Tromso, Norway

We made it to the end of our journey on the Hurtigruten - Tromso, Norway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troms%C3%B8). We are waiting for the midnight southbound ferry now. We were able to store our luggage in a nearby hotel where we also ate dinner. (We arrived in Tromso this afternoon around 3PM). The weather is cloudy and rainy but not too cold. It is 10:45PM now and we are just sitting in the restaurant. We had a very pleasant dinner with a very nice waiter who said it was fine that we sit here. Being the only patrons in the restaurant may have something to do with it! Nic scammed some free internet access from the hotel too. The access on our first ferry was spotty and I believe that there will be no access at all on our next boat. Guess that's all for now. I have 2 days of blogging to catch up on. Even though the weather has been not so great there has been so much to look at and keep us busy!

Day 1 Hurtigruten

Today was Thursday and also our day of departure for our cruise on the Hurtigruten Coastal Ferry. We had to wake up early (for us) as Chris was stopping by at 8AM to pick up any luggage that we would not be taking on the cruise. Christian was back at our apartment a second time by 9:30AM to take us to the ferry for good. So we said goodbye to our Trondheim apartment as we will stay with Chris & Siri for our last night in Trondheim. We all piled into the car – illegally – to only take one trip. We will be gone for 5 nights returning on next Tuesday morning. We will be taking the Nordkapp to Tromso, Norway (arriving Saturday afternoon). Then we will be taking the back to Trondheim arriving on Tuesday morning.

We were checked in on the ferry (the Nordkapp) by 10AM however we could not enter our rooms until 12:00 noon when the ferry left Trondheim. We walked around and explored the boat. The Nordkapp is one of their newest ships and has lots of amenities. Our return trip from Tromso is on one of their oldest ships in the fleet so we will get to compare. Our room is on level 2 (the lowest of the floors containing rooms) and the boat has 7 levels. The kids quickly zeroed in on the play area (on level 4). It is small but has this great ball pit. Level 4 also houses the restaurant (too expensive for us) and the café which has food 24 hours and is more our style. There are plenty of tables & chairs for sitting on outside of the play area and this keeps everyone happy.

The ship got under way promptly at noon and the scenery quickly turned spectacular. Our first stop would be Rorvik at 8:45PM where we would be allowed to get off the ferry for 30 minutes. Before that we did a lot of sitting around and watching scenery and birds. We ate lunch from the supplies that we had brought with us – later determining we were eating in an area where food was not allowed – oops! At one point the ferry had to go through an area only 42meters wide and make some a turn around a corner – that was fun! The kids spent a lot of time in the play area. Gwyneth found a friend – a 10 year old girl from India – and they quickly hit it off. There are no other kids of this trip that we’ve seen and most people seem to be of an older set. The girl has been on the ferry since Bergen and knows her way around the ship so she and Gwyneth were quickly going off on their own (made me a bit nervous, but there really isn’t too many places that she can go). They were playing games and Gwyneth was invited back to the girl’s room – a suite - a far cry from our room in the bowels of the boat!

Ethan managed a nap at about 5PM and we dragged him off to the café about 6:30PM. Luckily there was a bench seat as he wasn’t quite ready to wake up. We had a fried fish plate, a chicken dinner plate, a pizza, a milk and a beer for about $60. Not bad given the captive audience they have. The picture shows Janet Carolyn Dahl Ormes with her “Dahl’s” beer glass. Well it was really my beer but it seemed like she should be in the picture. The food was decent. Jan had a burger that looked quite good so I think that Nic and/or I could be sampling that tomorrow. Of course there were ice creams for some members of our party after dinner.

The boat stopped in Rorvik at 8:45PM for 30 minutes. With a little effort we got everyone off the boat. Ethan thought it was funny to hide his socks in the ball pit right before departure. Nic did not think it so funny as he was helping to get his shoes on. We had a short walk around the ferry area and we were treated to the southbound Hurtigruten arriving – the Richard With. The kids enjoyed the ferry parallel parking next to ours. After the stop we found ourselves back near the play area. Gwyneth had to do some math first however. It is 10:30PM and Nic just took the kids down to the room as I write the last few sentences of this blog. All in all the day has been quite pleasant. The ferry is very comfortable with lots of options for sitting and viewing the scenery.

Last few days in Trondheim

Nic had his last full day at NTNU yesterday (Tuesday). The weather has turned a little rainy and chilly again so the kids and I stayed in for the morning. By the afternoon the weather had cleared a little and I was itching to do something besides play video games. We took walk up to Nic's office. Here is Ethan on the walk up - ahead of me as usual. I partook of the free cappuccino and Gwyneth had lemon tea once we got to Nic's office. Ethan played on Nic's computer while Gwyneth and I took one last stroll around the NTNU bookstore, but we didn't find anything interesting. We decided to leave Nic alone to do his mathematics and then head to the movies to make use of our free passes from the other night. With the poor weather going to a playground wasn't really an option.

So we headed to the bus stop for the 4PM showing of Hannah Montana .... again. The time were were almost the only people at the show - there were 2 other girls in the theatre. Ethan likes this poster at the movie theater and the kids think the slogan is funny "Full Fart Mot Mal". Especially when daddy says it. The literal translation is "Full speed towards the goal" but we guessed "Full speed ahead". Ethan fell asleep during the last five minutes of the movie. So I had the pleasure of carrying him home ..... AGAIN. This time before and after the bus ride. We got home by 6:15PM and I was a little perturbed. Ethan continued to sleep until 10PM and I think we managed to get him back in bed by midnight. I can't wait until we get to the land of 24 hour sunlight to see what that brings. For dinner we did another pizza made at home with the roll out dough. Again it came out surprisingly good. Oh, and we finished of the last 2 cans of beer. All told, we bought 3 six-packs of beer for our stay in Norway - only $20 a pop!

Again today (Wednesday) the weather started out poorly however the big event for the day was the arrival of Granjan. In the morning I went out for some last minute errands (ATM stop and one more look at the pottery store :). Nic & I started to pack for the cruise too. Tomorrow we will be leaving the apartment. Christian will be taking our extra luggage and when we return we will stay at his house for one evening. Nic & Ethan went with Christian who had graciously offered to pick up Jan. They were back to the apartment before 3PM. We decided to do an early dinner (around 4pM) and then go off to the pool for what may be our last time. We had some punches left on our card to use up. Here is Granjan and Gwyneth waiting at the bus stop to go to the pool.

Fun was had by all at the pool and we tried everything for one last time. Gwyneth enjoyed going down the short slide. I enjoyed the steam room and the sauna. I think everyone enjoyed the "warm pool". Ethan is getting more daring (if possible) about what he does in the pool. I think if we worked on it, we could get him swimming soon. He certainly doesn't have any trouble getting his head wet. He was jumping in the pool between Granjan and I when he said that he didn't want me to sit there and catch him. He just wanted to jump to the other side. So I let him and he went totally under. He popped up and all he said was "I missed". Next time we wanted me to catch him however. As usual, our time at the pool ended with ice cream. This may be our last "Softis" - the heavenly Norwegian soft serve ice cream. As you can see Ethan really enjoys it.

Now we are back in the apartment. We have to finish our packing up and be ready for Christian tomorrow around 8AM. Guess we need to get to bed early. Ja ja. (Laughing in Spanish especially for Alvar0.)

Tyholt Tower

So Chris picked up the family to take us to eat tonight atop the Tyholt Tower. We ate at a revolving restaurant 74 meters above Trondheim. It completes one full rotation per hour. True to form, Ethan fell asleep on the way there and stayed asleep throughout dinner. Gwyneth and Siri had the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, Nic had a cod and salmon dish and Deb had a steak (and a pitcher of beer!). The steak was particularly good, had been a while since we'd eaten one. We finished it off with some ice cream, Oreo cake and cappuchinos. All the while we enjoyed great views of the city and pleasant conversation.




Thanks again to Chris for taking us!!

Tramway to Lian

Today was Monday and Nic went back to the office. He works too much :). The weather was cloudy but there was no rain. Tonight we are going to dinner at the rotating tower so I didn't want to knock the kids out too much. We decided to take a ride on the only Tram in Trondheim. It is part of the bus system and so we can ride for free with our passes. The tram line is the northernmost one in the world and you can read other interesting facts here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trondheim_Tramway. We made it down town to the center to catch the 11AM Tram - the run every 15 minutes from near the center during the week. We were almost the only people on it as you can see from the photo. The kids goofed off and I enjoyed the scenery. The end of the tramway was at a recreational area called Lian. We could have gotten off and gone for a hike but we decided just to stay on the Tram for the ride. The video below shows us turning around at the end of the line. It takes 20 minutes to get from the center of Trondheim to Lian.

On way way back down we stopped at the Ila Parken (with the zip swing) for a little play time. It started drizzle a little after an hour and the kids were hungry for lunch so we hopped back on the number 8 around 12:30 which takes us to our apartment. We stopped at the Rema1000 for a few lunch supplies and a lot of snacks. (I think the kids are starting to learn that I like to buy snacks). We are sampling all of the Norwegian Candies. So far the favorite of the kids is a chocolate bar called the Non-Stop which basically has M&M's embedded in the chocolate.

So here we are. Gwyneth is working on her math and Ethan is working on his math using the Didj handheld game. You can set the game for different skill sets and he is working on addition with the numbers 1 through 5. He just proudly announced that 1+1=2! I'm about finished with this blog and will head over to facebook to publish some photos. Someone will blog later about our rotating tower dinner!

Munkholmen Island

Today we decided to take a trip out to Munkholmen Island (Monk's Island http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munkholmen) - it is only a 15 minute boat trip from down town. The boats run on the hour and we were trying to make it there by 11AM. As we approached the bus stop a but went by before we noticed and we were a little worried as it was Sunday and they do not come as frequently. So we waited a bit and we made it down town by about 10:57AM. Luckily the bus stop is near the pier and we ran over to hop on the boat just in time. It cost 170 Kroner ($25.5) for the round trip. I have honestly stop thinking about how much things cost. Here is a picture of it which is a little crooked since it was taken on the boat, sorry!


The island has been inhabited by Viking kings (995 AD - Olav Tryggvason planted a couple of severed heads here as a warning to the people of Trondheim) and Monks (early 12th century). The current fort was built in the 1600's and altered by the Germans during WWII. Here is Nic and Ethan crawling on what we thought was some sort of gun. However, after the tour we learned that it was a machine for determining the height of an airplane - used by the Germans. After exploring on the grassy area we went down to a nice little beach for a picnic and some water fun.

Here are Gwyneth & Ethan on the beach - we had it to ourselves for about the first hour. We witnessed some people crazy enough to go swimming (if you could call it that, more like a brief dip). We say a lot of sea/shore birds. For our birding friends, I think we identified a Black Guillemot (a member of the Puffin family we learned). We also saw more male common Eiders which seem to be everywhere. A group of kayakers showed up and we had fun watching a couple of them practice rolling over in the water. Crazy Norwegians! That water was cold I can tell you that. After lunch Ethan and Gwyneth wanted to do more island exploring and hit the snack bar up for an ice cream. We did both.

We made a last minute decision to take a guided tour of the inside of the fort. Luckily it was in English and Norwegian. The guide did a great job of doing double duty. He would talk in Norwegian first and send that group ahead then he stayed back to talk to us an another couple for Ireland. Then repeat. Here is Gwyneth and Ethan walking down into a dungeon of sorts. We learned of some guy who had to spend 2 months in the winter down there with no heat or light. He died shortly there after. (It was cold down there in May!) Gwyneth had been really anxious to go on the tour because Chris had told her a story of a famous prisoner (Count Peder Griffenfeld) who spent 20 years there and had spent his time walking around a table with a finger on it. He had done it so much that he had worn a groove in the table. Unfortunately the guide told us that this was just a fable created by a previous owner of the island who was trying to attract people to the fort/prison. There was an interesting room that was created as an artillery and had unbelievable acoustics due to the shape of the roof. (Unfortunately the camera had run out of batteries, otherwise I would have taken a video). There we many remnants of things left over by the Germans as well.

After the tour we waited a little to take the 3:15 boat back to Trondheim. Lucky for us it turned out that at the same time the theatre group that was practicing in the fort decided to go home too, so there was a large crowd waiting for the boat. Luckily we were somewhat near the front and pushed our way on, even getting seat. Nic said he was getting ready to be an ugly American if needed. We really didn't want to wait for another hour for the next boat. So we got the bus back and we were in for the night.

We cooked some salmon, one of the foods that we have been more successful with here. The kids got showered as the were dirt balls after the beach. We listened to the crowd at the football stadium across the street although it was not as raucous as last weeks match against Molde. The kids did some homework - Gwyneth did math and Ethan learned some letters. The adults played Bejeweled. Apparently Nic just got 165,000 - good for him. And here we are. Only 3 more full days here and then the Arctic cruise begins on Thursday!

Girls & Boys Day by Nic

Ethan and I went back to the Science Museum. Mostly we did things we had done before, which made Ethan happy.



He got to play outside with some interesting vehicles they had this time. Here he is on a tricycle that turns the opposite way that you steer it. E.g. if you turn the handlebars left, the wheel turns right.



We also got to roast marshmallows in front of a parabolic mirror. The suns rays were directed to a focal point in front of the mirror that was VERY hot.

Ethan fell asleep on the way home and I got to experience carrying him from the busstop to the apartment. Lots of fun. Then I tried my hand at grilling supper. They sell these one time use grills at the grocery stores that we have seen people using a lot. After reading the Norwegian instructions I lit mine up and sat by it in our parking lot with a Norwegian beer. It was just like home.




The food came out pretty decent, and it was fun.

Girls and Boys Day - by Deb

Yesterday was another fine weather day in Trondheim - sixties and sunny. We decided to break up into two groups, Gwyneth & myself and then Nic & Ethan to give the kids a choice of what they wanted to do. Gwyneth wanted to go into the city center for some window shopping and to spend her allowance! (She also wanted to go to the Tyholt Tower with the rotating restaurant on top but we are going to do that tomorrow night with Chris and Siri). Ethan wanted to go back to the Children's Science Museum for some hands on fun.

Gwyneth and I got out first - around 10AM and we didn't get back to the apartment until around 4PM. We found the ceramics store that sold beautiful things decorated in a style that is traditional to the region. (We got a bowl). We went back to the hobby store again so I could enjoy the beads in peace. We found the Husfliden store (the national store of Norway of sorts where you can buy expensive authentic souvenirs). We walked around and looked and Gwyneth found another coin for her collection. She has been collecting "Norwegian Heritage Coins" that sell for about 25 Kroner ($3.75) and you can usually find them at major tourist sights. We found a nice one that had the map of Trondheim on the back. Her parents like them because they don't take up much space!

We walked around through the pedestrian malls. Gwyneth especially enjoys the outdoor carts for some reason. A lot of people here sell these crazy plastic sunglasses with lines of plastic running horizontally across the eye holes and she likes to try them on. We found a woman selling nice earrings that she made and we came away with a few. Gwyneth was also on a mission to find a change purse/wallet for her allowance I think. We had seen some in a store in the mall before and we went back nothing seemed right. So we checked one of the department stores (H &M) and there we found it! It was big enough for her bus pass, had change section and she could keep dollar bills. She can also keep her collection coins in there - so she was happy.

We stopped for some fish & chips at some point and enjoyed it outside. Did I say that the day was beautiful, just gorgeous and by the afternoon it seemed like a lot of Trondheim was outside. Later on it was the ice cream and coffee stop and then we were on our way home. Oh, I forgot that the biggest find of the day was by Gwyneth who found a "Dahl's" pint glass on the ground when we first got down town. We weren't beneath picking it up and taking it home for Nic - looks like brand new!

Once home, Nic arrived with a sleeping Ethan about an hour later (and he slept until 8PM when we finally woke him up). Nic did a quick turn to the grocery store as tonight was going to be the night that we try the portable grill that everyone uses around here. Siri told us that it is a bit of a problem as people use them but then don't throw them away. On our trip with her to the Ringve the other day she pointed out a special collection box that was next to the beach just for these portable grills. He was back by 6PM and had walked to the farther away Bunn Pris because I was craving these strawberries that I had seen there (thanks Nic!). I guess that I will let him blog about the grilling experience but I can say that it tasted delicious and we finally got a meat that tasted like we expected.

After dinner there was some TV watching, a video call to Judy, Ed, Steph & Bob who were at the Cape, and a bit of a struggle in getting kids to bed but it was finally accomplished by Nic. It is almost 9AM here on Sunday morning and they are still asleep.

The Movies - Norwegian Style

Today was Friday and Nic went to the office. I got the kids shuffled off to the pool (the Pirbadet) by 10:15AM or so. Ethan fell asleep in the bus on the way there but luckily he woke up in the dressing room. (He had fallen asleep the day before around 5PM as we were driven back from the music museum and he was woke up at 4AM this morning). We had fun at the pool and swam for about 2 1/2 hours. Ethan tried one of their floaty devices that went around his belly and made an attempt with blowing bubbles and kicking at the same time. The pool was a bit crowded today and I guessed that people had a long weekend with the holiday on Thursday.

We showered and I had a failed conversation with a woman in the locker room. We found someone who spoke English and Norwegian to translate and the woman had thought I had locked her towel in my locker. She found it on the floor afterwards. We had a little snack after we got changed - we just can't miss the ice cream - and we were on our way home by 2:30PM. Ethan fell asleep in the bus on the way home and this way I was successful at walking him all the way home and him continuing to sleep as I put him in bed! I don't think that my technique is getting any better I just think he was very tired. We so need a stroller for France!

I did a laundry load and took an hour nap as Gwyneth watched Disney channel (I think). Nick got home around 5PM and we had a quick dinner of hot dogs to try to get the movies to see "Hanna Montana". There was a theatre that showed the English version with Norwegian subtitles. The kids were remarkable agreeable about eating quickly and getting out the door on time. We were at the theatre by 6PM for the 6:20PM movie.

The first surprise came when we bought the tickets. We purchased our tickets and they asked us to choose our seats! (We were in row 7 seats 7, 8, 9 and 10 - the theatre had 80 seats total). They had an electronic seating chart with the available seats and your number got printed on your ticket. Nic and I surmised that many people bought tickets online and choose their seat in advance. Next stop was the concession stand - well it was more like a concession store and true to form you do everything yourself. The popcorn was already in bags in these cases that looked like it was being kept cold, but it wasn't. You could buy everything from candy in a million different forms to fruit. We went for the family size popcorn and one extra big soda for 75 Kroner (or $10.75).

Oh I forgot the ticket price as 90 Kroner or $13.50 per person. We found the theatre (and our assigned seats) and immediately noticed it was unbelievably hot! So we took off as much as we could and watched some advertisements and movie previews. Then it seemed like the movie should start but it didn't. After 5 minutes a man walked in and announced something in Norwegian - then he started passing out coupons. We asked a woman in front of us and she told us the air conditioning was broken and that we could move lower in the theatre if we wanted too. Also, they were giving out free movies passes. So we all got a coupon to come again for free!

The movie was very good - I thought the message was nice and I was glad to be in kids movie where things weren't getting blown up or people weren't shooting at each other. The kids loved it. Ethan's favorite part was when Hannah painted the chicken coop a different color (more like a rainbow). The movie included lots of Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana songs - quite catchy I thought. There was also a line dance - the Ho Down Throw Down - hope you all are ready at Cape Cod this summer!

We got out of the movie at 8:30PM, although by the sunlight you wouldn't know it. We walked home as it wasn't very far stopping at the park with the crazy teeter totter/swing thing. Oh, we also stopped at the Bunn Pris grocery store near the park to use their potty. Ethan had a bit of diarrhea which made it into the toilet and then at the park he "farted". Well it was a little more than that and Nic and I were ill prepared except for some Kleenex. It was contained to his undies, so we got them off, threw them out, cleaned him up, and sent him on his way commando! We enjoyed the park for a bit and it was nice because the last time we were there most of the equipment was wet. Ethan tried the teeter totter/swing for the first time and he enjoyed it.

We walked the rest of the way home and got there by 10PM. Funny there aren't many kids at the playground at 9:30PM at night. Wonder why? And here we are ... Ethan & Nic are working on the nice Norway puzzle we found on our road trip. Gwyneth is sulking a bit in her room, she was upset we turned the TV off until she finished her math. I am finishing the blog. You may have noticed there are no pictures as we didn't bring the camera anywhere today. Sorry!

Ringve

I (Nic) got up before everyone to return the car by 8am, so I would only be charged with 3 days for the car. Everyone was pretty tired from the long drive so I was the only one awake when I left. Today was a holiday and it turned out that there was no one at the car rental place - just a note that I should leave the keys at the front desk of the Radisson that the car rental office was housed at. So I did this, helped myself to a cup of coffee at the breakfast buffet and walked home.

We had arranged to spend the day with Siri, going to the Ringve (a music museum).



Siri picked us up and we arrived around 1pm. We had tickets for a 2pm tour, and Ethan wanted to explore outside, so this is what he and I did while Deb and Gwyneth went to check out some of the exhibits. He was climbing on some rocks when he fell on his bum and kind of rolled back and hit his head too. Of course the back of his head started bleeding, and I carried him back up into the bathroom at the museum. I cleaned him up a bit, the bleeding stopped pretty quickly and he seemed fine. After a more careful check by everyone, he was declared ok and the visit of the museum continued.

There were a lot of old and interesting instruments in the museum, plus some hands-on things that the kids could play with.



The tour was really cool. A tour guide took us through a house with many old pianos, violins, organs, etc. Each one was built and played a bit differently, and the guide treated us to a short song on many of them. Pianos came in many different variations, with different sounds, different pedals, even different sets of keys. There was also a mini-piano which was mute, but was taken by a player to "keep his fingers in shape". Similarly there were many violins, particularly interesting was the Norwegian violin where the bridge is flatter, so the player can bow 3 strings at a time instead of the usual 2. There were also lots of instruments, like organs, which required an air pumping device and had various ways to pump the air into it. One organ required a person to essentially work a stair-climber type device to add pump air for the player (some job!).

After the Ringve, Siri took us to a spot on the "beach" with a cafe shop. Here we are at the cafe, eating waffles and drinking coffee.



It was warm and very nice there. The beach was a rocky shore on the fjord. The kids enjoyed tromping, poking around for snails, etc, and throwing rocks in the fjord. We were not even considering wading into the water.



Ethan fell asleep on the way home, and may well sleep all the way until tomorrow, he's got some catching up on sleep to do. For dinner I made something I found at the store called marinated "flintstek". It was ok, but I think we decided it was pork, despite the fact that the name "stek" might lead one to believe it was beef. Oh well, I guess we have some learning to do regarding the food. We have purchased a disposable grill that everyone here seems to use, so hopefully we will be able to identify meat well enough to figure out something to make on it...

Alesund to Trondheim - May 20th

We woke up rested and headed to the included breakfast buffet at the hotel. This time everything looked fresh and yummy. Again, this time Ethan wasn't much into eating breakfast. He started by knocking over the easel-type sign announcing the breakfast hours. We were able to corral him a bit and get him to still down a little to eat some pancake and drink some milk. Otherwise he spent his time looking out the window. The view was gorgeous! (Our hotel is the large white building next to the water.) The rest of us ate some good food including more fresh veggies than I have seen in a while. I noticed a few people making sandwiches and wrapping them up for later so I no longer felt guilty. I made 2 rather large adult sandwiches with good meats, cheeses, and veggies on bun. I made 2 sandwiches for the kids too.


After breakfast we had more time to kill since the aquarium didn't open until 11am. I convinced Nic to let me go do some shopping until then - and I did. I had about 45 minutes to walk around a bit looking at some more buildings. Once I came back we checked out and headed towards the Atlantic Ocean Park Aquarium. The aquarium was out of town (not by much) on a beautiful spot next to the ocean. This may turn out to be one of Ethan's favorite activities as inside the aquarium was built around a large rock formation (it was big) and Ethan climbed over every inch of it. So again, Nic and I tag teamed while Ethan climbed rocks - we looked at fish! Nic and Gwyneth immediately had fun with this.


The aquarium also had snakes and everyone got to touch or hold this king python. Gwyneth looks a little too happy I think. You can watch some interesting videos on facebook. It keeps striking Nic and I how much they let people do in Norway and probably Europe in general. Holding a snake may not be the best example, but I do think it is a little unusual. Having some giant rock formation that kids can climb on (and get hurt on) is probably a better example. They did have a sign - climb at your won risk. The aquarium also had an outside area with another spectacular view. We found some penguins (I really want to see a Puffin in the wild!) and found a sand box where the kids could dig out a whale bone. After some coffee and ice cream (of course) we were on our way (about 1PM).



We had a long drive ahead of us (6 plus hours) and we could not take the E39 back all the way to Trondheim as a portion of it was closed (as we discovered on the way down). We also wanted to to take a drive over the Atlantic Ocean Road (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanterhavsvegen) which was supposed to be very scenic. It has 8 bridges that connects 17 islets and it was on the drive back from Alesund.


The ride home was long! I think we got in around 9:30PM. (I'm still blogging at 12:30 but I am almost done! ) We took 3 ferries (we thought it was only going to be 2, but it turned out the map was not clear in some place. Again, the closure of E39 added at least an hour to our drive home. We got a little nervous at the last ferry since the cars were backed up when we got there and the ferry only ran on the hour. Tomorrow (May 21st) is another holiday and perhaps more people than usual were travelling. In any case, we sweated it a bit but were able to make the ferry. Nic noticed that they were squeezing them on at the end, and some people had to wait! This was around 6PM and so we had a ferry dinner. Hot dogs wrapped in bacon for the adults, a plain hot dog for Gwyneth, and an ice cream for Ethan. (Later on in the car he did eat most of his cheese sandwich). Nic did a great job driving and the kids were great passengers for the most part. Big "E" had a few moments, but we worked through them and having the Cars movie on DVD did wonders. If only the laptop had more battery time!

Once home, we unloaded the car. We need to return it by 8AM tomorrow morning. Nic then did a quick turn and drove to the grocery store - tomorrow is a holiday and the stores will be closed. Our refrigerator was empty to it was a bit imperative. We tentatively have plans to go with Siri to the music museum but are a little afraid of how Ethan will deal with it. The lack of schedule seems to be difficult for him and he just may need a day of rest. He keeps asking for his "real home" but we have ways to go yet. I think he misses his toys and he definitely wants a TV that is not "speaking in Norwegian".!

Geiranger To Alesund (Tuesday May 19th)

Today we were wakened a bit early by the sounds of the people from the bus tours moving out around 7AM and we didn't get to sleep in as much as we hoped. As the receptionist had suggested breakfast after 7:30AM would be peaceful. We were down at the large buffet around 8:30AM with one other couple and had to chuckle thinking about the receptionist yesterday. We had asked to change to a room with a view (for 200 extra Kroner of course! $30 to me and you) and she mumbled something about not having anything. I guess it was a large bus tour! In any case we did get the room with a view and the picture shows it.

The buffet was massive but didn't look like the freshest bunch of food. Ethan wasn't much into breakfast and waited impatiently by the door while Gwyneth, Nic, and I ate. Before leaving I filled up a mug with juice (and another with coffee!) and stuffed a few rolls in my pocket. (I thought about making sandwiches too but my conscience got the better of me - that will all change at the next hotel). Of course later, once we got in the car for the ferry Ethan was ready for breakfast and I was able to produce. We checked out around 10AM and drove the car over to the ferry (about a 1 minute drive). We were getting ready for the 11AM Geiranger to Hellesylt Tourist Ferry - it was supposed to be the crown jewel of the Norwegian Fjords and it did not disappoint. Before leaving, Gwyneth and I were able to poke in a few gift shops (scoring some cool Norwegian flag sunglasses) while Ethan and Nic stayed back at the car. Ethan decided that now was the appropriate time for breakfast.

The ferry did not disappoint here is Nic in a more peaceful moment. Ethan spent some amount of time circling ferry trying to be "by himself". By this point we had figured out that we could calm him with some ice cream and them some playing time on his Leapster. The ride lasted just over and hour and went by a spectacular waterfall (The seven sisters). You can see my sideways video on facebook - I can't seem to remember that I cannot turn the camera when taking a video! The water was perfectly calm as you can see in the photo and the weather was beautiful which added to the moment. Geiranger is a rather narrow fjord with very steep cliff walls. Occasionally you would see camps on the sides that you could only get to by boat (I presume). Not a bad place for a vacation home! The ferry was not crowded at all as the tourist season doesn't start until June. I could imagine that it wouldn't be as special if the boat was stuffed with people. The ferry arrived in Hellesylt and we were on our way by car again - next stop Alesund.

The ride over Alesund (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85lesund)involved one more ferry and the parents were appreciating the ability to stop for a potty break and provisions if needed. The ferries may not have been cheap (an ice cream may have been purchased on every one for example) but they were convenient and an experience of a lifetime. We were treated to more sheep and fun road signs. Also, fields and fields of dandelions - including houses with just a yard full of dandelions. Is it Norway's national flower? As we approached Alesund the rain started to fall and so we headed for the hotel. Today was a short driving day - maybe 3 hours - and we were at the hotel by 3PM.

Alesund is a coastal town that burned to the ground in 1904. It was rebuilt using the Art Nouveau style which made walking around and looking up quite interesting! After some confusion with parking and with our room we settled in. Parking wasn't free but we were able to park on the street at a meter that only needed to be feed between the hours of 9AM-4PM. We also had reserved a "superior" room which was advertised to come with a water view, but we learned that a superior family room does not. So we got to keep our superior family room (which just meant it was bigger) and pay the cheaper price. We were happy.

We did a "quick" turn and took the car for a drive up to Askla and the splendid view point of Alesund. This photo isn't great but you get the idea. There is a cafeteria and we had an early dinner\late lunch - it wasn't clear which it was. Ethan was happy with any of the selections but we ordered him french fries and he ate them anyway. I had a salmon dish with some little shrimp type thingies on top and it was excellent. Gywneth had chicken that tasted like it had been cooked in the fish fryer - she at it anyway - she is a good sport. Nic got some strange smoked salmon and egg sandwich, but he ate it all, so I guess it wasn't that bad. After dinner Ethan discovered the 418 steps that you could take down into town. (It was raining when we left so we didn't consider them on the way up.) We let him go down a few (100 to be exact) as Gwyneth counted on the way up and luckily we were able to get him to abort his mission of getting to the bottom since the car was at the top! We passed on the potty that was going to cost 10 Kroner to use and headed for the hotel.

The kids settled into some Norwegian Disney channel. They noticed that the Norwegian sounded different almost german-like and they/we weren't sure why. We have seen the Disney Channel enough now to know what all of the shows and the advertisements for the shows sound like. Nic and I tag teamed on walking around the town while the kids rested. Nic went first and he stumbled upon this lighthouse that was a stone's throw from our hotel. So when he came back we dragged the kids out for a little walk - and believe me it was dragging at this point. If they had their way they would have watched TV all night, but we didn't come this far just for Norwegian Disney Channel. So they humored us and came along. Ethan still was being a bit disagreeable and here is how he spent his time at the lighthouse:

After the lighthouse, the kids wanted home and Nic wanted coffee. So Nic got a coffee and the kids got chocolate muffins from the snack place in the hotel. I walked around Alesund some more and scoped out a few shopping stops. It was eerily quiet for 7PM at night. The shops were closed and there weren't many people about. I enjoyed working off dinner a bit and looking at the buildings. Once back in the hotel room I started a beading project that I had brought with me. (Today I discovered that I don't think I have enough beading thread with me so I may not get to finish it, but I will get close.) Ethan thought it was great fun to jump from bed to bed - which we quickly put a stop to. It was hard to get him down, but we finally managed by putting the lights out and off to bed we all went!

Norwegian Road Trip

Today we were leaving on our mini road trip through Norway's Fjords and coastline. We planned on spending 2 nights away from our apartment travelling back on Wednesday. This morning Nic walked down to the car rental place and returned around 8:30AM with the Honda Jazz. I think he is in love with it. We were quickly on our way and had planned to travel south on the E39 near the coast a little bit and then in towards Geiranger Fjord. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geiranger) We were quickly thrown a couple of curve balls. One was the Norway has a large number of toll road and we were ill pre-prepared for having the correct change to use at some of the unmanned toll stations. So we quickly stopped at a Petrol station to get some change. The next curve ball was the road we planned on taking was closed for a portion and we were forced into a rather large detour. We estimate it may have added 1/2 - 1 hour to our trip as well as some consternation. After the detour we were back on our intended route and quickly came to our first of 3 ferry crossings.

Here is Ethan waiting for the first ferry from Halsa to Kanestrum. You queue up and in this case we paid as we were driving onto the ferry. You pay for your car as well as each passenger. It turned out to be an expensive day for ferries and tolls - we spent 559 Kroner (about $84) for 3 ferries, 1 bridge, and 2 toll roads. This ferry had some toilets and a little cafe for snacks and such. The ferry didn't take too long (maybe 15 minutes?) and we were soon on our way on the other side. We were continuing on the E39 heading on our way to Molde and the next ferry. The ferries in general turned out to be great for everyone. They broke up the trip, allowed for potty & food breaks, and distracted the kids from the length of the trip for a while.

The drive was enjoyable and quickly brought us to some spectacular scenery. We were enjoying the various animal crossing signs that we saw - moose, sheep, reindeer to name a few. The guidebook reports that Norway has exactly one troll crossing sign but we did not drive by it. I have never seen so many groups of grazing sheeps or fields of dandelions as I did on this trip. we also travelled through a lot of tunnels. Around 4PM we got to our last ferry that took us to the last driving leg of our tour and to the Geiranger Fjord.


We dropped down a steeply graded hill (10%) with many switchbacks into the town of Geiranger. This was the view from a scenic viewpoint on the way down. The place was overrun with tour buses but it provided a spectacular view. This fjord is a very popular vacation/tourist spot but luckily for us the tourist season doesn't really start until June 1. We enjoyed the view for a while, watching the cruise ships and ferries steam by. We say the Hurtigruten coastal ferry drive in and out. This is the ferry that we will be taking next week for the 6 day cruise to Tromso (above the Artic Circle and were we will have 24 hours of sun light - oh joy). It was easy to find our room (Hotel Gerainger) and we were able to upgrade our reservation to a room with the view of the fjord - for 200 extra Kroners of course. The room is very nice, albeit smaller than American Hotel rooms and the view is spectacular. Nic and I noticed the heavy duty curtains right away - I think we might finally be able to get a really good nights sleep in total darkness!

It was about 5:30PM and we headed into (the small) town in search of some pizza. The hotel restaurant did not start serving dinner until 7:45PM! The hotel had pointed us in the right direction and we quickly found the place after a little souvenir shopping - well just browsing really. We got 2 pizzas one for the adults and one for the kids. And we splurged for 2 $7.50 beers as it seemed like a real bargain! We should have been more specific about the kids pizza and that is should be plain cheese. It came sprinkled with some pesto and spices. Ethan immediately snubbed his nose at it, but we were able to scrape most of the green things off and he ate a piece or two. After dinner we found this great Troll statue. I really had no idea that Norway had such an association with Trolls, but it is fun, and makes for some fun pictures.




We are back at the Hotel now and it is 8:30PM. It is so light out it could be mid day. The kids are both in the bath tub (arguing .... oh joy) - exciting since our Trondheim apartment does not have a bath tub. The hotel turned the couch into a futon/bed for the kids as the room only had beds for 2 people (as do most of the rooms in the hotel). The extra bed looks comfortable and I'm sure it will be fine. So the next job will be to try to get these kids to bed a bit early if possible. This should be interesting as Ethan is wound up like a spinning top. The woman in the lobby gave us a tip to show up later to (the included) buffet breakfast as to miss the large groups that will be coming through. By later she said 7:30AM - so this won't be a problem. The ferry leaves right from here to go through the spectacular Geiranger Fjord. They go every 3 hours and I think we are aiming for 11AM. If we have Internet at the next hotel then we will blog again tomorrow!

May17th - Constitution Day!

The day started off early for Nic, Ethan, and I. I'm not sure why but we all woke up around 5AM and had trouble getting back to sleep with the amount of light outside. Gwyneth awoke at a more reasonable 8:00AM. We had meet Christian and Siri downtown at 9:30AM for the "Children's Parade" related to Norway's Constitution Day. The whole day in fact had activities that started at 6:00AM and went into the evening. There were 3 parades - more like processions - one for school children, one for various groups and clubs, and the last one for graduating seniors from high school. We were advised by Siri and Christian to skip the high school one as the students tended to be drunk and would cause a commotion more than anything else.

We were on our way to the bus at 9AM and on the way Nic and I started to notice lots of people dressed up. I tried to dismiss it, but Nic insisted - even people in the cars were dressed up. Men mostly in suits and women in Norwegian costumes. We knew that there would be many people in the parade and so we thought they were participants. Once we got on the bus and downtown we realized that were were wrong - and severely undressed! (Nic and I both had jeans on and the kids had on some casual clothes). Everyone (and I mean almost everyone) was either dressed up or in a tradition Norwegian costume. Christian and Siri had forget ton to tell us the dress code. And I never thought in a million years that I would feel under dressed at a parade! So we got to look like the American Tourists that we were. I must admit it was something special to see the amount of National Pride that was exhibited. Here is a video from the parade of some school children singing.

We found ourselves a spot along the parade route near the center of town and met up with Siri. It turned out the Christian had too much to do before his trip to Oslo later in the day. The parade started at 10AM and was over by 11:15AM or so. This parade consisted of all of the local school children who walked together with their classmates. Some schools had bands that marched along with the group as well. Earlier in the week Christian (who doesn't seem to be shy of the phone) made a call to the British International School to ask if Gwyneth could march in the parade with the student. Thankfully, they thought it wasn't appropriate since it was a long walk and she wouldn't know anyone, but they did invite us back to the school after the parade for some of their activities. I wasn't so sure that I wanted Gwyneth walking through the streets of Trondheim by herself.

Nic and I found it interesting that the only street vendors seemed to be foreigners either selling balloons or crazy looking candy. No where could you buy a Norwegian flag or other National Pride items. I guess you had to have to act together before the day! We knew that Siri was going to bring flags for the kids so we were ready. Given Ethan's early rising time he quickly fell asleep once the parade started. Nic as able to find some bleachers to sit on and watch the parade from there. Gwyneth, Siri and I stood next to the action.

I learned a little more about the students with the white lab coats and overalls. They are high school students (not college students) and this is the outfit that they where close to graduation. We had been noticing that little kids would come up to them and the high school students would give them a business card. We learned from Siri that each student has their own set of cards with their picture, their school, and maybe a slogan. The younger kids then go around asking for the cards and treat them as a collectors item of sorts. Oh, and the different color overalls signify their course of study.

After the parade we walked up to the cathedral for a service of sorts that included some beautiful choral music and organ playing as well as singing of national songs. We stopped on the way for a photo with Gwyneth and Siri. Siri is wearing her costume which was made by her mother! It is hard to see but she is also wearing a couple of brooches that have been passed down through the family. We learned that the different looking costumes signify which part of Norway you come from. The cathedral service was really beautiful to listen too. Luckily they provided the words to the songs and so Gwyneth and I got to try some Norwegian singing. The service itself was close to an hour long and Ethan was having trouble sitting still so we had to placate him with the snacks and candy. Sorry for eating in church! (We were not treated to his air orchestra perfomance this time). After the cathedral we headed for the nearby Art Museum Cafe. Siri treated us adults to some coffee and the kids to some yummy chocolate cake. Siri and Christian really have been gracious hosts during this trip and so very friendly to us - we greatly appreciate it.

After the cafe, we had a brief stop by the British school, but by then the activities had ended. The kids got to play on the playground however so not all was lost. We parted ways with Siri (who had to get Christian to the airport) and we hopped the bus home. Both Nic and I napped a little in the afternoon given our early start and the kids played a bit outside with the neighbor kids. Then we had to pack up a little bit. Tomorrow we go on our Norwegian road trip for 3 days. Christian will be out of town and he encouraged us to take a little driving tour. So we are off to see the Geiranger Fjord and then the coastal town of Aelusand (Siri's home town). We are looking forward to it, but a little nervous about the driving!

Up to the Fort

A nice walk around the city today started with a climb up to the fort. From the bus we crossed a nice walking bridge and then up a very steep hill to the fort.




The walls of the fort are now buried in dirt and there are walking paths along them all, with drop offs of up to 20 feet on one side and no rails. It was a great place to walk around, but needless to say this caused some conflict between Ethan, who wanted to walk all around by himself, and his parents who want him to live to see his 4th birthday. There were a lot of people there sunbathing and picnicing. We had our own picnic there and managed to get Ethan home with just one minor spill down a steep-ish path.






Here he is enjoying some space.



At the bottom of the hill there is a little road is one of the only ones here that looks like a real European road - narrow cobblestones with outdoor coffee shop on either side. After some cappuccinos (adults) and ice creams (kids), we were off again.



The next stop was an indoor play place called Zitrus Lekeland. It had your typical inflatable obstacle course type thing, kid-habitrail with slides kind of thing, air hockey, plus 2 trampolines. The place was empty when we got there (everyone else must have been outside on such a nice day) so adults and kids all had some good trampoline time.

Finally it was time to go. Gwyneth got in to a discussion with an older Norwegian lady she was sitting next to on the bus. It started out in English, but ended up in Norwegian. The lady was a bit...umm...odd. Ethan fell asleep on the bus again, which is where he still lies. When we got home the boy next door was flying his RC airplane around the yard with his dad. Gwyneth, who is playing with this boy more frequently now, wanted to join them. They gave her a turn and she promptly flew the plane over the roof and out of sight. A long search involving several people ensued, but the plane was nowhere to be found. After about an hour, everyone had given up and we had made plans to buy them a new one. The neighbor parents were chatting and I guess one of them spotted the plane - on the roof next door. A trip up the ladder by the father and the plane was retrieved. At this moment the kids are outside playing with it again, no doubt trying to find a more fiendish way of losing it.

The much anticipated football match between Rosenborg and Molde has just ended in a 2-2 draw, and the fans are now streaming out from across the street. Walking around today we saw quite a few people wearing the colors of either Molde (blue) or Rosenberg (black and white).

Dinner at the Tavern

We went out for our first real restaurant in Norway. It was an experience. We went to some trouble to get a reservation at the Tavern at Sverresborg - the folk museum that Deb and the kids visited the other day. Nic called for the reservation only to get a message in Norwegian that he couldn't understand. After an email and a call from Chris, we had a 6pm reservation. Turns out we didn't need one. The place was just about empty when we arrived.

We walked in and there are 4 people chatting in Norwegian in the entryway. They just continued chatting and eventually we got one of them to talk to us and sit us at a table. Ethan fell asleep on the bus to the place, and we managed to keep him asleep by laying him out across a couple of chairs and on some jackets. After a little while longer, we realized there was a little sign on the table that said we ought to order at the counter and they would bring it to us. The tavern dates back to the 1700's, and was really interesting. Gwyneth and Nic had a look around, up some really steep steps and in and out of little rooms, all with tables in them.

After a check of the menu, we decided on the Reinsdyrfilet (reindeer), Kveite (halibut) and Hjemmelagede kjøttkaker (meatball) for Gwyneth. The reindeer was good, everyone liked it. The rest of the food was pretty good, but a little weird. Deb and Nic also ordered a beer each, for 65 kroners each (about $10). Gwyneth ordered a waffle for dessert, and which point Ethan woke up. Gwyneth gave him some, then he got one of his own.

We hit the Ilaparken for a few zip lines on the way home.