Summer Vacation 2017 - Gothenburg, Sweden

July 22

We left Oslo in the morning and drove to Sweden. We got to Gothenburg in the early afternoon.  Our coach first had us stop to take pictures of a fountain, but the fountain was right outside the library, so I took pictures of the library instead (naturally.)

Gothenburg Library!

Then we checked into our hotel, and then our group of 6 went to find lunch. Birgitte had recommended an indoor market nearby, and it was pretty cute, filled with little cafes and stalls. We got lunch at a quick-serve Swedish place, most everyone got meatballs. I got a kind of veggie plate that reminded me of the IKEA veggie medallions- if you don't know what those are, you're missing out.

Gothenburg, canal and government building

Then we decided to take a canal boat tour. We only had this afternoon in Gothenburg, so we wanted to make the most of it. Most of the rest of our tour group was also in line for the canal tour!

The canal tour was as expected, they took us around Gothenburg and told us the history and the significant sights. I wasn't terribly impressed, but at least we got to see the city.

Boat tour!

After the canal tour, Lindsay, Ben, Dianna, and I walked to the old town. In the old town I found a bakery to get a snack. My only regret is buying just one snack. This bakery was out of this world. I should have bought one of everything.

We saw a castle-type building at the top of a hill, and climbed up to it. There was a staircase straight up the hill, and when we got to the top, I collapsed on a bench and dreamed of baked goods I didn't have.

Cookies, bars, and pies

Treats I don't even know what they are called.

After looking out at the city, we discussed walking to this church that had been pointed out to us on the boat tour, with a tall winding tower you can climb up. Lindsay and Ben decided to go find the church (we could see the top from our hill), and Dianna and I decided to not be insane, and walked back to the hotel.

We ran into my mom on the sidewalk near our hotel, so the three of us went into the big central department store to see what they had in the way of souvenirs. They didn't have a lot, but what they had was very Swedish.

Dinner was at the hotel that night, it was fine, but small.

After dinner, our group of 6 took a walk with our new tour friends, Adam and Anna. The sun stays up so late, that by the time we got back it was well after 10. Time for bed!

Summer Vacation 2017 - Oslo again

July 21st

Dianna and I did not sleep very well. We had our windows open as wide as they would go, which was not very wide, so we were very hot.  Besides that, the waterfront is a fun party place all. night. long. I think the music finally stopped around 4am.  So I was tired today.

Lucky for me, today was mostly riding in the bus, back to Oslo.  We left right after breakfast, and it had started to rain in Bergen, as promised. We seem to have truly gotten one of the only days of sunshine. 

My only picture from the whole bus ride - There are sheep and rocks down there. Which is which? Your guess is as good as mine.

The bus stopped for lunch in a cute little mountain town, and we again ate a delicious cafeteria. I slept pretty much the whole bus ride, so I don't really have much to say about this day.

Even the cafeteria has lovely design.

Chicken Cesar salad at the cafeteria. Delicious.

We got back to Oslo around 5pm, and this time we were staying at a hotel way high up on the mountain, right by the ski jump.  Our whole tour group went to the ski jump before dinner, they have a museum that we didn't go in, and you can walk around the grounds of the ski jump.  We found another troll out there!

The old part of our hotel.

Oslo skip jump.

The troll at the Oslo ski jump.

After dinner, Ben and I took a walk in the woods, then played a game before bed.

I feel just like I'm in Frozen!

Summer Vacation 2017 - Bergen

July 20

We got the whole day in Bergen, which meant we didn't have to get up early to get on the bus, we didn't have to pack up our luggage, and we could do whatever we wanted.  We lucked out with the weather, it was absolutely gorgeous. 70's, sunny, beautiful all day. Everyone kept telling us it's usually rainy, and it's been an especially rainy summer. So we took advantage of the good weather and went out sightseeing!

Bergen on the waterfront. Old Bryggen is on the left. Our hotel is the dark brown building in the left-center. Mt. Floyen is on the top right, with the funicular line visible going up the mountain.

Dad had learned about the Leprosy museum, and I'm always game for weird museums, so we started out going there. The museum was okay, not amazing.  Apparently Norway had quite a problem with leprosy, that other western European countries didn't have. The leprosy museum had a lovely garden at the back that would have been just great to sit in and read for a while, but we only had one day in Bergen and lots to do!

Whoo! Leprosy!

The view into the lovely garden at the leprosy museum

We strolled through town, and I found the public library, as I tend to do.  We spent some time in the park, and the pedestrian shopping area.  Mom and I went in the bookstore for a while. We got a late lunch at a waterfront cafe, which was quite good. We shared a bowl of mussels, and I had tomato soup. 

Library Laura

nom nom nom!

After lunch, dad went to the hotel to rest, and mom and I went to the Bryggen museum.  This is the museum in and about the old part of town. We only had 45 minutes to explore before it closed, but we got to learn a little about the bustling trade center in the 1600's. There are still buildings from that era standing along the waterfront, called tenements. These buildings are long and skinny, with a shop on the waterfront side, and then long skinny alleys between each building with many more shops along the alleys, and apartments above.  After the museum, we walked these alleys and did a little shopping.

Old Bryggen buildings on the waterfont

One of the many nearly-hidden alleys between the old buildings.

The museum also had a really interesting exhibit on forensic anthropology, featuring two ancient skeletons and all kinds of information scientists were able to discover from them, such as where they born, how old they were when they moved, what they died from, how old they were when they died, all kids of stuff. If we'd had more time, we would have spent it in that exhibit, it was fascinating.

Our pocket park!

That evening, the 6 of us met back up, and we got some takeaway and ate in a little pocket park at the foot of Mt. Floyen. It was a lovely little park with a fountain flowing into it with water coming directly from the top of the mountain.

Bergen

Summer Vacation 2017 - Fjord tour, Flam railway, Bergen

July 19

Today we had a private boat tour along the Sogndal Fjord! We had our own small boat, and we just cruised along the Fjord to Flam.  Many people said the cruise was the highlight of the trip.  I enjoyed it, but boats are never my favorite thing.  The scenery was beautiful. Along the fjord, the mountains jut dramatically out of the water. Birgitte told us that they height of the mountains is also how deep the water is.  We saw tiny farms up on the mountainsides, that are only accessible by boat, and then a steep, steep climb up the mountain.

Can you see the tiny farm? No?

Here it is. Accessible only by boat and hiking.

Our group on the top deck of the boat, heading out into the fjord!

After our lovely fjord cruise, we arrived in Flam.  We had a bit of time to get lunch, and do a little souvenir shopping. Then we boarded the famous Flam railroad. This is one of the steepest railroads in the world. The train just keeps going up and up.  The train took us past beautiful waterfalls, spectacular views of the fjord, and a bit of the Norwegian mountainside life. It is pretty much exclusively a tourist train now.

The youths on the train!

There was one stop, where everyone gets out to admire this amazing waterfall right outside the train.  Then, music starts playing, and suddenly you see the huldra!! Beware of the huldra! She is a forest spirit that will sing you into a cave and you will get lost in the mountain!

There's the huldra, on the right, singing enchantingly to us by the waterfall!

When the huldra was done singing, and nobody got sucked into the mountain, we got back on the train.  At the next stop, our group got out and got on a regular train which took us Voss.  On the train we had our lunch, enjoyed the view, and napped a bit.  At Voss, we got back on our coach, and Guyer drove us to Bergen.

Bergen is a neat old town on the western coast of Norway. We took a little bus tour on our way in, and then checked into our hotel, which was a fancy hotel right in the old town.  The old town of Bergen is called Bryggen, and it was built in the 1600's.  Once we were settled, the six of us went out and got dinner at a lovely little restaurant nearby.

Next we took the funicular up Mt. Floyen, which is the mountain on one side of Bergen.  One advantage to visiting Scandinavia in the summer is that the sun stays up quite late, so you don't feel uneasy about visiting a park at the top of a mountain at 9pm.

On Mt. Floyen, with Bergen below

The top of Floyen has amazing views of the city and the fjord. It is also a park, and has a cafe and ice cream shop.  We explored the park, and discovered a very cool adventure playground that said it was for ages 6 and up, which I am, so I did the obstacle course. We saw lots of trolls in the woods - carved from wood and stone, they are just hiding all over the place. Norway is big on trolls.

Hi trolls!

When we were done exploring, and had ice cream, mom and dad and I went back to the hotel by taking the funicular, and Ben, Lindsay, and Dianna walked back down.

The Eleys on the fjord

Dianna and I shared a hotel room on this trip, and our room in Bergen was pretty cool. It was up in the rafters, so our ceiling was tall and had cathedral beams. The windows opened out onto the harborfront just outside.  Unfortunately, because they were special windows set into the room, they barely opened, so we didn't get much of a breeze. In Norway, warm weather is rare, so there was no fan or air conditioning in the room.  We got pretty warm in our room.

Summer Vacation 2017- Lillehammer and Sogndal

July 17 and 18

On the afternoon of the 17th, after touring Oslo and getting lunch, we headed to Lillehammer. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Olympics, and we stayed at a neat hotel at the bottom of the ski jump. We had time in the evening before dinner to explore the hotel grounds, and we had fun playing frisbee golf, checking out the sculptures in their sculpture garden, and taking a dip in the hot tub.

This was a sculpture that was more or less a colored mirror, so we took a funny photo of ourselves!

Wow, we're good at frisbee golf.

We had a lovely buffet dinner in the hotel. After dinner, Lindsay, Ben, and Dianna walked to the top of the ski jump. I was far too lazy to do that.

Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's bobsled time!

The morning of the 18th we got back in the coach and headed to Sogndal. Before we left Lillehammer, the bus took us up to the ski jump, and we got to play around a little bit there. Then, on the road!

Our first stop was at Lom, where we got a little tour of a stave church, which is the architectural style common in old Norway, but most have been torn down now.  The Lom church is mostly from the 1600's, but some parts are older, and some are newer. The guide told us they hold a church service there every 3 weeks, and they have 7 parishoners.

We ate lunch in Lom, and my parents and I enjoyed a Norwegian cafeteria. I loved the cafeterias there. Good food!

The Lom stave church

Back on the bus, and the next part of the trip was through mountain passes. I really enjoyed this part. I was surprised and grateful not to get car-sick (I got some motion sickness meds before I left the states), and so I was able to enjoy the beauty of the Norwegian mountains. We made several stops for us to get out, take pictures, and stretch our legs. The mountains were cold and snowy. They were were rocky, with no trees. There was clouds and mist. It was neat. Our coach driver was amazing, because those roads were narrow and full of sharp turns. Riding with Guyer was far less scary than riding on a school bus in the Honduran mountains. Doesn't come close.

At the top of the pass, it was about 40 degrees.

Lindsay dips her toe in a nearly frozen lake at the top of the pass.

Once we got down the mountains, we stopped for a break, and our guide, Birgitte, had a surprise for us. She gave us a snack of Norwegian goat cheese on crackers, with cranberry juice or a Norwegian alcohol called aquavit. The goat cheese was delicious!

Cheers!! Ben, Dianna, Lindsay, Me, Birgitte, and Guyer

We arrived in Sogndal in the evening, and Lindsay, Dianna, Ben, and I took a walk through town, which took about 10 minutes, because it is a very small town. Then I took a walk in the other direction with my mom, along the river that feeds into the fjord. We had dinner in the hotel, and went that night to buy groceries for lunch the next day.

In the morning we got back on the coach and headed to a nearby town to take our Fjord tour by boat!

Summer Vacation 2017 - Oslo

July 16-17

We arrived in Oslo, Norway in the early afternoon. The bus took us to our hotel, which felt very fancy and Scandinavian. Even my bottled water was in a fancy glass bottle.

So Scandinavian!

We met the rest of our group and our guide, Birgette, at a happy hour that evening.  Then the 6 of us headed out to find dinner. Birgette recommended the waterfront, so we headed that way. All the restaurants we found there were quite expensive, and one of them basically laughed when we asked for a table for 6 without a reservation. Finally we found a place a bit off the water and had a fine dinner there. We were all very exhausted and jet lagged.

Bread, anyone?

Though it was early, we were met by an amazing sight the next morning: the breakfast buffet.  It was incredible. Here are some of the things I remember they had: hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, sausage, pancakes, cold cuts, sliced cheese, brie and soft cheese, watermelon, grapes, and other fruit, tomatoes, cucumbers and other veggies, milk, coffee, water, juice, and smoothies, 3 or 4 kinds of fish, including caviar, 5 or 6 kinds of bread (including gluten free), croissants, oatmeal, toppings for oatmeal like raisins, berries, nutella, jam, and I don't know what all, cereal, granola, musli. These are just the things I remember they had. They undoubtedly had more. It was incredible. And delicious.

Fish for breakfast

The next morning we did an Oslo city tour. Everyday we had the same bus and the same bus driver, Guyer. He drove us around for the entire trip.  Each day we had different assigned seats, so that everyone would have a chance at the front seats (excellent view), and would get to sit by new people each day.

These trees depict people at different stages of life, surrounding a fountain

Our tour of Oslo began at Vigeland park. This is a big public park full of sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. He is a famous and prolific artist, that none of us have heard of because Oslo bought his entire body of work for the city. The park has over 200 pieces by him, mostly bronze and stone sculptures. We spent a little time walking in the garden, while our local guide, Stina, told us about interpreting the art and a bit about Vigeland, for example, that he had children with his wife, then left her for a younger woman, and never saw his children again. Cool guy. All of his sculptures are nude because he wanted them to be timeless - clothing would be indicative of an era, of a time they were from, and he wanted them to be from all times.

Woman with children sculpture in front of the monolith

Our city tour included a tour inside the city hall. Sounds boring, but it was gorgeous! The main hall was like a huge ballroom, with enormous murals about the history of Oslo on all the walls. Upstairs were rooms with many more murals, tapestries, and art. It was just a crazy amount of murals. Their modern history is really interesting. One thing I loved is how, in 1905, Norway broke ties with Sweden, whom they had been 'in union' with for some hundreds of years. It nearly came to a war. The Norwegians wanted a monarchy, but they had no royalty left from their pre-union days. So they asked a Danish prince if he would come up and become Norway's king. He agreed, but only if the Norwegian people wanted him. So they held a vote, and he was elected king! His grandson Harald is now the king, and married a commoner, a 'sporty' woman named Sonja, and they are extremely popular with the Norwegian people. Harald even competed in the Olympics.

I mean, what is a giant empty room FOR, if not pretend ice-skating??

Our group inside city hall, learning about the many details on the murals

We also visited the Viking Ship museum and the Kon-Tiki museum. The viking ship museum held several ships that were discovered in Viking burial sites, along with other artifacts from the time. It's incredible to think the Vikings sailed to Greenland and even Canada in these tiny, exposed ships!

Damn, Vikings.

The Kon-Tiki museum told about Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian explorer who, among other things,  was trying to prove that ancient people could have sailed from South America to Polynesia. His expeditions were pretty amazing, and he did several big sailing expeditions from the 1930's-1970's.

After the museums, we head to Lillehammer for the night!