourg, where Jessica's sister, Vanessa works and lives.  We had an AMAZING dinner with her and heard about her recent 5 month stay in Syria and I even got tea from Sudan:)  So generous!  

This morning Jessica and I covered Zürich by foot...with only some snow, lots of wind and FREEZING temperatures.  We walked along the river to Lake Zürich, the university she attended, saw the big 3 churchs: Fraumünster (Chagall windows), St. Peterskirche (biggest clock on church tower in all of Europe), Grossmünster (VERY old, cerca 1400s, jessica's med school graduation held here:)).  Next we had tea with an old friend of Jessica's--they spoke English, just for me:) We then went to a Hamam, or Turkish bath.  Just what we needed after the frigid weather.  It was extremely relaxing and evidently just like Syria.  Yes, I did accidentally see naked old men. hm. 

Now, I am extremely full after a dinner with Jessica, Rita, and my mom's cousin, Sandy.  She plays violin for a symphony in Zürich and has been here 23 years.  It was great to catch up.  I hadn't seen her since her wedding in CA, when I was 11. Now it's time to pack...i'd really like to return to Switzerland in summer, it's hard for me to imagine it not 0 degrees and snowing:)

High time for a post!

What an adventure it has been so far...I do not even know where to begin!!

Lessons learned thus far:

1.London cannot handle snow--I arrived a week ago after a GLORIOUS entire row to myself flight from SF and then had quite an adventure which included closed, severely delayed and suspended public transport.  After a nice walk in the snow with my belongings and many failed attempts with public phones I arrived at my destination..about 6 hours after landing (2 of which I spent on the runway after landing, though I am always appreciative of a safe landing:)).

2. Americans (well, Lauren) should not cross streets alone. They drive on the right. I still somehow do not know my left from my right, as was noted many times.

3. All museums in England are FREE!!! This is a dream for my short attention span because I got to come and go.  I really loved the National Gallery and the GIANT accordian that I got to see played by two people at the Tate Britian.

4. Europe is much older than the US.

5. Remember to call your bank before traveling, otherwise one gets completely cut off...thank you mom!

6. Rugby is a violent and amazing sport. I got to see England vs. Italy at Twikenham (spelled wrong)=amazing. British fans are THE MOST POLITE and civilzed sports fans I have ever seen. I almost enjoyed their composure and reading of "let's show our respect for the opposition and be good sports!" at the beginning of the game, more than the game itself, no offense rugby fans.

7. Europeans walk fast. I have no words for how much I love this.

8. Having friends abroad take you to their favorite spots really is so much better than going it alone:) I got to see two shows with Kristen and Lloyd--Avenue Q and The Birdcage, I love live shows and HIGHLY recommend Ave Q=muppets in a musical with dirty and hilarious humor. Thank you West End! Also, underground wine and tapas bar that would not be allowed in the US because they would break fire code, illuminated only by candles may be my new favourite place.

9. I am capable of not having coffee for over a week!! 

10. I am bad at using internet when traveling. Seeing new sites and old friends really overwhelms my time and makes me SOOO HAPPY!

11. Swiss keyboards really challenge me. Thezre designed for french and german= zes, just read this sentence and understand.

I apologize for the delay in updating!  I arrived in Zurich yesterday and was met at the aiport by Jessica and Rita (an old exchange student who I shared a room with for a year when I was 14).  We had an AMAZING swiss brunch with LOTS of cheese, local honey and fruit.  I got to see their house with is impressive, shaped like a giant A, made entirely of wood and truly awesome. Jessica had worked an all night shift in the hospital, so she slept while Rita took me around Baden and other medieval towns around their village.  After a dinner with Jessica and her med school friends (entirely in German, I feel SOOO ignorant) I spent a lovely late night with Roland and Jessica in Zurich.  Today was AMAZING.  To make a long story short, Jessica and I took the train up and around Interlaken, stopping in Luzerne to see old churchs...We saw the Eiger (impressive North Face), the Alps, many skiers (snowboarding evidently is no longer popular here)..many many trains, lakes, sights so beautiful they looked like christmas cards, not reality.  I lucked out having Jessica as my guide. I am currently stuffed, tired and content.  Roland made a traditional swiss meal of Roclette (I am sure this is spelled wrong), but it is a meal you cook on the table. it was fun, rich and delicious! I took photos, someday you can all understand.  

Until next time...I am safe and sound and utterly elated about life right now:)