Norway: Last Few Days

In our last few days Casey took us to visit their favorite rec spot on the ocean where we hiked around and flew a kite. We had the privilege of celebrating my nephew's birthday a few days early. Beate can bake up some tasty things! B and I also took a road trip to check out more of the country and take another ferry. What a beautiful country! We can't thank Casey and Beate enough for letting us crash their home for over a week and being tour guides. It was so fun to see them and hang out with the nephews. We miss them and wished they lived closer to us, like anywhere in the US. Maybe someday.

Where there's water, Brandon will skip rocks

My nephew helping Brandon up the hill

And pulling me down a slick cliff side to the rock he wanted to get on below. He's fearless

So cute!

I'd never seen a grass covered roof until I came to Norway, but they say it's energy efficient

This 2-lane highway reminded me more a the top of Millcreek Canyon - more narrow than actually 2-lane

Norway: In a Nutshell

We spent one day exploring the fjords and mountains by boat and train by taking a full day tour called Norway in a Nutshell. We caught a boat in Bergen and headed up the Sognefjord, the longest fjord in the world, for 5 hours to Flam, stopping in 10 or so small little towns along the way. In Flam we hopped on an old school train that climbed the mountain to Myrdal at a 50 degree grade for 80% of the ride. It was steep, full of tunnels, and so beautiful. Then we hopped on a commuter train back to Bergen. It was an incredibly relaxing day checking out some of the world's most beautiful scenery (until we got on the commuter train and got stuck in a car that was full of one large extended family except for us. They were all over the car yelling to each other, singing, watching movies without headphones, and non-stop jabbering. One little kid kept slamming into Brandon's leg or arm every time he ran down the isle. That 2 hour train ride was longer than the 5 hour chill boat ride).

Leaving the Bergen bay

We saw a lot of this kind of set-up. Not bad

A little cold out on the boat deck

and windy

and sometimes rainy

Waterfalls everywhere

Behind us is the opening to the narrowest fjord in the world

In Flam - boat we took to my right

Flamsbana

Mmmm, European chocolate

The windows rolled down

Waterfalls always mesmerize me. They are amazing (my hair is pretty amazing in this picture too)

A Danish journalist took a picture of us taking a picture of ourselves. He said he works for some magazine. Who knows, maybe we'll be featured in a travel section in Denmark

Norway: 17th of May, Independence Day

Independence Day is a pretty big deal in Norway. We started the celebration the night before at the annual 16th of May soccer game in Bergen. A European soccer game is like no other sporting event experience. It was awesome. It was fun to watch Beate get so into it. She could hardly watch penalty shots against her team. In the end, Bergen's team won! Brandon saw most of the game, but his view kept getting obstructed by the guy next to him who slowly made his way in front of Brandon as if he wasn't even there. The guy didn't seem to notice or care that Brandon could have rested his chin on the man's shoulder.

Here he comes. Starting to creep into Brandon's personal and viewing space to make room for the extra friends they added to the row who don't actually have seats there.

Brandon's view after the slow creep over. Eventually Brandon squeezed his way back into position forcing the dude back to his space.

On the 17th, the town came out to the main square for a parade and carnival. Residence dress in traditional clothing that represents the town they come from. Beate and the kids looked so good. People watching was fantastic (Oh, and we happened to run into the guy from the soccer game who stood in front of Brandon. What are the odds of that in a gathering of thousands of people!!) Most everyone is dressed in Sunday best or some other traditional attire (red overalls for seniors close to graduation). The town was one big party. My favorite part was the licorice. All types of imaginable and unimaginable flavors of licorice are sold as part of the celebration. So good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I've never tasted better licorice. It was fun to be part of and witness the Independence Day traditions of another country.

Sour Strawberry - Soooo Good!

For all you Friday Night Lights fans  - it's a Norwegian Buddy Garrity. Brandon spotted him. He's acting like he's taking a picture of me, but he took it of this guy instead

Children in the parade