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...

Pirates!!!

We were at the cafe on opening night (which went amazingly well...so many people and all different kinds of people adn everyone seemed to have a ton of fun...) and Kristin comes up and suggests that Charlie and I take a ride down to the pier...So we do, and there is the most beautiful boat ever...This fanrtastic girl Terezie showed us all around. It was built by the capitain, Rudolph, who has sailed for 40 years, gone to Antartica, all over the world several times and is now headed back to Iceland with a crew of Chezchs and Poles and a Swedish doctor. We invited them up for coffee at the cafe and ended up having dinner with them the next night and watching movies from Rudolph's travels tonight. They are amazing, kind people who are doing things that blow my mind...
Here is the boat, Victoria. It is a replica of Magellen's ship. 14 people live on her at present and when we came by the first time, they were hand planing a spinnaker boom...these people are not playing around...




Tonight...well, technically this morning, I start my journey to the Fjords and then on to see Camilla...I will be back the 15th of May, but hopefully I can update from Camilla's.

This morning I biked to a beautiful old church and just sat and relaxed for a while...You can see where they added on to the church in different styles...the evolution of the church played out in the structure. There were several new graves, which I found a little odd as it is a very old church and has a very full graveyard...Do they just recycle the spots after a while? Have people reserved spots? I dont know...something I thought about while sitting there.

MayDay

We went to the mayday parade yesterday, very interesting...there were a bunch of banners for fairtrade and stopping racism and the environment and the workers union. Mike tried to talk to the fairtrade folks and they didnt seem to know anything about fairtrade anything, which makes you wonder if the party just gave them a flag and told them to march under it...but at least it is raising awareness and maybe they will go home and look into it. Afterwards we went down to this beach and had a very relaxing picnic.

Happy Birthday Lene!!!!!

Lene, we hope you had the best birthday...we love you so much and we can't wait to see you on the 16th!!!