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!

Summer Vacation 2017 - New York City

July 14 and 15

My big adventure this summer started off in New York City.  I flew from Minneapolis on July 14th, and met friends Ben Schilaty, his sister Lindsay, and our friend Dianna in Brooklyn.  My parents flew in later and met us in the evening in Manhattan.

Mmmmm Pizza!

For dinner, we found a little basement pizzeria and got some tasty slices.  Then we took the subway to Times Square and ogled at everything there.  Then we met my parents and went to a Broadway show!

Me, Dianna, Lindsay, and Ben

My friends had picked up tickets for all of us to see Anastasia that night. I enjoyed the show, especially the costumes and the set.  The music I found to be a little dull, but the actors had great singing voices.

Dad and I at Anastasia

After the show, we took the subway back to our air bnb and went to bed.

Breakfast in Brooklyn with Ben

 On the 15th, Ben and I got up and went out for bagels with my dad. We ate breakfast by the East River, looking out at Manhattan.  By 10:30, all six of us were up and ready to go, and we headed to Manhattan. We met a friend of Lindsay's for lunch, and got to check out her apartment a block from Central Park!
 

WOW.

 Afterwards, we walked through Central Park, exploring the castle, the boating pond, the fountain, and other parts.

Ben and I in our traditional bridge pose

Central Park with the skyline of Manhattan

Ben, Lindsay, Dianna and my dad left to go walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (which they did!), and my mom and I met up with my friend Clare, who now lives in New Jersey. We got a little snack at an Italian bistro, then walked along Madison Ave, and visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and 30 Rockefeller Center. It was so great to see her!

Me and Clare!

In the late afternoon, we all got packed up, got an Uber, and headed to JFK for our flight Paris!

I'm a big fan of subway art. This was just one of the fun sculptures in the subway!

Can you find the little man?

Diary of a cat

This school year I've hosted several foster cats at my apartment.  When cats get surrendered to the Tri-County Humane society, they can't be with all the other cats if they are sick, because illness will spread through the shelter. And they aren't ready to be adopted if they're sick. So I take cats that have a cold, bring them home, give them medicine, and a few weeks later, when they are healthy, I take them back to the shelter.

Titon

I have learned that cats can have very different behaviors and personalities. I'm on my 4th foster cat right now, Titon. He is unlike any of the other previous cats. To say he is low maintenance would be an understatement. He is the introvert's introvert. I almost never see him, he just picks a hidey hole for the day and stays there.

The between-the-couch-and-the-end-table spot

But guess what!!  He left his diary open one day when he came out to use the litterbox, and I found it! Here is a day in Titon's life:

The back-of-the-linen-closet spot

 July 2, 2017

6:30am - The human finally opened her door and came out to use her litterbox. I went in and took a bath. She got back in bed, and I think she was expecting me to come up and let her pet me, like I did that one time, but I didn't feel like it today. Instead, I sat on the chair and looked at birds out the window.

7:00am - I took another bath.

7:30am - The human got up and went to get breakfast, so I did, too. I ate most of my food during the night, but I saved enough of that delicious weight-control dry kibble for breakfast. 

7:35am - I took a bath.

7:45am- The human got back in bed. I chose my spot for the day. Today I picked her clothes closet, not the laundry hamper side, but the pile-of-shoes side. Time for a nap.

8:30am - The human opened the closet door and took something out. She looked at me and said, "hi, buddy!" I'm sorry, but does she honestly think we're friends?! Returned to my nap.

9:30am - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. Woke me up briefly. 

11:00am - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. I went back to sleep immediately.

1:00pm - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. What is her problem??

3:00pm - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. I think she said something, like, "are you doing okay?" but who knows.

5:00pm - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. She pet my head for a second, but since I was ignoring her, and trying to sleep, she didn't do that for long.

8:00pm - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. 

9:00pm - The human opened the closet door and looked at me. She looked so pathetic, I decided to come out and let her pet me. I guess naptime is over. 

9:02pm - That's enough interaction. I went and got a drink of water. The human has this toy she always wants to play with, so she was waving it in front of my face, but I didn't feel like playing. I took a bath, then sharpened my claws on the carpeting. 

9:15pm- The human got in bed, so I came up and let her pet me for a bit. Then I took a bath.

9:30pm- My food bowl got refilled somehow, so I had a snack, then took a bath. While I was eating, the human came in and turned out all the lights, then went in her room and shut the door. All she does all night is sleep! Should I be worried about her?