Picture of the Day, London

London, England -- August, 2010

Fully aware that their left-side driving utterly confuses most visitors, many of London's crosswalks come complete with instructions on which way to look for oncoming traffic. It may seem quite silly, but it was actually very useful, and a quick way to ensure you would not be run over.

Picture of the Day, London

London, England -- August, 2010

Part of the base of the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens in London. It appeared on May 1st, 1912, along with a message from J.M. Barrie in The Times:

"There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning. Down by the little bay on the south-western side of the tail of the Serpentine they will find a May-day gift by Mr J.M. Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around. It is the work of Sir George Frampton, and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived."

You can read more about it here.

Picture of the Day, Hamburg

Hamburg, Germany -- July, 2011

The view from the tower of Nikolaikirche, which is now a memorial for the bombing of Hamburg in WWII.

Picture of the Day, Pompeii

Pompeii, Italy -- October, 2011

Adventure time -- woo!!

Picture of the [other] Day, Munich

Munich, Germany -- July, 2011

34/35 ain't too bad I suppose.....had to miss one at some point....How embarrassing!!! Anyway, this is the photo that was supposed to go up on the 24th, and I apparently forgot to set it up. It's lovely Amber, in a lovely park, in lovely Munich. With lovely flowers. And a Mike's Bike Tours & Rentals brochure. The day was good, our packs were heavy, and I'm certain we ended up with ice cream at one time or another. Doesn't Amber look ecstatic that I have my camera out? I think so......

Picture of the Day, Füssen

Füssen, Germany -- July, 2011

Not a lot to say here, just a pretty picture of the mountains around Füssen in Germany. We were on our way up to see the 'Disney' castle, Neuschwanstein.

Picture of the Day, Tallinn

Tallinn, Estonia -- June, 2011

Stop. Hammertime. This was one of our final parties in Tallinn -- a beer tasting party (no worries, there was also plenty of cola for the Jennsters). And here I am, dancing, which Jakaria and Kevin chill on the coach. Just so you know, I was not dancing alone the whole night, but no one seemed quite so eager to dance as I was, at least at first. Later in the evening, I pulled a Jenny and took a nap on the couch (doesn't it look comfortable). In my defense, the party didn't end until 3:00 AM, which is well passed my best functioning hours.

When the party ended, though, I was wide wake again! most of us started walking home, and in June the sun is always pretty near, so Tallinn never really gets completely dark. The city was quiet, and was almost  'glowing' lightly. We stopped at a park and climbed the rope jungle gym. Then, around 4, hastened to the shore to watch the sunrise.

I wish I had had my camera then; the sunrise was so beautiful, glinting golden on the gentle waves. We just sat and watched it rise for a long while -- one of my favorite moments from DILL.

Picture of the Day, St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Russa -- May, 2011

St. Isaac's is the largest cathedral in St. Petersburg. I wouldn't say it was my favorite, but it was mighty impressive, especially the massive red marble columns. This really wasn't on our to-do list to see, but as we were rushin' (get it, Russian! PUN) around, we stumbled upon it -- as with most of the beautiful domed cathedrals we found on our trip.

Picture of the Day, Oxford

Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, England -- August, 2010

Prior to arriving in Oslo back in 2010, I made a three-day stop in London. I asked Audra (who had been there before) if there was anywhere she thought I should go, and she suggested checking out Oxford. I took the train (woo!) and spent the day walking around, checking out awesome buildings, sitting in a lovely park, and stumbling across this cemetery. It was very peaceful and beautiful. I walked around it a bit, and then found a nice bench where I could read (and may have even napped a bit in the sun.

Picture of the Day, On A Train

On a train somewhere in Europe -- July, 2011

While this isn't the most beautiful picture, it rather embodies Europe for me. Though incredibly low-cost airlines are often more economical than taking the train, it is still completely normal to take the train here or there. I love the idea that not only could a take a train from Paris to Munich (which I am pretty sure this is....no guarantees, though!), but could take a train between remote villages in Italy. Mom and I discussed this when I was back -- how great it would be to just hop on a train in Peru and head over to Auburn, or Nebraska City, or Lincoln. It's such a romantic notion, and if I had a ba-jillion dollars, I would build such a system, because it is pretty exciting to be able to say I'm on a train!

Picture of the Day, Hovedøya

Hovedøya, Oslo, Norway -- August, 2010

There are many islands of the coast of Oslo, and several of them are serviced by ferries that use the same tickets as the rest of Oslo's public transportation. During our first weeks in Oslo, we took advantage of the beautiful, sunny weather, and visited a couple of them. On Hovedøya, there are ruins from an old monastery. I didn't know anything about this history, so I looked it up on Wikipedia:

"The Cistercian monastery, Hovedøya Abbey, was built on the island, and opened on 18 May 1147. During the Medieval period, the monastery was a leading economical force in the Oslo region. It was however closed down before the Reformation after the abbot came into conflict with King Christian II. The military official at Akershus Fortress had the abbot imprisoned and the monastery looted and burned down in 1532. Parts of the ruins of the monastery remain on the island, but much of the stonework was used in the expansion of Akerhus Fortress in the 17th century."

Here is a full overhead view:

View Larger Map

Being geeky librarian students, we were very excited to find the library, which, if I remember correctly, is the very small, thin room at the upper right-hand side of the the large central room.

Picture of the Day, Bologna

Bologna, Italy -- September, 2011

We never actually visited Bologna, though I heard tell that it is a pretty cool city. However, we were there time and again, as it was the prime station for changing trains when taking the train from Parma. During one of our longer 'layovers' we wandered out from the station and came across this lovely little fountain. And a picture just isn't complete without Jenny imitating a large naked lady with a horse (did you get that? I didn't do it very well, so I wanted to be sure to point it out so you know my poses are a work in progress.)

Picture of the Day, Pompeii

Pompeii, Italy -- October, 2011

What an amazing city. I learned of Pompeii in elementary school, I'm sure, and it is such a universally known place (and event, I suppose). And it was very surreal to walk the streets, meander through old houses, lose the world for a moment while imagining what it would have been like to live there.

Picture of the Day, Pompeii

Pompeii, Italy -- October, 2011

Picture of the Day, Vienna

Vienna, Austria -- October, 2011

We had a reception in that thing! Oh, I felt like a princess...except that I wasn't really dressed like one. But, really, where in the U.S. can you say, oh, come have a bite to eat at our city hall....and it looks like that?! It was probably the highlight of the Europeana digital library conference we attended in Vienna. Ok, that's a lie, the highlight was probably this session on user-generate metadata, but I digress...

The night here really was surreal, and it was an amazing opportunity. The city of Vienna certainly knows how to treat its guests well!

Picture of the Day, Florence

Duomo, Florence, Italy -- October, 2011

As you climb up to the top of the cathedral's dome in Florence, there are a couple of times you get to walk inside the sanctuary and get an up close look at the paintings in the dome (at one point, we were close enough to touch it!). When I first looked at this picture, I thought man, I look short! and then I realized, that's because the camera is at Rasmus' eye level, and to him, I am short. Perception.....What a crazy, weird world we live in.

Video of the Day, Copenhagen

It's all coming back to me now! We were in Copenhagen. It was a little rainy. We had had a delicious slice of cake. And we went to Sam's Bar to karaoke. Enjoy!

the shoes have eyes

Look at my über-cute apartment slippers!! They are utterly adorable and extremely comfy. and look at their sweet little faces!!!

Picture of the Day, Tallinn

Tallinn, Estonia -- May/June 2011

The harbor was really lovely in the evening. We passed it every day on the way to school, which was definitely much more enjoyable during the spring/summer.

Picture of the Day, Moscow

Moscow, Russia -- May, 2011

Not too shabby a view from the Kremlin. I have no idea what these buildings are, but they are freaking huge, huh? In case I haven't mentioned it before, it was pretty awesome to be in the Kremlin, waltzing around the park, smelling the flowers, etc. Nice place :p

Picture of the Day, Cinque Terre -- 17

Cinque Terre, Italy -- September, 2011

After a long day of some serious hiking, and a nice refreshing swim in the Mediterranean (salt water always surprises me!), we were waiting for the train home. We couldn't figure out where to buy tickets, and the train was pulling in, so we just hopped on without tickets :o It was probably a three minute train ride from the little village Riomaggiore to La Spezia where we would catch our next train, but I sure was sweating every second of it!

Picture of the Day, Oslo

Kevin, Muharrem, Hugo, Enrico, Me, and Rasmus, Oslo, Norway -- August, 2010

Hanging with the boys. I think this was the day we went barbequing on the beach. But maybe we were just exploring. If it was, Muharrem did most of the cooking, while we lounged around on the rocks. It was a delicious, wonderful, warm day.

Picture of the Day, Copenhagen

Copenhagen, Denmark -- Midsummer Night, June, 2011

On midsummer night in Denmark, people make little witch dolls, stick them on top of a huge pile of firewood and let'er burn. There was even a segment on the news on how to make a witch. We walked down to the harbor to check out some of the fires.

Picture of the Day, Florence

My Coat?, Florence, Italy -- August, 2011

Every morning, on my run, I would pass by this coat, and on a street where most clothing was thousands of euros, this cute little thing from Save the Queen was a mere 600-some euros -- a steal! Of course, that is more than a roundtrip plane ticket home, so.....anyway, a girl can dream can't she? So, on one of my last days, I took a picture to remember it by, and, as you can see, showed it to Rasmus :p

Picture of the Day, Paris

Notre Dome, Paria, France -- July, 2011

Amber and Audra near Notre Dame, lookin' fine.

Picture of the Day, Tallinn

The Baltic Coast, Tallinn, Estonia -- May/June, 2011

Tallinn had a nasty winter, but man when summer finally came, it was so gorgeous. Most of Tallinn is very flat, and there are nice, wide sidewalks along the coast. Rasmus and I rented a couple of bikes one afternoon and biked up the coast to a nearby beach. There we laid in the sun and tanned, hopped in the still freezing cold water a bit, and rode back (at which point I ran into a railing while on my bike....embarrassing....). We lounged under this lovely tree for the rest of the day, enjoying the sun, the water, and the cool breeze.

Picture of the Day, Settignano

Summer school in Settignano, Italy, outside of Florence -- August, 2011

During our stay at Villa Morghen in the hills above Florence, we had a pizza night. The chef taught us how to make pizza dough and bake pizzas in the stone oven, and we helped prepare the toppings. We spent the evening out on the patio, laughing, drinking, dancing, singing, while he baked pizza after pizza until we were all stuffed!

Picture of the Day, Tallinn

Kevin, Audrey, Adina, Me, Enrico, and Dydimus at karaoke in Tallinn, Estonia -- February/March, 2011

This ended up being the only time we did karaoke in Tallinn, which was unfortunate, because it was lots of fun! I think we ended with Bohemian Rhapsody :p

Picture of the Day, Tromsø

Arctic Church, Tromsø, Norway -- December, 2010

This was such a neat looking church, and, when we went in, a choir was practicing Christmas music:

Made me very glad to know that I would be home for Christmas :-)

Picture of the Day, Fiesole

Fiesole, Italy, outside of Florence -- October, 2011

Look at those lovely girls, all happy because they are going downhill instead of up! If you look closely, you might find a Rasmus! Fiesole was a 20 minute bus ride from the center of Florence, up into the hills. At the top of this one, there is a beautiful view of the city. Our time in Florence was pretty busy - visiting two museums, up and down and around the Duomo, walking up to a viewing point to watch the sunset over the city.... But the parents were more than willing to take the bus to this town to see the view we talked about -- and they were awfully cute, falling asleep on the bus ride :p

Monthly Update on Resolutions

As you know, 'be a better blogger' was one of my New Year's Resolutions, and I hope you've been enjoying my efforts! But, as I said, it is only one of my resolutions, as evidenced by this snazzy list I made with Audra:

So here is how the list is coming:

Be a better blogger: Well, this doesn't actually take much to accomplish, since I was a pretty infrequent blogger for the past year and a half. But I think I'm doing pretty well so far! In addition to my Picture of the Day posts, I've had more normal posts this past month than any other month before. I have also been adding tags to my posts, which I think adds a little something. A goal for February is to do a little more personalization - choose a new background, maybe play around with the set up a bit (in addition to keeping up my posts!) Status: In Progress

Earn my masters: Ok, so this one was kind of a given. Assuming I don't fail at my thesis, I will have my Joint Masters in Digital Library Learning this year. But it will still be a lot of work and a main focus for me over the next half year, so I decided to include it. So, how is it going? Well, my final assignment for last semester was due yesterday, now it's time to focus fully on my thesis. I will be meeting up with my thesis adviser this week to chat about my topic and my master plan :p Rasmus and I have been studying several hours every day, so I hope to make a lot of headway on The Beast. Status: In Progress

Run a marathon: Haven't picked out which marathon quite yet (probably in June), but we've been running daily! Woot! Status: In Progress

Pop Money: Since pop is so expensive here in Norway (a half-liter bottle is about $2.75 in the supermarket, $3.45 at school, and $4.45 at the 7-11) and I drink way too much anyway, I decided to wean myself off of it while back home -- and to keep track of how much money I save. I haven't had any pop this year, but since mom was paying while I was home, that time doesn't really count. After 16 days in Oslo, I have saved at least $44 by not drinking any pop, and likely more, as I would normally have several a day, so we'll round it up to $50. Of course, I have not forsaken pop altogether. I brought six Diet Dr. Pepper bottles from home, for the occasional high of bubbly caffeine. :-) Status: Kickin' a$$ -- $50 saved

Make mom a scrapbook of our Eurotrip: Audra and I did this one when I was home. (She had the great idea of making an easy resolution that we could check off our list early to get some momentum.) Status: Completed

Be more stylish: This is pretty subjective, but, from my point of view, I've been doing a standup job :p Status: In Progress

Picture of the Day, Pompeii and Hamburg

Plaster cast from Pompeii, Italy -- October, 2011

Prüfung by Edith Breckwoldt, at Nikolaikirche, a church destroyed in - and now a memorial/museum for - the bombing of Hamburg, Germany in WWII -- July, 2011

Not the most uplifting of pictures today, but I thought these were powerful in their sadness and similarity. The first all the more so because it was not designed by an artist's hand, not sculpted to express the deep sorrow it evokes. It is sorrow, and pain and helplessness -- not a mere tribute to loss, but loss itself.