Happy Three Year Anniversary to us!
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| Then |
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| Now |
Friday was 20 years since Zack and I went on our first date.
20 years since we sat in a restaurant overlooking Atlanta, and talked about our backgrounds and our futures.
20 years since we saw the movie Dangerous Minds.
20 years since we first held hands.
20 years since I got back to my dorm room and told my friends that I knew who I was going to marry.
We’ve lived through a lot together in twenty years! Of course not every day has been easy. But the hard times pale in comparison to the seasons of fun and laughter, adventure and unknowns, excitement and opportunity. It’s been crazy, and it’s been great!
I love getting to spend each and every day with my best friend.
As we walked through our city Friday night, I looked around and once again tried to take in the fact that we’re living on the other side of the world, speaking another language (or at least trying to!), the parents of two pretty rockin’ kids, with friends and family from one side of globe to the other…
… and then I looked at Zack and said, “could you have imagined all of this twenty years ago?”
They say time flies when you’re having fun. And I believe it’s true.
Here’s to twenty more… and twenty more after that!
Once we managed our way around the construction outside, we walked into a clean and well-lit cafe. Not especially unique in its design, but appealing and comfortable all the same.
We were on our way to the airport and a bit short on time, so we opted for their daily coffee. It was a nice medium roast with a good, smooth flavor, although I felt it was served too hot. That’s the drawback of getting the daily coffee, I guess!
The Prinsensgate location is two stories, and the downstairs also has a room for holding coffee classes.
It really is a shame how little we have seen of this beautiful country after 2 1/2 years here.
We did manage to expand our horizons this past weekend. We have now explored a good bit more of at least the southern part of the country.
As we made our way to Stavanger last Friday, we stopped about an hour outside of the city to experience one of the more iconic hikes in the area.
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| Preikestolen / Pulpit Rock |
It took us just under 2 hours to make the walk to the top. And it was amazing.
We highly recommend this hike!
Here is a video from our weekend in Stavanger. The first 6-7 minutes will give you a glimpse of our Preikestolen experience.
Tips for Preikestolen:
I wasn’t having a lot of luck when I did my usual pre-travel coffee research. I did read a bit about a few shops, but nothing much. So I called out to Facebook friends, and got some great advice.
The best tip was to try Coffeeberry. And we were so glad we did!
Coffeeberry has two locations, in Sandnes and Stavanger. We visited their downtown Stavanger cafe.
The decor is done well. Brightly colored walls on each end reflect the whimsical nature of both Coffeeberry’s logo and their packaging. One end of the shop is painted a bright turquoise, while the other boasts Coffeeberry’s signature bright red.
The furniture is retro and fun. A plethora of teakwood furniture fills the shop, and the walls are adorned with what I would consider throwback Norwegian art. Maybe the kind of work you’d see on the walls of your family’s hytta/cabin.
As you step in, the focal point is the copper coffee bar. And their wall menus are a playful touch, reminiscent of a diner or sandwich shop from years ago.
We visited Coffeeberry twice over the weekend. On the first day, we tried a hand brewed Colombian coffee, and an espresso. Both were excellent. While there we picked up a couple of bags of beans, from Colombia and Ethiopia.
On our second visit, we had their daily coffee. This particular day was from Burundi, and was another top-notch choice. We also ordered a con panna (our current go-to specialty drink), a shakerato and a caramel ice latte.
Everything we tried was delicious.
Coffeeberry also offers a selection of pastries, salads, sodas, and juices.
For those of you with small children, you’ll be happy to know that they have a kids’ corner with some toys to occupy your little one while you enjoy your drink.
Coffeeberry: another superb offering from the world of Nordic coffee. Definitely worth a stop-in!
You can also check out our Tastemade review of Coffeeberry!
But despite less than ideal weather, we had fun. There was music and dancing, and a couple of us even geared up for battle!
We tried viking bread and fish on a stick.
It is always fun to stumble onto interesting cultural celebrations like this!
A couple of years ago, a friend introduced us to his favorite shop in Oslo. And so began our courtship with Fuglen (The Bird) in Oslo.
Seriously, the place looks like a set straight from Mad Men. And if you like what you see, you can do more than just envy its retro-chic styling. Everything from the furniture to the lamps is available for purchase.
After having an amazing cup of coffee, stop by their shop a couple of doors down and tell them what you’d like. And if you’re tight on luggage space, order online and have it shipped.
Fuglen has kaffekos. It is kaffekos.
But now that she is back home, I want to take a little time to show a bit of what we were up to.
It was a great trip, and I look forward to sharing a bit more about it in the coming days.
We checked into our hotel (CityBox Oslo is a great budget-friendly, no frills hotel in the city center), and then set out for another stop. A critical stop, in fact, in my quick must-see Oslo tour. Fuglen is our favorite cafe in Oslo. I will be writing about it on the coffee tour soon, but suffice it to say that it is on the top of our cafe list!
After coffee, and some really bad walking navigation on my part, we grabbed a pizza at Dolly Dimple’s. From there, we walked to the palace for a few photos, and then strolled the full stretch back down Karl Johan’s.
We finished up the evening walking up to the top of the Opera House.
If you have more time, I can recommend quite a few other top spots. But this tour seemed just right for us: we managed to squeeze in some shopping here and there, and never felt really rushed. We had a great day!
But as I am attempting to skip around and mix things up a bit, and because I’m not one to keep a secret, I must tell you about some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.
I’ve mentioned Grünerløkka before. Artsy, trendy, urban, hip… okay it is actually way too cool a place for me to be. But call us rebels, because despite lacking our cool-kid cards, we tend to hang out there most anytime we are in Oslo.
In the midst of pricey secondhand stores (did you know that the word vintage instead of used means you can charge more money), trendy restaurants, sidewalk cafes, parks and über-cool boutiques sits Tim Wendelboe.
Tim is, at least in our humble opinion, one of the Coffee Kings.
The coffee is carefully selected. Tim travels often to find the best beans from select farms. It is roasted in-house. And when I say in-house, I mean in a quite small shop sitting on a corner in our favorite neighborhood.
Don’t go in expecting to find ample seating, as there are only a few seats.
Don’t look for an old school coffee machine, because you won’t find one.
And I personally would not recommend Tim’s for those who like a little coffee with their milk and sugar.
But if you are a coffee purist, I highly recommend a visit.
For more information, visit https://timwendelboe.no
