To The Most Northern Point in Europe!

our little audi, with a scenic background of course.

Thursday, September 20^th my friends Ashley, Emely (Germany) and Antonia (Germany) embarked the Hurtigruten once more, although I was the only second timer. Being that we left at 6:30pm and that their was crappy weather so our view was limited, it was easy to sleep through the night on the ship. The next afternoon, we got off in Honningsvåg. After discovering that our hostel was almost 3km out of town we decided to travel up through what seemed like the city centre of the town. We took a few pictures, shivered a lot, and made a quick stop in at the grocery store to discover that they had a 10kr deal on ice cream treats! So of course, even though it was freezing outside, we helped our self to some sweets:) We started our trek away from the port and walked and walked. After it seemed like too long, we came across this bus station, so we thought we would ask for more specific directions. Found out that we passed the hostel a ways back, and an incredibly nice bus driver took a bus—just for us four—to the hostel. Upon arrival, also an incredibly nice woman checked us into the rooms while telling us about free showers and breakfast. It was a cozy place, a very neat facility. We were able to pick from a movie selection of three; two children’s film or a movie with Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams, of course we picked the latter.

            The next morning, we came to a very elaborate breakfast: different kinds of bread, meat, fish foods, but most importantly yogurt, cereal, and being able to use a toaster. We definitely took advantage of what we were offered. We picked up our rental car, an Audi and a beaut was she, and began our journey North. Antonia’s friend had burnt her a “Norwegian” CD before coming to Norway, and we listened to the sweet, chill music. On the way up to Nordkapp (North Cape) there we in two smaller towns that were cute and cold. We saw reindeer! Lots of reindeer while we were on the northern peninsula and we frequently stopped to take pictures of the scenery. 

Upon Nordkapp, one paid an entrance fee to find a little building with a souvenir shop and café, the monument being outside through the building. It was fun because we ran into a large group of UiT ISU students traveling with four cars; it was nice to see some other friendly faces:) We took pictures with the monument, got some postcards, watched a film and made our stay worthwhile. On the way back we listened to the mix CD that was previously in the car and jammed out to a remix of the Titanic tune. Getting back that afternoon, we were very tired so we settled in and got cozy in the TV room. The lady from the hostel came in to bring us blankets and chocolate! She was already fantastic, but she became just so wonderful. It was quite a treat. After taking a long shower, sleep came easy knowing that we had to get up early so that we could catch the ship by 6:30am. The wonderful lady even put aside a breakfast just for us four so that we could have some good food in our tummies before we left. We made sure to leave some praise to her in the guest book; her eager helpfulness did not go unnoticed. Aboard the ship, we slept, we looked out to the sea, and we slept and looked out to the sea. There wasn’t much scenery in comparison to my Hurtigruten experience the previous weekend, and the weather wasn’t fit either.

            However, we were able in the late afternoon to stretch our legs in Hammerfest. We were there approximately an hour so we walked through the cute city centre and climbed atop a public hill and  took pictures with the polar bears sculptures that were visible from the bay. The rest of the boat ride  was not intriguing to be honest, and come 11:45pm we were grateful to pull into the port of Tromsø:) Home sweet home…for now. That night I caught up with Ali for about an hour, which was wonderful and then talked with Matthew until the good hour of three in the morning:)

            It was very nice being back yesterday; my day began Skyping Matt in the early morning and then with a long run. The colors are beginning to change and it is so very pretty, I love the fall. It was a really nice morning and it felt great getting out early. That afternoon I met Ashley for waffles in Café Bodega, always a treat; then continued to the grocery store for the staples: milk, eggs, bread, yogurt, and cheese. The rest of the night was quite chill--as most of  my day has been today. Again began Skyping the boy, followed by a run and workout, showered and continued to enjoy having this day to myself---and of course to catch up with my blog.   

           

Nordkapp
So finally I am all caught up and I again apologize for the delay in feedback, but all in all I am loving Norway. I discovered today that in about two weeks I will have reached the halfway point and that is crazy, scary, beyond exciting, overwhelming, and incredible. I can’t believe that I am here, still. Yes, it has been an experience, but I never would have imagined like this. On my run on Monday, I stopped in the middle of my run to walk by the bay. It was gorgeous, the mountains on the other side of the water, the reflections, the golden red leaves. It was nice to have a moment to take it all in, and the only thing I felt was gratitude—and the yearning to be able to share what I was viewing/feeling with everyone important at home. I constantly think of packing up, boarding the plane and arriving in the Fargo airport but I am sincerely enjoying my time here, too. Many mixed emotions, but mostly good. I am going to try my hardest to not take my time here for granted. I do love being here. Even though my heart is at home, I am happy. I am content. I think I found what I was looking for when I came here and that is comforting and exciting. Hopefully I will be able to update again in a few days, although I feel like a majority of my time will be spent catching up on the school that I have put aside recently to travel. But I don’t regret anything and I look forward to reading lots of articles! Until next time, have a wonderful day! And thank you for reading:)