I really have been lazy lately.... We spent two weeks with my friend Gunnar, in Gothenburg, after leaving Norway. Mostly we concentrated on Aaste's school work during that time. She watched way to much television and refused to leave the house if given a choice. I love Gothenburg, so I was out and about almost every day.
We have been in Stockholm now for the last week almost. It is, of course, beautiful. But as it is the largest city I have seen since Dublin I am finding it much harder to get to know. With Oslo, Gothenburg, and Bergen you can get a handle on the city within a day or two - not with Stockholm. Of course it doesn't help that the place is built on something like a dozen islands.
We have again been exceptionally fortunate with our 'intermediate' relatives and have been able to get to know another cousin, Sindre, and some of his children. We have been staying in the guest apartment of his condo complex, which has been very affordable in a very expensive city!
Last week I booked a 'last minute' one week get-away to Hurghada, Egypt for us. Hurghada is supposed to be a beach resort along the lines of Cancun - ie) nothing was there before and now it's a massive city based entirely on tourism. Anyway... it is in the desert and the snorkeling is supposed to be fantastic. Although it is about 6 hours from Cairo and the pyramids there are, apparently, excursions from Hurghada - so we will spend 1-2 days doing that!
Well - the sun is shining here in Stockholm... so I best get out and enjoy it on our last day here.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Flåmsbana
After leaving Bergen we spent two nights in Flåm; a small village situated in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the 204 kilometres long Sognefjord. A major part of the attraction of Flåm is the trip to get there. The Flåmsbana, or Flåm Railway is one of the worlds steepest railway lines on normal gauge. The gradient is 55/1000 on almost 80% of the line, i.e. a gradient of one in eighteen. It is only 20 km long, but took 20 years to build and has 20 tunnels and takes about 40 minutes to travel.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Rushing Water
To live in fjord country is to have the sound of rushing water always in your ears. Or so it seemed to me.
Beautiful Bergen
Bergen is an incredibly beautiful city. You can read all about it elsewhere - but here are a few of our pics:
These famous wooden buildings along Bergen's waterfront are over 900 years old.
These famous wooden buildings along Bergen's waterfront are over 900 years old.
Alesund
When I first communicated with Tommy about visiting Orsta, he had asked what in particular I was interested in. Among other interests, I mentioned art, design and architecture. 
Tommy and Inge Petter planned a day for us in Alesund. Alesund is the region's slightly larger town and is about a one hour drive from Orsta.
The intriguing aspect of Alesund that makes it a particular tourist attraction is it's architectural style.
In 1904 the entire town burned to the ground. As a result, over the next decade or so the town was re-built in the art nouveau style - but with a Norwegian twist. Many of these buildings remain today. As an aside - the re-building of Alesund was an enormous boost to the sagging Norwegian economy of the time; providing employment for hundreds of out of work tradesmen, engineers, etc. etc.
Tommy and Inge Petter planned a day for us in Alesund. Alesund is the region's slightly larger town and is about a one hour drive from Orsta. The intriguing aspect of Alesund that makes it a particular tourist attraction is it's architectural style.
In 1904 the entire town burned to the ground. As a result, over the next decade or so the town was re-built in the art nouveau style - but with a Norwegian twist. Many of these buildings remain today. As an aside - the re-building of Alesund was an enormous boost to the sagging Norwegian economy of the time; providing employment for hundreds of out of work tradesmen, engineers, etc. etc.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Christmas everyday in Norway
When I was a child one of my favourite things about Christmas was lefse! Actually - lefse is still one of my favourite things about Christmas and I make sure I remind my sister every year not to forget to bring it!
Lefse, as any Norwegian or Norwegian North-American can tell you, is a simple and delicious flatbread made from potatoes, flour and cream or milk. A simple google search will turn up more recipes than you will ever need. We were brought up eating it spread with butter and sugar and sometimes cinammon and then rolled; as a specail Christmas treat.
Well, imagine my pleasure to discover you can purchase lefse in Norway, prepackaged as a snack (already spread with yummy sweet filling of sugar and cinammon). Aaste took to it as if it had always been her favourite food and is especially fond of the Vestlands Lefse variety. I prefer the thinner variety and so buy it in the grocery, like bread or tortillas and add the butter etc. myself.
I think I'll go have some right now! Yum!
Lefse, as any Norwegian or Norwegian North-American can tell you, is a simple and delicious flatbread made from potatoes, flour and cream or milk. A simple google search will turn up more recipes than you will ever need. We were brought up eating it spread with butter and sugar and sometimes cinammon and then rolled; as a specail Christmas treat.
Well, imagine my pleasure to discover you can purchase lefse in Norway, prepackaged as a snack (already spread with yummy sweet filling of sugar and cinammon). Aaste took to it as if it had always been her favourite food and is especially fond of the Vestlands Lefse variety. I prefer the thinner variety and so buy it in the grocery, like bread or tortillas and add the butter etc. myself.
I think I'll go have some right now! Yum!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Aaste's Blog
For those of you who are interested in Aaste's point of view on our travels, check out http://ablogforfriendsandfamily.blogspot.com/
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