Oslo trip!

Am I having a deja vu? Isn't what I experienced this last weekend exactly the same thing I lived last year?. Isn't it erasmus again?, cos if it is not, it is pretty much the same. Yeah I reckon I am right, that's exactly what I understand when talking about erasmus… traveling around Europe without any concrete direction just picking the cheapest flight, going sightseen in the morning and partying at night, taking pictures…many many pictures, nattering in english with the first bloke you run into the street as a way to hone your english, and the main thing getting to know better the people you are traveling with… Am I right? It is erasmus, isn't it?

The group

Girls (Marta, Patri, Raquel, Vanessa, Alba)

Boys(Ro, Dani, me, Juanjo, Toni)

Well it all started sort of three weeks ago when, I don't remember who, came across, on the ryanair website, some cheap flight going to Oslo so it did not take long to buy them. So there we were on friday morning, 7.30 in the morning just outside galleria, waiting for the nationalexpress which would drive us to stansted. Once in the airport we took advantage of the competitive prices in liquids offered by the duty free shop. The flight was alright, nothing special to mention but the difficult solitaire we couldn't resolve… really it was quite hard cos in the ipod you cannot use those cards which have already been piled on the deck… nevermind… we arrived sound in so-called Oslo airport. I am saying so-called because it was roughly 100 km from Oslo so be aware of those little details once you decide to fly with ryanair. The point was that we arrived in central Oslo without any idea where our hostel was, so Marta started to bombard people with questions about which tube to take or bus…

Marta

Girls posing

Unfortunately we hopped on the wrong bus having wasted four euros ride… After some time wandering through the streets of Oslo we took the correct bus and it led us straight to the hostel. Regardless having made a booking it took ages to register, we didn't care though because it was freezing outdoors and at least we were in a warm place (we are not so picky!). The next step was heading for our bedroom. After having taken dinner and resting a little bit, we gathered all together with the aussie girl we had just met and we played some games before going out. Briefly explained, the night was special, not only for the illegal lift we were given or watching how the aussie sneaked into the bar, neither for how we livened up the party asking the piano man to play Macarena but for all of those things together. We woke up early on saturday morning the breakfast was waiting for us and it was included on the price so it was something we couldnt miss. After that, a quick shower and ready to sightseen.

Vigeland Sculpture park

I guess now is the moment to talk about Oslo. Oslo is nothing special, i mean, it doesn't boast marvelous buildings or cathedrals, the harbor doesn't take your breath away either and it is bloody cold… Actually one viking girl (gorgers) asked us about the reasons which led us to go to Oslo… she said "What are you doing in Oslo… it is cold, far and expensive…" she was spot on but regardless those things the city is peaceful, quiet, clean, its inhabitants are kind and speak really nice english. So despite all those drawbacks I can say I liked the city.

Sculpture

Back to the trip, that saturday we had lunch on a restaurant were we tasted some typical food from norway. Not really much to comment about the rest of the trip chatting, visiting new places, having fun…

"The salmon"

Summing up, I'm really glad to have gone to this trip with this group of erasmus and I hope to share with them more great moments. Maybe just one drawback and it was that 90% of the group was spanish, vanessa was the only "foreigner" among us. She dared to come with us… haha so brave!

Raquel and the little Viking

And just one thing more for Raquel, maths for turism. We were 9 of us the first night and 10 the second night. We can assume that each of us has participated twice, one in each night but Ro just in the second night. So all in all it has been 19 participations. If the drinks were 52 and you want to know how much do u have to pay you should divide 52/19 and it will yield how much is each participation, but since you have participated twice you have to pay 52/19 times 2, does it make sense? And Ro has to pay only the figure 52/19. So u have to pay (52/19)*2= 52/9.5 each of us but Ro. And Ro would have to pay 52/19= 52/(9.5*2)=(52/9.5)/2 Does it make sense Raquel? :P

One year ago...

Hi dears!

This is a special day for me, that's why i am posting without any obvious reason. It's not my birthday, not even the day any of my brothers/ sister were born but the day i begin my Erasmus life or watching it from another point of view, the day i started my new, independent life.

I would have to rack my brains for a while, if i wanted to remember everything... so many things have happened. I do remember my first day though, the day i arrived to Poland, and i said Poland not Krakow cos i stop over Warsaw' airport. I wasn't used to travel at all, i had been in London four years before but in that trip i was with friends and in this case I was completely on my own. On my own in a place where i hadnt been before, in a place where everything was written in an unknown language, everything was.... just different. However I wasnt scared, i am not that pansy... but eagerly discovering new things, willing to know how was the life outdoors my parents' borders, hopefully, keen on checkin myself.

And I am completely proud to say that all the expectations that I had before that my new life begin were fulfilled BIG TIME.

Honestly I didnt have much to do at the beginning, i had all year ahead to develop my thesis so i was... let's say enjoying my life, doing totally different things from what i was used to. Surrounded by really nice people I've never felt alone, blokes like: Andy, Artur, Alberto, Francesco, Arnaud... Not to mention Fer, the perfect partner. Together we discovered new and magical places: Majestic Viena, strange Bratislava (greetings to Miroslava, Mateo and Beata), hilly Zakopane (Greetings to spanish people: Mar, Emi, Denis, Antonio and half spanish Mattiu), marvellous Wroclaw (Greetings to AEGEE people in general), traditional Belgium (greetings to AEGEE headquarters inhabitants, Luis, Lucia, Jael, Paula, Nica, Huevo, Ruben, Mario...), different and cheap Lviv (greetings to Lucia Illuminati), charming and neat Stockholm (greetings to Julita and Dorota), awesome Budapest and terrific Hungary in general (greetings to Ezster and Vero)... well and more places but I am just to lazy to write them down.

In all those places we threw many parties, we got to meet new people from around not only Europe but also America, we captured many moments with our cameras...

And what about the place where I lived... Ul. Emilii Plater 4/2A (sorry guys (Bartek, Fer and both Agnieszkas) about the wall issue... i didn't know that the bluetak is so hard to remove, haha but count on me for the taks, obviously i cannot go there to give a hand but I will give you moral support) well the point is that I just simply cannot forget such stunning flatmates... and don't get me wrong I am not trying to big them up, they are like that. I think all us 5 where the perfect combination, all of us different, i'd say quite different but everything worked out so fine...

And what about polish girls... greetings to Olga, Kamila, Kamila (Olga's cousin), Beata, Ewelina, Marta, Kasia, Julita, Dorota, AgnieszkaS in plural, all of them so cute and nice... it is really hard to find a cocky girl there in Poland, be sure they will never look down on you regardless their beauty.

Lastly, I'd like to say that I am already settled down here in Hatfield, today I started this MSc program and although it looks demanding I will cope with it (mmm sounded it so cocky...??). Not so much is going on here in this quiet place, i mean in terms of nightlife, nice thing to study though. The university has great sports and study facilities and it can be easily noticed that in UK universities have more resources than in Spain... Lots of volumes per book, hundreds of computers (even iMacs), free shuttle bus from one campus to another... and so on.

So far I've met a really nice group of spanish people and I swing by their homes from time to time to throw some parties, but not as often as last year.

Well and that was that, hopefully i will write more in the following days bearing in mind that i am going to Barcelona in less than two weeks and Oslo in less than three, so keep you informed

Cheers!