I awoke ridiculously early, my legs on fire with itchiness from my mosquito run-in yesterday. The bites were so thick we actually questioned whether a mosquito could have done so much damage. It almost looked like I had a rash, but as the day wore on, it was clear that I’d simply been the victim of […]
Muddy, marshy, and freaking straight uphill. Norway doesn’t mess around with switchbacks. We parked and got to marching straight up the steep slope, occasionally pausing to dodge long stretches of awful mud. Ropes saturated with dingy runoff occasionally appeared to assist with ascending rockslides which were essentially waterfalls after yesterday’s rain. Wearing our lightweight running […]
As we continued our drive down the craggy coastline toward the end of the world the roads became more narrow and twisty. The pace was fast, as well. I couldn’t help but be a little nervous every time a camper or truck would appear in the distance – forcing both vehicles to pull as far […]
We drove on and on, the craggy mountains multiplied until the sheer magnitude of the place began to overwhelm us. It was so beautiful. “Wow…” we kept exclaiming in reverent tones as we drove. It was just so incredible. We darted into every roadside pull-off to take a picture and stare at the wonder ahead of us. […]
Our wild camp was a mosquito den, I ended up with dozens and dozens of bites after only a few minutes of wandering around camp as we took down. Later in the day, the lady at the tourist information desk told us that the mosquitoes were all gone for the season due to such cold […]
Though we’d hoped to sleep in a bit to make up for two late nights in a row, we were up early and on the road by 7:00. Darkness is still hard to come by in these parts. As the rain from last night broke up, the forest almost glowed in the morning light. The […]
We’ve been sleeping unusually late the past few days, sheltered from the incessant lightness by the window coverings in our hostel room. Today however, we were up ridiculously early to catch the ferry, even though we’d been up half the night processing photos and posting journal entries. The ferry boarding was slow and tedious and […]
Ben’s work schedule is still crammed full, so we made a quick outing for some breakfast this morning before Ben headed back to his computer, programming the day away. When I finally realized that I was on my own for the day, I packed myself a day bag and hopped on my bike. I was […]
Ben had another big work day on tap today, so I spent a good part of the morning wandering the old town on my own, browsing through souvenir shops and eating through a ridiculous pile of pastries. Touristy though it may be, old Tallinn is impressively charming and has been the perfect place for us […]
As we rolled into the old town of Tallinn, I felt like yesterday had never really ended. I was a little short on sleep. We quickly found our hostel where we’d reserved a private room for a few nights. Amazingly, our room was less expensive than our campground in Stockholm. All day I’ve been marveling […]
After a day spent visiting the wreckage of a giant ship, the fact that we were heading over to board our own enormous boat was a bit concerning. Our ferry to Estonia was essentially a cruise ship, designed to take us across the Baltic Sea overnight. Though many passengers travel in luxury on these boats, […]
This morning we packed up all our stuff in preparation for catching the ferry later this evening. Then, we headed into the center of Stockholm. I was thrilled to be on my bike instead of on the train and especially instead of walking. Even better, I was glad to have Ben with me. The morning […]