Our Holiday Vacation and Winter Update

As we are in our last few months here, we are still continuing to learn as new seasons bring new lessons. I am still waiting for this crazy winter weather that everyone talks about...it has yet to come. I may be eating my words when it does but until then.. This is a very mild winter. The temperature has been in the 20's, 30's, 40's. For quite a while it would snow but then eventually it would melt. Then a fresh coat would come again. This is what was causing so much ice. I actually prefer the snow to just the ice. This past week it has snowed pretty consistently so the snow is finally starting to really stack up. It was perfect for us to try skiing this weekend at the Kongsberg Skisenter. I will have a special blog for that. We had a lot of fun.  I still run outside even in the snow, but that could change if the weather gets too much colder or the snow piles even more. I find it funny that people always say, "oh you are in Norway it must be soooo cold" when in actuality it is not that bad. I thought Berlin was MUCH colder, and there are days it is colder in Slidell, LA than here. Like I've said I may eat my words in a couple weeks. We don't have much wind here so that probably helps. I am actually enjoying the experience and the spice the snow and ice bring to our lives. I have never been so careful walking in my life, and it is probably a good thing for me. I am much more aware of my surroundings. I did have my first big fall at the beginning of Winter. I was feeling extremely confident after going to work out and going to get groceries. I got too confident for 2 seconds to long, and I was on the hard ice before I could even react- considering I had both hands with grocery bags in them. I had the biggest most painful bruise I have ever had ( no exaggeration). It still hurts when I lay on that side, but is getting better. You sure do learn quick. The skies have been just beyond beautiful here, especially at sunset. There was one day that I thought I was seeing some sort of Northern Light Phenomenon, but it was another phenomenon called Nacreous Clouds (Pearlized). It was so amazing. I encourage everyone to look them up, and I have pictures below.

Sunrise! 

Nacreous Clouds

Beautiful colors at sunset ( this is our street where we live) 

Train Station

One of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen! So many different colors!

Our Christmas was quite lovely in Kongsberg. We had a great Christmas Eve making Christmas treats, and making lots of fun foods to eat at night. We watched movies and toasted with glass bottled julebrus. We facetimed all of the family multiple times and it was so nice. It made it seem like we were more a part of their day too. We got to spend a good part of Christmas day at Church and then we took part in a big dinner there surrounded by people. We then prepared for our trip that night!

Christmas Tree in Church Square

BERLIN- Our first stop on our holiday trip was Berlin. We were so excited to go there as it is a city of history, but we were mostly looking forward to experiencing the German Christmas Markets. They were totally worth it. We went to several as they are all over the city. There were sooooo many Christmas lights all over the city as well. It was so impressive. The inside of their malls were even miraculous with giant Christmas trees and lights everywhere.  I couldn't wrap my head around it to be honest. I think we went to a total of 7 different markets and revisited some of them. They all had food stands, drink stands, many people selling different items, ice skating, games, live performances etc. There was one market that provides tubes for you to ride down a icy slope. I thought they were magical, especially at night. Of course, I feel the pictures don't do it justice!

 

 

Slope you could slide down!

Inside of a Mall

Performance at one of the markets

Like I said before it was sooo cold there, mostly because there was wind. I remember telling Kevin--"I don't think I have ever been this cold in my life." (I know, so dramatic). It actually snowed 5 inches that last night we were there so we thought the Christmas markets were even prettier covered in snow.  The bright side was that when we were outside there was an abundance of warm delicious drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). I did love the glühwein (mulled wine), but I have to say that my favorite drink was by far was the eierpunsch (egg punch) which was a mixture of white wine and egg liquor. It was just divine. There was one market that had barrels you could go in to drink and warm up! They had their own heaters. It was fun, and a great way to warm up.

Our nice warm barrel

 

 

Eierpunsch, Gluhwein, and Feurzangenbowle (another version of gluhwein)

We also indulged in the delicious German food (Kevin was just in love). It was seriously beyond good. We ate pork knuckle, bratwurst, wienerschnitzel, steak sandwiches etc. AND Kevin's new favorite...Currywurst. (Don't knock it until you try it.) This is basically meat with a ketchup sauce that includes Worcestershire sauce and curry seasoning. It really is good. We got to make it to the Löwenbräu Haus and also Haufbräu Haus, so we indulged some more in delicious beer in giant beer steins to bring us back to Oktoberfest.

The best filled Pita we ever had!

Currywurst

Weinerschnitzel

Pork Knuckle 

 

We went on a free walking tour in Berlin that we LOVED. We had a great guide, and learned so much about the city. The Holocaust Memorial was moving, and just down the street is a parking lot above the bunker where Hitler killed himself (Fuhrer Bunker). The story behind all of that was very fascinating, and the parking lot was less then average with dog shit in it (the way it should be). We went to a couple museums were we learned more about WWII.  There was a church called Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church that was never reconstructed after it was damaged in the war. The building is still standing there as a memorial hall, and you can go in and look around. It is only a portion of the church that was once huge. It was very beautiful, and they did rebuild the church as a completely different building. It was just very interesting to see it in the middle of all that has been rebuilt. The Berliner Dom was also very beautiful and we enjoyed visiting it. We also learned a lot about the Berlin Wall and events that occurred at that time. We saw a part of the wall within the inner part of the city, and also went to the east side gallery which is a very large stretch of the wall that now has art and graffiti painted on it in different sections. It is really interesting. Brandenburg gate is also huge and beautiful, and they were preparing for their fireworks display while we were there. We were able to get some beautiful things from the German Christmas markets and we can't wait to share. It was such a wonderful experience!

Holocaust Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

 

Berliner Dom

East Side Gallery- Berlin Wall

 

Kaimer Wilhelm Memorial Church

 

 

Ampelmann!

 

Hotel Adlon- Where Michael Jackson dangled his baby out of the window!

PARIS--Our next stop was Paris. Oh Paris. I think gorgeous better describes it than beautiful. I knew it would be beautiful, but I didn't know HOW beautiful it truly was. I was truly taken back at points. We were there during the New Years Eve celebration, so it was one of their busiest times of the year. Everything we went to was crowded, which was of course expected. We went on another free walking tour there, which was another success. We had a great guide, and she brought us to all of the hot spots and told us great stories. We learned a lot about King Louis XIV (The Sun King)...he was quite an interesting person. We made the trip to outside the city to see the Palace of Versailles. OMG. That is all I can truly say. It was spectacular and over the top beautiful. I would love to go back when the garden is in full bloom. I truly was in awe of the place. The hall of mirrors was so beautiful, and the detail to everything was hard to fathom. We were so happy we made the trip there. It was definitely one of our highlights. I only have pictures from my iPhone below as I took too many on my camera to sift through at this moment!

Palace of Versailles

 

 

The Hall of Mirrors

We went to the Louvre, where I had done my research before hand at the things we wanted to see there since it is just beyond gigantic. The building itself it just beautiful and it is MASSIVE.  Of course we wanted to see the Mona Lisa, mostly to make sure we checked it off the list. The crowd of people to get a to the front to see it and take a picture was the craziest thing I have ever seen. Seriously a sea of people. I sacrificed myself, and eventually made it to the front. It is not as big of a painting as I pictured but it was still nice to see.

Louvre Pyramid

 

Mona Lisa

We loved all of the beautiful architecture in the city, the buildings, the churches..everything. Our two favorite things to do in any city is to look at churches and castles. So of course the churches here were gorgeous- Notre Dame Cathedral, Basilica Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart), and the Holy Chapel were all phenomenal. The pictures are below, and they truly don't do them justice. We also went to the Hotel des Invalides and saw Napoleon's Tomb.  The view from Sacre Coeur was was so nice, because it is the highest point in the city. The area Montmartre was so nice with the Place du Terre where famous painters use to sell their work and painters still do to this day. The Holy Chapel is lined with 13th Century Stained glass that tell biblical stories. It was gorgeous! Notre Dame Cathedral was of course larger and more beautiful than imagined, one of our favorites!

Notre Dame Cathedral

 

 

Sacre Coeur

 

View from Sacre Coeur

Pictures from the Holy Chapel 

Napoleon's Tomb

We also (of course) had to do the Eiffel Tower. We decided ahead of time to do the stairs, which was not too bad! The views from just the second floor were beyond gorgeous. I think I enjoyed just staring at the Eiffel Tower itself even more. At night, it glittered with sparkling lights for a few minutes at the beginning of every hour--which was just beautiful. We also went to the top of the Arc du Triomphe, and got a wonderful view of the "City of lights." Seeing the Eiffel Tower from a far and getting a great view of the Champs Elysees. This was lit up beautifully at night! We also enjoyed a cruise on the River Seine at night, which was awesome. 

 

Eiffel Tower during the Lights show!

Arch du Triomphe

 

Champs Elysees

Champs Elysees

 

View from Eiffel Tower

 

Seine River

Our New Year's Eve was wonderful but also quite the experience. We made reservations at a small quaint restaurant near our hotel. I read that it is better to eat outside the city center since most places will raise the prices tremendously; which was certainly true! The owners of the restaurant were very sweet--though we definitely had a language barrier, ha. We had a traditional french meal, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Our plan was to head out to Champs Elysees. This is the place to go to see the light/fireworks show as you see the Arc du triomphe at the end of the road and can see the Eiffel Tower in the near distance. The subways were beyond crazy. It is really hard to explain just how insane they were. Kevin and I got separated and we were so packed I felt like my feet were not even on the floor. It was impossible to get off at the stop we had planned on getting off at because more people were packing on. When we finally get to the stop that is the most popular I was shoved off into a sea of people.  I honestly understand how people can get stampeded now. Long story short- The police had just shut off the exits which is why there were so many people. We were on a mission to try to get to the other side to get on a subway back to where we originally wanted to go. It was a mad house, and I don't understand how no one else thought to do what we did. Anyway, after that craziness, we found a lovely spot at the end of Champs Elysees that was higher than the street so we had a full view of the street, Arch, and Eiffel Tower. We had champagne flutes and opened a bottle along with the people around us :) It was lovely and beautiful, and so enjoyable to be there with my love. It was wonderful, and not too crowded (once we got there of course).

 

 

HOLLAND- Our last stop of the trip was in Holland! :) We stayed on a houseboat called Anna Houseboat owned by a couple. There are two nice rooms on the boat that they rent out and it was so lovely! We truly loved it. They sat down with us and went over a map, highlighting all the of the things they recommended and the easiest way to get places. They were a very nice couple. It did not even feel like we were on a boat at all! :) We also did another free walking tour there, and our guide brought us all around the city. Amsterdam is not huge so you can walk most anywhere. It is such a beautiful city with canals running through it everywhere. We learned a lot about the red light district and many other things from our guide. It was extremely informational and he was quite funny. He invited us all to join him at a Traditional Dutch restaurant after the tour, and we decided to join in. It was delicious. Kevin had a giant pancake (very common for Dutch to eat them for dinner) that included bacon and cheese. He was happy. I had Stamppot, which in another traditional plate that included meat, veggies, and potatoes. We also tried bitterballen while we were there-- so delicious! I also discovered my new favorite kind of cookie later on in the trip which is called stroopwafels (awesome). We were also greeted with oileballen when we got to the Dutch airport, basically a dutch doughnut. We thought that was an awesome welcome! We really enjoyed the Dutch food while we were there!

Anna Houseboat-- Our Houseboat for a few days! 

 

Giant Pancake

Stamppot

Bitterballen

 

Both Pictures from the Red Light District

We went on a half day trip one of our days there that took us through the Dutch country side where we went to Zaanse Schans windmills, and two traditional fisherman villages Volendam and Marken. This allowed us to see other parts of Holland and go inside windmills, go to a real Wooden shoe Factory, and a Cheese Factory. The Windmills were in Zaanse Schans and they were so beautiful. They were larger than I imagined and we got to go into two of them, one was cutting wood and the other was making mustard. Each windmill there was making something different, for example one was also making paint. It was so neat to be inside and have someone explain how they worked. The day we went it was very windy, so the owner was in a happy mood! We also went to Marken where the Wooden Shoe Factory.  We actually had a young man make a wooden shoe right in front of us. It was fun to see, and there were a few machines that helped him and hollowed out the shoe. We walked through Marken and then took a boat to Volendam, another small old fisherman's village. We went to the cheese factory there where there was a demonstration and then we tried a lot of different cheeses. We also went to a traditional dutch restaurant where they served fresh fish and other dutch foods. It was very good. We got to tour the city as well. The stores and houses were so cute, and mostly wooden.  It was great tour, and we were very happy that we were able to go.

 

 

Wooden Shoe Factory

 

Marken

Marken

Volendam 

 

I have to say one of my favorite things that we did  in Amsterdam was the Anne Frank House. I actually read the unedited version of her diary before going. It was very moving. We went into the church near as well called Westerkerk (biggest church in Amsterdam). This is the church that she could here the bells from that she mentions in her story. There was also another church that we made it to called Oude Church (old church) which is the oldest church in Amsterdam from the 13th century.  They both were huge and very pretty. We also went on a cruise through the canals in Amsterdam and it was beautiful! We went on our last day, and the sky was clear and sun was shining so it was perfect. The Heineken Experience was also a must, and a lot of fun. We also enjoyed going to different places to try different beers from the area.  The Red Light district was definitely interesting, and I think it was a neat experience.  By the end of our trip we were so exhausted! We both ended up getting sick, our last day we muscled through. We were both in bad shape the whole next week though. ha. It was worth it to us.  It was such a wonderful experience and trip!

Anne Frank House-- Building where they went into hiding

Westerkerk

Old building in Town

 

 


As our time is coming to an end soon, I will update on our last couple months. We will be going to our friends cabin at the beginning of February with some of our friends. The cabin is up in a mountain about three hours from Kongsberg. We are excited to go. This is a very Norwegian thing to do. They all escape to their cabins often. We will most likely be skiing the entire time, probably cross country. On February 19th we leave for Iceland and Ryan Schuller comes to visit! He will join us in Iceland and then Norway after. I then leave for Budapest, Hungary that next Thursday for a Girl's Trip. I went to a Girl's Night a couple weeks ago and after quite a few bottle of wine by the five of us we decided to plan a trip. There were credit cards out on the counter and it was booked the same night! haha. I guess that is what happens when you go to a girls night in Europe. One of our friends lived in Budapest for two years so she is going to be our tour guide! It is going to be awesome! We will then have a few more weeks in Norway and then we leave! Italy, New York, and then home to Slidell on March 29th. Kevin has requested Buffalo Wild Wings be our first stop in Slidell when we get back. He is ready for some wings and beer! ha. Miss all of you!