Ace of Spades

"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." - Robert Southey

This past week I was fortunate enough to have my very own guest- all the way from the States! My friend, Amanda (Ace) came and spent an entire week- well 6 days more or less- with me. Ace and I met at Sugar Creek two summers ago and after becoming closer this summer, she decided in August that she would be coming and visiting me. In early November she had found really cheap tickets for a round trip and the plans were set. Unlike most of my other trips- for some reason, this trip had all of its hiccups in the weeks leading up to Ace’s arrival. At camp this summer, there were two international staff members from Slovakia- Jan and Roman- and we also met their friend Barbara, who goes to school with them, but was spending the summer in Chicago. We decided to spend a couple of days of Ace’s visit in Martin, Slovakia with them. Ace also wanted to make the most of her week in Europe and see as many countries and places as possible. In addition to Slovakia, some of the ideas we threw around were- Scotland, France, Poland, Hungry, as well as a couple of different places in Norway. It was a big agenda to fit into a week starting late Saturday night and ending very early Friday morning. After some talking and negotiating, and lots of checking of time schedules and flight prices, we finally had it narrowed down to a day and a half in both Poland and Slovakia and then the rest of the time in Norway. After talking with our Slovak friends, we found out that, although Martin is near Krakow, Poland (where we were planning on going), there was no train linking the two. So instead, we would have to go from Krakow to Bratislava (Slovakia’s capital) and then to Martin. Unfortunately- come time to buy our train tickets- my card kept getting denied. I discovered too, that it wasn’t my bank denying it, but the company selling the tickets. We got concerned it was a scam and decided against it. Then it came time for us to decide whether we risk it and fly to Poland and hope once we are there we could figure out how to get into Slovakia or just cut out the Poland part of our trip. I have a few friends here in Norway that have traveled to Poland, and they informed me that very few Polish speak a lot of English and so if they didn’t know exact what they wanted, it was difficult to get around. So Ace and I decided to just stick with Slovakia. Given that at this time in the game plan it was only a week and a half or so until Ace arrived, I was getting pretty nervous if we would be able to pull it off or not. We contacted our Slovak friends, asking them what days would be best for us to come, and they said any- they would even meet us in Bratislava and we could stay at their parents’ house in order to spend more time with them. So after some ticket searching (which is extremely difficult because of the limited number of flights in and out or Bratislava) we found some departing Oslo Monday night, we would then have a night layover in London and arrive in Bratislava Tuesday morning. We would then fly directly from Bratislava into Oslo late Wednesday evening- it would be a short but sweet trip.

Next came our plans for the rest of our time in Norway. At Sugar Creek, one of the kids Ace worked with this summer, Daniel, actually has an aunt and uncle who run a Bed and Breakfast in Oslo. We were able to get the name of their place and I sent an emailing asking if there was a room available. Due to our trip to Slovakia and the timing of the Ace’s flights in and out of Norway, we decided it would be easiest to just spend our time in Oslo, instead of heading back to Bø. So it would be a total of 4 nights in Oslo and 3 abroad. At this point in time, it was the Tuesday before Ace arrived and life was great and our time was planned and life was good…and then it all fell apart….

Wednesday night we got an email from our Slovakian friends saying they could no longer come to Bratislava to see us because they had school and as of Thursday night, I still hadn’t heard a definite answer from the B&B in Oslo if we could stay there or not. To say the least, I was stressed. As of Friday morning- the day before Ace arrived- I did not know where we would be sleeping Saturday through Thursday night, expect for Monday (only because we would be spending that in the airport). To add to the stress, given the time different, it was difficult to get constant communication with Ace to make decisions as to what we should do and I still had classes on top of that, along with a broken computer. And on Friday, I had an all-day ski excursion with my friluftsliv class to Morgedal. I was feeling like a failure of a host. I got back to school on Friday around 5 o’clock and I was determined not to leave until I had this all figured out. Thankfully things started to fall into place- the B&B got back to me and we had a spot to stay and Ace and I decided (as much as we were frustrated with the guys) to take our chances with the Slovakian trains and make our way out from Bratislava to Martin to see them.

So come Saturday morning- I was off on the 11 o’clock train to Oslo to wait for Ace’s 4.30 arrival for our week full of uncertainty and adventure. Thankfully there were not any major issues on our travels. After navigating our way around the Oslo metro we made our way to the B&B around 6.30 and after meeting our host (Daniel’s aunt, because his uncle was in the States) we made our way to the grocery store to pick up a few things and then Ace crashed- exhausted after traveling so much. The next morning, breakfast was served at 8 o’clock. We were able to talk some more with our host- Marta- and discovered she was originally from Poland, but also has US citizenship and now she and her husband Roy (a Norwegian and US citizen) spend their time jumping between their houses in Norway, Poland and the States. Marta is a very outgoing and wonderful woman. She seems to know a lot of many things and loves to talk about all of her experiences in every place she’s lived- especially the differences between the States and Norway. There was never a dull moment at breakfast. Over the four nights we were there, there were only other guests two of the nights. Sunday morning there was a young couple from Germany there and then Thursday morning there was a Norwegian man staying there.

Sunday we spent the day wandering around Oslo. We made stops at Vigeland’s Park and then up to Holmenkollen, where there were actually ski races going on, so that was quite nice to see. In the late afternoon and early evening we made our way back to the B&B for some supper and had a nice little talk with Marta, before it was time for bed again. Monday morning we were up and packed- ready to head off to Slovakia. After some breakfast we made our way down to Oslo city center and had a look around the fortress. We were also fortunate enough to find a gluten-free bakery. Ace can’t have gluten, so it is always tricky to find her something good to eat. Soon it was time to catch our train to Rygge airport and then our flight to London. On the flight over there were some young parents sitting next to us with their infant son- one of the cutest fattest babies I have ever seen. After talking with the father for a while, I learned the baby’s name was Henry and he had just turned four months. He was coming back from visiting his great-grandmother in Moss, Norway. I then became the luckiest girl on the plane, because the father then offered to let me hold Henry for a while. Three of the things college students miss the most (besides home cooking) are pets, grandparents and babies. So I was the happiest college kid while holding Henry.

Soon enough it was time to land. The night in London went by quickly. Ace and I grabbed some dinner and then found a place to make camp for the night. Next thing we knew it was 4.30 and time to check in and get ready to board our 6.15 flight. After a nice 2 hour nap onboard we touched down in Bratislava, Slovakia. We had to catch a train to Zalina, where our friend Barbara would meet us and travel with us the rest of the way to Martin. In so we had to find our way from the airport to the train station. I had printed off some information online about a bus 61 which would take us directly from the airport to the main station, but we wanted to check with the information desk to make sure- which turned out to be a very unhelpful experience. One of the women was helping another man, whom I had over head was trying to get to a neighboring city. The women was being very rude and saying that, since he had to change buses, the women said it was too difficult for him and said she didn’t know how he could get there. While this was going on, I stepped up the other information women and asked her how get to the main bus station- she proceeded to give me the same directions they were giving the man (how I needed to make a transfer) and that it was too difficult for us and left it at that. All I have to say, is that if you plan on getting a job at any kind of help desk- please make sure you understand that you are going to have to help people, so be prepared. Ace and I just decided to try it ourselves and just took bus 61 in, which got us to the main train station no problem. Only hiccup was, we didn’t know where to buy tickets so we just hopped on (later we found out from our Slovak friends that if we had gotten caught without a ticket, we each would have been fined 50 euro).

We got our train ticket without a glitch and after a couple of hours- we were on our way off to Martin. Barbara found us in Zalina right away and with her help we got another train and then bus into Martin. We met Jan and Roman at the coffee shop where Jan was working. Thankfully it was not busy so he was able to talk with us often. We were also joined by Jan’s younger sister and brother later on in the evening. They took us to dinner at one of their favorite local restaurant and we had the Slovakian nation dish- halušky, which is potatoes prepared in a certain way, covered in some kind of white sauce, along with chives and bacon sprinkled on top. Once our food came, we realized they had only ordered food for us and we asked why they weren’t eating. They explained to us how lunch is their big meal so they were not hungry, but they knew how supper is our big meal, so wanted to make sure we had something to eat- it was very sweet of them. We then spent some time at the coffee shop, waiting for Jan to finish working and then we all headed out for some drinks. Afterwards we had a nice walk around their town, where they should us some important buildings, their school, their church and other places and finally we made our way back to their apartment. We stayed up talking for a while but eventually everyone fell asleep. The guys had to be up early the next morning for classes. Right before they left we woke up and said our goodbyes. We then got ready ourselves and Barbara and her friend took us into Zalina to pick up our train back to Bratislava for our flight. So although we spent more time in the airport/bus station or on the plane/train, it was still worth it to see them all. It was almost like we had just left camp last week- it felt like no time had passed at all.

We got back to our B&B around 10.30 and crashed, but we were up nice and early for breakfast Thursday morning at 8 o’clock. We had a pretty lazy day then- we wandered around Oslo through the morning and afternoon for Ace to get some souvenirs. I even got a new sweater for 354 NOK, which was on sale from originally 1,163 NOK, all because one of the buttons came off. Good thing I have a wonderfully Grandma who sews like magic! We came back up to our B&B for some food, and spent the rest of the day wandering around the area by our B&B and hanging out.

This morning it was early to rise- we were up by 5.30 for breakfast at 6.15. Ace had a flight that left at 10.00 and I had a train to catch at 7.25. We were packed and on the metro by 6.45 and after a quick farewell (we both had trains to catch) we were on our separate ways. In so our time together was short but sweet. I feel so very fortunate to have had Ace come all the way over from the States to spend some time with me here and I think she had a good time as well. I do know she was especially happy to get some more stamps in her passport if anything J

Now I have only a few short weeks and an extremely long to-do list before its Spring Break and I’m off on my next adventure to Scotland, Spain and Portugal. And, as of tomorrow, it is only 2 short months until my Mom will be here, so lots of planning to do before then and only 2 months and 16 days before I land in the States- Ahh! Scary thought!

Sending all of my love back home to you all- hugs and kisses!