Goodbye Norway

Greetings from Oslo! This capital of Norway is a glorious city of many museums, water, and wonderful buildings. Like most European capitals, it is an old city. We have learned about many famous Norwegians and their skills, talents and often, courage. In our two full days here, we spent the first morning taking a city tour during which we stopped at the Vigeland Sculpture Park, which is interesting, in part, because the artist produced all his work under contract with the city. They believed in him enough to give him the land and pledge to take all his work ahead of time and he committed to give his work to only them. His theme is "the circle of life" and much of his work deals with human life from birth to death. He also created a maze that folks can walk. It is in the cement and goes all the way around a huge fountain that he created. I would have liked to do that; maybe next time. In the afternoon, after lunch, we went to the Resistance Museum at the fortress. We spent 1 1/2 hours there and could have spent more but the museum closed at 4. We made our way back to the hotel and spent time having wine and pretzels with our friends Ron and Jonel Glass, both of whom went to Carleton a few years after Jon did. Then the four of us joined our other friends, Leon and Anne Szczesny, and the 6 of us had dinner together. Norway is VERY expensive as a rule ($6 for a coke) and that was our special dinner of the trip so far! This morning, after breakfast at our hotel, we headed for the Bygdoy peninsula and its several museums. We took bus 30 and got off at the open air folk museum. Here are gathered many old buildings from all over Norway; it reminded me of our 4th. grade trips to Pioneer Farm! The best was a stave church from the 1200s. Then we went to the Viking museum where 3 preserved Viking ships are displayed. These date from AD 850! They have been wonderfully preserved and where necessary, restored. There are some stairs in various places that you can use to get up a bit higher than the sides of the ships. All three had been used as burial vessels and many objects survived because each ship had been buried in clay. Most interesting were the sleds (3 of them) and a bucket with a brass "Buddha looking" head at each end of the handle. After this museum, we had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe and then headed on to the Kon Tiki museum. There were Thor Heyerdahl's vessels, the Ra and the Kon Tiki! The display was excellent and included a short movie about the Kon Tiki's voyage. I remember being fascinated by the great adventures as a young teen and was thrilled to see the actual rafts. The Fram museum was next door. This huge ship holds the record for going furtherest north AND south. These feats were accomplished about 100 years ago. We decided to take the small commuter boat back across the bay to the downtown area, which was fun. Since we arrived back there about 4:15, we walked a short distance to the Nobel Peace Museum to see if it was open. It was, until 6, so we went in. The best part was the small theatre where short videos were shown, one after the other, about the winners, common themes, and how the prize is awarded every year. We were mesmerized! We stayed until 6 and then found a restaurant that had been recommended to us where we had dinner. Now we're back in our hotel room catching up with things! I must say that Grand Circle has chosen our hotels well. They have all been well located, especially the ones in Bergen, Helsinki and here. They've been on quiet side streets but within easy walking or bus distance of all the major sites. Tomorrow we pack up and head off to Paris!!! It was 79 degrees there yesterday which sounds wonderful after the 60-65 degrees and windy weather we've had here. (No rain though!!) More from la belle France later!

The Hurtigruten experience

We disembarked in Bergen today. What a wonderful, beautiful trip we had going south from Kirkenes to Bergen! We saw glaciers, waterfalls, incredibly narrow fjords, quaint villages, and modern cities. We met new friends from Nuremburg, Grenoble, various cities in Norway and other European countries. I even tried out my fledgling French on a lovely woman named Claudette! (And she at least pretended to understand me!) The Polarys is a lovely vessel and very comfortable. Our room faced the bow and so we could watch our progress from our own room. Of course we could also go to the observation area on deck 7 with it's wall to wall windows and comfortable seating! This was our first cruise but we had heard about the food on cruise ships. This was not the normal type of ship, as it is a working postal and freight vessel, but we had wonderful breakfast and lunch buffets, and dinner was seated and served to us by a very efficient wait staff. It was 3 courses and was presented beautifully and tasted gourmet! We saw Laurie and Gary Axling in Trondheim! We had an excited reunion and they sat with us while we had breakfast aboard our ship. We talked and shared experiences for about half an hour and then we set sail and they headed off to explore the city. It was so much fun to meet good friends away from home like that. They are just beginning a month long adventure - if you see them after they are home, be sure to hear about it!

Bergen is a large and interesting city. It was Norway's first capital and has been in existence for about a thousand years! There are many lovely old buildings and on our city bus tour this afternoon we saw many of them. Our guide Craig also took us on a walking tour around our hotel which is perfectly situated next door to the Hanseatic League area (a commercial trading group that thrived hundreds of years ago) and the fish market, which is really an open air public market. We also went on the funicular to a high point and got a wonderful view of the city, the fjord and the islands. Tomorrow morning we go on a half day tour to the outer island area of Bergen and then have the afternoon to do more exploring on our own. There is so much to see and do!

Meanwhile back at home, we found out that Jessica had to have her gall bladder out very unexpectedly! She is okay now, less than 24 hours after the surgery. It is agonizing to be here when she really could use my help! All of you parents know what I mean. I am really glad that we will be home in a couple of weeks and I can see for myself that she is okay.

On Sunday we are off to Oslo via "Norway in a nutshell". We go cross country from Bergen to Oslo using various types of transportation and seeing many beautiful sights. I'll post again then and tell you all about it. Take care of yourselves and all you teachers out there have a fantastic start to your year!

We have crossed the Arctic Circle heading south

Good morning! A little less than an hour ago, we crossed the Arctic Circle heading south. We had been north of it since leaving Helsinki. Amazing! We have learned that the north is warmer than Alaska and Siberia because of the Gulf Stream and the North Sea. That is not to say that these are warm areas - it feels like winter here now. It rained much of yesterday but happily that did not change the beauty of the scenery; in fact it made the fact of where we were more real. Yesterday we saw what is supposed to be the most beautiful of the passages we'll see on the ship - Trollfjord. The ship went into an unbelievably narrow canal and did a 180 turn in place. There were steep high sides of rock all around, with waterfalls tumbling down. We tried to take pictures but the overall effect was impossible to capture. If you have a chance, goggle it or look it up some other way and check out what we saw.

A couple of days ago, I found out that my mom has passed away. We expected that would happen while we were gone and made all the preparations that we could before we left. My sister has been there to begin taking care of details but we will be returning to Seattle on September 15 for the service etc. We will fly back to Paris on the 21st. Thank you for the kind thoughts and prayers that I know you will send our way.

I'll write more in a couple of days from Bergen. Between now and then we will see our friends Laurie and Gary Axling in Trondheim! What fun to have that to look forward to! Au revoir!

Norway

Hello again everyone! It is September 1 and we have been on the Hurtigurten ship Polarys for 2 days now on the Norwegian coast. We had a wonderful time in Finland, both in Helsinki and in the north country, Lappland, home of the Samis. Last Saturday we spent the whole day learning about the Sami culture. First a trip to the Siida museaum in Inari for a lunch and then guided tour of the very well done museum. Then to a great souvenir shop where I purchased my leather and silver Sami bracelet - thanks Marsha Rova for the idea! Finally we went to a reindeer farm owned by a Sami family. We saw the reindeer, tried to learn to lasso one, and then had a traditional meal.

Helsinki

We are enjoying our time in Helsinki and as we prepare to leave tomorrow morning, I want to share some of our adventures so far. Jon and I have done a lot of exploring, both on our own and with our group. The fish market is wonderful, full of produce including beautiful berries, and also fish. It is right downtown by the harbor and is similar to Pike Place in Seattle. There are many craft booths as well as food (cooked, like crepes and salmon, and raw). We have been to the market twice and had lunch there both times. Yesterday we took the 3T trolley all around it's one hour circular route. It went past the opera house, soccer field, amusement park, many residential areas, and was quite interesting. We got off near the Church in the Rock, a beautiful Lutheran church made by blasting out granite. When I get my photos downloaded, I will try to post one or two of the church. Next door to our hotel is Kampii, a huge mall, multi floored, with a bus depot and metro station at the bottom. There is also a grocery store and I decided that I wanted to get a couple of pastries to have for dessert/snacks. I decided I could go over and get them myself. Our hotel enables us to use the elevator at one end of the building to enter a tunnel system that leads right into the mall. So I took that, wishing a bit that I had breadcrumbs to leave to find my way back to the elevator. I was able to get to the grocery store and after wandering around a bit, found the bakery area. I happily bagged two rolls and walked to the check out line. When it was my turn, the friendly clerk said that I had to go back to where I'd got them and weigh (?!) them. She tried to explain how to do that, but our communication broke down a bit. It might have been my terror at this new and unexpected development. I went back, found the scale but could not figure it out. I was confronted by many double digit numbers, one of which I was supposed to push - but which one? I asked two young women if they spoke English and if they could help me. Kindly, they said yes to both questions. They weighed my first roll and out popped a sticker that looked like the ones the butchers put on our meat packages back home. I watched and was able to do the second one myself. Happily I returned to the same cashier, who congratulated me on my success! I paid and left, clutching my purchases triumphantly. I retraced my steps, was able to find the elevator, inserted my key card and made it back to our room (#202). I was pleased that I was able to accomplish the communication, navigation and cultural interaction all by myself! Today we went on a 3 hour whole group bus tour of Helsinki. It was interesting and well done. We made another stop at the Church of the Rock and the market, but also at the Senate Square with its statue of Alexander II of Russia (Russia ruled Finland for hundreds of years) and its immense, beautiful Lutheran cathedral, the Sibelius memorial in honor of Jean Sibelius who is Finland's most recognized composer, and saw the Olympic stadium from the 1952 Olympics and the Upenski Orthodox Church from the outside. We ended at the Market and most of us opted to get out there and have lunch and wander back at our own pace. Jon and I walked the two blocks back to the Orthodox church and went in. It of course reminded us of the beautiful churches we'd seen a few years ago in Moscow and St. Petersburg (which is only about 125 miles away!). There is something intensely spiritual in these soaring spaces filled with icons and lit candles but no pews. As we began to walk back, we met up with our new friends Marilyn and Bob and all walked back together. Tonight the four of us plus June, Bud and their daughter Debbie are going to Zetor, the restaurant Jon and I enjoyed our first dinner here. It is made like a barn and has tractors and other implements typical of Finnish farms as it's decor. Many Finns eat there and it is good food, reasonably priced (for Finland). Tomorrow we have to have our bags to be checked outside our doors at 8 am and we leave for the airport at 8:45. We fly to Ivalo, pronounced EE-val-oh, in Lapland and begin our Sami culture experience. We are looking forward it!

Well, we're here! In Helsinki! We had a smooth but long air experience and arrived at our hotel a bit after midnight. We finally got to bed after 1:00 am and then took a while to go to sleep, but got 7 hours before waking. We have already met several interesting folks, fellow tourists and native Finlanders. On our taxi ride from the airport, we shared a mini van with a Japanese couple who were also tourists. When Jon told them that we were from Seattle, the man immediately said "Ichiro!". There followed a broken conversation (almost no common language) where both sides really tried to communicate. Also in the taxi was a young woman who was Hungarian. She is beginning a Masters program in Helsinki and had one week to find lodging other than the hostel she was using at the moment. Her English was excellent because she had spent 2 years in Baltimore doing part of her BA work and then another year in Providence, RI working. There was also a young man from India who was part of a tourism promotion campaign who also spoke great English!

Today we have taken our time and tried to acclimate. The hotel is very nice and everyone is very helpful. We are trying to get our bodies on Helsinki time, which is 10 hours earlier than Seattle time, but after walking down to the market, window shopping, and having lunch, we are back in our room ready for a nap. Laurie, you were right about those berries! What wonderful stalls full of delicious-looking berries! Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries both farm produced AND the smaller wild ones, plus others. Pete and Tammy, they were just like the berries we picked on the tundra in Alaska! I found the handmade wool Finnish sweater I was looking for so I'll be plenty warm from now on! Susan, I didn't get as good a price as you did but close! There is plenty to keep us busy but we are leaving some things for the guided city tour that we will take with the Grand Circle group. They arrive tomorrow. The weather here is very Seattle-like. It's about 68 degrees and partly cloudy-more sun this morning than now-and very pleasant. All and all, a great beginning!

Hi Everyone! Two weeks from today we leave! Amazing, since it is a dream about to come true! We have our itinerary fairly set now, at least in large blocks. We purposely don't want to get too detailed since when we're traveling independently we want to have the freedom to "mosey" as Jon says. Here is the basic outline.

August 23 - fly from Seattle to Helsinki via London

August 26 - join the GCT (Grand Circle Travel) tour entitled "Norwegian Fjords and Lapland"

September 9 - fly to Paris to begin our month's stay in an apartment

October 8 - pick up our leased car and begin travel to Germany, Poland, Czech Rep. and Vienna

November 9 - fly to Jerusalem to join the GCT tour "Ancient Egypt and the Nile River", which includes time in Israel and Jordan

December 4 - fly to Barcelona and begin independent travel in Spain and Portugal, including 2 weeks in an apartment in Granada (Dec. 14-28). We pick up our leased car when we leave Madrid on Dec. 13

January 7 - begin time in Portugal

January 22 - return to Spain

February 3 - fly to London to begin independent travel in Great Britain

February 26 - take the ferry to Dublin and begin time in Ireland

March 10 - fly to Rome and begin independent travel in Italy, including 2 weeks in an apartment in Lucca in Tuscany (April 1-14) and a side trip to the Dalmatian Coast

April 23-fly to Athens to join OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) tour "Treasures of the Aegean: Greek Island Cruise, Athens and Istanbul" including a post tour in Turkey

May 13-fly to Stockholm and begin independent travel in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands

June 6-in Amsterdam, join GCT tour "Grand European River Cruise" which follows the Rhine and Danube rivers, ending up in Bucharest.

July 3-fly to Marseilles and pick up leased car then travel to Sablet, Provence to begin 5 weeks stay in an apartment. During this time, we will visit Switzerland for a week.

August 7-fly home from Marseilles.

As you can see, we'll be busy but we're hoping the pacing is reasonable. If we get tired, we'll just stop for a while! We are taking a carry on suitcase each and what Jon calls "the mother bag" which we will be checking and will contain the extra clothes etc. that are not vital to the next part of our trip.

I'll post another entry either just before we leave or from Helsinki! Bye for now.