Hi, I'm Dai and I'm from Vietnam

My favorite place in Germany? – Part 1

I have been so lucky to have the opportunity to visit several cities in Germany; still, there are a lot of places I want to explore, Germany is big. Below I recommend some routes that I have traveled to and loved. In most of my trips, I combined different cities or places together because:

It helps you save a lot of money. You can buy regional ticket and travel around using all kinds of public transportation. Of course, you have to read the terms and conditions carefully because it can be different from time to time. I remember, for example, express trains might not be included. To buy regional tickets, you can check DB app (regionale Angebote) and literally “the more, the cheaper.” I usally travel with just one or two of my friends but if you have a group of four or five, definitely it’s the best option for you.
It’s convenient. There were trips that we visited two or three cities in one day – yeah yeah, I know this could be rush but if you have traveled within Germany quite a lot, at one point everything will become a bit similar to you so visiting different places gives you the chances to see them briefly and if you like the place, just come back later. For some of your first trips, I would recommend seeing things slowly.

I will not write about all the places I list below because it would be too long so only places which have special places in my heart will be featured (hahahaha)

Trip #1 – Sachsen and Niedersachsen

From Leipzig, I have visited Dresden, Weimar, Torgau, Harz (Herzberg am Harz and Hattorf am Harz), and Halle. I love Weimar for its artistic vibes and Harz for its nature. Dresden is very beautiful, especially at night but be prepared that you might see a lot of constructions around, which is understandable because the city was heavily damaged during WWII. You can read more about it here (in German) or here (in English). When you are in Dresden, don’t forget to plan a trip to Saxon Switzerland (German: Sächsische Schweiz) – it’s beautiful in all seasons but could be a bit slippery to climb up during winter. I want to come back here and explore a more off-the-beaten route and maybe do overnight camping.

Trip #2 – Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz: Köln, Düsseldorf, Essen, Aachen, Trier, Cochem, Mosel and some small villages

I traveled here in April – already spring, but it was still cold and snowing. Some highlights:

Köln / Cologne – I quoted “Cologne is a beautiful town (of which unfortunately most part of the medieval city was destroyed by the bombing during WWII.” Make sure you visit the Dom, splendid and huge. I attended the Holy Mass also, a very interesting experience. So if you want to do it, make sure you check the schedule in advance. In my opinion, Köln is more beautiful at night. We went to the other side of the bridge and observe the city from different angles. The photos below are from the other side of the bridge.

It took a little effort to find the route to reach here but it was amazingly beautiful, wasn’t it?

Aachen is spring is super lovely and the city itself is cute too. People who love small places like me would love Aachen. I visited Aachen on the last day of my trip in this area so I did not expect much; I was thinking “Well, just another city.” But when I arrived, I was surprised by the vintage vibes, the scenery, cute alleyways, and extremely unique coffee shops – talking about this, you have to go here!!! Aachen is also known for being one of the most innovative cities in Germany. Good schools like RWTH Aachen are here.

Kettwig – I LOVE THIS PLACE. Well, people say the most beautiful things that come into your life are usually the most unexpected ones and yeah, Kettwig is one of the gifts that life has surprised me. I remember it was a snowy day and after visiting Essen (really really short time in Essen), we arrived here. When we stepped out of the train, it was like a scene in a fairy tale – perhaps the snow helped a lot in making the scene so romantic. Kettwig is a very small yet authentic town and it has THE BEST WAFFLE that I have ever tried in Germany. The owner of the waffle shop has a sister-in-law who is Vietnamese.

Who does not love spring when it’s this beautiful?

Trier and Cochem along the Mosel. These are my top three recommended places in Germany and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. If you love nature, biking, good wines, and want to do a romantic trip with your beloved one (or like me with my best friend in Germany 😉 ), you have to go here. Also, if you are tired of city life and want to have some slow time, these places are perfect for wellness. Besides biking, you can do hiking – Mosel hike, where you can explore vineyard trails and mountain trails. If these activities are too adventurous for you, a relaxing wine tasting experience is worth trying or simply sitting on a train and appreciating the landscape is already a worthwhile experience. I don’t want to combine everything here in one blog because these places need their own blog where I can share more tips and photos. 😉

Trier stole a piece of my heart (just like someone who used to live here did to me hahaha)

Mosel – I did not have much time to explore the other bank. So have to come back!!!

See you next time in part 2. 😉

Feeling good losing…

In my last blog about sports, I shared lessons I have learned from basketball and tennis; some help me create new habits while some I am still struggling to find a solution – overcoming my uncomfortable moments on the court is one of them. Last week I played a tennis match and lost it…again. I was extremely angry at myself because I could not hit the ball and every hit was ugly. What I hated the most was in the middle of the game, I thought of giving up… I never wanted that but I could not let go of my negativity during the match. Just so you know, even sometimes I can write lesson-learned comprehensively, it does not mean I can already apply and successfully implement the lessons for my problems. It makes me think of social media nowadays where people can share tips about how to be happy, how to be successful, etc. buuuut what is behind all the tips is still a secret. It’s quite easy to compose a list of things but doing them is another matter.

A “good friend” of mine asked me why I wanted to share things on my blog because it seemed like all of my stories were very personal, especially in the context of the Internet where impossible (bad) things could happen. I also do not know exactly the reasons why I love doing this. But I know I enjoy writing a lot, it’s a way of organizing my thoughts and perhaps I also enjoy documenting the process of improvement which I have been struggling with. But this is a bit out of the topic, so I should get back. Hahaha

So, this week I have played some games and I felt so much better even when I lost. I was so proud of myself for the courage I had to throw myself out there and try again and again and again AND the courage to say YES to any invitation for playing a game. Of course, this does not happen overnight. I watched an inspiring video of Kobe Bryant and it helped me a lot in improving my sport-mentality. I was so inspired that I wrote a looooong text of how I apply his five pillars into my personal life and I think everyone can use the methods. Buuuut I need to discuss this with one person to see if it’s okay to publish =)))))))

I can share I point that I loooovee the most, it’s RELENTLESSNESS – never give in, always go after, go after, go after. Kobe said when he was eleven, after moving from Italy to the US and in one of his very first leagues there, he could not score a point, not even a free throw. It was devastating for him but he vowed to be better. I talked to myself “Do not be afraid of competing!” because “Maybe I’m not good today, tomorrow I will be better, but I would take the chance to measure my skills today.” If I do not join any competition, I will never know my level.

I made a test for my first week applying this principle, I set more realistic goals – instead of winning a tennis match, this week I only need to accomplish one or two games, then later three, then four, then one set, step by step. With this plan, winning the whole match was no longer my target. In the end, I managed to accomplish four games in the second set, my partner was one game ahead of me – it’s now 5 – 4 (which also means in the first set I lost to 6-0 hahahaha). We will finish the game this week. I realized the change in my mind, I was soooo happy when I reached my tiny goal and the rest of the game no pressure, just immerse and be present in the moment and play.

I am going to apply this to my German, speaking skill – I will take every chance to speak German. If people do not understand me, I will do it again and again. I will initiate the conversation and if people end up speaking English to me, I will explain that I am learning German and I am trying all I could to use the language. The goal is to initiate the conversation in German and keep it last for at least one or two minutes; of course, it also depends on other people if they want to talk to me or not hahahaha. Also, instead of only answering the questions people ask me, I will ask them back. Another goal is to make phone calls, it could be anything from asking for information to complaining – I already have one case that I could do it hahaha. I can start simply by saying simple things CLEARLY and CORRECTLY, for example wishing a cashier at a supermarket a nice day or asking a librarian the information, or always ordering food in German. Let’s see how it goes.

And today 13.02.2022 is a very lovely day. I just went out to play basketball and did two games. Really!!!! my life in Germany has taught me a lot.

I also plan to continue writing about my travels. This time it will be about my trips around Germany and my favorite destination in Germany. I still have a lot of pending writings about my trips to Scandinavia.

Ich bin so dankbar 😇

28.01.2022

Man sagt, dass einige der besten erleuchtenden Momente im Badezimmer passieren. Als ich heute duschte, dachte ich, in meinem Alter kann ich, wenn ich versuche, nach grauen Haaren zu suchen, immer ein oder zwei finden, aber wenn ich es nicht versuche, merke ich nichts. Es ist so ähnlich, wie die Dinge heutzutage sind. Wenn wir nach Problemen suchen, gibt es immer welche. Aber wenn wir weitermachen, geht auch das Leben weiter.

Als ich jung war, verbrachte ich viel Zeit damit, mit meiner besten Freundin zu reden, hauptsächlich um mich über Schule, Arbeit, Menschen, und Beziehungen zu beschweren. Je älter ich werde, desto mehr lerne ich, mich selbst den Problemen zu stellen. Aber trotzdem sollte ich noch mehr lernen und dies noch weiter verbessern. Ich denke, wenn die Leute sagen “Je älter wir werden, desto einsamer sind wir,” geht es nicht darum, weniger soziale Verbindungen zu haben, sondern ich denke, wir werden hauptsächlich deshalb einsamer, weil wir selektiver in der Auswahlwerden, mit wem wir Dinge teilen, oder weil wir es vermehrt vorziehen, Dinge für uns selbst zu behalten. Das scheint heutzutage schwieriger zu sein als früher. Eine andere Vermutung von mir ist, dass dadurch, dass die Leute heutzutage auf viele unterhaltsame Dinge zugreifen können, wie Netflix, TikTok, Instagram, … und sie damit viel Zeit verbringen, sie nicht mehr genug Zeit haben, sich wirklich mit Problemen zu befassen und sich möglicherweise schon neuen Problemen stellen müssen, ohne die vorherigen gelöst zu haben..

Ein Freund sagte mir, es sei am besten, jeden Konflikt oder jedes Problem, jedes Missverständnis oder jeden Zweifel sofort oder zumindest sehr zeitnah anzusprechen, im Geschäft, im Privatleben, überall. Mir wurde klar, dass westliche Menschen dieses Motto haben, das sich sehr vom asiatischen unterscheidet, oder zumindest von meinem. Dies bezüglich lerne ich noch.
Heute bin ich auch auf einige Texte gestoßen, die ich vor Jahren schrieb und ich merke, dass ich mich nicht viel verändert habe. Es sind immernoch die gleichen Dinge, die mir Spaß machen. Ich frage mich, was ich, wenn es eine Zeitmaschine gäbe und ich Jahre zurück reisen könnte, um mich selbst zu treffen, meinem “jüngeren Ich” sagen würde…

Heute soll ich Sätze mit neuen Wörtern bilden, aber als ich die Datei öffnete, konnte ich sie nur anstarren. Ich hatte keine Inspiration dafür, also habe ich beschlossen, es heute nicht zu tun. Ich habe irgendwo gelesen, dass die Aufgaben, die uns am wenigsten Spaß machen, diejenigen sind, die uns am meisten lehren würden. Sie werden Teile unseres Gehirns aktivieren, die geschlafen haben, und sie zum Arbeiten bringen.

Heute traf ich mich mit einigen Freundinnen und sie sprachen über einige wichtige Ereignisse auf der Welt: Der Tsunami, der Vulkanausbruch, wie immer mehr Menschen es vorziehen, keine Kinder zu haben. Meine Gedanken flogen nur so herum und ich sah sie nickend an.

Am Eingang meines Gebäudes begegnete ich einem Essenslieferanten. Als er sah, wie ich meinen Türschluessel suchte, öffnete er die Tür für mich. Er zeigte mir die Adresse einer Wohnung im Haus und fragte, ob er hier richtig war. Er konnte sie nicht finden. Ich sagte, ich würde es ihm zeigen, es war in der 6. Etage. Als ich meine 4. Etage erreichte, sagte ich ihm, dass er bis zur 6. weiterfahren sollte. Er dankte mir, als ich den Aufzug verließ. Als ich zu meiner Wohnung ging, dachte ich darüber nach, warum ich nicht mit ihm mitgegangen und ihm die Wohnung gezeigt hatte. Normalerweise würde ich das tun. Aber in diesem Moment hatte ich nur an meinen schweren Rucksack und die Taschen gedacht, die ich trug. Ich brachte schnell alles hinein und ging in die 6. Etage, um nach ihm zu suchen. Er hatte die Wohnung bereits gefunden und das Essen schon geliefert.. Er sagte mir, dass es für ihn sehr schwierig sei, den Ort zu finden und dass er fast nur Spanisch spreche, sein Englisch und Deutsch sehr schlecht seien und er mir noch einmal danken würde.

Stell dir vor, du arbeitest so spät abends im kalten Winter in einem fremden Land, dessen Sprache du nicht sprichst. Ich bin so dankbar, einen warmen Ort zum Wohnen zu haben und gutes Essen essen zu können, und das sollte reichen.

Wettbewerb

20.10.2021

Was denkt man normalerweise über Wettbewerb? Gewinnen und verlieren, Adrenalin und Tränen? Heute habe ich entdeckt, dass Wettbewerb mir nicht gefällt. Ich liebe es, neue Dinge zu lernen und Herausforderungen zu meistern, aber nur mit mir selbst. Ich hasse das Gefühl, dass ich etwas nicht erreichen kann. Ich erinnere mich an meine Kindheit, als ich, wenn ich beim Kartenspielen verloren hatte, immer weinte.. Ich dachte, dass ich mich mit dem Erwachsenwerden geändert hätte, aber ich habe mich getäuscht – mir geht es immer noch genauso.

Manchmal fragt man im Sport oder generell im Leben “Bist du wettbewerbsfähig?” Schwer zu sagen, aber für mich lautet die Antwort vielleicht “Ja.” Ich möchte immer in allem gewinnen 😝. Manchmal bin ich nicht sehr traurig wenn ich verliere, aber nur, wenn ich alle Möglichkeiten probiert habe, oder wenn ich weiß, dass mein Gegner eigentlich nicht gut genug ist, um mich zu besiegen, aber er oder sie mehr Glück hatte oder mehr Unterstützung bekommen hat als ich. Es ist vielleicht seltsam, dass ich extrem enttäuscht bin wenn ich gegen jemanden verliere, der besser ist als ich. Ich mag keinen Wettbewerb, weil ich Angst habe zu verlieren. Man sagt immer, dass man aus Erfahrungen lernt, und am besten aus solchen mit den Besten. Ja und Nein. Ich habe zu viele Erwartungen an mich, die mich stark unter Druck setzen. Deswegen ist es für mich nicht das Gleiche, ob ich gegen den Beste oder den Schlechtesten verliere. Ich weiß, ich bin nicht gut darin, meine Emotionen im Wettbewerb zu kontrollieren und ich verliere zu leicht meine Motivation. In meinem letzten Tennisspiel wollte ich das ganze Spiel lang einfach aufgeben, nachdem ich anfangs ein paar Bälle verpasst hatte. Plötzlich ging es los und ich dachte, dass ich das Spiel nur ganz schnell beenden müsste, damit ich nicht mehr unter dem bitteren Gefühl leiden müsste, den Ball nicht zu treffen, und obendrein war ich diejenige, die sich entschieden hatte, zu verlieren. In einem Moment war ich im Grunde verzweifelt.

In letzter Zeit habe ich alle Spiele verloren. Manchmal habe ich mich gefragt, warum ich überhaupt im Spiel war. Ich habe fast vergessen, wie es sich anfühlt, zu gewinnen oder eine Herausforderung zu meistern. Wie kann ich das je wieder zurück bekommen, wenn ich doch Wettbewerb hasse und Angst habe? Gerade habe ich keine Ahnung. Ich fühle mich immer noch sehr schwach und Gedanken stürzen auf mich ein, immer mehr. Ich werde ein paar ruhige Tage verbringen, um nachzudenken und diese negative Gedanken zu besiegen. Hoffentlich kann ich meine Motivation und Inspiration wiederfinden und das durchstehen. Ich vermisse Vietnam und die Zeit, als ich sehr zielstrebig war…

My small “painting collection”

Some I painted, some I copied from artists I followed on Instagram…

Painting, for me, is a practice of mindfulness and I love it.

What I have learned from sports…

I am just a rookie who is still struggling to learn tennis and basketball…

Only when I am in Leipzig that I have more opportunities to really practice and play tennis. After seven months of playing it (with some breaks in between), I have learned a lot about competitions, mental strength, friendships, and… myself.

On 25.07.2021 I played for the first time on a court in Leipzig and it was TERRIBLE; I could barely hit the ball and my serves were all wrong. I felt even worse when I made my partner run around the court just to collect the balls because they were out most of the time. Running under the sun on a summer day was definitely not a nice experience. I am very thankful for having her as my first tennis partner. We then realized we need a coach. Not everything was bad though, the highlight of the day was that we met a very kind person at the court, he told us that we could extend to play one more hour if we wanted to, no extra fee 😉

Practicing with a coach turned out to be a very nice experience. I was looking forward to every lesson. This is strange because I usually enjoy learning things by myself. After each lesson, I always wanted to play more. During the class, I had my momentum so keeping playing gave me a very satisfying feeling. Tennis also helps a lot in boosting my mood. I remembered one afternoon, I came to the court feeling very low. When I finished, a coach came and asked if we wanted to practice some more; this coach is not our regular one. We said yes, so we spent one more hour practicing backhands and forehands. I came home feeling so much better.

And basketball… hmmmm. I never thought that I would learn basketball. I am 162cm, too short for this sport and my hands are too small. One day, I came to court with a friend who is a PRO. He showed me how to shoot for the first time. It was actually much better than my first time on the tennis court. According to my friend, I have some “talent” at shooting hahaha. I became more curious about basketball and went to court more often. Now, I can do layups, fake some small moves, and control the ball a bit better. Sometimes I could shoot 10 or 15 in a row, of course not far from the basket hahaha.

My first day practicing with my own and new 🏀

I always say I am not competitive or my own competitor is no one but myself. That is true until I compete in sports. I am not a dedicated sportsperson and I do not spend hours training. I also know whom I am competing with. Even though I constantly remind myself of these things, I can’t help feeling bad whenever I lose. I hate hearing “It’s been a good game, you improve a lot” or “You almost win.” For me, losing is losing. Because of my bad moments on the court, I realize how lucky I am to have people who are very patient with me. I have an amazing basketball “coach” (also my good friend and my tennis partner) who always encourages me to try new things and believes in me. He is super competitive, yet way better than me at dealing with emotions on court. Practicing and playing against him makes me both mentally and physically stronger.

Sports help me stay focused and mindful. I forget everything else when I am practicing or competing, that moment I only have one goal which is to win. Sports also teach me that I am not good at many things and it’s okay. At the same time, sports show me that I could do more than I thought. I also understand what it means when someone wants to break his / her racket on court because I also wanted to do it so many times but… tennis racket is expensive so… hahaha. The most important lesson I’ve learned is to deal with uncomfortable moments. In real life, I can avoid them by distracting myself with other things, be it Instagram, books, or YouTube videos. On the court, I cannot escape. I have to continue playing until the end and learn how to execute the game while feeling “angry” – yes, very bad temper hahaha. The options are resorted to giving up so that the opponent could win faster and could end my uncomfortable state or keeping playing with my best and perhaps losing but feeling “I’ve done all I could.” For a rookie like me, it’s never been easy.

I started learning tennis and basketball when I was 30 so if you like something, it’s never too late to start 😉 When you’re in it, you’re in it.

And perhaps my next blog about sport is when I win my first tennis match or my first basketball game.

Today witnessed one of the most historic moments in tennis history, Nadal won AO and made a record with his 21st grand slam title, it was soooo stressful to follow the match. It’s amazing to see the resilience of top players. I love watching interviews after the match and I looooove this one of Medvedev: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeHh_NJEs-M

Overnight in a Tent in Narvik, Norway – My Glamping experience

On the last night of our trip to the Nord, we decided to stay in a tent on the top of a remote mountain wishing that we could see the Northern Lights dancing. It turned out to be a stormy night. We both thought that the wind might carry the whole tent (with us inside of course) away some time. I was nervous but after a long trip from Tromsø to Narvik, 45 mins of climbing the hill with all of our things on the back, and a deep conversation with my best friend here (about how we felt after 18 days traveling together), we were dead to the world that night and the fear soundly fade away as we gradually fell asleep. Fortunately, the next morning, we found ourselves both safe inside the tent. Of course that night, no dancing Northern Lights but just some days after we left, the lights were dancing “passionately” there.

The landscape from Tromsø to Narvik is peacefully beautiful. You can see the snow-capped mountains (even it was still autumn – I guess autumn in Norway is very short), lakes, fjords, forests, “beaches”, and little houses along the way. Even though it was difficult to capture the beauty of the landscape on a bus, I tried to take some photos; they could never do justice to the real scenery tho. Also, they are all no-filtered photos. 😉

In this blog, I am going to share some of my thoughts about friendship and some random realizations in the process of “adulting.”

We stayed at Narvik Adventures AS tent. It was very easy to find and close to a bus stop. I was very happy when I booked it because I could find a place that has a unique location with easy access. But the day we arrived, it was Sunday and buses did not run regularly or… not at all.

There are not many lines of buses in Narvik. We checked the schedule here and realized that we could not take a bus to our tent as planned.

I could not recall exactly if the last bus to our tent did not run on Sundays or it stopped the time we arrived, around 1pm, but I remember the only two ways to get to the tent were either by taxi or by foot. After talking with Silvia, we decided that we would walk because it was not that far (according to what we checked on the map – only 30 mins walk and this is normal for us, we had done even more than that during our trip). Silvia had a fever one night before and she was not 100% well but she was a true fighter for accepting doing this with me. Especially, we were with our backpacks and food and bags. I remembered we set the targets for ourselves during the walk “okay, now let’s walk up to that big tree and we will take a short break” “now, that yellow sign” etc. etc. At the end, it took us almost an hour to reach the tent.

Now let’s take a look at the amazing tent…

Video of the tent is here.

We can see the sky just by sitting here or laying on our bed. At night, we can see lights from the city across the Fjords. We also sat here and talked a lot about life while having a cup of warm tea in our hands. Such a lovely memory.

The tent is cozy and warm. The host prepared everything for us, including tripod to take photos of the Northern Lights in case we saw them. We have a small kitchen and bathroom outside, well equipped so that we could cook and take warm showers. We had to buy food and brought them here because the place was completely isolated, no supermarkets or stores around. That night we had lamb with fries, and some meatballs. I don’t think I took any photos of our dinner but I remembered how delicious it was.

After dinner, we talked a lot about what happened during the trip and how we dealt with the incidents. I realized travels teach me a lot, especially when I travel with someone else, everyday we have to make a lot of decisions from whether it is about where to eat, where to see, or simply if we should take a coffee or not, to important decisions like should we change our itinerary, should we book the tour, or should we book this flight instead of this train. I also realized the values of friendship, the differences in our backgrounds, personalities, and how these things influence the way we think and make decisions. What it means to love someone and let someone enter into your life and let them stay as an important piece in your whole mosaic. There’s no perfect friend in the world but there are friends who make you understand what love and care really are. This is way more important. If you meet someone like that in your life, treasure them, don’t let them go. I think I am lucky to have friends who love me so much in my life and I am forever grateful for that.

When I was young I got angry easily when things did not go the way I wanted. Now I am learning to be happy with surprises, both good and bad. It does not sound easy and it is not easy to do, but I believe good energy will attract amazing things and it is true in my case. Sometimes when I travel and meet people who are so kind or experience something really nice, I feel I do not deserve these good things and my mind is occupied with thoughts: people are suffering the pandemic – and I am enjoying life; my family has never been to these places – and I am here; really, I spent this much for a dinner?; people are struggling to find a job – and I am just…traveling… so on and so on. I would say I am happy with all of the experiences I have had but constantly, I do not feel complete. Then I learned that things happen for a reason even it sounds like a cliché; the older I get, the more relatable it is to me. As our Master Thay Thich Nhat Hanh once said “I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live” and I made a promise to myself. I hope you will too.

Maybe the ice cream would taste better if you simply…just enjoy it.

My itinerary for an 18-day trip to the Nordic countries

Countries visited: Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, and Norway

Period: October – November 2021

Day 1 Leipzig – Copenhagen	FRIDAY – 17/09/2021 Train Leipzig – Copenhagen (transit at Hamburg) Staying at an Airbnb
Day 2 Copenhagen	SATURDAY – 18/09/2021 Sightseeing Copenhagen
Day 3 Copenhagen	SUNDAY – 19/09/2021 Sightseeing Copenhagen
Day 4 Copenhagen	MONDAY – 20/09/2021 Copenhagen – Lund – Copenhagen
Day 5 Copenhagen – Helsinki	TUESDAY – 21/09/2021 Flight Copenhagen Kastrup – Helsinki: SK1712 (14:05 – 17:40) – you can also check Finnair and compare the prices. Staying at an Airbnb
Day 6 Helsinki	WEDNESDAY – 22/09/2021 Helsinki sightseeing + visiting Suomenlinna
Day 7 Helsinki	THURSDAY – 23/09/2021 Excursion to Tallinn – day cruise to Tallinn – sightseeing – going back to Helsinki Note: You have to arrive at the port at least 30 mins before departure time. We almost missed it. 😛
Day 8 Helsinki – Stockholm	FRIDAY – 24/09/2021 Visiting Liesjärvi National Park. I took a very early bus to the National Park because we had to go back to Helsinki’s center the same day to take the cruise to Stockholm. You can check the bus here – the route is from Helsinki Kamppi to Kyynärä (Tammela). You can also start at a different station. Kamppi is within walking distance of the central station. However, the bus station at Kamppi is a bit tricky to find, it’s in the basement. Make sure you arrive at least 30 mins earlier to find the gate F20. There are trains, buses,… all kinds of public transportation so it could be confusing. At the national park, I talked to the sheep at the Heritage Farm Korteniemi – YOU HAVE TO GO HERE 😀 😛 Ferry Helsinki – Stockholm: Viking ferry – 17:15 – 10:00 Don’t miss the acoustic night and appreciate the moments.
Day 9 Stockholm	SATURDAY – 25/09/2021 Hostel Stockholm: Birka Hostel, Luntmakargatan 14, 111 37 Stockholm
Day 10 Stockholm	SUNDAY – 26/09/2021 Visiting the harbor and the city center We tried the pizza at MICHELANGELO; it was just a random pick and was very good but its online review is only 3.9.
Day 11 Stockholm – Oslo	MONDAY – 27/09/2021 Train Stockholm – Oslo: due to some last-minute decisions, we just went to Stockholm central station and bought the ticket there. It’s a combination of train and bus. You can also check if there are options here. Hotel in Oslo: Anker Hotel Storgata 55, Grünerløkka, Oslo, 0182, Norway
Day 12 Oslo – Bergen	TUESDAY – 28/09/2021 Train Oslo – Bergen: we planned to book a train but it increased the price; we checked it one day before the trip, almost double, so we ended up taking a flight to Bergen. Tips: book the train as early as possible. However, it was amazing to see things from above, so strongly recommended taking a flight to Bergen also. But you can check if you want to take a train to Bergen: 1. Option 1 here 2. Option 2 check this website; it includes train trips + sightseeing Oslo – Bergen and vice versa. The train trip includes some of the best spots in Norway. We took “Norway in a nutshell” – will write more about it in a separate post. Airbnb Bergen: super nice the host and the house.
Day 13 Bergen	WEDNESDAY – 29/09/2021 We took “Norway in a nutshell” – IT WAS THE BEST. I will write about it with more videos and photos.
Day 14 Bergen – Tromsø	THURSDAY – 30/09/2021 Flight Bergen – Tromsø: DY106 (13:20 – 15:15) Airbnb Tromso: this is where we saw the Northern Lights. Talking about this, I really want to come back.
Day 15 Tromsø	FRIDAY – 01/10/2021 Tromsø sightseeing
Day 16 Tromsø	SATURDAY – 02/10/2021 Tromsø sightseeing – we had one of the best sunsets in our life here.
Day 17 Tromsø – Narvik	SUNDAY – 03/10/2021 Bus Tromsø – Narvik: book here Accommodation Narvik: we stayed at Narvik Adventure AS – it’s a tent on the mountain overlooking the fjords and the city. Tip: check both Airbnb and Booking to see which option is better. Last time we booked on Booking because the price was so much better. AMAZING service and landscape! If you are lucky, you will see the Northern Lights there. Also, I will write a post just about this experience.
Day 18 Narvik – Leipzig	MONDAY – 04/10/2021 Flight Narvik – Berlin (Norwegian Air): Narvik – Oslo DY367 (15:40 – 17:25) Oslo – Berlin DY1108 (18:30 – 20:05)

Our itinerary

There is so much more to write about this trip including unique experiences, the people, the accommodations, and of course the tips. 😉 Traveling to Nordic countries is expensive, however, it’s really worth it. And if you plan everything carefully, you can save a bunch.

Regarding public transportation, you will have to download an app in each city for it. Payment like credit cards or PayPal can be added to the app easily. It’s cheaper to pay via the app than buying the tickets directly at the station. How to know which app to download? It’s easy, at the waiting area of the station, you will see the logo or sometimes the QR code of the app you should download. It’s light and fast but make sure you have data. If not, the best way is to check it at the central station or do a quick search online. Places I have been to during this trip provide tickets that last for a certain amount of time and don’t be surprised that in some cities like Tromsø or Narvik, buses are more popular (or the only public transportation that is available) than trams or metro.

If I could change one thing in my itinerary, it would be adding at least two days at each city, but I am a big believer that you’re never going to find a PERFECT itinerary or a PERFECT travel experience without a constant willingness to experience the surprises (both good and bad) – for us, it was some last-minute changes, some strange pasta, or some out-of-breath runnings to the trains 😀 As my favorite travel inspiration, Anthony Bourdain once said “Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss…” Agree?

For now, let see some photos of the Nordic 😉

Fjords

The video might not work (until I upgrade to premium hahaha) so you can click here to see it. 😉

This coffee shop reminds me of a place in Vietnam that I usually take my clients to. I miss Vietnamese coffee so much. Here coffee is a bit light to me. Buuuut I have another story to tell. This morning we went to a coffee shop and the owner spoke in German with us. We were thinking “Wow how come people here identify us as German” – one Asian and one Latina and I told my friend “We’re German now” hahahaha then we tried to analyze the situation which turned out to be that because we used Sparkasse card – Sparkasse is a very popular bank in Germany. But the moment I heard people speak German, I just felt at home – strange feeling but isn’t it a good sign that I love the language I am learning

Bryggen in Bergen. I accidentally deleted a lot of nice photos in Bergen :((

And the Northern Lights – no Photoshop 😛

18 days across the Nordic countries – some tips on how to travel light

All I got for 3 weeks traveling around – one backpack and one small bag which can be put in my backpack when required. I fly with low-cost airlines so only one bag is allowed. Tips: wash your clothes instead of packing a lot. I wash my clothes every two days then roll them inside a big towel. The next morning they will be almost dry, then I just need to hang them on the rack => go around exploring => go back and everything is clean and ready. If you stay in a place with a laundry service or a washing machine, go for it. Don’t make life complicated. 😉

Regarding accommodation, there are plenty of options for a private room in a house where you can live together with the host. Normally these options are more affordable and the houses, for example in Scandinavia, are all lovely and with great style, of course talking to the host sometimes is a plus – the best way to get tips and learn more about the culture, the food to try, everything. In Tromsø, I stayed at an Airbnb overlooking the Fjords with amazing sunrise / sunset AND I could see the Northern Lights from there.

I hope you enjoy my travel photos and get more inspiration to explore the world. It might be not so good now in Vietnam but there’s always hope for a better future when you can travel again. And if your next destination is Europe, we might see us sometime somewhere soon. The world is so beautiful and people are very kind. Everyday it’s a surprise!!!! I know and remind myself every morning that I am very lucky

There’s a lot to write and share but I will do it slowly.

Countries I visited during this trip: Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, and Norway.

Travel period: end of October – November

P.s the second photo looks a bit depressing because I was waiting in line for so long and it got tooooo warm for me – literally sweating

Kindness – isn’t it the most beautiful thing in the world?

My friend and I were walking along the harbor and having some very deeeeeep conversations. I stopped by a small stall to get coffee for us and my friend went to another store for a light sandwich. And here is where the amazing story happened…

My friend selected and collected the food CONFIDENTLY, then there came the moment of payment…she could not pay by card and we had NO CASH in Swedish Krona. My friend asked if we could pay by Euro. The owner of the place asked why we were here, more specifically – why we ended up here in that coffee shop. My friend started to explain that we were just wandering around and we were so focused on the conversation that when we realized we needed coffee, we were already there. And the owner said that we did not have to pay anything for the food, NOTHING. She said the cake and sandwich were from the house (homemade) and later in life, we could just do the same to someone else. She shared further that the place opened three weeks ago and the concept was to promote “deep conversations” so our story was just so inspiring and it was enough, JUST ENOUGH. Today is the 10th day of my trip and everyday it’s a story of kindness, of surprise, of interesting conversations, of humanity…Things keep astounding me in so MANY WAYS. I can’t be more thankful and grateful for the life I am living and the people I have met. It’s just magical.

This sign shows the way to that little lovely coffee shop – Kontempel. I will be back!