Bergen is one of my new favorite cities. It's stunningly beautiful and charming and has a wonderful energy. People are outside all the time and no matter how busy or tight the crowds are, there are people biking and hiking and running. I love that when we went up to the top of Mount Floyen to hike, that there were at least as many locals enjoying the trails, and at a much faster clip than me. We went on a hike on Thursday night after the fjord tour earlier in the day.















We arrived in Bergen on Wednesday and we spent the day going to Slotta to an Emigrant Museum were Roger's dad's WWII army battalion has a memorial. There's also a lot of exhibits with a church and other buildings moved from North Dakota. It was interesting but seemed a little silly listening to the immigrant stories when it is my ancestor's stories and buildings from the state next door and similar to other exhibits I've seen close to home. I would have loved to hear more about what it was like to stay in Norway as everyone was leaving and especially more about the 99th Battalion Seperate but there was no new information there. The scenery on the bus ride was breathtaking. All my photos are on my camera unfortunately. I try to always take photos with my phone too but I didn't here.

We spent a lot of time walking the streets of Bergen and through the fish market. The prices are high, really high with lunches on a paper plate running $35 and up. With my appetite so small, I got a little creative and bought shrimp by the pound rather than a shrimp meal. I could roam the streets for hours, enjoying the unique buildings, people watching and eating. My favorite was the reindeer hotdog with mustard and lingonberry sauce with dried onions.








Our shed/ cottage was perfect- clean, cozy and it had everything we needed, including s great location about a 10 minute walk from the bus station or the wharf. It was in a cute neighborhood and was close enough to fit in a short nap in the afternoon.







The fjord tour was stunning. The top level of the boat started out packed and it didn't take long for most people to move to the enclosed lower level. We came prepared with rain pants and rain coats (not raining but a great windbreak). And despite the wind and cool temps we stayed outside for about 2/3rds of the tour. It was awe-inspiring.












The boat trip did push me to buy a lightweight down jacket that fits in a bag and a Norwegian hat. I just checked the forecast for Hammerfest and despite earlier forecasts in the 40s with rain, now it's predicted to be near 60 with sunshine. If all it takes is for me to be prepared for the worst, that was a great $140 investment!

On to Norway

We did make our way to Norway on Tuesday morning. I was able to say some proper goodbyes but I missed far too many as we packed up the car for the journey to Oslo. We had to skip the part of Norway where Roger's father's mother was raised but this is also the easiest part of the trip to make up when we visit Sweden again, yes- when. We are so grateful to Mats for driving us. We know that some of this is outside his comfort zone so we are especially thankful. The drive was pretty uneventful, though we did stop to ask an older man directions and Mats offered him a ride. He was very talkative and he and Mats hit it off. As Mats put it, he probably took a bath about twice a year so that made the 30-40 minute drive... fragrant but the man was genuinely pleased to have gotten a ride and Mats equally thrilled to have made a new friend.










Our picnic spot.


The photo above is interesting. All those sharp large rocks were placed during WWII to keep tanks from crossing this area. We were right on the border here.

Oslo was a bit busier with traffic, even only driving to the airport. We were happy to finally get to our rooms so we could find some dinner. We ended up at a roadside stand where Mats made friends with the proprietors and we had a adequate dinner. We took the fast train into Oslo for a few hours to walk the famous streets and see the palace.







I was pretty tired and we had a 4:30 alarm for our flight to Bergen in the morning so we headed back by 9:00 or so. We said our goodbyes at 5:00 am and thankfully Mats could enjoy a bit more rest. I wish we could have enjoyed all our plans but it feels good to be up and enjoying the trip as much as I am.

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Not according to plan

For those of you not on Facebook, (hi, Tracy!) our plans have taken a slow turn. After not feeling well for 5 days, Mats brought me to the local hospital where I was diagnosed with pneumonia, thankfully bacterial so I could get antibiotics. We were suppose to leave for Norway today but I am taking one more day to rest.

Despite having pneumonia and sleeping far too much, we are having a great time and have only missed a few activities. We have been well fed, well loved and cared for throughout the entire visit and I'm so comforted by that.

I'm a bit nervous about the pace of the rest of the trip with my energy low and a nearly nonexistent appetite but we will take each day as it comes. Once I'm up, I feel pretty good. The crud in my lungs is moving more than yesterday so I'll take that as a good sign. This too.





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Catching up

It's been a challenging few days with an off and on fever, cough and headache though I couldn't be better cared for than I am here. We went on a short but picturesque hike on Thursday and ended at Per and Karin's fabod where we picked wild flowers for the maypole and had a nice lunch and relaxing afternoon. I decided to skip the maypole preparations at the museum that evening and instead got to see a new calf that was born on Thursday. Seeing Mats with his cattle is so sweet as they run to him. The new calf hadn't started nursing so he bottle fed her and eventually got her started nursing.









I slept about 18 hours Thursday into Friday but I felt good to go to the village midsommer celebration where Roger helped to raise the maypole. If you know Roger at all, this was a surprise as he doesn't Iike being the center of attention but he had a great time and has a new appreciation for the effort that goes into raising the pole. It takes about 45 minutes.















We ended the evening with pizza at the bagarstuga (bake house). It's a wonderful non-traditional midsommer dinner with delicious pizza.










Today Roger went to the church boat races where Magnus is competing followed by dinner at Sara and Lars' home. I opted out of the races due to the cold windy weather.

More special memories. :-)



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Another lovely day

Today started with Mats' favorite rice porridge breakfast at his home before we left for a day in the forest. The day was filled with interesting information about being a forest farmer, family history and enjoying the beauty of the forest and stunning views.

I've been to many of these places before but the familiarity makes it more like coming home, and sharing it with Roger after only being able to share photos and stories is even better. We visited a number of special family locations such as Mats' fabod, another fabod built by my mother's father's mother's father. The photo below shows the carving in the door. Svarf is the family name followed by his initials and the family symbol. Because names were based on the father's first name (Anders-son or Anders-dotter), the family name identified the lineage. We had fika together male style with roasted hotdogs- delicious!
















We spent time in the forest appreciating the respect that Mats shows the forest through his care. We saw the wind turbines that are on leased space and went to the top of one of the mountain to a fire tower that would never pass OSHA requirements but allowed for a great view.

Meeting up with Margareta and Nils Gunnar, related on my dad's side. We had a delicious meal of elk and potatoes and their daughter's family joined us later in the evening. It was fun to reconnect with Maria and Veronica whom we met last time and to meet Maria's husband and son who all have a great sense of humor. We visited the chapel up the hill that has a strong connection to the Marysville church west of Minneapolis that my great grandfather helped build.
















I usual tend my day on the porch of Karin and Magnus to check email and tonight was no exception. It's been a bit chilly and I'm fighting a respiratory something or other so is was lovely to join them at their table and have some tea.

Why I travel like I do

Roger and I are both tired and a little sore after an all day walk around Stockholm. We were in Old Stockholm, at the public library, in many churches, biking in Djurgarden, and in and out of shops and restaurants. We didn't buy anything but food and took some breaks to watch the world walk by.

My favorite moment today was biking in Djurgarden, an island across from Gamlastan (Old Stockholm) it's fairly rustic and beautiful. I'm usually a good navigator but I got us so lost and mixed up on what is a small island with plenty of signs. We were following a self- guided tour, or planned to when we were lost and baffled. We biked up a hill where we saw two men and a dog who looked like they belonged there and asked them to point out on the map where we were located. This is where the travel magic happens.

He kindly offered his help and inquired about where we were from and asked where we would be traveling. We asked about the island and what we should see and a conversation started that could have continued on for some time ranging from the current situation in Iraq to second language development in the US to the midnight sun, to world travel, dogs and more. We learned that we were in the area of private residences where they don't often see tourists and he recommended a route that brought us by a prince's home.

I love the unexpected connections that come from traveling away from a group. And the bike rental place didn't charge us for our time beyond the hour and I think we were closer to two hours.

We leave on the train tomorrow for Mora to meet up with my Swedish family. We are so looking forward to the time together!

Location:Stockholm

Rested and ready

We made it! After all the snafus, including missing our connecting flight in Amsterdam, though is it really missing it when you are at the gate 8 minutes before departure and they shut the doors?, we found the train to Stockholm, the right door out of Central Station, and our hostel where we have a bright, clean, private room. Roger slept about 12 hours since he barely slept on the plane and I slept enough to feel very rested after using my sleeping superpower on both flights.

We're off to see to see Stockholm.

Location:Stockholm

Getting ready for a new adventure

I wasn't going to do a blog for this trip but I've been asked by a few people if I'm going to be blogging during our travels so I thought it would be a good way to document this new adventure. So what is this new adventure? It's, first of all, a trip together- just Roger and me- to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We haven't traveled together on a big trip since our trip to Europe in 2008. It's also Roger's "bucket list trip", a trip to Norway to see the land where his paternal grandparents lived before immigrating.  I'm thrilled that Roger and I can share this special experience together and he's as excited as I am to see my cousins again after meeting some of them in the US.

Our trip to Norway originally started out with smaller plans, renting a car in Oslo to visit Etnedal, the area where his paternal grandmother was born, then heading to Bergen and renting a car to see how much we could take in before returning to Oslo for the flight home. It's hard to get around in Norway with all the mountains and fjords, and very well-behaved drivers who don't exceed the speed limit. Then I found out through a friend that Wideroe Airlines, a regional company, sells two week unlimited tickets within Norway. Not only do we get to go to Hammerfest in the far north (70 degrees N latitude), we'll get to see so much with 8 different cities and 3000 miles in the air (or so).

Here's the itinerary. You can find most of the locations on the map below. We're starting out the trip in Sweden with a couple of nights in Stockholm when we arrive and then on to visit Solleron and the surrounding area to see my Swedish family and celebrate Midsommer as I did two years ago with my mom and sister. It's not on the map but look for Falun in the Dalarnas region north of Stockholm. Mora is north of Falun. This is where we'll be for 6 nights, including Midsommer. My cousin, Mats, will be driving us to Etnedal on the 23rd where we'll see some family sights and spend the night. On the 24th, we'll drive to Oslo where we'll spend one night. Roger and I will fly out the next day for Bergen, east of Oslo on the coast (look for the red words Hordeland- it's about on the letter "o"). After two days, we'll head to Stavanger where we'll hike Pulpit Rock (google this, it's gorgeous!). We'll fly to Bodo (at the sound end of the Arctic Circle. Look about 2/3rds of the way up the coast) after this and take a ferry to the Lofoten Islands (just across the Vestfjorden (the water (ocean? bay?) where we'll spend two nights in different locations, hopefully kayaking, hiking, and biking along with taking a fjord tour. From the Lofoten Islands, we'll head to Tromso for a day, then on to Hammerfest for two nights. Then back to Oslo for the flight home. That's 15 flights in 23 days.

Norway is expensive so coming up with affordable accommodations requires some creativity. We're staying in one hostel, two nights in a hotel, one night at a bed and breakfast, two nights couchsurfing and the rest is renting space from people who open up apartments, sheds (oops, I mean a backyard cottage) or their homes to travelers. Couchsurfing will be a new experience. The website has people who have registered from all over the world to open their homes to travelers free of charge. A young couple in Hammerfest has agreed to host us for two nights and we are excited to be able to visit and learn more about the town where Roger's paternal grandfather was born. Eight of our days will be under the midnight sun. 

After booking the airfare, I immediately realized that checking bags was not going to be efficient so we bought Rick Steve's convertible backpacks and plan to travel with a carryon only which meant packing differently and looking for clothing that can be easily washed and dried. We're doing pretty well and appreciate the tips we get along the way, such as buying rain pants for the many rainy days in Norway. (There is no bad weather only bad clothing, is the saying) 

The trip will be different than anything I've done before with all the moves and different accommodations. We look forward to the opportunities to meet new people that this opens to us. If there's anything I've taken from my travels is that I learn more and experience more through the people I meet than any guidebook or tour can offer. 

Thanks for joining us!