I just got back from 15 days frolicking around. I visited London, England; Oslo, Norway and Bursa, Turkey. I decided against backpacking by myself around Europe and instead visited friends that were living/studying in this area. It was a fantastic trip, great time with friends, and I loved every minute.
London
I arrived in London on the 22nd of April after some 12 hours or so of travel. I would suggest taking the Eurostar because it is so much better than flying (I left Beaugency at 7am and arrived in London at 5pm GST, if I had taken the Eurostar I would have arrived in around 3 hours....). Anywho, met up with Christina, an old high school friend who is living/studying in London. We strolled along the Thames (pronounced "Tims") with excellent views of Big Ben and parliament.
23rd April: I went to the British Museum, which hosts a collection of mummies (including that of Cleopatra) among other interesting artifacts. One thing I loved about London was that almost all of the museums were free. I then headed to Covent Garden to meet up with Julien's aunt and cousins, who were in London helping Julien's cousin move-in to complete an internship in international business. It was a strange sensation, because I have grown so accustomed to hearing and speaking French and then translating French to English, but with Julien's family it was hearing and speaking English and translating that into French. My brain was pretty confused. We strolled around the Covent Garden shopping area and stumbled upon a theater that was hosting Mylie Cyrus/Hannah Montana's movie premiere. There were tons of teenage girls screaming and waiting for Mylie Cyrus to show up. (In case you don't know, she's a disney teen star, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart" one hit wonder from the 90s). Julien's young cousin wanted to stick around so she could take pictures to show to her friends back home, so we stood around acting silly (pretending we were super stars ourselves) before I had to leave to meet Chris for dinner.
Friday 24th April: I got up and headed to Buckingham palace to see the infamous changing of the guard. In all honesty, I think this was the worst part of my trip: way too many people, the sun beating down, and being that I am short, I couldn't see anything. I ended up just leaving early and hanging out in a park reading a book. I then headed towards Trafalgar square, but before reaching it I got distracted by a film crew and actors in Victorian style costumes. From there I headed to Westminster Abbey and Parliament before making my way back towards Trafalgar square and the National Gallery. I saw a painting I remembered studying in a fine arts class, the Arnolfini marriage, which is cool because you can see the artist in the mirror that's behind the couple. That evening, Christina was hosting a party for her department in a cute garden (and the Brits were surprised that the weather was nice enough to have a party outside) and I got to meet her friends and other students pursuing masters/phDs at the University of London. It even sparked my interest in their School for Orient and African Studies. so who knows, maybe I will be in London getting a masters sometime soon?
Saturday 25th April: After a classic English lunch of fish and chips, Christina and I headed to an afternoon one-man play at the Little Vic. The play ("I can see the hills") was quite good; a funny, sad, serious, interesting story of growing up and being a teenager. We then headed to southern London to spend time with Christina's boyfriend, Chris, before calling it an early night.
Sunday 26th April: We picnicked in a park near Chris' house before heading to a museum that had just about everything you could want from a museum: natural history, artifacts, and an aquarium. And it was free too. We finished off the evening at a pub in Camden, which is an eclectic, artsy part of London.
Monday 27 April: On my last day in London, the weather decided to take a turn, or to perhaps return to normal London weather: rainy, windy and cold. I headed to the Tower of London, the only museum where I had to pay ($15, thank goodness the dollar was the best it has been against the pound in a long time), but was well worth it. Each tower had different displays, the crown jewels, the armor of Henry the 8th, the bloody stories of the deaths of Anne Boleyn and other traitors of the state, and general medieval living that occurred in the time the tower was used as a castle. I then headed to St. Paul's cathedral (featured in the Da Vinci Code) before calling it a night.
Oslo
Tuesday 28 April: I flew from London Stansted airport to Oslo Torp airport where I was finally struck with the fact that I was visiting a country where I didn't speak a word of the language. I managed to buy a train ticket and get to the Oslo train station where I met Karen, a friend I met in Ghana (read any of the posts from Ghana, I am sure I talked about her).
Wednesday 29 April: We headed to the Royal Palace, just a short walk from Karen's apartment. It was a lot more low key than Buckingham and the royal guards actually speak to you. There was some sort of event with the Canadian government that was going down, so hence all the maple leaf flags everywhere. We passed the National Theater which had a statue of Henrik Ibsen (the writer of "a doll's house," a play about being a woman in the victorian age that I read in high school). We then headed to the National Gallery to see the Scream painting and the Madonna, both of which were recently stolen. Munch, the painter, made multiple copies of the same pieces and many of them were in the museum. I really like the Scream, I feel like I can sometimes relate to it, that feeling of despair or frustration that you hold inside but you want to let out. We then went to the harbour, had some expensive ice cream (5 USD for a cone). After that we visited a fort that overlooks the harbour and the City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is given. The whole day was the day of dance, so we got to see lots of free performances in the streets including some interesting modern dance and pole dancers in the metro. We made traditional Norweigan meatballs for dinner.
Thursday 30 April: I got up early and headed to the Nobel Peace Prize museum. You could literally spend days here; there are tons of films about the history of the prize and the recipients, a whole display on last year's winner, and then a room full of screens that are motion activated that have information, quotes, and other facts about all of the winners. If that wasn't enough, you can go to a room with a giant screen and pick which winners you want to learn about using a giant computer screen. I spent a lot of time there learning about all these amazing people and their neverending devotion to peace. I ate a 9 USD sandwich and then took a train to Ås (pronounced "Os") where Siri, another friend from Ghana, is studying environmental development at the university. There was some sort of team building activity going on before labor day, so there were people in interesting outfits doing crazy activities, like milk jug throwing contests, 3 legged races, constructing pipelines, and log sawing. It was quite fun and I got to meet some of Siri's friends.
Friday 1 May: Labor Day, so Siri, Karen and I headed from Ås to Oslo (we had to wait a while for the train, so we played cards - brought back the memories of Ghana). We visited the Vigeland statue Park, which was awesome. Side note: the weather was in the high 70s and sunny, certainly not what I was expecting from Norway, so everyone was outside sunbathing. After the statue park, we went to the Viking Ship museum, which was crazy to see ships that could have traveled all the way across the Atlantic long before the English started their colonial campaigns. Crazy. Since the weather was nice we decided to have a bbq in the park where we played more cards and petanque (a French game with balls, quite fun) and frisbee before heading back to Karen's place and playing cards til 2 in the morning. I loved visiting these friends I hadn't seen in 3 years and liked that we just fell right back into normalcy despite the length of time we hadn't seen each other.
Turkey
Saturday 2 May: I left Karen's apartment at 4:30 in the morning to head to the airport. I flew Austrian airlines, which was really nice (they gave meals on the flights) so I had a lay-over in Austria (and those jerks stamped my passport, even though I never left the airport). I arrived in Istanbul around 4:30, but had to stand in a ridiculous line to get a visa and to pass through passport control. After some confusion (once again, in a country where I don't speak the language), I took the metro to the bus station to take a bus to Bursa, where I was to meet Ryan (another friend from Ghana). The bus was really nice, they offered you tea and coffee throughout the trip, and we crossed Marmara sea via ferry.
Sunday 3 May: Ryan is living and teaching English in Bursa, a city of about 2 million people. We had brunch with some of his adult students who were really interesting and sweet. We then wandered Bursa, checking out the mosque, and the tombs of the founders of the Ottoman empire. That night we went to a mosque to see the whirling dervishes, Sufi followers who spin in the direction of the earth and are searching for the Muslim equivalent of Nirvana, to be one with Allah. It was an interesting experience, especially at the end when this old woman came up to me, smiling and pinching my cheeks and touching my hair. It appeared that a lot of Turks had never seen a black person before and were thus extremely intrigued or confused by me. I have never been stared at so much in my life.
Monday 4 May: I tried to go to the Bursa city museum, but it was closed, so instead I went to the Grand Bazaar, an overwhelming indoor shopping area with anything and everything you could possibly ask for. Getting circumcised? there are little outfits for boys to wear when this happens (I was thinking 4 or 5 was a bit old for circumcision, but it is really a rite of passage ceremony). We then headed to the Islamic art center, which is housed in an old hammam and had beautiful calligraphy. We went to a tea house for a jam session of authentic Turkish music with Turkish instruments. A pause: tea is a really big tradition in Turkey, when you enter a store youre offered tea and when you meet up with friends its only proper to have tea and after meals too. I am pretty sure this day I had the most tea, at least 10 cups, if not more. whoa. After the jam session I went to one of Ryan's classes, with the students that had treated us to brunch, and they gave me cute gifts which I thought was so sweet.
Tuesday 5 May: Ryan and I headed up hill to a 600 year old tree in Inkaya for breakfast. We ended up waiting a while for a bus, so we did it up Ghana style and sang musicals til it arrived. We then went to Culture park for a stroll and then inside of the big mosque in town. That night we watched a Turkish film that was really good. Spending time with Ryan was awesome. He has really done well in Bursa, making lots of friends and learning a lot of Turkish. He knew everyone, it seemed, and we were often invited to tea or free food in shops because he had so many friends. Speaking of food, Ryan really wanted me to try everything, so we did. I tried Turkish pastries, Turkish cheeses that reminded me of string cheese and feta, real kebab, Bursa's speciality Ishkender kabab with yogurt sauce, yogurt beverages, baklava, Turkish style loaded baked potatoes, and Turkish breakfasts. Bursa itself was an interesting city, right in the heart of the mountains, it was neither hot nor too cold. I would love to get to Turkey again because of all of the history that lies within its borders. I used to think that Peru was the best country that I have vistited because it has everything you could want: beach, history, desert, mountains, intriguing culture. But Turkey has that too... I wish I had more time to explore the rest of this awesome nation.
Wednesday 6 May: Woke up at 5 to catch the 7:30 ferry across the Marmara Sea to get back to Istanbul. I had a full plate of things to see, so I had to start early. I wandered around looking for my hostel, dropped my stuff, then went to Hagia Sophia, the Orthodox cathedral built in the 500s by Emperor Justinian (when Instanbul was Constantinople). I was a little disappointed by this place, and it was the one I was looking most forward to. It had been turned into a mosque, so lots of Arabic script everywhere, and there was scaffolding everywhere too, and lots of people. I then headed to Topkapi palace, which I loved. It was so huge and gorgeous. There were displays of Sultan uniforms and outfits, religious relics such as the footprint of Muhammad when he ascended into heaven, and gorgeous pieces of jewelry. Crowded, but big enough to avoid the groups, I spent the most time here, wondering around in awe. I then headed to the Blue Mosque, which was gorgeous on the outside and small but still beautiful on the inside. A turkish family asked me to be in a picture with them. Strange. I got extremely lost in the Grand Bazaar, which after seeing the one in Bursa wasn't quite worth it, before getting a much needed rub-down in a Hammam (by this point I had been walking the whole 2 weeks and my feet and body were killing me). Called it an early night in the hostel and left the next morning for Vienna and then Paris. I was excited to be in a country where I could understand what was going on, and I realized that France has become a bit of my second home.
Saturday 25th April: After a classic English lunch of fish and chips, Christina and I headed to an afternoon one-man play at the Little Vic. The play ("I can see the hills") was quite good; a funny, sad, serious, interesting story of growing up and being a teenager. We then headed to southern London to spend time with Christina's boyfriend, Chris, before calling it an early night.
Sunday 26th April: We picnicked in a park near Chris' house before heading to a museum that had just about everything you could want from a museum: natural history, artifacts, and an aquarium. And it was free too. We finished off the evening at a pub in Camden, which is an eclectic, artsy part of London.
Monday 27 April: On my last day in London, the weather decided to take a turn, or to perhaps return to normal London weather: rainy, windy and cold. I headed to the Tower of London, the only museum where I had to pay ($15, thank goodness the dollar was the best it has been against the pound in a long time), but was well worth it. Each tower had different displays, the crown jewels, the armor of Henry the 8th, the bloody stories of the deaths of Anne Boleyn and other traitors of the state, and general medieval living that occurred in the time the tower was used as a castle. I then headed to St. Paul's cathedral (featured in the Da Vinci Code) before calling it a night.
Oslo
Tuesday 28 April: I flew from London Stansted airport to Oslo Torp airport where I was finally struck with the fact that I was visiting a country where I didn't speak a word of the language. I managed to buy a train ticket and get to the Oslo train station where I met Karen, a friend I met in Ghana (read any of the posts from Ghana, I am sure I talked about her).
Wednesday 29 April: We headed to the Royal Palace, just a short walk from Karen's apartment. It was a lot more low key than Buckingham and the royal guards actually speak to you. There was some sort of event with the Canadian government that was going down, so hence all the maple leaf flags everywhere. We passed the National Theater which had a statue of Henrik Ibsen (the writer of "a doll's house," a play about being a woman in the victorian age that I read in high school). We then headed to the National Gallery to see the Scream painting and the Madonna, both of which were recently stolen. Munch, the painter, made multiple copies of the same pieces and many of them were in the museum. I really like the Scream, I feel like I can sometimes relate to it, that feeling of despair or frustration that you hold inside but you want to let out. We then went to the harbour, had some expensive ice cream (5 USD for a cone). After that we visited a fort that overlooks the harbour and the City Hall where the Nobel Peace Prize is given. The whole day was the day of dance, so we got to see lots of free performances in the streets including some interesting modern dance and pole dancers in the metro. We made traditional Norweigan meatballs for dinner.
Thursday 30 April: I got up early and headed to the Nobel Peace Prize museum. You could literally spend days here; there are tons of films about the history of the prize and the recipients, a whole display on last year's winner, and then a room full of screens that are motion activated that have information, quotes, and other facts about all of the winners. If that wasn't enough, you can go to a room with a giant screen and pick which winners you want to learn about using a giant computer screen. I spent a lot of time there learning about all these amazing people and their neverending devotion to peace. I ate a 9 USD sandwich and then took a train to Ås (pronounced "Os") where Siri, another friend from Ghana, is studying environmental development at the university. There was some sort of team building activity going on before labor day, so there were people in interesting outfits doing crazy activities, like milk jug throwing contests, 3 legged races, constructing pipelines, and log sawing. It was quite fun and I got to meet some of Siri's friends.
Friday 1 May: Labor Day, so Siri, Karen and I headed from Ås to Oslo (we had to wait a while for the train, so we played cards - brought back the memories of Ghana). We visited the Vigeland statue Park, which was awesome. Side note: the weather was in the high 70s and sunny, certainly not what I was expecting from Norway, so everyone was outside sunbathing. After the statue park, we went to the Viking Ship museum, which was crazy to see ships that could have traveled all the way across the Atlantic long before the English started their colonial campaigns. Crazy. Since the weather was nice we decided to have a bbq in the park where we played more cards and petanque (a French game with balls, quite fun) and frisbee before heading back to Karen's place and playing cards til 2 in the morning. I loved visiting these friends I hadn't seen in 3 years and liked that we just fell right back into normalcy despite the length of time we hadn't seen each other.
Turkey
Saturday 2 May: I left Karen's apartment at 4:30 in the morning to head to the airport. I flew Austrian airlines, which was really nice (they gave meals on the flights) so I had a lay-over in Austria (and those jerks stamped my passport, even though I never left the airport). I arrived in Istanbul around 4:30, but had to stand in a ridiculous line to get a visa and to pass through passport control. After some confusion (once again, in a country where I don't speak the language), I took the metro to the bus station to take a bus to Bursa, where I was to meet Ryan (another friend from Ghana). The bus was really nice, they offered you tea and coffee throughout the trip, and we crossed Marmara sea via ferry.
Sunday 3 May: Ryan is living and teaching English in Bursa, a city of about 2 million people. We had brunch with some of his adult students who were really interesting and sweet. We then wandered Bursa, checking out the mosque, and the tombs of the founders of the Ottoman empire. That night we went to a mosque to see the whirling dervishes, Sufi followers who spin in the direction of the earth and are searching for the Muslim equivalent of Nirvana, to be one with Allah. It was an interesting experience, especially at the end when this old woman came up to me, smiling and pinching my cheeks and touching my hair. It appeared that a lot of Turks had never seen a black person before and were thus extremely intrigued or confused by me. I have never been stared at so much in my life.
Monday 4 May: I tried to go to the Bursa city museum, but it was closed, so instead I went to the Grand Bazaar, an overwhelming indoor shopping area with anything and everything you could possibly ask for. Getting circumcised? there are little outfits for boys to wear when this happens (I was thinking 4 or 5 was a bit old for circumcision, but it is really a rite of passage ceremony). We then headed to the Islamic art center, which is housed in an old hammam and had beautiful calligraphy. We went to a tea house for a jam session of authentic Turkish music with Turkish instruments. A pause: tea is a really big tradition in Turkey, when you enter a store youre offered tea and when you meet up with friends its only proper to have tea and after meals too. I am pretty sure this day I had the most tea, at least 10 cups, if not more. whoa. After the jam session I went to one of Ryan's classes, with the students that had treated us to brunch, and they gave me cute gifts which I thought was so sweet.
Tuesday 5 May: Ryan and I headed up hill to a 600 year old tree in Inkaya for breakfast. We ended up waiting a while for a bus, so we did it up Ghana style and sang musicals til it arrived. We then went to Culture park for a stroll and then inside of the big mosque in town. That night we watched a Turkish film that was really good. Spending time with Ryan was awesome. He has really done well in Bursa, making lots of friends and learning a lot of Turkish. He knew everyone, it seemed, and we were often invited to tea or free food in shops because he had so many friends. Speaking of food, Ryan really wanted me to try everything, so we did. I tried Turkish pastries, Turkish cheeses that reminded me of string cheese and feta, real kebab, Bursa's speciality Ishkender kabab with yogurt sauce, yogurt beverages, baklava, Turkish style loaded baked potatoes, and Turkish breakfasts. Bursa itself was an interesting city, right in the heart of the mountains, it was neither hot nor too cold. I would love to get to Turkey again because of all of the history that lies within its borders. I used to think that Peru was the best country that I have vistited because it has everything you could want: beach, history, desert, mountains, intriguing culture. But Turkey has that too... I wish I had more time to explore the rest of this awesome nation.
Wednesday 6 May: Woke up at 5 to catch the 7:30 ferry across the Marmara Sea to get back to Istanbul. I had a full plate of things to see, so I had to start early. I wandered around looking for my hostel, dropped my stuff, then went to Hagia Sophia, the Orthodox cathedral built in the 500s by Emperor Justinian (when Instanbul was Constantinople). I was a little disappointed by this place, and it was the one I was looking most forward to. It had been turned into a mosque, so lots of Arabic script everywhere, and there was scaffolding everywhere too, and lots of people. I then headed to Topkapi palace, which I loved. It was so huge and gorgeous. There were displays of Sultan uniforms and outfits, religious relics such as the footprint of Muhammad when he ascended into heaven, and gorgeous pieces of jewelry. Crowded, but big enough to avoid the groups, I spent the most time here, wondering around in awe. I then headed to the Blue Mosque, which was gorgeous on the outside and small but still beautiful on the inside. A turkish family asked me to be in a picture with them. Strange. I got extremely lost in the Grand Bazaar, which after seeing the one in Bursa wasn't quite worth it, before getting a much needed rub-down in a Hammam (by this point I had been walking the whole 2 weeks and my feet and body were killing me). Called it an early night in the hostel and left the next morning for Vienna and then Paris. I was excited to be in a country where I could understand what was going on, and I realized that France has become a bit of my second home.
Travels around Europe
