We took a two-week trip to Norway! It was a gorgeous and unforgettable time. In the picture above, Heather, Lucy, Ingrid and I are on a bluff overlooking Geirangerfjord (which I’m told is the fjord that some scenes in Frozen are based on?) Fun fact: the rainy night before this picture was taken, one of our windshield wipers FLEW OFF THE CAR in the middle of the downpour! Ack! A dicey situation, since we were driving on narrow mountain roads with precipitous drops, but Heather (who was driving) white-knuckled it through.
Here are more pictures:
|
|
|
One of the best things about the trip is that Heather has lots of family in Norway, some of whom I’ve met when they’ve visited Chicago. We got to meet up with Arne (that’s the first picture below, at the top of the ski jump in Lillehammer from the 1994 Olympics), and Lars Erik and his wife Ane had us all over their house for a shrimp and crawfish dinner (that’s the second picture), attended by the rest of the family—including Kristin who works for the Norwegian National Museum, and took us on a guided tour of it!
We also met a troll atop a mountain in Bergen. Below that, the girls and I hanging out near the scenic wharf in Bergen:
In Oslo and in Bergen, I was delighted to find copies of Bride of the Tornado at the Outland bookstores. I signed the copies and talked to the very kind and supportive staff. Here we are at Outland in Bergen:
In Bergen, it turned out our hotel was right across the street from the church where Heather’s grandfather was pastor, long ago. We went in and checked it out:
Speaking of churches, we visited a few of the famous wooden “stave” churches, which have a strangely witchy beauty.
In Oslo, Lucy and I visited Vigeland Sculpture Park, where there are more than 200 sculptures in granite, bronze, and iron of people in various curious poses. Photographs don’t do it justice; the sheer number and variety of statues is overwhelming.
And there’s so much else we did, like visiting the Edvard Munch Museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum, taking a boat ride in the fjord, meeting and hanging out with Heather’s extended family, fantastic food, beautiful and rewarding hikes, nights in a cabin in a quiet isolated valley or near a fjord . . . I really loved this trip! Goodbye for now, Norway!
