We're back

We're back! Exhausted and broke, but full of stories to tell. Buy us a beer and we'll tell you all about Norway!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about spending 16 days with my parents, but the family vacation couldn't have gone better. I had no idea we were such a functional family! Actually, it was more like traveling with friends (really old friends!) than with family. We shared all sorts of laughs, from inside the cramped confines of hotel elevators to picturesque mountaintops, from behind the wheel of our trusty Volvo (which we nicknamed "Cousin John," in honor of the family giant) to early 19th century farmyards. I can't thank them enough for all the fun memories.  And I owe a special thanks to our new Norwegian relatives for treating us so, so warmly! Tusen Takk!

 

Final day in Bergen

Another rainy day in Bergen! But, according to the almanac, that's no fluke. It rains about 260 days a year here. The locals (even the toddlers) have themselves fancy rain suits. But tourists like ourselves are stuck hopping over puddles with umbrellas in hand. Guess we should have read that almanac before we left. 

Anyhow, despite the weather we managed to do a little more sightseeing here and snuck in one final delicious meal, which was quite possibly the best restaurant dinner of the trip. The photos show Haakon's Hall (built in the 13th century) from the viewpoint of Rosenkrantz Tower (a 16th century royal residence).

Viva Espana!

After 14 days here, I guess we're starting to catch on to the European way of life. Tonight, we've decided to order in a pizza and watch the semi-finals of the EuroCup football championships. Since we're drinking Spanish wine with our meal, we've decided to root for Spain. 

Great Ball of Fire!

Ahoy! That glorious, radiant ball of flames we call the sun has returned! After several days of cool, rainy weather, we had warmth and sun for our morning drive into Bergen and our day in the city. After checking in to our hotel, we hightailed it to a nearby cafe for a pint and a sandwich on an outdoor patio. That alone would have been enough to keep us satiated the entire day, but since we had a full day of sunlight ahead of us, we decided to wander through the city and explore its various nooks and crannies (of which there are plenty). 

After dinner, we took a bottle of wine and three glasses down to the pier and toasted the sun as it finally began to set at about 10:30 pm. 

Snow fight at 1200 meters...

After several hours of driving on narrow roads and a failed attempt at battling a busload of tourists for a photo-opp, Doug and Connie decided to let off a little steam with a snowball fight up in the clouds. 

I hope the photos do the area justice. We passed up a fjord boat tour for a drive up this mountain and were not disappointed. In terms of scenery, it was one of the highlights of our trip thus far. 

Tourist country

We had our first major encounter with the tour bus brigades today near the Geirenger Fjord (and heard native English for the FIRST time since our arrival). Lord, those people are ruthless! They come storming off the tour bus with their cameras in clutch and you'd better hope you're not the poor soul standing between them and their Kodak moment. Yikes! 

We got a little claustrophobic amidst the crowds and decided to head for the hills (literally). And we couldn't be more happy with our decision. The route we took was astonishingly beautiful. We pulled over frequently to snap photos like these and breath in the cool mountain air. 

A few more photos from Alesund

Taken after 10 pm.