On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

...another blog post was finally published :)

We have very much been missing family and friends recently however we're so happy that some family, John and Annie and baby Betsy, just arrived yesterday (on the third day of Christmas) to visit us here in Sweden! We're excited to celebrate New Years with them but below are some pictures from how we celebrated the first day of Christmas in Salzburg, Austria. We'll try and post more about this trip (as well as our trip to Gothenburg and the rest of our Budapest trip) soon.

One quick note: we ended up watching "The Nativity Story" (the one released in 2006) on Christmas Eve. It was a good movie and the most interesting aspect was how it addressed the social situation that Mary and Joseph might have endured from the Annunciation to the birth of Jesus. It brought a new depth to the words you read and hear but sometimes find hard to imagine in terms of what the experience might have actually been like. We appreciated that, and the movie in general, as it helped focus some of our thoughts and prayers over the holiday.

We love and miss all of you. Merry Christmas and keep celebrating because there are still 8 days left!

Trip #5 - A Hungary Thanksgiving (part 1)

Budapest, Hungary is Budaful!!!!!  We had a glorious 5 day stay in the 'Buda' side of the Danube (did you know they were originally two different cities, Buda, and Pest? we didn't!) to celebrate Thanksgiving. Our original hopes of  celebrating the holiday in Istanbul with our dear friend Lexi fell through (we didn't feel traveling in Turkey was the safest option under current conditions) but we were able to feast in a different appropriately named country.

We really didn't know much about Budapest before we visited (not even that it was two different cities!) so we did what we do before we visit anywhere we don't know much about... watch the "Rick Steves tours Europe" 28 minute episode on the city. This has actually become a nerdy and quite fun tradition of ours, we have become QUITE familiar with Rick Steves, and we really don't feel prepared to travel until we've gotten Ricks travel tips on that particular area

We noticed major things during our cab ride from the airport. 1- Budapest is very big. much bigger (both in city size, and in landscape/architecture/building size) than any of the other cities we have visited thus far. 2- Hungarian is the most bizarre/orc from Lord of the Rings sounding language we have ever heard. I was actually quite nervous in the cab ride, the area and the driver seemed SO foreign, and the cab man sounded angry guttural and harsh as he spoke into his car phone. (in reality he was none of those things)

My fears were alleviated as we arrived at our charming hotel. We stayed in a small one man run 'b and b' type place with amazing views. As I mentioned earlier we were in the Buda or castle district which is on the 'sleepy' side of the river, but right across (the river) from the  parliament. Wow is it stunning! After getting settled in the hotel we decided to walk around a bit, get a coffee, but take it easy, rest up, and really hit the city the next day. The moment we walked out the door however, Pest beckoned us! Our hotel was about a 15 minute walk from the iconic "chain bridge" (first bridge in budapest) which was a mere 10 minute walk into the heart of Pest. and so began what would be a 6 hour walk around the city. During the walk we discovered our next very important fact about the city- the food is delicious and sooooo cheap!!! Hurray! What a welcome change from Stockholm prices. We soon realized the theme of this vacation would be eating as frequently and as much as possible. (we were celebrating Thanksgiving after all!)

We stumbled upon St. Stephen's (the first King of Hungary) basilica, and wow! What a basilica!!!! The exterior is impressive, but the interior glitters from floor to ceiling. I was quite overwhelmed with the detail and extensive beauty of the church, I knew I couldn't take it all in in just one visit, and decided we definitely needed to come back.... which we did not do! Remember what we discovered in Tallinn? If you see something you want to do or buy- do our buy it IMMEDIATELY because you probably won't come back. Sigh. So we didn't tour the dome, or take any pictures- but thank goodness we wandered around inside at all!!

Thanksgiving day itself was mostly just about eating. (again, as it should be) We certainly missed family, but busied ourselves with finding and eating all the delicious food that we could. Christmas Market season is in full swing in most of Europe right now, and Hungary was no exception. We enjoyed plenty of mulled wine, hot toddys, sausages and paprika chicken (paprika is HUGE in Hungary, it is in almost every dish, and everyone in Hungary is very very proud of their paprika) wandering around the markets, but we also ate in a nice restaurant where we were able to order a turkey dish. hurray!

The two days following Thanksgiving were on polar ends of stress levels. Black Friday was amaaaaaaazing. We spent about 4 hours in the famous Szechenyi bath spa and it did not disappoint! (once I found out Budapest is considered the Spa capital of the world, there was no holding me back!) The turkish style spa is beautiful and lovely, and with the cold weather the outdoor pools filled the area with a magical steam, transforming the spa into a wonderland! Kitty enjoyed the wonderland in her snowsuit, while Mommy and Daddy took turns going in and out of the pools. We ended the day feeling pampered and relaxed, which maybe made the next day all the more cruel...

That Saturday we wandered around the castle district (where lies the most beautiful fairy tale princesses palace area you will ever encounter... actually a church) and kept seeing signs for "the labyrinth" a series of caves and passageways under the castle walls have a long (and mostly spooky) history. I'm sure Andrew will dive into that, I want to focus on the most terrifying ten minutes (could have been 5, could have been 20... but they were all HORRIBLE). As we were walking around the dimly lit network of cave passageways, we came to a branch in the path. To the left continued the strange moist walkways we had been wandering through for the last 15 minutes. To the right, darkness. But a sign that said (roughly) "You are on your own through this hallway of fear. people have encounters mists, sudden drops of temperature , explainable flashes of light... any number of things supernatural may occur in this hallway of absolute darkness. We will provide you a string to guide you through the twists and turns of the maze, but beyond that when fear grips you in this hallway you have only yourself to turn to." Andrew told me "we are absolutely doing this" so, with Kitty strapped onto me, I reached for the string, Andrew grabbed my hand, and we entered the corridor. (I am honestly a bit quesey and my heart is beating faster just typing this) I have never encountered darkness the way I did in this hallway. Absolute pitch black. darker than black. it was so horrible. Not long after we entered, the path started twisting, and all remnant of light from the entrance dissipated. we had no idea how big of a space we were in, or how long it was, or if there was even a way out. Thank goodness I kept my hand tight to the string, because we soon encountered a cold stone wall. It seemed we were trapped. I started to hyperventilate. I said "Andrew I want to go back!!!!!" I really thought I might have a panic attack- but as my breath came shorter and shorter I told myself "hold it together Stephanie!!!!!!! you have your one year old daughter strapped to you, you cannot keep her safe if you collapse!" (Kitty was crying at this point- it was so dark, she kept twisting around trying to see me... it was awful.) We knew we couldn't turn around, because there could have been people behind us, we were so disoriented we didn't know how long we had been walking, and we didn't know how tight the tunnel was. I followed the string, and we were able to find a space we could continue through- in absolute misery. I wouldn't let go of Andrews hand... which was good (nessessary in fact) for me, but it didn't allow Andrew to hold the string, so I had to talk to him the whole way, saying, "turning right" "going up hill" "slanting down" (there were times when the string dropped almost to the floor, so I hand to bend and stoop as I walked to make sure my hand didn'nt lose contact) Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, I started hearing creepy music. Out of nowhere, there came haunting dischords, and I thought I was going to lose it again. Andrew said the music was comical. I did not agree. It worked on me. when we finally reached the end of the tunnel, I wanted to cry, and laugh, and sleep for about 50 hours straight.  We still had to make it out of the labyrinth though, which included a trip to Dracula's prison cell- the dim room full of torture devices seemed like a cozy five star hotel after what we had just been through. Ooof. I actually feel a bit strained and stressed after writing about that... think I need to take a break from this post. I'm sure you will hear about the rest of Budapest (complete with pictures) soon from Andrew. whhheeeeew. Everybody go turn on lots of lights!!!!!!

Stephanie, Laska, and Kateri Are Famous

And by famous I mean they were written about our city (Solna, Sweden) newspaper. They were doing a piece on dogs and their owners and Stephanie was eyed as a perfect candidate by the reporter. The newspaper is called "Vi i Solna" which roughly translates to "We Solna" or "We in Solna." However that's not the only roughly translated part of this story as we think some things were "lost in translation" when Stephanie was interviewed at the dog park.

 

Yet another piece of rough translation (this at the fault of Andrew and Google):

Laska with mom Stephanie Thigpen and daughter Kateri:

"Laska is an Australian Shepherd and is two years old. It's the first dog that I and my husband have. We got him to prepare ourselves for children. It's good training, for a dog is more demanding than a child. A child only poops in the diaper but a dog must be taken out all the time. He's happy and spirited and an integral part of our family. He means sooo much. We moved to Solna from the USA in August and it was obvious that Laska come with us."

Trip #3 - Copenhagen

We just returned from a wonderful Thanksgiving trip to Hungary (challenge: figure out why that is funny) and this blog is sorely out of date. For that we apologize but life just happens sometimes. We're going to be better at making updates but, for now, here's what we did a month-and-a-half ago in mid-October! We visited the wonderful city of Copenhagen in the nearby country of Denmark.


Starting things early
We had to drop Laska off the evening before because our flight to Copenhagen left early in the morning at like 8:40am. Getting up early is not our strong suit. It's not actually our suit at all, more like a costume. So what I'm really trying to say is that getting up early is not our strong costume. Luckily we did all get up early enough to make it to the delayed train (which we even would have made if it wasn't) to the Stockholm Arlanda airport...with about an hour to spare. That was due to Andrew's miscalculation of exactly how long it takes to traverse all the everything and make it through airport security. So we decided to get some breakfast...I mean it wasn't even 8am! So we looked at the available places and, lo and behold. Swedish venues only really had Swedish breakfast, aka sandwiches, cold meats, lots of bread, fish, you know, just all the yummy things you think of at breakfast time. So we surveyed the options and opted for a pub that we thought had an egg (breakfast!) sandwich. It didn't so we just got a normal sandwich you'd expect to eat at lunch. And a bloody mary and some champagne with some orange juice. Of note: this glass of champagne + the orange juice was the most expensive drink we have yet to purchase on our trip. I guess we were starting out early.

Kitty was awake this whole time. We had thought she would sleep on the train. Then we thought she'd fall asleep before our flight. Then we thought she'd sleep on the flight. Well she didn't each time so it was quite the active morning. Flying with Kitty got significantly more difficult when she became accustomed to conscious movement. I always liked the phrase "Infant In Arms" but Kateri has grown out of it. It was a good thing Stephanie and I had that drink instead of coffee because it definitely didn't make us feel more tired ;)

We arrived in a rain cloud, tired but ready to see what we could see. We would find that, despite the consistently poor weather and initial tiredness, we'd come to really enjoy Copenhagen.

What is Copenhagen like?
Copenhagen is a flat city. Very fat. Notably flat actually. As in, apart from bridges, you very rarely felt like you were walking up or down an incline. Our hop-on-hop-off bus tour actually mentioned it because it is indeed notable. This is quite different from Solna (where we live), Stockholm, and basically every other place in Sweden and every other place we've visited since being here. It made walking around a bit less strenuous but we've confirmed that we are rolling hill people, we like our bumpy topography.

The height of the buildings reminded me of Washington DC. There seemed to be a "no higher than" limit on the buildings that was similar to DC's (though definitely . It made things seem more open and, though we never once saw the sun while here, the streets all received brightness from the sky. It was super pleasant just like the pleasant aspect of building height you get walking around DC. It somehow speaks to age and, in a way, respect or at least a kind of consideration for something that we appreciate. I guess it's just easiest to say it's pleasant and that Stephanie and I both prefer that feel to the downtown of a city. After also visiting Budapest (more on that later) I realize this feel is definitely European, which makes me rethink what I typed - rather than Copenhagen reminding me of DC, I think DC now might just remind me of Europe!

Copenhagen doesn't really have an "old town." Meaning that it doesn't have a specific section or area or location that is uniquely different from the surrounding areas where older buildings are preserved. So there is nothing like Stockholm's Gamla Stan (Old Town) or the Old Town of Tallinn (where we stayed while we were there). What we found was that, rather than having the "new" surround the "old," Copenhagen seemed to have preserved and gently updated the old to be the new. This isn't to say that some modern architectural elements don't exist there as their new opera house is super not-old looking, but the general feeling of the entire city we ventured around to felt older than new but not medieval. Once again, it was a pleasant feel.

The weather, however, was not so very pleasant. Rainy and cloudy with a touch of wind. Andrew (i.e. the person writing this, it helps to refer to myself in third person when I'm offering a critique of myself) didn't pack optimally for this weather but luckily Stephanie and Kateri did. It really only hampered some of the views or the sites rather than

Tivoli Gardens
Not your typical "gardens," think Disneyland, Busch Gardens, Six Flags, or Valleyfair. But smaller (like 1/20 the size) and more distinctly European (as in a bit more confusing, I think both genuinely and also because we're used to how America does things). We were told it is second in the world only to Disneyland in popularity (i.e. number of seasonal visitors) for a theme park. It's also the second oldest theme park in the world and is said to have inspired Walt Disney in his design of Disneyland. So why did we go here? Well, we initially went because we thought there was a children's show that we could take Kitty to. This wasn't the case but we did see a pretty funny show (in Danish) about a super popular Pippi Longstocking type character named Rasmus Klump (renamed Petzi in English for who-knows-what reason) - a gigantic bear that's a mix between Curious George and Barney. Kitty was enthralled with the show but didn't quite know what to think of him in person:

We also just wanted to visit the place because, after all, it's second only to Disneyland. We only spent a couple of hours inside but we really did have a wonderful time! They were all decorated for Halloween and the Fall so that was an interesting overlay to the attractions.

The best part was walking along and seeing a mountain! I'm not too sure if you remember me mentioning but Copenhagen is flat! Leave it to an amusement park to add topography:

On our way to searching for this peak (never did find it) we found a wonderful German restaurant crammed in a tiny alleyway with so many other shops and restaurants. It was a really wonderful walk that actually led us directly out the door and on our way to church (it was Saturday but were headed to the only English mass we found in the outskirts of the city).

Oh yeah, side note: right outside the entrance to Tivoli was the restaurant where we ordered for Kateri off the kids menu for the first time! We still have that menu actually, one of her favorites. For those that care, it was a ground-steak-burger-patty that Andrew and Stephanie ate most of :)

A boat ride
We did take a hop-on-hop-off bus tour that was a little "meh" but the boat tour we took was very wonderful. I think this is an example of how Stepanie and I greatly prefer a tour guided by a live human (boat) rather than a recorded human (bus). The height of the boat itself was extremely low so it could go underneath bridges with low clearance (also true in Stockholm and I assume other cities like Amsterdam) but the windows extended into the roof so you could roll them "up" (i.e. up and inwards) to actually be able to stand up and look around with a full 360 degree view. Pretty nifty.

The boat ride took us all around the main sites: the Opera house (that people "cliff dive" off of sometime), Christianhavn (an island district that doesn't seem like an island and contains all the hipsters), the Little Mermaid (yes, she was actually quite little), and lots of important buildings (royal palaces, parliamentary buildings, etc.). I don't have any specific memories except to say that we're glad we did it.

We actually got off the boat tour one stop early so we could take a free tour to the top of the parliament building. The free part let you get a 360 degree view of Copenhagen from up on high. It was quite hazy and overcast (we couldn't see Sweden which you can on clear days, specifically a building in the nearby town of Malmo called the "Turning Torso") but it was still great nonetheless. Here is where a true sense of the height of the buildings was quite apparent. You'd probably have the same view in DC as if you were standing on the top of the Washington monument. We ended up having a drink in the fancy-pantsy restaurant that's in the Parliament in this area that seemed like steps to nowhere (just a window) but was extremely pleasant. Kitty loved the stairs. They were dusty.

Feet-eating fish
So we walked by this sign while meandering along the pedestrian shopping walkway through Copenhagen that had an interesting explanation written on the wall:

Needless to say, Stephanie desperately wanted to try this out (Andrew not so much. Kateri was ). Well, I'll leave it to this video to describe the whole experience.

Note: Stephanie got to drink a nice glass of Champagne as these little fishes made her feet all soft.

In conclusion...
We did more than what we mentioned here, but in summary we really thoroughly enjoyed our time in Copenhagen. We both thought we'd prefer living here than in Stockholm in the realm of hypothetical "what if." It was just a very pleasant city that felt accessible, dynamic, aged, and not hugely intimidating. Now if the weather was always the same, we'd probably change our opinion but for now we're sticking with it :)

Quick Update

Due to sketchy internet connections on my computer at the apartment, a delightful visit from Atlanta from farmor and farfar (John and Judy), an ever busy little one year old, and vet visits and medication for a sick pup, we have fallen WAY behind on our blog!

We had a quick trip to Copenhagen in the middle of October, just before John and Judy arrived to celebrate Kitty's birthday (and my birthday, and Andrews... and Halloween... and Christmas:)  Copenhagen was cloudy- as is all of Scandinavia these days, but really really cool- more on that trip later.

After had two glorious (for the most part glorious, there was a very rough patch in the middle where almost everyone fell ill) weeks of rediscovering Stockholm with John and Judy, Andrew and I now have our hands quite full with taking care of our sick doggie.

Little Laska concerned us with some weird red spots- a bug bite looking mark on his chest, and a little bleeding wound under his eye. Vet visits are quite expensive here (pet insurance is mandatory for most animals, we are realizing why!) so before we made an appointment, I walked him to the nearby office/pet boutique store so the worker could have a look. She wasn't overly concerned, and suggested just waiting, that if more spots appeared, or they didn't go away, we should make an appointment, but for now it could just be a scrape or a non threatening bug bite.

 The next morning, Laska was openly bleeding from multiple lesions on his face. We went to the vet asap and learned that Laska has a disease called "collie nose" (unofficial term) common in dogs with little pigment on their nose/face area. untreated, these lesions never heal and can turn into cancer- scary! He had about five little spots on his face (ranging from the size of a pencil eraser to the size of a penny) that were swollen and raw, oozing and bleeding- yuck! He is being treated with topical cream and antibiotics, as well as condemned to wearing a cone for ten days. Our hearts are just broken for him!

Our established routine is a bit disturbed now, as dog park is not an option while he heals, and our small apartment is made even more uncomfortable for Laska as he has a gigantic cone around his neck, barring normal movement... and he has to be on constant surveillance to insure that he doesn't damage the healing on his face.

This unfortunate situation, combined with the dreary dark Swedish fall is making for a rather somber November. Just last night we were brainstorming about ways to make the days more cheery (the sun now sets at about 3:30) So far we have come up with 1.Make sure we exercise. 2. Drink lots of wine. We are open for suggestions and prayers and well wishes from everyone!

Happily our darling little one year old is unaltered by the lack of sunshine. She is happy, healthy, and busy as ever! Her latest game is pretending to eat things. A game that is alarming for Mommy and Daddy quite often as we are constantly checking if she is ACTUALLY putting this in her mouth and chewing, or just pretending. Most often she is pretending. And she is very generous, she 'feeds' Mommy, Daddy, and Laska her pretend treats all the time, and giggles away as we join in her game. All the fake food must be giving her lots of energy, because she is wants to walk everywhere! Getting places occurs at a much slower pace these days, as little girl insist on holding our hands and putzing her own self forward one wobbly foot at a time. Andrew and I have just accepted the fact that we will officially always be late to everything- and our lower backs will always be hurting. Small price to pay for the joy on Kateri's face with each and every little step.

We love everyone back home, and are really starting to miss you all!!

First Year

First hour: 

First day: 

First week: 

First month: 

First Christmas (first tutu):

First flight (first class :):

First Easter: 

First passport/international trip: 

First year: 

Second tutu...be continued:

Trip #2 - Norway in a Nutshell (a bunch more stuff)

A little explanation of the phrase "Norway in a Nutshell" - it's not something we just made up, it's a tour package (http://www.norwaynutshell.com/en/) that quite extensively used by foreigners (more on what this meant to us later) but we basically did the exact tour just booked it all on our own, some ahead of time and some just whenever we got to where we were. We think it saved us some money but, to be honest, not too sure. Either way, it ended up being a good decision to as that tour route (Oslo to Myrdal to Flam to Gudvangen to Voss to Bergen) is a near-perfect one to see the area in a small amount of time.

Day 0 - Getting to Oslo
Stephanie summed up our whole departure routine pretty well. She forgot to mention that she chopped and baked up a huge amount of granola for us to take and snack on. This is relevant in that the one thing that sticks out to me still is after Stephanie made the long trek to drop Laska off, I had met them at home, and we had packed everything up, as we closed the door to our apartment I remarked "you know, I always get this feeling before we leave that we forgot something." We both thought and said we had everything and we took off. Turns out we forgot a crucial thing - that granola. Left it on Laska's crate because I took it out of the bag to prevent Kateria from ripping it open. So we did forget that. Oh, and our passports, but more on the later.

Like Stephanie said, it is pleasant to travel by train. The space and ability to stand up and walk around more freely is nice. Though we initially were sitting across from two business gentlemen in "first class" (much different and less fancy than planes) who gave us "the look" for having the gall to bring a baby up there, it really was easy. Most of the people in our car got out before we crossed the border into Norway so that made things even easier. Kateri was wonderful except when she refused to go to sleep so Stephanie had to strap her on using the Ergo (thank you Allie and Maria, it's one of the most useful things we have!).

One thing we did witness on our evening train ride to Oslo was one of the most beautiful sunsets (Stephanie actually said "the" but I contend that the sunset over Lake Taupo in New Zealand that I mentioned in my "best man speech" at my brother's wedding might still top the list) we've ever seen. It's hard to describe but, of course. I'm going to try. Picture golden and reddish rolling sand dunes from afar that extend into the horizon. Now add a smooth dark blue ocean leading to the dunes but the beach is covered by whitish/grey fog. Now flip that upside down and you are perfectly picturing the sunset. Huh, wasn't so hard after all I guess.

Important point of fact referring to our evening adventure of hiding from Kateri in our Oslo hotel: Stephanie did not tell me to "army crawl," she said "ninja crawl." I'm sure you're also aware, but ninja's do not crawl to remain unseen, they disappear into the shadows. I was fully aware of this fact and my inability to be a true ninja so I simply created my own shadow. Using a towel. It was white and so were the walls. True, it didn't quite work out, but in my opinion I think I did take Stephanie's advice - I ninja crawled.

Day 1 - Oslo to Flåm
The Bergen railway is considered one of the more beautiful train trips in Northern Europe, and also one of the highest (goes from sea-level at both ends to ~1250 meters/4,000 feet). Below is a picture of the route in red. The only part we didn't end up doing was the line between Myrdal and Voss.

The train ride, once again, was quite pleasant - even though the I researched which side of the train to sit on to get the best views (it was the left going from Oslo to Bergen) and confirmed with the lady who reserved our seats and, when we boarded, we were sitting on the right - as we were free to move around. We sat for a good bit of time in the cafe car and in the family car where there was a play area (think small McDonalds play area sans plastic ball pit). So even though I was disappointed with the seat reservations it didn't matter in the least.

One of the biggest reasons for this trip was to simply look out the windows of all these trains we were traveling on. I must say that I had super high hopes for being blown away by the scenery. I can't say I was blown away but we definitely saw some very beautiful landscapes. One thing that was remarkable was how the landscape changed over a relatively short period of time. It went from picturesque valley's with mountainish hills dotted with evergreens and little towns and houses around lakes to, after traveling through a long tunnel, a more stark and unwelcoming landscape. Similar in topography but different in feel.

When you arrive at Myrdal you're still high up in a mountain. The Flåm railway that takes you from Myrdal to the small town of Flåm on the fjord is known for it's beauty and the steep gradient. You're in tunnels for some of the time and the other parts you see remarkable views of the valleys leading down to the fjord. These valleys and fjords themselves were carved out by glaciers a long time ago. The landscape is just remarkable. Seeing it reminds you of fairytales and seems to put into reality images that you couldn't really imagine. No picture does it justice. What we did notice as we neared the valley floor was the river stream that all the waterfalls seemed to feed was crystal clear. As in you could see to the bottom of a 5-10 foot waterway as if the water wasn't there. It was crazy!

I won't repeat our walking adventure to the farm on the fjord as Stephanie summed it up quite well. However I'll expound a little bit more about our "Viking meal" that evening. The hotel we stayed at was connected to what seemed like a recreated Viking hall. Not big enough but definitely in the style of what you'd imagine it to be. This building was also the location of a micro-brewery located in Flåm called Ægir. Their beer was absolutely amazing. And expensive. But super tasty. The reindeer and "viking burger" we had were also superlative. Kateri didn't mind it either except she hated the napkin. It always ended up on the floor.

Oh, one more thing: we build a wall between Kateri's crib and our bed using the backs of the two sofa chairs in our room. That's how we hid from her. Worked like a charm - no need to ninja crawling ;)

Day 2 - Flåm to Bergen
We were visiting in the "off season" which had actually just started (it was October 3rd and off season starts in October). What this means is that most of the trips or excursions you could take to see specific view points or whatnot were not available. Also it meant only a single ferry time between Flåm and the city of Gudvangen by which you must navigate the Nærøyfjord (the UNESCO world heritage site) so we had our day planned out for us: 1) walk around and see things, 2) eat something, 3) get on ferry, 4) take bus from Gudvangen to Voss, 5) get on train in Voss to Bergen. Simply right? Ends up it actually was. Public transportation in Europe is so convenient (though not as cheap as you think).

Walking around the township/village of Flåm was quite interesting. Almost every house had either apple trees or goats. We had learned that a rare flood hit this area just last year (2014) due to high snowfall in the winter and thus a huge thaw that Spring. You could still see how high the water level had risen and carved out the land. At one point you could see where a bridge used to be and one bridge that definitely withstood to tide. New sections of road were also apparent. No lives were lost but quite a bit in damage was incurred, I think they said something like 20 million Norwegian Kroner. The touristy parts seemed unaffected (or already completely rebuilt/finished) but you could definitely tell further upstream where the village was.

After gallivanting a bit we grabbed a quick bite to eat (along with our last pint of Ægir) before our ferry trip. Here is also when we learned what a celebrity our daughter was. I mentioned that the Norway in a Nutshell tour package is heavily used by foreigners...well those foreigners are primary from Asia - Japan, China, and Korea. I'm going to go ahead and group them all together for purposes of explaining this though as at least two/three people from each culture asked the same question: "can we take a picture of your boy/daughter?" Apparently cute white babies are quite the tourist attraction. When I joined Stephanie after purchasing our food, the first picture and baby-snag had occurred. Yes, some also wanted to hold your baby to get a picture with it.

I can't really over exaggerate how much attention she (and we) received during our ferry trip. We had actually traveled with all these same folks on the train from Oslo to Bergen but, being on a train and more spread out, you don't really have much personal interaction. Being crammed into the limited space of a ferry makes for quite the personal interaction. Anywho, lots of folks that are probably back in Japan, China, and Korea have some sweet pictures of a cute baby that is not smiling - Almost unfailingly Kitty didn't smile during these pictures, I mean you can't always take one of these :)

Back to the interesting stuff: in Norwegian the term "fjord" applies to other types of waterways (like bays) that weren't created by glaciers. The "oslofjord" naming the bay of water that Oslo is located on wasn't actually created by glaciers. We discovered this fact when we visited Oslo in May and so we were quite excited to see some true fjords. We had walked around the Flåm area but you don't get a true appreciation of them until your on the water gently gliding past them.

Gudvangen was a very tiny town, smaller than Flåm, that we didn't see except walking a very short distance from the dock to the bus. The bus ride to Voss, however, was jam-packed with beautiful vistas. One other thing we msssed due to being here 4 days into the "off season" was taking the "old post road" which apparently zig-zags back and forth up a mountain but can be treacherous in winter-time. Instead we took a tunnel. But the ride was pleasant as you trail a river stream upwards into the mountains and eventually come to the large city of Voss. This city is situated party in the mountain, partly in the valley, and partly on a lake. It's awesome. Apparently it's a popular ski resort/destination in the winter time. Reminded me a bit of some of the towns in Colorado.

Arriving in Bergen was a mixed bag. We were happy to be here but about 20 paces after getting off the train is when we realized we had forgotten our passports. And all identification for Stephanie and Kateri. What a depressing moment. How did this happen? How did we even get here? Did we break a law? How do we get through security? Were they next to the granola? Lots of questions, no answers except one - no, the passports were not next to the granola. We actually thought ahead about the granola. Neither of us even thought twice about passports. Ridiculous. Busch league.

Well, we were glad to have brought at least one umbrella as it was raining. Matched our mood at this point. But like Stephanie said, our B&B "To Søstre" (the Two Sisters) was super pleasant. We hid again from Kateri using the 'ol "build a wall out of the backs of chairs" trick as we ate a delicious pizza from the Kebab stand right down the little cobble-stoned alley. Fell asleep trying to not think about passports and airport security.

Day 3 - A day in Bergen
Just check out the previous post by Stephanie about our day Bergen. The 3.5 hour fjord cruise we took here was super fun. And so was catching that water from the waterfall. Stephanie for to mention that before we knew that everyone on board got a chance to drink the water, I had drank half my cup and then poured the rest on my head (I was still wearing that awesome orange garb). Stephanie saw I had only drank a little but was thunderstuck when I poured the rest on my head - it was a running joke between us that whenever we saw running water form a mountain that she needed to drink it. Here I was, catching the water with my bear hands, not saving some for her to drink. She got some, but that was funny.

Oh yeah! Kitty was a celebrity again. Though we had to ask for privacy after she spit up a bit and when we were starting to change her this guy wouldn't stop taking pictures. Some people. 

Day 4 - Sneaking back Home
Not much more to add to description of the day other than:
-This organic bakery had amazing pastries. It was right after we were finished with our walk down from that thing on the top of the mountain there down to a block from the water:

-Antique shops get overwhelming.
-Tourist shops get overwhelming.
-We found a fun (and quite typical as we'd seen them sold on the streets in Tallinn as well) wool winter hat with a super long top that doubles as a whip (and a scarf). And the second traditional Norwegian little outfit for Kateria. All at our favorite second-hand shop called Fretex (Salvation Army).
-We walked quite a long distance to get to a gastro-pub that was converted from an old pharmacy. It sounds cool on paper but was super weird to be inside of. The food was quite amazing (though super expensive).
-McDonald's are the most convenient and trustworthy places to find bathroom.


I must say that ever since we had arrived in Bergen two nights before, a steady stream of dread was piling up within me: were we going to make it home tonight? We had called and talked with someone at the Bergen airport service center as well as some from our airline (Norwegian) and confirmed our decision to just go to the airport and hope for the best. All we needed was a super smooth check in procedure. Here was the plan: 1) Go to self-service ticket kiosk and print tickets, 2) split up, Andrew to luggage check and Stephanie with Kateri to hide out, 3) Andrew check luggage because he has a Minnesota drivers license = totally legit, 4) Walk through security, let Kateri charm them, scan tickets (no ID should be required), 5) board plane, 6) land and get off plane, 7) claim luggage, 8) run. Things went swimmingly until step #3 (plus I realized I messed up step #2).

The check-in process is even more automated than the US, even when traveling internationally. You can print both your tickets AND your luggage tags, tag your luggage, and check your luggage, all without talking to a person. Me not knowing this I printed our tickets and walked to the Norwegian service desk for assistance with our stroller. He informed me that my luggage tickets were already printed. I looked at him imploringly - should I go back and get them? No, he said, he'll cancel them and reprint them and add another for our stroller. Sweet! three checked items for the price of two. As he was tagging the luggage, he innocuously asked "do you have your passports?" Why would he ask this?!? Hmm...tell the truth, but not the whole truth. "No, we didn't bring them. We have residence permits." "Wait, are you Swedish?" "No, we're living there temporarily on my work visa." "Okay, thanks." Boom. Done. Step #3 - more intense than anticipated. Security only scans your boarding pass, no ID. Home free. Except for landing. No worries, Kitty only screamed non-stop for the last 20 minutes of the hour-long flight. Landed feeling energized. Picked up bags. Strolled by customs. Boom. Home. Celebrate by purchasing a brownie (was actually crumbled up brownies on top of a brownie) and ice cream.

So here's the deal: there is this thing called the Schengen Agreement that established the Schengen area in Europe that abolished passport and most other forms of border control within these countries. Noway and Sweden, along with Denmark, are also the three Scandinavian countries linked together within history for quite a long time. I'm not too sure if travelling between all Schengen countries by plane (basically most of Europe) would happen like it did between Norway and Sweden but what I do know is that we will not attempt to find out - those passports are coming with. We're flying to Copenhagen tomorrow (Denmark, part of Scandinavia and Schengen) but those passports will be there!