Summer 16 Wrap Up, Part 1

2016 Summer Travel Map - Country Names in French

This summer I visited 13 countries in total. They were:
France
Norway*
Denmark*
Sweden*
Finland*
Estonia*
Latvia*
Lithuania*
Poland*
Slovakia*
Austria
Germany
England

Nine (*) were new country visits, bringing my total number of foreign countries visited to 34.

SUMMER 2016 HIGHLIGHTS - Part 1


Finishing a Marathon in the Arctic Circle

By far the biggest highlight of this summer was completing a marathon in Tromsø, Norway, on June 18th/19th. Running a full marathon has been a life goal and when I decided to run this particular race, I also decided to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

In total, I raised over $3100 and I finished the race injury free!

Crossing the line at 12:43am during the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromsø. 



Eating Everything in Scandinavia (aka - "I Like Hotdogs Now")

Crab Roll at Magnus Nilsson's food stall at Teatern, Stockholm.
After leaving Norway, I proceeded on a tour of the rest of Scandinavia and Finland (so technically the Nordics). One big take away from my time there was how much I enjoyed the food. Sweden offered a great mix of foods - from Salmon to Meatballs to Princess Cake to Punschrulle.
Swedish Princess Cake, Wiener Cofeet, Stockholm

Punschrulle "vacuum cleaner" pastry, Stockholm, Sweden


However, the big surprise came when I willingly stopped at a hotdog stand in Copenhagen.
I had heard that Danish Hot Dogs were great (one friend in particular raves about the crunchy onions/fried onions combo), but I never thought I would try them because I have a very strong aversion to this particular food. There is a story involving undercooked hotdogs from my adolescence and a lifelong fear of encased meat... but I digress. Anyway, lo and behold, I saw a stand somewhere in the middle of Strøget, Copenhagen's pedestrian shopping street, claiming to have the best dogs in town and I decided to go for it.

And guess what - I liked it. Particularly with the onions/onions and all the other fixings. Plus, the meat was cooked...so...win.

The dog that ruled them all.


Running Around Riga

After refueling post-marathon in the Nordics, I proceeded to the Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). I visited the three capital cities and regained my running legs while exploring them. In particular, I enjoyed my time in Riga, Latvia; whose Art Nouveau architecture, blend of cultural influences, and green spaces made it an interesting place to explore on foot. I did the most running and walking (outside of Norway) in this particular spot.





More summer highlights coming soon!

 SwissMissD










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