Author: Emma Hecht

Location: Oslo, Norway; Venice, Italy

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Over the past week, I’ve been to two more countries (trying to cram as many in as I can in my last days here in Europe). First was Oslo, Norway. For this trip, I splurged and stayed in one of the airport hotels. I ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and then went to my room to watch Law & Order. In the morning I got up and took the bus back to the airport where I took a train (probably the nicest train I’ve ever been on) to the city center. I had planned absolutely nothing for the trip, so I decided to walk around and see what I saw.

The first place I found was the Nobel Peace Prize Museum, which I had heard good things about from my program director, so I went in. The first floor consisted of groups of photos from current peace movements around the world. The second floor of the museum contained the history of all of the Nobel Peace Prize winners since the award began. Each little screen had the Prize winner of a particular year with a little synopsis of their work. (Here I felt extremely ignorant because I didn’t know that Barack Obama had won a Nobel Peace Prize.)

My next stop was the Akershus fortress. I didn’t go in, but there was a stellar view of the harbor from outside of it.

I walked through town a bit more and visited the Christmas market (a very big thing around this time of the year in Europe). I stumbled upon this castle as I was wandering around.

My next trip was to Venice, Italy with my friend Claire. I had three priorities: pasta, pizza, gelato. We had pizza twice, pasta twice, and gelato four times. It was all amazing. We mostly just walked around and went in little shops. There has been a lot of flooding in Venice recently. One morning the square in front of St. Michael’s Basilica was one big puddle.

Our view of the Grand Canal:

We also got on a boat and went to one of Venice’s neighboring islands, Burano. It’s a tiny place, made of colorful fisherman’s houses.

My study abroad experience has been amazing. I’m so glad that I was able to come—even after switching my major twice and I can still graduate on time. It’s unique to be able to live and be independent in another country and to take weekend trips to a completely different country. It’s bittersweet to think that I’m heading home in two days. But, the fun isn’t over yet. I have a day layover in Iceland and the airport is fifteen minutes away from the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa. Is it worth the $85/hour? We’ll find out.