13 more of my own European memories

Last weekend I shared 13 of my European memories in my review of Maureen Johnson's 13 Little Blue Envelopes. It was so popular, I decided to share 13 more:

1. Relaxed on a deserted black sand beach in Iceland and watched puffins play in the surf.

2. Went to a nude beach in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Because of my delicate skin, I covered up after about 15 minutes. It was disconcerting to see whole families hanging around nude together.

3. Backed our rental car up and got stuck on a ledge in Ireland. Fortunately, some friendly Irish folk stopped and helped us break free. We were frightened the rest of the trip that we’d have to pay a big fee to the rental car company, but they didn’t even bat an eye when they saw it.

4. Visited a church decorated entirely with human skulls in Poland.

5. Got on the wrong train to Brasov in Romania. The train we boarded was the slow, old train that didn’t have any internal lighting. When we went through the various tunnels, the train car was pitch black!

6. Heard that the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier was on a port visit in Benidorm, Spain. I was with a group of girls from Texas that flirted their way into a tour from a pilot. He showed us around and even invited us to lunch in the officer’s mess hall.

7. Got a private tour of a luxury cruise ship in Stockholm, Sweden from a friend who worked on one for a summer job.

8. Was invited by a Finnish family in Tampere, Finland to hang out in their sauna and drink wine. I’ve never seen so much wine consumed in my life!

9. Got my wallet stolen on the Greek island of Samos on my first evening there. Didn’t let it ruin my week though. We just went hiking a lot and only spent money on (incredibly delicious) evening meals.

10. Ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while enjoying the scenery of Lysefjord from Preikestolen, Norway. We camped out in tents and played Euchre under the stars.

11. Went to a cave monastery in Moldova that was filled with churchgoers that looked straight out of the middle ages.

12. Experienced the communist mentality first hand at a post office in Riga, Latvia. None of the four employees were with customers or otherwise busy, but they wouldn’t acknowledge me until I got a number.

13. Took advantage of the free bicycles in Copenhagen to ride around town and visit The Little Mermaid statue. The cobblestones ensure that you hobble around afterwards though!