Norway 2012

After the drama there was simply an amazing trip.  We took over 900 photos and I want to try and share a little of what Norway is like here.  It will be really difficult, even though Bill took amazing photos.  You know how they say, "everything is bigger in Texas?"  Well, you could say the complete opposite about Norway...except for the mountains.  The mountains are exponentially bigger.  So many things in Norway seem smaller to me, more intimate.  The houses, apartments, and portions all are smaller.  Milk and juice aren't sold in gallons.  Pints and quarts.  Little things like that just make it different....

Come along, then, on a little photo journey of our trip to the place that was my summer home for so much of my life.  As always, I apologize for the order, I never seem to get it right when I am uploading.

The door to my mother's apartment.

Finn is standing on a wooden boat I played on when I was 3, 4, and 5 years old.  I went to a Norwegian preschool here when my mother was finishing her nursing degree back in America.  My mormor would wrap sandwiches in wax paper, load my brother and I on the back of her bike, and pedal us over to this 'barne hage" (children's garden/kindergarten).







Bill and Finn taking in the view in Rosendal.

These were the cabins we stayed in while in Rosendale.  Right on the ocean.

On the side of the road, in nearly every backyard, there are blueberries.  This first photo is on the side of the road and the one below is in my great aunt Hanne's back yard.

The buildings you see here are called Bryggen (which means 'wharf').  It was originally built around the 11th century.  It has burned to the ground and been rebuilt a number of times.  It is in the oldest part of Bergen.  They are now filled with tourist shops and restaurants.  If any of you have ever seen my troll collection, just about all of them were bought in the shops you see here.

 This next group of photos I would like to call: "Eating with people we love."

Within the first few days of our visit, my mother through a dinner party.  All of my relatives were there and it was such a great night.  So great, in fact, that we did not take very many pictures.  My mom did get a shot with my cousins...or second cousins...or something like that, Hilde and Georg.  They are the exact same age as my brother and I and we played with them EVERY summer for nearly 2 decades.  I am pretty sure they taught me most of my Norwegian.

This is another wonderful dinner at my mom's.  In the white shirt is my mom's best friend, Gerd.  She came to Bergen (she lives nearly 7 hours away) with her daughter and grandchildren to have a visit with us.  We had a grand time. *On another note, this picture was taken just moments before Finn took a giant swig of my mother's white wine.  It was in a plastic cup right in front of his dinner plate.  It looked just like apple juice.  Within seconds Finn emptied his belly...it was awesome...because we managed to miss my mom's Persian rug.  (And I'll take a 'ew this wine is gross' puke over a food allergy one!)

A little later on in our visit, my mother's dear Uncle Erling and Aunt Liv had us over for a traditional Norwegian dinner of crabs and shrimp.  It was AMAZING.  Even more amazing, they dug out their now 14 year old grandson's old toys for my boys to play with.  The most gracious hosts EVER.

Another gathering of the family at my mom's Aunt Hanne's house.  The weather was divine...but not as divine as the amazing homemade cakes and pastries we were served.

This is Liam, his cheeks stuffed with Hanne's "water pastry," his sixth or seventh one.  I can't remember the Norwegian name for them, but it translates to 'water pastry.'  They are a lot like a cream puff without the cream and drizzled with a sugar glaze.  Dangerously addictive.

Bill is holding a live crab here.  We are in the 'world famous' Fish Market.  It has grown a lot more touristy since I was last there 7 years ago.  When I was little, my mormor would go there, choose a live fish, and we would watch the fisherman, clad in neon orange waders, gut it right there.  Now, there are only a few spots with live fish, and lots and lots of 'prepared fish dishes.'  Then and now, it's still a really neat place to visit.  I managed to find a fresh waffle among the stalls!

Here we are on the ferry to Rosendal.  Norway has so many fjords that it would take days to reach destinations if not for the numerous ferries.  It was a first for the boys and they loved it.

Bill thought it would be nice to have a picture of my wounded finger.  Before we arrived my mother bought a box of band-aids at Ikea for the kids.  I ended up using every last one of them.  My finger, by the way, is healing nicely, still sore, but no longer in need of band-aids.

Bill says he would have given me stitches and it would have healed much faster.  I'm just happy I still have my finger!!!



While in Rosendal, Liam made friends with a boy named Benjamin.  He lives in Bergen, but was born in Australia, so his English was quite good.  For the two and a half days we stayed there, these two were inseparable.  Benjamin taught Liam how to "fish" for a star fish with a fishing rod and hook.

While in Rosendal, we did a little hiking.  Up until this point we had had amazing, uncharacteristic weather.  Sunny, high 70's.  But, at this point, the temperature dropped and the clouds moved in with their big fat rain drops.  This does not stop anyone from doing anything in Norway.  I was very happy to see my boys hiking and playing in the rain without complaint. 

   Liam took this picture of Bill and I.

                                                                                                                     Sweet Finny Finn

 

This picture was taken on the drive into Rosendal.  It's so neat how little towns are built on the edge of a mountain....

We took a drive up in the mountains.  We didn't quite make it past the tree line, but we were close.  That's snow up there in distance.

What else can I say other than, BREATHTAKING? 

We took a little day trip to Titlestad - my grandmother's neighborhood. In the background you can see her house, the white one on top of the hill.  It was very bittersweet to see it.  My mormor had these amazing berry gardens all over the property: raspberry, gooseberry, red currants, blueberry, and strawberry.  All gone.  Time goes on....

The rest of the pictures below are of Bergen.  I hope you get a feel for how...well...maybe just a glimpse of what an incredible city it is.

 

 This is the neighborhood where my mother's apartment is.

 I forgot to mention that in that world famous fish market they sell the MOST DELICIOUS berries.  Berries in Norway are just better. I don't know if it's the soil or all the rain or what, but, just trust me on this one, they are out of this world.

Yeah, so this is a typical sewer cap in Bergen.  They are all like this.  Isn't it so pretty?

 Finn, who hardly EVER spends time in a stroller did a decent job....well...probably not decent by most of your standards, but for MY kid, I thought he did great.

Waiting for the train...

On the train...

Any wonder how trolls originated here???

My gorgeous boys.

So there you have it.  Hope you got a little taste...hmmm...I didn't take any pictures of the food - the crabs, the shrimp, the cakes, the chocolate, ooooohhhhh, the chocolate.....well, a glimpse.  

Thanks to my mom who took us on this trip.  I am so grateful that she values family the way she does.  This visit reignited my connection with my Norwegian relatives.  A connection I want to maintain, I want my boys to maintain.  I don't want them to lose their Norwegian side...and when family is so far away, it's easy to let that happen.  Now that I have been there with the boys, I know, even if it's five or six years from now, I WILL take my boys back there so they can reconnect with the friends and relatives they met there.  It was an amazing visit, TUSEN TAKK, Mom!!

Where's there's Britt, there's Drama

Our adventure begins at 6 am, Tuesday morning.  Both boys are up with the excitement of our trek to Norway only hours away...well, nearly 12 hours away.  The flight to Copenhagen, Denmark leaves Newark at 5:40.  We have many hours to kill and they are slain with caring for chickens and prepping the house for our house sitters.

Uneventfully, we make our way down to Newark.  At the airport, I take Finn out of his carseat to find that he has peed through his entire out fit.  Not a catastrophe, we mamas are prepared for these things.  Ensemble change and we proceed to check in.  Bill and I were prepared for major hold ups at security as we were traveling with a small pharmacy of syringes and major meds should Finn eat someone's hunk of cheese on the plane.  Not to mention I had a whole bunch of soy milk, apple sauce, and other Finn friendly foods.  Nope.  Breezed right through and before we knew it we had three whole hours to kill in Terminal B.

Finn - approx. 10 min pre-puke

On board the plane things were going great.  The kids were excited, the four of us were seated in our own row across the center of the plane.  All was good.  They EVEN brought out the kids' meals early, which I thought was so smart.  They don't do that on all flights and it's a whole lot easier to get the kids settled in first.   I brought spaghetti from home and Finn started eating his dinner.

Well...as luck would have it, not an hour into the flight and a few minutes into his meal, Finn gives that tell tale gag/cough and I KNOW he is about to puke.  I fumble to unbuckle our seat belts and grab him, facing away from me, and dash to towards the bathrooms.  We don't make it.  He projectile vomits spaghetti and banana and god know what all over the aisle.  yeah.  THAT happened.   In the bathroom he's hurling into the toilet and occasionally on me because, in his misery, he turns to hug his mama.  Bill is standing behind me, freaking out because neither of us is sure what prompted this, neither of us knows if we are in for a nightmare.  

Finn - Approx 30 min. post puke

6 hours into the 7.5 hour flight

In the end, poor little Finn stopped puking and there weren't any tell tale signs of a food allergy reaction (swelling, etc.)  He apparently just gagged on spaghetti...or was a little motion sick.  Bill held him as I scooped the vomit off the floor. (Thank goodness he projectiles straight and he didn't douse any poor passengers.)  

Not long after the ordeal Finn fell asleep in my lap.  Soon after the dinner service the cabin lights are turned off so people can sleep.  Bill is asleep with head phones on and this is, of course, when Liam starts crying ...whimpering...that he misses home and Austin and wants to go back.  Yeah...that was awesome.  I just wanted to hug and hold him while I told him that he was just exhausted, but my arms were full of sweaty 2 year old.  So I had to just pat his sad little head while he tried to fall asleep.  It took an hours and a half, but sleep came.  (It made me realize how I have completely taken for granted the fact that nearly every summer of my life flying to Norway to visit grandparents was completely normal.  I started at 3 months old, so the enormity of the trip for Liam didn't hit me until it hit him - 3 hours mid-flight.  He of course recovered and has been happy since we landed...but...before we landed there was...)

Landing in Copenhagen...about 20 min. late.  It was about 2 am our time, 7am in Denmark.  None of us had really slept.  We had to run, literally RUN, at top speed, me holding Finn, Bill juggling duty-free cognac for my mom and backpacks, across one or the longest airports.  They had already closed the gate, but luckily managed to hold the plane for us.  We sit down on the plane, all of us soaked with sweat, we begin to taxi, and then the pilot informs us that one of the air monitoring systems isn't working and we have to switch planes - which required a 45 minute wait AND a ride on a shuttle bus.  Awesome.

Finn at the window of my mom's apartment

However, WE FINALLY ARRIVE IN BERGEN!!!  My mother and great uncle Erling were waiting for us with hugs.  My mother's apartment is cozy and airy at the same time, but most of all welcoming.  It is located right in the heart of this old, old beautiful city.  We have a lovely lunch, nap for a few hours, and wake up to a delicious dinner of fish cakes and boiled potatoes.  

Before a walk around town for some fresh air, my mother gets a load of laundry started while I do the dinner dishes.  I suppose in my fatigue...or complete inability to handle knives, I dropped a very sharp and heavy knife on my left index finger.   It cut right through the rubber glove and all I saw was blood.  Bill immediately assessed that I'd need stitches or, at the very least Derma-bond and steri-strips (which he has in his work bag and left at home!)  Needless to say, our tour of the city included a stop at the ER (conveniently located around the corner from my mom's).  They were kind, efficient, and clean.  What more can you ask for?  We were in and out in an hour...maybe less.  I am SO tired I have absolutely no idea what time it is.  They patched me up with said Derma-bond and strips.

Pre-ER visit

 And now the drama is over...I HOPE.  It's been perhaps the longest 24 hours of my life.  Between the hours biting back tears hoping Finn was not having an allergic reaction on a 7.5 hour plane ride to making myself NOT faint while holding paper towels to my bloody finger has pretty much left me spent.

I am greatly looking forward for days spent with family and showing the boys the city I spent so many summers enjoying.

Over and out.

Post ER visit and walk in the rain