World Famous Lom Bakery

Today we went to the best bakery in the world and got great pastry's to start our day and sat by a window looking out onto a waterfall that turned to rapids beneath....it was cool.

From there we visited a stave church....these are churches from the time of the vikings and there are only around 20 some left in Norway...

So, I was thinking my day was starting off pretty good....and then my family left me at the car while they ran up to the ATM machine for 2 minutes to pull out cash. 45 minutes later, I was really wondering where they had gone...but eventually they managed to find their way back to the car....with packages in hand. OF COURSE....I should have known, they went shopping while I sat in the car. Very cool...no really, that was fun for me.

So, anyway....we headed down the road leading to Bergen and the Norwegian fjords. The drive today was actually really fun because we were driving through the tallest mountains of Norway with glacier ice and stuff. We stopped at one point for a picnic and were able to fill our water bottles with the water from the river which was so cold and clean.

We continued on the road, though my Grandmother did not love the road that much, she gets nervous with 10 hair pin turns (the guide book described them as white knuckle hair pin turns, but I think the author may have exagerated), but my Aunt is a very safe driver, so there really is no need to be worried.

Naturally a day cannot go by without us getting lost, and so we found ourselves out on some tiny pennisula in the fjords at around 11 at night looking for our bed and breakfast in a town that didn't have a bed and breakfast. I really don't know how my Aunt messed this one up, I mean getting lost is one thing but ending up in the entirely wrong town is another.

We had to ask some people who lived in the town, and they called the bed and breakfast and got us the actual directions to the actual town that we were staying in. We arrived after midnight, and went pretty immediately to sleep! Tomorrow we begin to explore Bergen and the west coast of Norway where the fjords are. I'll tell you about them tomorrow.

Family Roots

Today was a day all about family. We headed out early today to visit my mothers side of the family who are still living in Norway. They live in Nordburg and Skjak in the Gudbransdal Valley. We first went to visit Aslaug Nyhus who knew both my Great Great Grandmothers side of the family and my Great Great Grandfathers side of the family. She didn't speak any english (and we spoke no Norwegian) but we were able to communicate through her granddaughter, visiting from Oslo on holiday. After visiting with Aslaug for a while and learning more about the family and the area, our cousins arrived and we all met and talked and then we drove to the farm where my great great grandmother was born and lived until she went to the United States. It was pretty cool to see where they came from and my grandmother was really having a good time. I thought a lot today about how important family is and it is really good and interesting to know where I came from. We went back to the cousins house and saw the farm where my great great grandfather came from. We spent the rest of the day there with our cousins looking at old photographs and hearing stories. It was pretty cool. They also showed us the church in the town which is was really beautiful inside. Olga is my grandmothers second cousin and Siv is her neice. Siv is a school teacher at the local school and went away to college but came back to live there. I really liked the whole area and thought it was someplace that I could see myself living. They were all so nice and they prepared this whole big lunch for us at Siv's house (her house is so cool and looks really Norwegian). We had porridge and cheese and ham and potato salad. There was a lot of food and not all of it is even describable, but I did my best to try it all and I liked most of it, which was good to find out.

All in all, we had a really great time. I sort of wasn't planning on liking today that much....I thought it would mostly be boring family stuff. But, I actually really liked meeting my family from Norway and learning about where I come from. It was hard to say goodbye at the end and leave....but we did. Maybe someday I'll go back and visit there again, it's one of the places that I've liked the best so far and I hope I see it again.

The Road to Lom

Another day at the bed and breakfast means, another day that I get to eat a really good breakfast. This time I filled up even more in preparation for a morning with the women of my family....shopping! Seriously....don't they ever stop. How many times can you look at a scarf??

They finished up their shopping and we headed North, on the road to Lom. Lom is in the mountains in the middle of the country and is mostly farm land. My family is from the area and we still have relatives there so we were really excited to go and meet them all. But, first we had to drive there.

Of course, as soon as we got on the road again, I fell asleep. My family woke me up in time to have lunch in Lillihammer. They told me that the 1994 winter olympics were held here. I could see the ski jump from the road coming off the mountain. Lillihammer is a nice city but its pretty small for holding the Olympics in. The main street was not for cars but only for pedestrians. We could only make a short stop here since we had to get to the B&B in Lom, so we just got a few postcards and ate our lunch. After lunch we stopped at the berry bar to buy the best strawberries that I have ever eaten in my life.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up and we were in Lom. I saw farms on all sides and the mountains all around. Lom is really small and our bed and breakfast was just outside of it. The B&B is actually a working farm with sheep and horses. We are staying in a sod roofed cottage that was dug into the mountain side...so at night we have sheep walking on the roof. It really freaks Twiga out, but when she is outside she can't get enough of the sheep. It is also really beautiful in Lom....I think I might stay here and not return to the States.

The Village People Sing

Check it out!!!

A Day in Oslo

When I woke up and got ready to go, the family headed down to breakfast (a very good part about bed and breakfasts). I had ham and cereal. Then we headed out to the Folk Life Museum, which was really interesting and surrounded by trees. The museum had old wooden sod roofed houses and barns, and an old stave church and animals. In the "village" there were people dressed like they would be at that time period playing violin and singing. My grandmother really wanted to do this rope dance, so we all danced with the village people. It was kind of weird, but it made her happy, and I figured I would never see any of those people again anyway....why am I telling you about this??

From there we headed to the viking ship museum. It was so cool. It had old ships and sleds that that vikings used. I took a ton of pictures.

After that we went into Oslo, and once again my family...shopped!

After they got some shopping out of their system, we headed for the Resistance museum and the fortress on the hill overlooking the Oslo harbor. I have to admit....it was cool and all, but I was exhausted. My Aunt kept making me read the exhibits and asking me about stuff, but I was really tired. I did learn that there was a large Norwegian resistance movement during the Nazi occupation of Norway during WWII.

Well, you would think that that was a pretty full day. But, no....my family wanted to do more. So, we headed to Vigeland Sculpture Park. Vigeland was this sculpture dude who made sculptures throughout the whole park and dedicated them to the city of Oslo. They are all of people and they are really cool....and it was such a nice day that the entire city of Oslo seemed to be in the park. Even, as tired as I was, I had fun there.

After that, we headed back to the B&B. The rest of the family went out for dinner down at the harbor but I stayed in with Twiga. (I do NOT like seafood). Anyway, I was tired, and tomorrow is another day....

Eating Danishes with the Danes

Today we planed to see more of Copenhagen and then drive through Sweden to Oslo...the Capital of Norway. So, we got all packed up and checked out of the hotel and walked a LLLOOOONNNNGGGG way to a pastry shop to eat some Danishes with the Danes. The eating danish part was great, but I wasn't so impressed with Copenhagen. It is REALLY dirty...and our dog, Twiga kept eating everything off the ground on our walk. We were definitely ready to leave the city center when we did.

But, before leaving Copenhagen all together, we drove to the waterfront and took pictures of the Little Mermaid. No, not the Disney character...the golden statute of a mermaid that is out on the rocks at the harbor in Copenhagen. Apparently, Hans Christian Andersen first told the story of the Little Mermaid before Disney ever got ahold of it. Hans Christian Andersen lived in Copenhagen and was Danish....thus, the reason for the statute.

After we were finished there, we headed for NORWAY!! My family on my mother's side is from Norway, so it was a really exciting trip for the whole family and we were all excited to go.

On the way to Norway we had to pass through Sweden which is a lot nicer than Denmark. Right when you cross the border there are farms all over. Then when you go farther into Sweden there are trees. It was really "beautiful" and all, but.....I fell asleep. Only once in a while my annoying family would wake me up to see something out the window. Of course, I was asleep so I don't really remember what they wanted me to see anyway.

Finally, they woke me up for something good....FOOD! We stopped in a small village in Sweden and ate pizza, against my grandmothers will. Then we were back on the road and I was back to my sleeping. This time when I woke up we were in Oslo, Norway and we were driving around trying to find the bed and breakfast we were staying at. FINALLY, we found it. By then, it was really late and we were really tired, so we unpacked, got some snacks from a deli nearby and went to sleep.

Gridlock sucks....Even in Europe!

We left the hotel early today, fumbled around at the gas station trying to figure out (in German) whether to pump first or pay first. Finally, all dieseled up and ready to go, we headed out for our quick 4 hour ride to Copenhagen.....

....oh, did I mention that there is traffic, even on the audoban?? So, the day which was supposed to be spent getting an overview of Copenhagen, Denmark was spent....in the car!

We finally made it to Denmark, and to our hotel, and got checked in for the night. We then headed out to spend the night at Tivoli, a really large amusement park in the center of downtown Copenhagen. The park is really fun (filled with amusement rides and food, almost NO SHOPS!!!) and it stays open till about 2am. When we got in the park, I got rid of the parental units and while they ate, I rode! The only problem with the park is that the lines are pretty long. I feel like I spent my entire day in lines....first in a line of cars and then in line to ride. Oh well....it was still fun!

Off to Germany

Today we started on our road trip to Scandinavia. My Aunt had to work and then after work, go pick up our rental car and then we all loaded in (My Grandmother, my Aunt, Twiga and I) and headed North. Since we started late, we only plan to get as far as Germany tonight and then start into Scandinavia tomorrow. The landscape was mainly farm land and pretty flat (so I fell asleep). Once we crossed the border into Germany the landscape was still flat, but my Aunt and I did have a fun time with the road signs. We particularly like the road sign labeled, "Ausfaurt". I'll leave our comments to your imagination. ;-)

We headed for Hamburg where we found our hotel and then went in search of some food. We drove down to the waterfront in search of German fare and I figured out that I LOVE German food....which consists of a lot of meat. Though we were in Hamburg, I chose not to eat a hamburger and instead had polish sausage and schnitzel. We also had some German beer (which I liked a lot more than the Dutch stuff). Tonight, I am headed to bed and tomorrow we head into Scandinavia where the real vacation will begin.

I spent today packing to go to NORWAY... YAY

Day 2

I slept in....jet lag says it all.

Today I visited Delft (a small Dutch town famous for some pottery and a painter dude). We got lunch (my favorite thing to do), and I had my first beer in Europe. Whitt beer (made with wheat, not barley....the good ol American stuff is better, if you ask me).

The women in my family drug me to my first of many (I'm sure) museums in Europe...something about Vermeer, the painter guy. Afterwards, I was rewarded with more food. Pofferjes...one of the best things about the Dutch.