Fjord-tastic.

Jonathan and I just got back from an awesome 3 day trip to Haugesund, Norway. Having taken many gastronomic-centered trips around Europe in the past, Jonathan and I were really looking forward to an active, outdoorsy type vacation. We got our money's worth on this one. Despite some cold, rainy weather on the first two days of our trip, we still made the most of our time in Norway and went on lots of "walks" and hikes in Haugesund, Karmoy and Etne.

Karmoy is an island in Norway, and the location of the airport where RyanAir's worst pilot decided to "slam" our plane onto the runway (my fear of flying is now greater, thanks to him). It was a safe landing, just a very rough one. Even Jonathan made a comment about it. Anyways, Karmoy is absolutely beautiful and the home of the Vikings (you know, the guys that pillaged England and stirred up the gene pool a bit). We were able to walk around Viking ruins on Karmoy on a very rainy and cold day...despite the rain we still had a great time.

<---Avaldsnes (on Karmoy). Where the Vikings lived.

On our second day in Norway, Jonathan and I drove all the way around Karmoy making stops at various beaches and taking a walk through a fjord in the center of the island. It was still pretty rainy and cold, which ruined our plans to rent bikes, but the day still was pretty awesome! While we were hiking on Karmoy I asked Jonathan what kind of wildlife Norway had...somehow my mom has rubbed off on me and I feared that we would be attacked by a bear or some sort of wilderbeast. Jonathan, however, told me we were probably pretty safe and wouldn't see any large, dangerous animals on our hike. Well-he was WRONG. Check out this monster of a slug....next time I am bringing a flare gun (just to be on the safe side).

<----- Biggest slug EVER!

We finished our second day with a nice hike in the mountains in north Haugesund. The hike was pretty easy, but offered beautiful views of Haugesund.

<-----Haugesund is behind/below us

Our third day in Norway was definitely our favorite (and the weather was absolutely gorgeous). Jonathan and I planned a nice little drive to Etne; home of Norway's 5th tallest waterfall-Langfoss. The drive to Etne was a great start to the day. Jonathan had a lot of fun driving on the winding roads that followed along the fjords (I had a lot of fun being a back seat driver). After parking at Langfoss, we met a friendly Norwegian woman who showed us where the trail began so that we could hike to the top of the waterfall (which is some 600+ meters high).

The hike was beautiful. We spent about 6 hours hiking up the waterfall and around the backside of the fjord. We were the only tourists hiking the waterfall that day as tourist season starts in June in Norway.

After seeing how beautiful southwest Norway is, I wonder why in the world the Vikings would ever want to leave their home to come to England.

Best Birthday, Ever.

May 9th 2009 was an awesome day.  Jonathan came home from a business trip on my b-day.  Pretty cool present if I do say so myself.  Shanna took some awesome pictures of the return (thanks!).  

Espana.

I recently returned home from a trip to Spain with my friend Holly. After three years of high school Spanish (two of which were in a school in El Paso, TX-also known as "Mexico") you would think I would have NO problem in a Spanish speaking country. Wrong. Way wrong. Well, I will give myself some credit-I was able to understand about 60-70% of the Spanish I heard, but I learned that I no speakie the Spanish very well. And by not very well I mean that many Spaniards probably confused me with a mute and/or thought my IQ was much lower than it actually is (not that its too high to start with). Luckily Holly had just finished a two week immersion course and I used her as my Spanish interpreter for the trip! Woohoo!

I spent my first couple of days in Madrid. Our hotel was super charming--I thought that the cross dressing prostitutes lining the street by our hotel was a special touch! (don't worry, mom, we were safe). Seriously though, very charming hotel (Hostal Adriano)-highly recommended. Madrid is a pretty cool city and the tapas are yummy...and super if you are working on a muffin top. Holly and I spent our days wondering the city and eating. We pretty much ate all the time. Breakfast was followed by a three course "menu del dia" lunch which was followed by a large dinner or Tapas. Fantastic! Also-I think the Spaniards might have the best cafe con leche that I have ever had. Speaking of building a muffin top-Madrid is known for its Churros with Chocolate. This has to have been the most decadently delicious snack I have ever had. When you order this tasty treat, you get a mug FULL of melted chocolate and way more churros than you can possibly eat. My stomach still hurts from eating all that chocolate...so worth it.

After Madrid, we boarded the bus to head to a town named Segovia. This is a very charming town with a fairy-tale-esque castle, a Roman aqueduct and many winding medival streets. We stayed in a hotel called Los Linajes which was very nice, but has not been redecorated since 1950. The room came complete with a sitting room with a gold coffee table and white pleather couch--Klassy! Holly got some insider info from a couple of American students studying abroad who told her that Oso Blanco (a bar in town) had THE best sangria in all of Spain. After seeing the sights of Segovia, Holly and I walked circles around the town until we found Oso Blanco. Oso Blanco must have been designed at the same time as Los Linajes because it was a total blast from the past-and completely perfect. We ordered the Sangria (which, lucky for us, only comes in 1 liter) and the first taste was heavenly. To our surprise the bartender supplied us with some free "tapas" meant to bring out the flavors of the Sangria. Who knew that corn nuts, peanuts and gummy sharks were the perfect accompaniment to fantastic Spanish drinks!? Also on the tapas menu was another tasty "treat" called Murros. Murros, as it turns out, is cow lips. Holly is adventurous and tried them...and ate the whole plate to the astonishment of all the locals in the pub. I stuck with the gummy sharks...

<---The Aqueduct in Segovia

The country side of Segovia---->

After Segovia we headed to Toledo. Toledo has a LOT of churches, monasteries and convents. Toledo also has many of the famous works by El Greco...an artist from the 1400's. Holly and I had a great time wandering the city. In following the theme of this blog (food), Toledo is known for its Marzipan. Marzipan is a delicious mix of sugar, almond paste and honey. Yum. I am definitely impressed with the food in Spain! Our hotel in Toledo had a roof top terrace that overlooked the city--Holly and I spent the better part of an afternoon drinking a bottle of Spanish wine and reading our books--it was the perfect last day of our vacation.

I highly recommend Spain to anyone who hasn't yet been. Make sure to order some Murros and gummy sharks with your Sangria!

Nuts and Bolts, Nuts and Bolts, I got screwed...

This past Saturday I learned a very important lesson...well two lessons actually.

1. Curbs should be avoided at all times while driving. Stupid curbs. I not only slammed into a curb on Saturday night, but I also popped TWO tires in the process. TWO. So, my plans to go to Cambridge for Chinese and movies didn't happen. What did happen was that I spent 2 hours hemming and hawing over what to do...do I change one tire, do I leave my car, do I set my car on fire...?? Stupid, stupid curbs.

2. I learned the importance of buying new tires when your old ones are worn. *Please see learning point one for explanation.*

I have 4 brand new tires on my car now...and I have to say, they look pretty classy. The rims, however, are another story. It looks like some sort of rabid animal chewed all the way around the outer edge of my rims. Oh well. Luckily my car sustained little damage...what was damaged was my ego. I have always prided myself on being a very safe driver (minus ONE speeding ticket when I was going 90 in a 55..."I was going down a hill, officer"). Ever since moving to England, my pride has taken some pretty tough hits. The first incident occured last Janaury when a deer decided to jump out in front of my car on a foggy, British b-road. That deer had some springs in its legs, because instead of a dent in the front of my car, I somehow have the imprint of a deer butt on the top of my hood. Not sure how that happened, but I'm pretty sure its annoying. The next incident was between me and a low lying wooden fence. While my car did get a couple of scratches on it, I'm pretty sure the fence was worse. So, maybe thats one point Erin, zero points fence?

So, now that I have hit a deer, run into a wooden fence, and popped two tires, I am afraid that I can no longer pride myself on driving skills. But-I was able to change my tire and that counts for something, right?

Just another Sunday morning drive...

This past Sunday I drove my friend Holly to the airport where she was catching a plane to Madrid. Her flight was pretty early, so we were on the road at 5:45am. There was minimal traffic, which was definitely nice, the sun was out (amazing!), and we were enjoying a nice little conversation. While chatting, we both were distracted when we saw a car stopped on the other side of the motorway while its driver appeared to be jogging around the car in a pink jumpsuit. On closer inspection, as the driver turned so that he was facing us, we realized that the "pink jumpsuit" was in fact his pasty white skin reacting to the cold air and we had a full on frontal view of his "jiggly bits" as he jogged. Talk about not being able to look away from a train wreck. Holly and I didn't talk for a couple of minutes after our sighting...mostly because neither one of us wanted to believe that what we had seen actually happened. I don't particularly want to see any naked man jogging on the side of a motorway, in particular a brit with pasty white skin (although, Jude Law is pretty dreamy....). Even if Brad Pitt was jogging naked on the side of the road I would probably still throw up in my mouth a little bit.

So, the question of the day is...what is the deal with flashers!?! I was flashed by a man asking for "directions" when I was in middle school, my mom was flashed when she was a girl on her way to CCD (Catholic sunday school), and almost all of my friends have similar "flasher" experiences. A note to all men: We (women) REALLY, REALLY don't need to see your bits and bobs out in public...take a look down south and you will realize that that region of your world is NOT all that attractive to us women-folk.

Maybe the naked man I saw jogging by the A14 was simply trying to get a little exercise, maybe he was falling asleep at the wheel and was trying to wake himself up, or maybe he is just, well, a freak! Whatever the case, it is NEVER okay to jog naked. Never, ever, ever.

Good times.

When I was home in the states, I got to hang out with my good friend Lindsay for a couple of days. Lindsay lives just north of Boston and has an adorable Cockerspaniel puppy. We went to a beach on the North shore where her puppy, Scooter, ran around with other dogs and drank salt water (in Scooter's defense, he was only copying another dog). Scooter and his dog friend like to chase eachother around, and when doing this forget to look ahead of them to make sure they don't run into anything or anyone. Well, poor Lindsay lost in Scooters game of chase and was laid flat out after being run into by Scooter and another dog. One minute Lindsay was talking to us, the next she was FACE DOWN in the sand. Scooter paused and looked really really confused, then proceeded to lick Lindsays face while she was down. Luckily, nothing was damaged on Lindsay and Scooter seemed to have a great time. Nothing like watching a human get clotheslined by two dogs on a freezing beach!

When in Rome...

On a recent trip home to the states, I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days in a little city called Worcester. Some may be familiar with this city from an Adam Sandler skit where Adam is a toll booth operator and says "Welcome to WOOOSTA" to every car that comes his way. Others may know Worcester from its review in Maxim magazine which dubbed it "the armpit of Massachusetts". Call it what you may, Worcester is the city where my extended family is from, and where my parents grew up.

Worcester is like many old factory towns in New England...some parts (or many) are run down, but it has a sort of...well..."charm" that is unmistakeable. The charm I am talking about comes in the form of Nascar t-shirt wearing, Marlboro light smoking, Budweiser drinking, good ole city folk. These "city folk" like to pahk their cahs in tha garage just as much as anyone else and Dunkin Donuts is the regular meeting place. If you are from Worcester and reading this-don't be offended. EVERY city I have been to has the same "charm"...it just varies in characteristics from region to region. You have the Chavs in England, Cholos in Mexico, red-necks in the south...etc, etc. Many of the people in Worcester (especially members of my family) are amazingly great people who are well educated and classy. But, the Worcester-ites that make for more interesting blog stories are the Bud drinkers.

Anyways-to get to the point of this close to pointless blog: My mom and I got to spend some quality time together in Worcester last week. Many of the days we spent together were a bit stressful since we had some family health issues going on. One morning, after working out at the gym, my mom and I decided to grab a bite (and coffee) at Dunkin Donuts and then head over to Shaws to pick up some groceries. My moms outfit was classic: faded blue tapered sweat pants and an oversized college sweatshirt. My outfit was equally as hideous. We had to capture the moment while cruising the aisles of Shaws. We had fun laughing at eachother and just being silly. We decided that we were just going along with the old saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans". Theres nothing like going back to your roots...

What I learned was that sometimes all you need is a pair of faded, tapered sweats and two oversized sweatshirts in order to forget about the stresses of life for a little while. And for the record, mom, those sweatpants will NEVER go out of style. (or maybe they already have?)

**Disclaimer: KCamp (mom) and I look MUCH better in person....I hope!