Wandering, but not lost

I wanted to visit Norway for a very long time. The beauty of fjords, lakes, waterfalls, mountains small cottages. Bergen was a preludium to all of that. I spent three days there with my friends, but it was enough to experience the wonders that Norway has to offer. 

Bergen is unreal. It is the second largest city in Norway but it has only 280,000 inhabitants. It lies on the western fjords of Norway by the sea, but its hidden behind a series of smaller isles that blocks the view to the open sea. The sea can only be seen from the mountain tops. The geography of Bergen is peculiar, the city sprawled between a number of high mountains that surround it and the peaks are visible from everywhere so there's no chance of forgetting where you are. The city was supposedly founded in 1070 by king Olav Kyrre and was named Bjørgvin, what means "the green meadow among the mountains". A fair name, I must admit. It served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, and as a bureau city to the Hanseatic League. It was the largest city until Christiania (Oslo) surpassed it in 19th century.

Even when strong trading traditions of Bergen faded a bit, but what remained was a unesco-sited old town that still attracts a bunch of tourists. And trade as well. Its greatest value lies in the picturesque architecture and mindblowing nature that surrounds it, so let me show you. 

The North of Ghana is an absolutely different adventure than what that I have encountered in the south. This trip was mostly about appreciating nature and tradition. It was essentially appealing because I had a chance to drive deeper into Africa instead of staying close to the Atlantic coast. Fauna and Flora was something else, much closer to an evergreen savannah than a palmtree paradise.

After two days in Accra I was packed in a bus and I finally arrived to Cape Coast, my new home for the following five weeks. I was accepted for an internship in an architectural company working at the University Of Cape Coast thanks to IAESTE organisation. This was the reason for this whole excursion. IAESTE have found a local family with who I could live for the period of my internship. Long story short, I will get into details later in the post. 

Cape Coast is a very important point on the map of Ghana, for centuries. It used to be the capital city before Ghana gained independence from the British, when the function was moved to Accra. It's a city of 170000 inhabitants located by the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, overlooking the gulf of Guinea, about 130km west from Accra. Cape Coast is a significant fishing port, however its mostly known for the castle that lies in the heart of the city just by the shore of the ocean, and that castle has been the biggest slavetrade centre in the whole gulf of Guinea. 

Ghana. Africa. I have spent five weeks on an internship in Ghana thanks to IAESTE programme. Five weeks, of living with a local family and working in an architectural office. Travelling on weekends. More about life in Ghana I shall describe in Cape Coast post. For now, let's take a closer look at Accra, the capital. The only international airport of the country is located there, so after my inbound flight I spent my first days there before being transferred to Cape Coast. 

Accra is fairly different than other Ghanian cities. Extremely busy and overcrowded, it has over 2 milion inhabitants in the metropolitan area. Most parts of Accra seem to look the same, a couple of three-lane arteries with everlasting traffic leading to a maze of suburban streets with a village vibe. Most buildings are one up to three stories high, and it's very common for building sites to be left uncompleted. Inbetween houses there are plantain trees and palm trees popping up here and there. I have been to Accra a few times, and the first three this was the only image of Accra that I had in my mind, because nobody really took me to see any sights in the city. I saw it mostly from a window of an Uber or a tro-tro.

Madrd is a good base for daytrips. By an accident a few days before going to Spain i found out about a small town called Segovia which lies on the other side of the mountains, merely 100km from Madrid. It is know for a roman aqueduct that towers over the lower part of the city. Just by looking at the photos I instantly planed out my excursion, I loved it.

Oh Madrid! I've had an utterly brilliant experience in the capital of Spain. I found myself there because I took part in Athens programme - a one week exchange that takes place in different destinations in Europe, I was in Milan for the same reason last year and it was great but Madrid was honestly so much better.

I have spent 10 days there in total from which the course took 5 days and another 2-3 days were for social activities. My course was about discovering and analysing the city, but I will come to that later. It helped me to get a deeper understanding of a certain neighbourhood and its inhabitants, as we worked with local teachers who were both architects and sociologists. I find this experience extremely valuable.

Oh Lyon! You were a true treat, and really amazing to be in.