long awaited

So here are the pictures from Wales...Finally...I know, I'm lame for taking so long and ignoring your need for connection.

Typical Welsh country road...totally narrow, high walled, overgrown...in short, not the best place for walking.


Sheep...not that there were too many of those around...


Caernarfon Castle. Where the "Prince of Wales" is handed power...best not to dig too deeply into the politics of that one.


An island with a cemetery and a VERY small church. Called, oddly enough, Church island.




The most I ever saw of Snowden...it was pretty much socked in the whole time I was there.


I know, not too many pictures, but hey, its been 2 months....I will leave you with this though:
llanfairpwllgyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
No, Im not making that up...its the name of a nearby town...Welsh is an amazing language...

Wales

So, sadly I have left the Troxels, but happily I have joined Stasia in Wales...Just barely. A word of warning to those that might enter the UK...have the address that you will be at during your visit on hand, or at least know enough of an address to make something up. I almost had to cry to get in as I didnt have either of those. We wandered around the city today, saw a beautiful church, loads of sheep, country lanes, the university, the ocean, about 20 thrift stores, could have seen Prince Charles. Quite lovely. And Ive already started to pick up a Welsh accent...which mixes well with my 10 or so Norwegian phrases...Tomorrow I'll figure out the picture thing and post some sheep.

Mysteria

So, I have a regular birthday mystery on my hands...
I got a blank envelope from telenor (the Norweigian telephone company) with a stamp on the back from Bodo radio (a maritime radio station for messages from boats?) The only people I know on a boat currently are the pirates, which if this is from you all...this makes you very cool...but it also says Chicago...so that includes a whole lot more people...the message reads:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
QUARTER CENTURY
PICNIC PARK SYMPHONY?

NNNN

Any ideas as to the meaning? But thank you, whoever is responsible...sadly it is raining, but we will have an indoor picnic...and the stereo is almost like a symphony...

Happy Birthday to me...Again

I have reunited with my camera base and so bring you these pictures...

Technically this is not my birthday...Kristin and I wandered around these parks while Bella was at a birthday party for one of her friends. There is a cool story about the trees in the first park...originally it was just a farm and the farmer agreed to allow the freighters from the nearby port to offload their ballast at his farm so that they could pick up their new loads...and along with all the dirt and sand they were using as ballast came seeds and different kinds of plants. So this farm has all kinds of strange trees that don't normally grow in Norway. Like this one...


Then we went to this really peaceful English style park and just sat and talked for a while, ate some icecream, drank some coffee, wandered around, looked at the names people carved into this row of trees...




Now, on to the birthday. Kristin and I went to this awesome wool factory where they make felt and yarn and blankets and what have you. It is right next to this painfully cute town where we found an antique barn that was in serious need to repair as the majority of the floor felt like another 2 pounds would bring the whole thing down...so that added an extra element of excitement to the hunt.
This is the wool factory. It was abandoned and two women bought it extremely cheaply, fixed it up and started producing again, but in much smaller quantities.




Then we came home, watched Johnny Depp for three hours and then went to dinner at Patrick's. We sat outside as the weather is fantastic and ended up collecting a strange and rather motley crew by the end. All in all, a very satisfying day. Not to mention that I got free cake and icecream.

Happy Birthday to me!

So, today was my birthday and I did all kinds of great things...we ate pancakes, went to a wool factory, dug through an amazing antiques barn that definitly was not up to code safety wise, went out to lunch, saw Pirates of the Carribean 3, had a great dinner at Patrick's Pub and ran into a bunch of people and hung out until it got too cold to be outside anymore...and I have pictures, but somewhere is my base for my camera and that somewhere is not with me, so until tomorrow, the pictures will remain on my camera. Check in tomorrow for actual pictures...I know, Ive been slacking lately...

last couple of days

The last few days we've been assisting Kristin in finishing her art exam preparations and today was the setting up of the exhibit...Everyone's stuff was really amazing. So much creativity. There is a show tomorrow night and I will post pics of some of the coolest projects. Kristin will also be setting up a blog of her artwork, so I will post that address when its up.
We also went to an art walk of sorts on this nearby island that used to be owned by the military and is now a cultural center/festival area type place. There are a bunch of little studios and student housing and lots of nature...here's some pics:
I suggest we take the "middle way"...



We also spent a day hanging out with Borre and Vibecca(Im not sure how to spell your name, sorry...) and I know that some of you miss them horribly and would love to see them, so if you just can't wait another two weeks, here's a preview...


And one of Bella because she's just so darn cute...

Pirates of the Quadraturen

Monday was Charlie-Blue's birthday, so we had a big pirate style party for him down by the castle and at Jabes...
Sam was quite the swordsman...note his fine form as he vanquishes his opponent...


Mike built these awesome pirate ships from which the kids had a cannon battle...



Then they practiced their pirate moves...



Oh, and I can't forget the pirate cake, Debbie would be proud Im sure...

17 mai

Yesterday was Norway's celebration of independence...there were lots of parades of various groups of people and everyone wore traditional outfits and there was a carnival and fireworks and a dance...the weather was fantastic, especially compared to today which was grey and raining all day...




This is Bella and her friend Sameera in their Bunads...


Mike and Matias riding tall bikes in the parade

Better late than never

So Im back in Kristiansand with the Troxels and Camilla and tonight...LENE!! And I was finally able to charge my camera and get my photos off from my Norway in a Nutshell trip...so here is just a small sampling. If you really want to know, I can show you all 5000 pictures when I get home.
This is from the train station in Myrdal. On the way there, we went through areas that still had several meters of snow. I cant even imagine what it looks like in the middle of winter.


A little ways into the trip you stop at this amazing waterfall and everyone files off the train to take a bunch of photos...It is incredibly beautiful and well worth it. There is the ruins of a little house or station of some sort right next to the falls. You have to wonder what it would be like to live there...the roaring as you go to bed, the cold spray constantly soaking you...not exactly an ideal spot...but very beautiful.




The train goes down through some amazing scenery and some crazy tunnels...to arrive in Flam. I wandered around for a bit and ate some lunch...there isnt much to do there except for shopping and a neat museum about the railway. I opted for the museum...sorry guys. Then I took a ferry to Gundehaven...the ride there was absolutely spectacular. Everywhere you looked there was something more amazing than the last thing you saw...here are some of my favorites...
This is looking back at Flam...














After we got into Gundehaven, we took a bus to Voss...which involved this road...


Needless to say, we all cheered for the bus driver when we got to the top as this is a two lane road, despite the bus barely fitting all four wheels in the road at the same time.

Adventures with Camilla part 2

So, to catch up on the past few days. We were going to go to kjerag (this rock stuck between two other rocks...kind of like hanging rock, for those of you that have been to Salida) but there was too much snow and they had the road closed...but there was this beautiful waterfall off the side of the road (one of about 500 that I've seen so far) and so we decided to take the time we had and climb it..


We climbed up most of it in the actual waterfall...the parts that werent too slippery that is...it was pretty much just a chute of rock that had been worn down by the water...if we were a bit stupider, we could have just slid straight down the waterfall...but reason prevailed.


On the way back we stopped to play in the snow. My socks were all wet from the waterfall, so I just had my boots on when I stepped about thigh high into a snow bank...that was exciting to say the least.


The next day we climbed a hill overlooking both Sandes and Stavanger. So beautiful, and to think that there is so much wilderness so close at hand.


Then we went to a friend of Camilla's family cabin. Beautiful surroundings and we watched the Eurovision Song Contest finals. I was pulling for the guys with the mirrored stars on the tops of their hats and the metallic silver shorts from the Ukraine, but they got second :( Then while we were sitting around the next mornign we talked the other girls into going camping with us. It was about 3 pm at this point and by the time we were actually starting off, it was about 10:30...Fortunatly, this is Norway and it was still light out for a bit. By the time we got to a campsite, it was getting pretty dark and it took us a bit to figure out the tent, but luckily we did as it started raining soon after. By the time we hiked out this morning, the trail was more of a waterfall than a trail. the waterfall that is there all the time was spectacular. Its called Månafossen which translates to moon waterfall...

Priekestolen

Yesterday Camilla and I and her dog Jessi hiked up to the pulpit rock. I cannot even describe how beautiful it was, nor do the pictures do it any kind of justice. You are so, so high up and it is so, so far down and all around you is just incredibly beautiful. Everyone that I know might read this has a good internet connection, so I will post a bunch of pictures...sorry if I am wrong and I monopolize your computer for too long. Dad, I think that you would absolutely love to come here...I can see a sailboat and innumerable fjords in your future...


Camilla and I on the top looking down the fjord towards the ocean, which you cannot see.


Looking down from the edge...


Kristin...avert your eyes..


On the way to the top...