A Day With No Pictures To Post

This will be the day we all remember the most from our road trip through Europe. We might not remember so much how the day started touring one of the oldest castles in all of Czech Republic or seeing the beautiful countryside on the way there and back (repeatedly - as we kept getting lost and taking wrong turns) but what we’ll remember is that it ended in a police station – all because of a quick stop we made on the way back to our campsite. Kaleb wanted to check out a shopping mall nearby to see if he could find a new game for his Nintendo as he’s getting a little bored with the current ones. We weren’t going to be long – just in and out – and in that time, someone did a “smash and grab” to the passenger window on our car. I blame myself because I left my coat on the seat, and the nearly empty backpack under it (out of view). But they took both my cameras full of photos from last week, my wallet full of credit cards (but no cash), and our passports. I’m just sick about losing the photos.

Before we left on this trip I felt very strongly that we’d have something like this happen and I was worried my laptop (although nearly dead at the moment - but still a valuable asset) would be the target. At least my computer was back at our cabin along with all our other things as I had emptied the van when we arrived in Prague. The one debit card I use to take money out of ATMs, I had with me in my pocket, so that would have been a terrible loss if that was stolen, but it wasn’t. I rarely use the credit cards and I had made copies of them so I called and reported them all stolen before the police report was complete. Getting the window replaced will be the biggest challenge, and I’m not sure what is involved with replacing the passports. I’ll find out more tomorrow when I can call the US Embassy in Prague.

When we first saw what happened, I paced around frantically wondering what we’d do about it and feeling very disappointed in myself that I didn’t take the backpack with me. It was one of those split second decisions – broad daylight – people coming and going – and we’d only be a minute. Kaleb cried but I told him God always works things out for good, and both cameras did have a lot of use on them – now we’ll get new ones. And then Kaleb was quick to point out that my wallet had my keys attached to it and if they would have checked the pocket of my coat, our car could have easily been stolen – so we were all thankful that didn’t happen. We were also thankful we’d gotten travel insurance for this trip so our unexpected expenses will be covered. Our regular car insurance will cover the cost of replacing everything, but we didn’t lose much – just the backpack, my coat, a few umbrellas and the cameras (with batteries and extra memory cards) and some things I bought at the castle. Kaleb was disappointed they didn’t take his Nintendo battery charger because that was one thing we went in the store to buy as his is broken and he thought it might be nice to have the insurance company buy him a new one. I left my cell phone back at the cabin, but fortunately Kory had his along (he hasn’t carried it for days), so I was able to call and cancel all the credit cards right away.

A store security guy called the police for us but we had to wait about an hour before they arrived – then for some reason – we had to follow them back to the station so they could file the report. In all, it took about four hours with the police. Only one officer spoke English, and it was very limited, so I’m not sure he fully understood anything we said. I had a hard time describing the things that were stolen – especially the little lace doilies I bought at the castle. I just gave up on that one, but I showed him the receipt for a new camera I bought while we were waiting for him to arrive – so he understood that ok. (I can’t go a day without a camera.) And my biggest worry at the end of the day was how to get back to our campground. The roads around here are nearly impossible to navigate and after this morning’s adventure trying to find the castle, I was pretty sure we’d be lost for good on the way back from the police station. But just like God sent a pillar of smoke to lead the Israelites, he sent one to lead us, too. At the very moment we were pulling out of the police station, not even sure if we should turn right or left, the number 249 bus passed by. When we realized it was the same bus that we took yesterday from the campground, we decided to follow it – knowing it would lead the way. It was the best gift of all as it got us back home again without a single wrong turn. What a miracle that was.

The last few days Kory has been talking to a guy from Denmark staying at the campground. He was very helpful tonight as he loaned me his laptop to find out the address and phone number to the US Embassy. I’ve been using the computer in the camp office, but often it’s busy, so I was thankful to check my e-mail and Facebook accounts and check out a few things for tomorrow. Also the guy that runs this camp checked on the internet for us and told us there are no passenger windows for our car in the whole country, so it will be at least three days to get a replacement window, which means we will drive to Germany in hopes of finding one. He also told us the shopping area we were at is notorious for this kind of break-in, especially with foreign license plates as they know people can’t take everything with them into the store. OK, so now I don’t feel so bad. We were hoping for a cultural experience, but this isn’t exactly what we had in mind.

A Rainy Day in Prague

Last night after Kaleb went to bed, Kory and I sat in our little camping stools out in front of our cabin and watched an incredible light show. A huge storm system was moving in and the thunder was rolling and the lightening was flashing all around us. It took the longest time before rain actually came our way, but for a good hour anyway, we were in awe by it all. Once the rain started, we went to bed, but then the storm really kicked in with high winds, hard rain and lightning and thunder all night. I saw on the internet this storm was coming when I checked the weather report yesterday and they were expecting flooding in parts of Europe because it was such a huge system moving through. I was so thankful we had a cabin, as most people in this campground were in tents. This morning I noticed six people in sleeping bags, packed like sardines on a concrete slab in front of the washer and dryer – simply because there was a roof over that spot. I can’t imagine how miserable everyone must have been last night, but we were warm and cozy and for the most part, had a good night’s sleep. After all that heat yesterday, I was actually quite thankful for the rain, but once again, God abundantly blessed me with the desires of my heart.

The campground we’re at is very close to a bus line which connects with the subway system into the heart of Prague so we were able to leave the car behind (which is why I picked this place). The heart of the city is all do-able on foot, but today it was a challenge because the pouring down rain didn’t let up even once. Kaleb and I had umbrellas and rain coats – Kory had a rain poncho (see photo) and we were still all soaking wet within an hour. The rain was relentless. The sidewalks in some areas were so narrow only one umbrella at a time could make it through so it was a challenge with people coming and going with umbrellas all day. We got some cool photos of just the sea of umbrellas lining the streets, but the real photo worthy sights were the streets themselves.

Prague is probably the best persevered ancient city in Europe. One part of town is a thousand years old and “new town” has buildings mostly from the 1300s. There is every type of architecture imaginable and every building is a work of art. The gothic buildings are the most stunning as they look so mid-evil and ancient. The destruction of the Iron Curtain finally brought tourism to this town and they are making the most of it. All the streets downtown are lined with shops selling cut crystal (what Czech Republic is famous for), and every other tourist trinket imaginable. It’s a city to visit, for sure, but not without a camera. Kory and I just stood in awe of every building, wanting to take in all the details but it was just too much. (Kaleb wondered what the big deal was because, “You can see buildings in every city.") The rooflines on each street were so varied and impressive. I could have sat in one spot all day moving my eyes from one building to the next, but as it was, with all the rain, it was difficult to look up at times.

We opted out of going to any museums as we wanted as much time as possible to wander the streets. We saw all the famous sections of town and the few buildings and one bridge that are the most well known. One church clock tower has a little “show” on the hour as doors open up and the twelve apostles spin around so each one is visible before the clock begins to chime. There is also a soldier on one side whose sword goes up and down, and a skeleton on the other emptying his hourglass – all very mid-evil and quite impressive it still works after so many hundreds of years.

Kory got his hair cut at one mall while Kaleb was figuring out how to spend money he’s saved since his birthday last year. Kaleb has been waiting for this leg of our journey because he knew things here are cheap – and they are, so he was satisfied to buy some Pokemon cards for a fraction of their cost in Norway. (It doesn’t take much to be cheaper than Norway, however.) There was so much I would have loved to buy as bargains were everywhere - but figuring out how to get it home is my biggest challenge, so for now, I had to “just say no.”

All the food we’ve had so far in Czech Republic has been super good - almost gourmet – and really cheap if it’s not from some chain like Starbucks or Subway. My expectations of this place were way off. I guess because they were communist for so long somehow I thought time passed them by and I expected to be visiting a somewhat backwards place, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. They have super hip malls and everything large cities around the world have – including McDonald’s on every corner and American clothing stores (many clothing companies have their products made in Czech Republic). We bit the bullet today and sat in Starbucks drinking coffee for awhile as it was warm and cozy and we needed to dry out a little. I didn’t feel homesick one bit, although the rain seemed rather familiar.

The Drive To Prague

Something I failed to calculate in all my travel estimations was traffic jams. It took over an hour to get out of the city of Berlin this morning, then we drove a few hours and crossed into the Czech Republic. Once we got to Prague, we sat in traffic, not moving a whole lot for more than an hour with blistering hot heat and no air conditioning. It wasn’t pleasant, but I was so thankful when we finally reached our little piece of heaven for the night, I forgot all about it once the water fight ensued (see photo of me and Kaleb, our van and our home for the next three nights.
What I am most thankful for is that we aren’t driving anymore. We decided to take a freeway for once just to expedite our arrival in Prague. Those German freeways are nerve racking. Kory was going about 80 mph the whole time and cars were zipping past us like we were standing still. Kory had to drive looking mostly in his rear-view mirror just to be safe. One time three motorcycles went flying past us doing at least 150mph. The only thing that made the whole drive tolerable was rocking out to the music of Jimmy Buffet, John Denver and Billy Joel. And I was also thankful we weren’t stuck in one backup we saw going the opposite direction (a truck caught on fire) because the exits are few and far between so there would be no hope of getting very far for many hours. I think we’ll stick to the side roads from now on. We’ll be crossing back through Germany next week so at least I have time to recover.

I have about 15% German blood in me from my dad’s side, but I didn’t feel any sense of belonging driving around Germany. I’ve always thought of Germans as the Texans of Europe – they are a bit proud, loud and bold. Norwegians aren’t very fond of them (rightly so), but the ones we’ve dealt with were certainly pleasant and kind. Not many people spoke English, but enough did that we got around. It’s certainly a beautiful country with a lot of land, but apparently not that many jobs because a lot of Germans go to Norway for work. One thing that puzzled me about Germany was there were no cemeteries anywhere. They must bury people, as we saw places that sold headstones, but there were no graveyards next to churches or anywhere visible from the roads we were on.

All the borders we’ve crossed so far are open – no one stops to check a passport or ask how long we’ll be staying. When I was on a backpacking/train trip through Europe in 1983, I got my passport stamped in every country. It’s a little sad we don’t get that now. And so far, only Germany has used Euros. I’ve had to use five different currencies on this road trip so far as Czech Republic still has their own money – which makes it incredibly cheap to be here. We stopped shortly after crossing the border to buy a few groceries as we are staying in a cabin for the next few days and making some of our meals. It was shocking how cheap things were at the store. Wine was a dollar a bottle. A six pack of two liter bottled water was only a dollar. We stocked up on both. The grocery store was huge and as Kaleb said, “It’s kind of like Fred Meyer meets Sam’s Club” as they had everything and lots of it. They also had a cafeteria so we all ordered a hot lunch and drink and it was under ten bucks. Can’t beat that. The bathroom there was different – there was one toilet paper dispenser by the sink so it was necessary to tear off some and take it along into the stall. I wish I would have known that beforehand.

The landscape we’ve seen so far in Czech Republic is very interesting. There are plenty of rolling hills covered in farmland, but there are also several cinder cone looking points sticking up here and there. A few hills we saw had castles at the top so that was interesting. And we are finally are back into billboard territory. Norway doesn’t allow them, but Czech Republic has them hanging from all the overpasses, so that’s different.

Once we got to the campground I was able to finally do some laundry and clean out the car. Kory took my spot in the water fight and he ended up using the car as his shield and somehow managed to lock both sets of keys inside as a result. I wasn’t too happy about that but after about an hour, and with the help of another camper from Denmark, he was able thankfully able to unlock the car. All the while a thunderstorm was rolling overhead and the sky looked threatening, but not much rain came down. It sure made for some dramatic sound effects however. Kaleb is glad to have kids to play with now – so our stay here should be a bit more kid friendly for him. And it’s nice for me as I love being out in the country. City life is good, but in small doses, I think.

A Day in Berlin

This was Kory’s day. He’s been wanting to see Berlin longer than I’ve been alive, I’m sure. Since he lived through the history of the Berlin Wall and has been intrigued by communism in general, this was the place for him. I’m sure he could stay here a week, but a day was enough to hit the highpoints and satisfy his curiosity about many things.

We took the tram into the city this morning. They have the public transportation system down to a science. I’m so jealous of the tram system because it’s efficient, cheap and extensive. We asked at the hotel how we pay for it and the woman just said “insert the coins and push the button” so we thought it would be easy. What we didn’t realize until we got on was there were at least 20 button options and all the information was in German. Fortunately a guy on the tram helped us out, but he also suggested we just play “dumb tourist” and not pay at all. I got the feeling many people ride the trams for free as I only saw one other person buy a ticket and no one swiped a monthly pass card on the scanner.

The last stop on our line was the TV tower in the center of Berlin. It was built to show off Berlin’s technological abilities but I guess the Swedes had to help them design it. As a little “thumbing the nose” at the communist system here, the Swedes designed it in such a way that when the sun shines on it, a cross is visible. Too funny. The view from up top can’t be beat. We then marched our way down Unter den Linden street – some famous road cutting through both East and West Berlin – and arrived at the Brandenburg Gate (see photo). Kory had to have the obligatory “Hallelujah” photo of him standing under it and of course, he couldn’t help but scream it out as well. There were a lot of police just hanging out at the gate as there were some mild protests going on in front of it. One guy in a chicken suit got arrested, for what, I don’t know, but it was pretty funny watching a half dozen young cops trying to cram this guy in a chicken suit into the paddy wagon. Kaleb and I had a good laugh thinking about his mug shot and what might happen if he tried to escape.

The whole downtown area is quite manageable on foot so it was an easy walk over to Checkpoint Charlie. There is a large section of the wall remaining near there, which satisfied Kory’s desire to see it in place. They’ve also set special stones into the streets and sidewalks around the city showing where the wall stood. The city has been completely redone in the last twenty years and it’s one of the hippest cities in all of Europe now for young people to be. There is a lot of nice new areas and some of the older buildings have been restored and it’s a wonderful blend. I didn’t know what to expect, but it felt clean, safe, and very alive. Tower cranes are everywhere so the recession hasn’t yet hit this town as construction is going on in every corner of the city.
At the intersection where Checkpoint Charlie once stood there is a sort of outdoor museum with placards and photos all along the sidewalks. We read them all and learned a lot, but Kory wanted to go to the Peaceful Resistance Museum near there so Kaleb and I found a place we could access the internet and I finally posted my blog (and photos) and Kaleb played on his favorite websites while we waited for Kory. (Kory was a bit surprised there was no mention anywhere that America and/or Ronald Regan contributed to the destruction of the wall.) We met back up then decided there was time for Kaleb to check out the Lego Discovery Center so we walked over to the Sony Center – an impressive piece of architecture – and Kaleb and I went in that “museum” while Kory walked around outside. The Lego place was like a children’s museum but everything was Legos. Kaleb loved it. I thought it was overpriced, but a good way to sit down and get out of the hot sun. Kory enjoyed checking out the car exhibit going on nearby with many high priced vehicles for sale. The city is definitely impressive with so many new buildings with whacko designs, it made for an interesting walk no matter what street we were on.

We have only one rule when we are on vacation – ice cream every day. Today we made four stops for ice cream because it was so hot. Thankfully the buildings are tall and provided enough shade while walking around, but we were all were fairly exhausted by day’s end. We spent about an hour sitting in front of a fountain after dinner, just to cool off. Kaleb found a dog to play with and a band was playing in the distance. Hundreds of people were lying around on the green grass taking in the warm summer evening. It felt like Southern California. We sat there watching the sun dip down out of sight, satisfied with all we saw and experienced today. Kaleb said he felt lucky to get three “unexpected pleasures” today – the Lego place, a nice park, and a dog. We all felt lucky.

A Lovely Drive Through the Countryside

Unfortunately we had to leave Lübeck this morning, as we have a schedule to keep. We could have made it to Berlin (our destination) in three hours, but again we chose the slower route as often the journey is better than the destination. Today that was certainly the case, as the drive was full of pleasant surprises, beautiful landscapes and gorgeous towns.

Nearly every road we traveled today had “tree tunnels” where either the forests on both sides of the road reached up and over the road, or there were stretches of farmland where trees were planted on both sides. It was the perfect route because it was so hot and humid, but driving so much under the shade of the trees was downright blissful. There were the funniest pictorial warning signs all along the roads to caution people not to hit the trees, but in most places there were guardrails built around the trunks of them and I’m not sure if it was to save a life, or save the tree.

The weird thing about all the farmland we saw (and there was a LOT of it) was there were no houses or barns anywhere in sight. Kory was sure it was from the days of communism where everything is state owned, but I don’t think we were in previous communist territory the whole day. Whatever the reason, it was strange to have no houses whatsoever from city to city. The bulk of the fields were growing wheat but we saw plenty of corn and even several sunflower fields, which were spectacular. Some of the cities we went through looked a lot like a Hollywood back lot set because they were so European looking and seemed totally deserted, but they weren’t. Nearly every city had pea patches on the outskirts of town (it must be a German thing) so I guess rather than sit outside on a hot sidewalk after work, people go out to their little garden to take in the evening sun, as we saw plenty of people in their pea patches.

We encountered two walled cities today that surely seemed like they would be hot tourist attractions, but weren’t – they were just normal towns where people lived and everywhere we looked was picture perfect. We also drove through the city of Güstrow and were surprised to see a castle in the middle of town, complete with a garden fit for a king. The entire garden was surrounded by something that looked like a massive hedge, but turns out, it was thousands of deciduous trees planted tightly in two rows about twelve feet apart. Someone, many years ago, built a rounded metal frame structure next to the trees that went the entire length of the garden, across the back and up the other side. As the trees grew, they were trimmed and woven into the metal frame so that now it’s possible to walk inside the “hedge” all the way around (it had a very high “ceiling”). At regular intervals there were windows and doors cut into the hedge so it’s possible to leave that thick tunnel of trees and go out into the garden. I’ve never seen anything like it and it was figuratively and literally, very cool. (See photo of the castle taken from inside the hedge.)

Getting around Germany has been a real challenge since none of the directional signs say “east” or “west,” “north” or “south” – they just have the number of the road and some city in the distance down that road. It takes me by surprise every time and usually there isn’t enough time while we are driving to check the map to see which city is in which direction, so today had plenty of wrong turns and backtracking. The worst time we had was once we arrived in the city of Berlin. It took over an hour and half to find the hotel – even with GPS and precise directions I got from a website I checked this morning. The problem was, as we found out later, there are five places in this city with the exact same address. The only way to tell them apart is the zip code, but neither the computer nor the GPS asked about that. After we showed up at one of the addresses and realized it was wrong, it took quite a while to figure out where we were in order to find our way out. We were all so thankful to be done with driving for the day and to have a room to call home for the night. (I had previously request Kory NOT use the GPS on this trip because he tries to program it while driving and it causes me too much tension. We needed it for a few minutes tonight so I was thankful it was a good backup system, even though it couldn’t find our street either but it got us close enough. Berlin is bigger than Paris!)

Kaleb was a trooper today, not complaining about a thing, just reading and playing his Nintendo. Kory and I were talking about the history of East and West Germany and Berlin, and Kory said something that Kaleb piped up and corrected. We both were shocked. I asked how he knew that information and he said, “From reading the history of the world books.” And just when we were thinking he’s not paying attention….

Lovin' Lübeck!

Lübeck, Germany is the kind of town I could stay in for a week - which is unusual for me because I like to move around when I'm on vacation - but this town is something special. I wore out two camera batteries today taking pictures as there is something worth capturing at every turn. This town is ancient - some of the churches were built in the 1200s and still stand even though the town was bombed heavily during the Second World War. The narrow cobblestone streets, brick buildings with beautiful architecture, church spires, canals and flowers growing in every conceivable space make this one of the prettiest town I've ever visited. People told me before I came that it was "nice," but I was still surprised by its beauty.

We stayed on the outskirts of town and enjoyed a nice walk into the city along one of the many canals that circle in and around this place. The old part of town is surrounded by a moat, complete with fortified entry gates (see photo of Kory and Kaleb at one gate built in 1422). The property all along the canal leading into the city was parceled up into pea patch lots about thirty by fifty feet. Since the bulk of the housing is in the city center and no one there even has a balcony or window box, these little pea patches obviously satisfy the need for the locals to get their hands dirty. There are several other pea patches all within a few minute's walk from the heart of downtown so I imagine they must have begun centuries ago because they sit on prime real estate. Most of the pea patches were encircled by hedges so it was impossible to see what was growing on the other side, but the few we could see grew the customary fruit trees, vegetables and flowers. A few even had little shacks with lawn chairs outside so I imagine it's a little piece of heaven for those who live in the heart of the city to walk just ten or fifteen minutes out of town and be in another world. It reminds me of a system they have in Norway when they started building high rise apartment buildings in Oslo they also built small little cabins with a yard (much bigger than these) about a twnety minutes drive away. Only people who live in high rise apartments are allowed even now to buy into the cabins and there is a five year waiting list to buy one. People spend all summer out there even though they are tiny and often don't even have bathrooms. Everyone needs their own piece of quiet and if one is lucky enough to live in Lübeck, we saw where that was today.

We barely put a dent in walking all the picturesque streets in town, but we did happen upon the most popular places - mostly churches - which were beautiful but far from elaborate like the ones in Rome. Most of them had to be rebuilt after the war. Why this town needed so many churches is beyond me, but they are all different and interesting. We also ran into the marzipan museum as one candy store here is famous throughout Europe. Up until the 19th century, marzipan was only dispensed by prescription through a doctor as it was considered a medicinal thing. That says something about the healing qualities of almonds, since that is the main ingredient. Kaleb went crazy for all the marzipan art - I think he took a hundred photos as he thought it was something close to miraculous that it was all edible. There were some impressive displays of buildngs and people and harbors with lighthouses - all sculpted from marzipan. In the museum they had life sized statues like at a wax museum. That place takes itself very seriously.

I'm a sucker for a town with narrow cobblestone streets but Lübeck had something I haven't seen before - next to each entry door there was a little open dirt spot about a foot squared. Everyone along one street had planted climbing rose bushes so the entire block looked green and colorful as the vines were old and had spread up and out, and it was all just from one bush at each door - a very impressive sight, and good planning. The town was also fairly cheap so I finally splurged and bought a few little things. We ate plenty of ice cream today because it was so hot but then on the way back we had thunderstorms and hard (warm) rain. Kaleb was worn out from all the walking as he wasn't nearly as impressed by the town as we were but he did enjoy the view over the city from one of the bell towers. And thankfully, Kory's back held up.

I lugged my heavy laptop with me all day to find a PC store to have it checked out. The guy said I didn't have a virus - that my operating system has an error - which is worse. I opted out of havng him format my hard drive to fix the problem because then I'd lose everything and at least now I can still use MS Word to write, even if I can't get on the interent or check e-mail with it. This will be a challenge and both Kory and Kaleb are almost giddy about my predicament.

Goodbye Denmark, Hello Germany

(I'm having to type this on a German keyboard and the y and z are switched so it's a challenge...)

Kaleb thinks it's pretty cool we've been in three different countries today. We woke up in Sweden, drove all day through Denmark and are now going to sleep in Germany. Europe is small, and as they say, everything is bigger in America.

We left the cushy Hilton Hotel (where I had to pay for internet access - go figure) and drove into the city of Copenhagen this morning to meet my childhood friend Cindy Monsen (see photo of us in the parking garage below Tivoli!) It was so cool to see a familiar face! She flew from Seattle to London a few days ago and is now on a cruise for the next two weeks. Her first stop was Copenhagen. Our paths were actually able to cross and we fit in a cup of coffee and a quick chat before we had to hit the road. I wish I had more than the hour we did, but it was better than nothing. It takes away any sense of distance from home when visitors come this way, so that was my big thrill on this trip - seeing an old friend.

Before we left Norway I made meticulous plans for every day of this trip, including every road we'd travel, and every ferry we'd catch. When I got to today's plan and saw that the ferries going from Denmark to Germany leave every 45 minutes, I asked Kory if I should make reservations (like I did for all other ferry crossings.) He said "no" - it would add too much stress to try to make it there on time. I asked around to see what other seasoned travelers from Scandinavia down to mainland Europe had to say and half said I definately needed reservations and the other half said I'd probably be OK - worst case we'd have to wait a ferry or two. Kory's opinion won out but I got nervous last night about our lack of reservations and I checked the ferry website and sure enough, all the ferries today were sold out. I didn't even have to say "I told you so" because Kory is the one doing most of the driving, and it meant we'd have to take another road that would add several hours to our plans. He didn't complain when I told him, nor all day when he was driving the long way around, but now he's worn out. We took quite a detour from the direct route as we should have made the trip in less than four hours and it took over eight, but that was mostly because we took scenic routes which beat the heck out of the boring freeways (there really is no such thing as a "free" way in Denmark as we spent over $150 today just on tolls.) The side roads wound us through little villages that looked a lot like places we've seen in the English countryside. Many of the houses are tutor style and several had straw thatched roofs. We passed many businesses today and the employee parking lots were full of bikes, as bike paths are as comprehensive and controlled as the city streets. Windmills dominated the horizon through the southern part of Denmark. One area we drove through had very cool old houses with a huge area in the center of the house for the name of the owner -broadcast like a bulletin board complete with huge lettering either painted on or metal lettering attached to the house. It puts the little door plaques used in Norway to shame. We also passed one produce stand after another as every farm had a little table at the end of the driveway selling cherries, peas, lettuce, beets and berries.

I've told Kaleb several times since we left home that everyday on our trip we'll have some unexpected surprises and today's surprise was finding flint stone everywhere we looked. As we waited for a little used ferry this afternoon we discovered the entire beach was covered with flintstone of all sizes. It breaks apart so easily and the edges are sharp as glass. Kaleb entertained himself during the half hour wait by trying to make his own arrowhead. He then loaded up about 30 pounds of the rocks to take with us so he could keep honing his skills. It is a very cool rock - all soft and white on the outside, but with one sharp blow, a smooth black inside is revealed. It's like finding a treasure in every rock.

We arrived at our destination of Lübeck at eight o'clock tonight so it was a long day. We had it pretty good today but we are all moaning about one thing or another tonight. Kory's back is starting to go out so he's walking kind of funny and I'm hoping prayer and ibuprophen hold off an all-out disaster in that arena. Kaleb is moaning that his Nintendo's charger cable has apparently snapped internally as he's no longer able to charge his game. I told him it was God's way of breaking him from the addicition, but that was the wrong thing to say, because now my laptop isn't working right and I'll have to use internet cafes to post my blog so my postings maybe sporadic from here on out. I guess I should be on the lookout for withdrawl symptoms.

frustrations!

We are in Germany now but my laptop's operating system died. I need to find an internet cafe to post blogs so they will show up sporatically until I figure out plan b. UGH!!!!

A Good Day of Rest

We didn’t make it to church today, but Kory and I decided we needed a day of rest just the same. We took the train back over to Copenhagen so Kaleb could go to Tivoli – a park in the center of town with many thrill rides. We bought Kaleb the pass for unlimited rides, but Kory and I opted out of buying one because we needed a break. Fortunately Kaleb (with shoes on) is right at 140 centimeters tall which is the cut off for the most daring rides, so he was able to go unattended. And he did - over and over again. The lines were all very short so often he just ran off a ride and right back on again so he got a lot of bang for his buck today. All the while, Kory and I found a bench and waited. I’m not nearly as exhausted now as I was yesterday at this time. It would have been a little boring today except that my feet were very happy I was sitting down for most of the day and Kaleb was having a very good time (see photo). There was only one ride the same as those at Liseberg so it was all new adventures today and he got his fill.

I remember going to Tivoli in May of 1983 and the rides were NOT the main attraction then like they are now (or so it seemed). It was more of a garden/restaurant place with musical performances – but the years have added many new features, most of them thrill rides for all ages. I made Kaleb take a break from the non-stop thrills and go see a few of the pantomime performances they had at one stage, which he liked very much. I was proud I got to throw in a little culture to the mix today since the stories they were acting out were based on ones written by Hans Christian Andersen.

We all tried to use Norwegian today because Danish is supposed to be so similar, but as we found out – Danish is very hard to understand. Kaleb asked if he could have some cotton candy and I told him if it cost less than 20 kroner ($4) he could. No prices were posted so he asked an employee, but didn’t understand the answer, so Kory asked and then told Kaleb it was 12 kroner so he ordered it. Turns out it cost 30 kroner – so even Kory couldn’t understand what they said. Danish sounds a lot like German in the way the words come out kind of harsh, but there are enough similar words to Norwegian I can understand one word here and there. Ugh. It’s a good thing everyone spoke English as we had to resort to that every time. Kory also misunderstood the notice that said the vendors all charge a dollar (five kroner) deposit on all beverage cups – as he threw his out after he was finished with his cup of coffee. We later discovered recycle machines all over the place that will return the five kroner deposit. The park is pretty proud of this one “green” step they are doing to reduce waste. At least it helps to explain why that cup of coffee cost $8.50. (Lunch was $85 and there weren’t even any deposits to pay. Ouch.)

The only drag about sitting around most of the day was the number of smokers that surrounded me. Norway doesn’t allow smoking in so many places I almost forgot that people still smoke, but today it seemed all the world was lighting up one after the other sitting on the benches waiting for their kids. It was interesting to people-watch though and to listen to all the different languages being spoken. I liked to see how the parents and kids interact with each other and even though I often couldn’t understand a word that was being said, most of the communication was obvious –parents around the world speak the same language when it comes to communicating with their kids. I also was entertained by the latest in fashion and hair designs – some of them incredibly wild. I saw plenty of disabled kids today too which made me all the more thankful that my sweet bub is healthy as an ox and sharp as a tack. I feel so blessed. The forecasted rain didn’t show up again today either, so woo hoo for that.

We left the hotel later than expected this morning because Kaleb discovered The Discovery Channel on TV and they had an episode that touched a subject near and dear to his heart – they were building a personal flying machine. Kaleb’s had it in his head for a long time now that he wants to invent a hover board using “magnetism and polarities,” so this show was right up his alley. They did a good job of explaining how much money prototypes cost to work up and how this one design failed miserably at lifting anything up off the ground – even after all the work they put into it. So Kaleb spent the train ride over and back talking about his inventions and asking about what kind of jobs he’ll need to get to earn enough investment capital in order to become an inventor. He also wanted to know how much longer he needs to wait before he can go to work to earn some money. I suggested he go around the park and pick out the plastic cups from all the garbage cans and take them to the machines for the dollar rebate, but he thought going on rides was a much better option. So much for his work ethic.

Sightseeing Copenhagen

We spent the entire day in Copenhagen, Denmark today. We took the train across the water from Malmo, Sweden. It was a good choice as we found out later the toll on the bridge between the two countries is about $45 each way, plus high priced parking in the city. We paid a fraction of that for the train tickets. I love how the public transportation systems work in Europe because the central station in Copenhagen was right in the heart of the city and we just walked to everything, although owning a bike would be smart (as most people do) because it’s so flat. There were far more bikes in the city than cars and some of the bicycles were tricycles in reverse with two front wheels and one back wheel. Between the front wheels was a type of carriage for babies and small children. Interesting design.

The water between Sweden and Denmark had massive amounts of giant windmills generating electricity from the never ending breeze that blows along that stretch. We saw on the news this morning that Malmo, Sweden is considered the #4 most “green” city in the world (Portland, Oregon is #2). The news didn’t say anything about the windmills, it seemed they were most impressed with the way the city heats its homes – by burning wood waste. Hard to believe the destruction of trees is a “green” thing, but I’m not making the rules.

Copenhagen was alive with massive amounts of tourists from all over the world. There were bands playing at practically every intersection, cafes lined the sidewalks and surprisingly, people drinking beer everywhere we looked. I guess they don’t have open container laws. It seems like people come to Copenhagen just to sit (or walk around) and drink beer. The main harbor was jam packed with people listening to jazz music, while another square was full of people drinking beer listening to a Christian band. Copenhagen is a vibrant place, that’s for sure. The buildings are colorful, massive and full of rich detail. I loved looking at the trim around the windows, the balcony designs, door handles, stair railings… all the details were a work of art in themselves. Very rich architecture, but then the Danes have been in the forefront of design for many years, so I shouldn’t be surprised.

I haven’t been in Copenhagen since 1983 and there were a few familiar sights I remember well that still looked the same, but the biggest surprise was the changes to the harbor near the Little Mermaid statue. On my first visit, all I knew to see was the Little Mermaid – a brass sculpture made about a hundred years ago in honor of the story with the same name by one of Denmark’s most famous authors – Hans Christian Anderson. I was so shocked back then that the sculpture was so small, since all the photos of it made me think it was some massive thing like the Statue of Liberty or something, but it was just a small life-sized sculpture sitting out on a rock just off shore. I remember walking along the shoreline which, back then, was a lot like Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. I could have easily passed the Mermaid without knowing it was there. But today, all roads lead to the Mermaid. The whole waterfront has been redone and the cruise ships even park right next to it. It would be hard to miss, so it was interesting for me to see what 26 years can do to a place.

We spent the whole day walking around the city – first to tour the Royal Castle – where the Queen of Denmark entertains dignitaries (like us - tee hee) and then on to the National Museum to see all the incredible artifacts discovered from the Viking age. We ate a late lunch along the most famous restaurant row in the city (Nyhavn - see photo) – right next to a canal full of boats and people and street musicians. We were entertained by people-watching while we dined, and surprised that every single customer in the restaurant was speaking American English. So much for the recession - Copenhagen is a very expensive city to visit.

The forecasted rain for today never arrived so I was all the more grateful that the forecast got me out of sleeping in a tent. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds off and on all day so it was perfect for walking around as we never got too hot or too cold. Kaleb even held up well, but then again, it was a new country and a whole new selection of popcicle and candy flavors awaited us. Unfortunately, our best idea of a cultural experience revolves around sugar.

Unexpected Pleasures

It only takes three hours to drive non-stop from Göteborg, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark, but we took all day to do it. We like the roads less traveled so we stayed close to the sea as we headed south out of Göteborg this morning. Within minutes we saw a recreational sign pointing toward Tjolöholm Castle (see photo), so we turned off the highway to go see what it looked like. It wasn’t really a castle, by my standards, it was more like an estate, built to look a bit like a castle. Some rich guy in the late 1800s designed the place but died of blood poisoning (from lead) before it could be built. His wife saw to its construction but only lived there two years before she had an accident and died. Their daughter inherited the place and when she died, the Kommune bought it in the 1960s and rents it out for weddings and gatherings. It’s all rather palatial but we weren’t inspired enough to take a tour of the inside. We just walked around the grounds, enjoyed the views of the sea and tried yet another new flavor of popcicle before heading back to the car. We were thankful it wasn’t raining, as it rained hard all night last night and this morning in Göteborg.

We kept on the side roads going through quaint little villages and towns along the way. We got hungry around two o’clock so we headed for the next big city to find some lunch. Turns out the city, Varberg, is a destination city for tourists, unbeknownst to us. There were many good restaurants to choose from and we chose well. After a yummy lunch we walked around downtown and asked someone why there were so many tourists and we were told there was a castle out by the sea. We went for a little walk to the water’s edge and then saw the mighty fortress. Again, it wasn’t a castle like we think of a castle, but at one time it had been the home of the King of Sweden (for hundreds of years, actually). It was first built in the 1300s and has had many different uses over the years – it’s last one as a prison – but now the government of Sweden owns it and it’s a national treasure. It was all free to meander around on the grounds and go into the buildings. The whole fortress was built up on a huge dirt mound and it’s said that the King of Sweden had the locals pay their taxes in dirt, as they were required to bring it in by the wagons full to build up the walls and grounds. (Perhaps this is where the expression “dirt cheap” comes from?) The employees were dressed in period costumes from the early 1600s and were doing demonstrations of the different trades from that time. Kaleb enjoyed writing his name with a feather pen, watching the blacksmith at work, and learning how to braid four strands together. He could have stayed all day, but we still had two hours to drive before we reached our destination for the night and it was getting late. We took the freeway south to pick up the pace.

The freeways in Sweden are just like they are in America – two lanes with a divider and on/off ramps. They are pretty boring to drive but at least we went fast. The thickest lines on a map in Norway look like they might be a freeway but they are often just a one lane road with no centerline. The drive south on the freeway in Sweden today seemed like many other places I’ve seen – with lots of flat farmland, McDonalds on every exit, and nothing unique about the landscape – except that many of the houses have the same barn-shape as our house in Mount Vernon and the barns are enormous.

We planned to spend the next three nights in Copenhagen, at a campground no less, but the forecast for rain changed all that (thankfully). Kory and I agreed we could stay in hotels on this trip if we could find them for under a hundred dollars a night, but that just wasn’t possible in Copenhagen. The other problem was the car – none of the hotels have any kind of parking. Most large European towns were built long before cars were invented so they really do struggle with what to do with automobiles. The roads are narrow and all the land is taken up by beautiful buildings, so there aren’t many places to park. We noticed in Göteborg yesterday that there was no street parking anywhere for blocks on end so I’m sure most of the people that live in the city don’t even own vehicles. I feel so American driving around in a mini-van, and it makes it a challenge finding a hotel. I finally got lucky and found a screamin’ last minute deal at the Hilton across from Copenhagen in the city of Malmö, Sweden, so here we sit for the next three nights. I am so thankful we don’t have to pitch a tent! I was a little worried about that part of our plan, but it was something Kory was pushing because he thought Kaleb should “experience it all.” I’m not sure camping in a city park is really a full-on camping experience, but somehow sleeping in a tent was supposed to balance things out. Again, I’m thanking God he knew my heart’s desire and now we have the Hilton instead. As we walked into our room tonight on the 9th floor with a sweeping view of the city, Kaleb said, “Hey, why don’t we stay in the Hilton’s all the time – this is a nice place!” No kidding.

Liseberg Amusement Park Day

This was a day just for Kaleb. Liseberg, right in the heart of Göteborg, Sweden, is Scandinavia’s biggest amusement park. On a typical summer day, it would be hot and overcrowded, but our God had mercy on us today and it was overcast, cool, and slightly rainy at times so the lines for all the rides were pretty short. We were able to everything we wanted within eight hours and had no need for a two day pass. I was so thankful. Actually, I was most thankful we all survived and walked out alive. I used to love those thrill rides, but now the only way to get through them is with my eyes closed. If I eliminate one of my senses, it seems to help. There is nothing I can do about the butterflies in my stomach, but at least I don’t have to see what is causing them. Kaleb insists I go along with him - he says he likes to hear me scream. I’m not sure what that says about our relationship, but I keep reminding him that only a mother’s love would get me up on those things. Uff da. Kory loves the thrills, but is so protective of his back he won’t go on most of them for fear he’ll do some damage. I have no such excuse. (We had our raincoats along so we stayed dry all day.)

Kaleb took on a few of my mothering skills and became overly concerned about the plight of my glasses. He insisted I take them off for every ride as he was sure they would go flying off my face and then I’d be in another panic. I thought that was sweet of him, but after a while it was annoying. It was no problem to take them off because I had no desire to see anything clearly anyway, especially when it involved a ride that looked like death might be staring me in the face again. The best part of the day was seeing Kaleb’s face after every ride. There was an energy to it I don’t often see and it was priceless. Fortunately, he was tall enough to go on all the rides so Kory and I were happy to stand around and watch him go on the most nerve racking ones, or ones I wouldn’t do again even if I do love that boy.

We realized just how big this city is when we walked from our hotel this morning all the way across town to the park. (Our hotel is located in the top left corner of the photo – all the way in the distance. I took the photo from the highest tower at the park.) We wanted to see the town, so we left early this morning to go on an “explore” before arriving at our destination. The receptionist said it was a 45 minute walk. She was off a little – it took almost two hours. We were tired before the day even began, but fortunately, we weren’t too hot because of the cloud cover. Göteborg is a pretty city but the best thing about it is all the walking and bike paths – they go absolutely everywhere. The city isn’t set up to handle cars so much so people take the bus or tram, bike or walk. We were hoping to catch a tram back to the hotel but we got tired of waiting for it so we hopped on a bus. We assumed it was the same payment method as the tram – insert coins – ride tram. We made sure we had enough change for the tram, but as soon as we altered our mode of transportation we had a problem. Even though we studied the map well enough to know the number of the routes we needed to get back to the hotel – the map didn’t say anything about how to pay for the bus. As it turned out, we needed a special bus card as the driver doesn’t take cash. When we got on, the driver realized we had no clue about their system so he told us we could pay with our cell phones. We scratched our heads over that one until he pointed to a sign that showed the instructions on how to send an SMS message on a cell phone that puts the cost of the bus ride on the telephone bill. It seemed like a rather convoluted way to pay for a bus ticket, but with everyone carrying around cell phones I guess it’s one way to solve the problem. The problem for us was that neither of us had our phones with us. The driver very kindly let us ride the bus for free to the end of the line, but it was still about two miles short of our hotel, so we had to walk again – much farther than we wanted to after such a long day and eleven hours of being on our feet – but we had no choice. I guess we should have taken the tram – but then we wouldn’t have found out that it is possible to buy a bus ticket with a cell phone. Go figure.

We got back to our hotel around 8:30. Kaleb laid on the bed and looked through his new Pokemon book for a few minutes, then said he was a little hungry. Kory had already gone to the restaurant for a late dinner but I wasn’t hungry enough to eat so late. I told Kaleb I had some snacks with me and when I turned around to give them to him, he was sound asleep on the bed, still dressed. That boy was tired. I can barely move myself so I’m thankful this day is done.

Hello Sweden!

We caught the ten o’clock ferry out of Sandefjord today, heading for Sweden. It was raining hard when we left Norway, but we arrived less than three hours later in Sweden welcomed by blue skies and sunshine. They like that blue and yellow thing over here (all their road signs, caution signs, speed signs, directional signs – are all in blue and yellow.)

It would have been a straight two hour drive south to our destination for the night – the city of Gotenborg, but we decided to take the slower path along some of the roads less traveled near the coastline (as recommended by The Good Teacher Inga.) We were not disappointed. We stopped in the seaside town of Grebbestad and had lunch on the boardwalk, watching the people go by. The town was too crowded for my liking so we decided not to linger, but instead head on down the road going south again. The roads were slow and the sun was hot and we were both sleep deprived so we found our way down to the water’s edge and parked the van on someone’s gorgeous piece of property and took a nap (they weren’t home.) The sound of the water lapping the shore and birds chirping in the bushes made for a wonderful rest (see photo of the spot we napped.) We assumed Sweden has the same kind of property laws Norway has – that all shoreline is open to the public and there are no such things as “No Trespassing” signs – people are free to use everyone else’s property assuming they don’t do any damage. We were too tired to drive so we felt much better after that power nap. We decided to take the main highway south for the last hour so we’d get into town by dinner time as we were running a bit late by then.

I reserved a hotel on the water’s edge in the city of Gotenborg. We arrived too late to explore the town much as we needed food. We found a nice café not far from the hotel, right on the boardwalk so we watched the huge ferry ships, freighters, sailboats, kayakers, catamarans and speed boats going in and out of the harbor while we were eating. It was quite pleasant, and I liked it all the more because it was so cheap compared to Norway. Kory even afforded himself a glass of red wine and the whole dinner wasn’t more than forty bucks. The food was good too and the setting couldn’t have been better. Thankfully, the sun was still shining.

After dinner we walked along the boardwalk until Kory and Kaleb discovered rocks big enough to stack, and they went at it again – making works of art to leave behind for others to enjoy. We later found a corner grocery store and Kaleb and I bought some candy and popsicles in flavors we hadn’t tried before – one of my favorite parts of the “culture” we get to experience when we go to a new country.

I like it here so far but I’m having a hard time understanding Swedish. Everyone has been able to understand my Norwegian, but the slang on the words here is too mushy and I can’t make it out. Every word ends with an “a” sound, even when it’s not supposed to. I may have to resort to speaking English but I hate to do it.

I used the ferry ride today to work on another picture book of the trip we are now taking. My ideal would be to keep it current every day then just order the printing of it the last week we are in Norway. It’s kind of cool to be able to write the blog for memories, and then make up the picture pages for the sights. Good combo. I’m sure one day if I lose my mind, I’ll be glad I gave this gift to myself. I’ve shown everyone we’ve visited my picture book of the Lofoten Islands and they have all been very impressed (or at least they are doing the Norwegian thing of being supportive and positive no matter what…) but I do think it’s quite nice and I’m anxious to make more. I think it will replace my need for scrapbooking as there is no mess to clean up afterwards.

Kaleb spent his time on the ferry today playing his Nintendo Pokemon game. I’m afraid all the memories he will have of this road trip will revolve around which characters he was able to capture and which ones evolved into other characters. He won’t admit it, but I’m pretty sure his passion for dogs has now been replaced with his passion for Pokemon. It’s such a complicated game and he’s studied all the rules and knows how to play. Although I’m thankful he’s stopped asking for a dog of his own, I do hope this new craze passes quickly as it seems like such a waste of time and it’s so addicting, he becomes quite unpleasant when we tell him his time allotment is up. And he spends much less time reading now, but he has taken a keen interest in reading my blog and telling me just what he thinks about it. He isn’t exactly the kind of editor I am looking for.

Our (Almost) Last Day in Norway

We leave tomorrow on a ferry to Sweden, so today was the last hoo-rah here in Norway. I can’t wait until things are cheaper, but I’m sad to leave. In Sweden and Denmark they understand Norwegian so it will be at least a week before I feel we are out of our comfort zone completely and into foreign lands.

We left Oslo early this morning to drive south again down the same road we were on a few days ago. We had to backtrack to see some cousins we like very much who have a very tight schedule and today was the only day that worked for all of us to meet. We met Hege and Henning Baann (see photo) in the year 2000 when we came to Norway for the Slaatthaug family reunion. Hege’s mom is a first cousin to Kory and I think many of the relatives that lived in the vicinity of Slaattehaugen were asked to house relatives coming from a distance. We were lucky enough to land at the Baanns house, so we got to know them a bit better than the other 200 some cousins attending the event. They have since moved to a gorgeous house right on the water in Stathelle so it’s like staying at some fancy retreat center when we come for a visit. They recently bought a much bigger boat than the one they have taken us out on many times in the past. They also bought a very small, but fast, run-around boat so Henning took Kaleb out for a little thrill ride after dinner and he came back beaming. He hadn’t wanted to go out in the boat because he finally got internet access on his Nintendo here and he was playing some version of Pokemon he had been waiting to play for a long time, but I forced him to go for a boat ride. For once, I think he was happy with my decision. It poured down rain while they were out on the water, but that only made for a more memorable trip. We all stood inside and waited anxiously for their return. Kaleb absolutely loved it. He had a good day, as Hege’s daughter Charlotte was also here with her English bulldog. Kaleb and that dog ran each other ragged all afternoon.

Hege’s mom came for dinner, along with another first cousin who drove down from Oslo to see us. I couldn’t wait to tell both of them they have another aunt, since I was sure we had the total scoop on that piece of family history. Reidun, Hege’s mom, knew right away what I was talking about, but Ingri, the other cousin, had never heard of it. Ingri asked Reidun why she had never told her (they are good friends) and Reidun said, “You never asked.” So typically Norwegian… I’m glad I at least brought up the subject because Reidun then said she heard that the illegitimate daughter’s name was Ronnaug and she was born before her grandparents were married. That was all the information I needed to hit the internet and find her birth record. I tried previously but without a name or range of possible years to check, I wasted a lot of time. Within minutes I found her birth record from 1891 and confirmed everything we had heard. Then I found her in the 1900 census, living on Kaasa, the farm right across the road from Slaattehaugen (I stood on that farm to take the picture of Slaattehaugen in the distance). Ronnaug’s mother got married and had other children, but didn’t raise her. Ronnaug lived on Kaasa until she got married in 1920 and had a baby there in 1921 named Petra. I found the marriage record and birth record for Petra so the cousins were just giddy with this news that they have additional family members. Petra would be their first cousin and may or may not be alive so we made a few phone calls to see if anyone knew of her, but no one did. There are surely other siblings, but the church records aren’t posted on the internet past 1923. There is still more to learn, but what I found today was a good start and the cousins were mightily impressed with my detective skills. I live for this stuff. Now the cousins are talking seriously about doing something in 2012, the 100 year anniversary of the family’s move to Slaattehaugen and they can’t wait to find the living descendants of Petra and her siblings. Norwegians have a LOT of loyalty to blood relatives.

Kory always tells everyone that I write a blog everyday about life in Norway and most Norwegians find it hard to believe there are enough differences or interesting things about Norsk culture to write about. Like today, for instance, we were in the city of Porsgrunn and the jewelry store had one of its picture windows broken. The window was taped up and the owner made a sign and taped it near the hole that said something to the effect that “Some people in this town can’t read. Our opening hours are posted on the door. We are open from 10am-4pm. Apparently our products were needed at a different time.” Obviously they had been robbed, but this is a good example of Norwegian’s expressing their anger in a very nice and non-confrontive way. If there was just one thing I’d say about all Norwegians and Norway as a whole it would be that they are just TOO nice. It wouldn’t hurt to kick it up a notch every now and then.

Maintenance Day

We’ve been gone from “home” for ten days now so we were in desperate need for some of life’s little maintenances. We thought about going into the center of Oslo to a museum this morning but we all opted instead to stay put and get a few things done – like laundry and paying bills. It’s so awful to even think about doing those things when we are on vacation, but the length of this one precipitates the need to stay on top of dirty underwear and unpaid phone bills. So it was that today we just hung out for the morning after Jens-Frederik and Anne-Marie went to work. We had the house to ourselves and we all enjoyed the break. Kaleb played non-stop on his Nintendo, Kory sorted out his vitamins for the next two weeks and I paid bills, organized photos, read e-mails, and did two loads of clothes. There are worse ways to spend a day.

Jens-Frederik and Anne-Marie’s oldest daughter, Angelica, lives about five minutes away and she called and invited us over for lunch. We attended her wedding near St. Louis two years ago when she got married to Christopher, an American. On the 17th of May, this year, they had a baby boy they named Zion. Angelica and Chris are both rap artists so Kaleb was almost giddy to see them again as he plays their CD over and over and loves their music. He and his friend Timothy might be some of their biggest fans. Angelica is on maternity leave and Christopher also took the day off because his grandparents are here visiting from Venezuela. He grew up in Florida but his father is from Venezuela so Spanish is his native tongue. His grandmother offered to make us one of her favorite dishes from Venezuela so we were treated to an incredibly tasty meal. We also had a nice time visiting with them. Kory had much to talk about, as usual, and Chris acted as the interpreter when needed. Kory so impressed me with how much Spanish he remembers (Chris’ grandparents don’t speak a word of English). Kory lived in Paraguay for a year about forty years ago and worked at a mission station there building a medical clinic. He has many good stories about the primitive life he lived, so he was telling many of them today. I understood a lot of what was being said because I took years of Spanish in high school and college, but I’ll be darned if I couldn’t even think of one word to say. It’s like the Norwegian language erased the part of my brain that was storing all the Spanish and I couldn’t come up with a single word. It was embarrassing. I thought it was Spanish, but it came out Norwegian. And why I could understand Spanish, but not speak it, was a strange phenomenon. My brain is definitely on the down slide…

After much visiting we left Angelica’s place to drive into the center of Oslo to meet her brother, Bent-Jarle and his new wife, Birgitta, for dinner. They are still entertaining guests from around the world that came for the wedding so they’ve had a very busy week, but we didn’t want to miss the chance to greet them and take them out to dinner. Birgitta is a junior high school teacher in English, Norwegian and French. She sounds very prim and proper when she talks because she speaks British English as she lived in England for three years. She told us the school where she teaches is celebrating their 150 year anniversary so the school offered to take the staff out to have a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in Oslo. Then someone at the school figured out just how expensive that dinner would be (VERY expensive, as eating out in Norway is not for the weak hearted), and they came up with Plan B, not to save money, but to have more fun. For the same price as dinner and wine at a restaurant in Oslo, they could buy airplane tickets and two nights at a hotel in Estonia. They thought the staff could have a little weekend getaway to Estonia for the same price, if the staff would buy their own meals there (which are very cheap). Everyone loved the idea, so she is soon off on that trip with her co-workers. Now if that doesn’t say something about how expensive it is to eat out in Norway, I don’t know what does. When it’s cheaper to fly across the Baltic Sea for the weekend than to buy one meal at a restaurant here, I think there is something wrong.

Tonight we had our final chat with Anne-Marie and Jens-Frederik – two of our favorite relatives (see photo of them at Bent-Jarle’s wedding last week). Anne-Marie had a tough day at work because so many old people died over the weekend from the heat, (she works at a funeral home.) Jens-Frederik recently quit his job as pastor of a State Church and is now a State Church prison chaplain so his days are always interesting and varied. They are a lovely couple and wonderful servants of God. I love their tradition of praying together (even with guests) before they retire for the night. What a great send-off, for tomorrow, we hit the road again heading south.

The Heat is Off

We woke to rain this morning, for which everyone around here was extremely thankful. Friday the 93 degree heat broke all previous records in Norway. It was just too hot for Norwegian blood. And then yesterday in Oslo there was over 2,000 lightening strikes in one hour – freakish weather. So today it was wonderful to have a cool breeze and overcast skies as we hadn’t planned to do anything but visit with relatives, so it was perfect.

We had a nice breakfast with all of Reidunn’s family before we left Tønsberg at noon. Her sisters are a crack up. Some Christian Norwegian families say a prayer of thanksgiving after they have eaten a meal, but one of the sisters just said a little poem instead, that went like this: “Takk for mat og drikke. Vask opp vil jeg ikke.” It means, “Thanks for the food and drink. I will not clean up,” only it sounds way better in Norwegian because it rhymes. Edith, Reidunn’s daughter with the three boys, said they might come visit us next year in America, so that’s something to look forward to. She’s an obstetrician and was supposed to go to a medical conference in Seattle in April, so she flew to Copenhagen to catch her flight to Seattle, and they wouldn’t let her board the plane because she had the wrong kind of passport. Apparently she needed the passport with the little chip in it and she just had a normal passport. I think the anti-terrorism stuff has gone a bit too far when things like that happen. She had to buy a ticket back to Norway and couldn’t go to Seattle – even though she’d asked repeatedly before she left what documents she needed in order to go and was never told about the chip. A visa is now required for anyone from Norway (and probably all other countries) to travel to the U.S. Talk about overkill.

We headed north to Oslo to visit even more cousins on Kory’s dad’s side of the family. We had reserved a hotel for a few nights in the city, but Jens-Frederick and Anne-Marie insisted we stay with them. It was their son, Bent-Jarl, whose wedding we attended last week. It seems like it was a month ago. Kaleb isn’t too keen on all these family visits, unless there are children to play with, so he was a bit bored today as we sat the entire afternoon and evening and just talked about family dynamics and the little pieces of history that get passed down different branches of the tree. We all agreed there were some serious problems going on at the Slaattehaugen farm that made life difficult for several members of the family – and their descendants. Jens-Frederick (a pastor) also said anyone that believed anything other than what the State Church subscribed too was banned from the family. One of Kory’s aunts converted to Seventh Day Adventist and Kory’s father was Pentecostal. Both were outcasts because of it and never had much contact with relatives as a result. It seems the spirit of Holy Ole, the Viking King that killed those that didn’t convert to Christianity, has lived on. Up until just recently the parents had full responsibility and control over their children – even into adulthood. The Church dictated that and ignored the scripture that said a man should LEAVE his father and mother and CLEVE to his wife. So the adult children had to obey their parents and do as they said, long after they were out of the house. It was only when their parents were dead, could they decide things for themselves as long as it was in line with what the church dictated. So for an adult “child” to disobey their parent’s and leave the State Church – meant they were as good as dead. But now the rebellion is well under way in Norway because of the State Church’s abuse of power and morality has taken a hard swing in the opposite direction of the Bible’s teachings. It breaks my heart that all of this dysfunction has gone on in the name of God – when the fact is that God LOVED us so much he sent his son – to forgive us so that we’d NOT be condemned, but that we’d have freedom and new life. It amazes me that point was lost on them. Where was the love and forgiveness in the Church?

So we had some interesting discussions today and I had a good time looking through some of Jens-Frederick’s family history paperwork. Kory told a story about “Strong Nils,” a guy that lived in Telemark that could lift giant boulders. They once had a contest and put handles on a huge rock to see if anyone else could out lift him. No one could. That rock still sits in front a church in Telemark as a tribute to his strength. One time Nils lifted one end of a log that took three men to lift the other end. The men conspired to drop their end and in doing so, broke Nils’ back. The legend of his strength is now mixed with the weakness of his bladder that came as a result of his injuries. He had to wear a skirt the rest of his life. Some legend. I’m so fascinated by personal histories and want to do nothing more than search for details and then write about them. Kory thinks I spend way too much time with the dead, but I think they are much easier to deal with than the living.

Happy 4th of July

We had to leave Slaattehaugen early this morning to make it to our next destination before lunch. We hadn’t initially planned to stop in Tønsberg, but once the word got out to some of the Slaatthaug cousins that we were in the area, Kory’s phone started ringing. We only had one day we could possibly change so Cousin Reidun won out because she was the first to call and her house was in the direction we were heading. Reidun was on the Slaatthaug Family Reunion committee in the year 2000 and they pulled off one heck of a reunion with over 200 cousins gathering in this neck of the woods to honor their grandparents and get to know one another. Before that time we only knew a few relatives on Kory’s dad side of the family, but now we know many.

Reidun loves to organize get-togethers so it was no surprise when we showed up today that she had invited other family members to come on over. (She also set out an American flag in honor of the 4th of July. There was no parade and we didn’t have a backyard BBQ, but we did have a lot of backyard fun.) One of Reidun’s twin daughters lives three hours away so she came for the weekend with her three sons (ages 12, 10 and 5). Reidun’s two sisters also came down from Oslo by train to meet us. Other cousins showed up for dinner but didn’t spend the night like the whole lot of us. It was one giant sleepover and couldn’t have been more cozy. Reidun is retired, as are her sisters, but it’s easy to see they are still little girls at heart. Reidun’s cherry tree was full of ripe cherries so she insisted we have a cherry seed spitting contest (see photo – if you double click on the photo it gets large enough to see all the funny faces). Kory won. One of Reidun’s sisters (who is in her late 70s) came to my defense when all the boys started attacking me with water balloons and other containers full of water. It was a hot enough day so I didn’t mind getting drenched, but when the hose got involved, things got out of control. The fight lasted for hours and included defense strategies, attack plans, guards to watch over the hose, and a neutral zone where I could go to dry off and catch my breath. When it was all over, I rang about a quarter cup of water out of my underwear. I was drenched, but we sure had fun. (I was thankful the women here didn’t do what most Norwegian women do – on hot days they take off their shirts and just wear their bra. A bra is considered a normal piece of clothing here – not an under garment so it’s quite common to see old ladies outside wearing shorts and a bra. I saw one very professional young woman I’d dealt with at the bank running up a mountain trail after work wearing a very sexy see-through bra. It didn’t seem right. The sight of so many shirtless women in the summertime does take a bit of getting used to.)

Later in the evening, the kids insisted all the adults join them in a game of Hide-n-Seek and I’ll be darned if these seventy something women didn’t run around giggling all the way, hiding as best they could. These women are not like the serious Norwegians I’ve grown accustomed to, nor do they sit around drinking coffee and watching the fun – they join in. I love that. Kaleb had a blast as well. I told him every day there will be new surprises on our road trip and he was delighted with the turn of events for today, as well as his chance to sleep in the loft above the garage with the two older boys.

Kory found out more juicy family history today as he sat in the shade talking with his cousins about their common ancestors. Apparently Kory’s grandfather that lived on the Slaattehaugen farm had an illegitimate daughter on a neighboring farm. That was the first we heard of that one. Now I have more work to do on the family tree. One of Reidun’s sisters said that family had a reputation as being gypsies because they had a dark complexion and dark eyes and their grandfather played the fiddle. As fun as it was to talk about today, it didn’t sound like a very stable family for Kory’s dad to grow up in, so that could explain a lot. We also found out from previous visits with Slaatthaug cousin’s that four of Kory’s dad’s sisters had been institutionalized with mental problems and had to have lobotomies. That one was a bit scary to hear. Depression and schizophrenia also run in his family. And he thought my family had problems….

Blazing Heat

It was a scorcher today – 90 degrees. Too hot for me. I should have been sitting by a river or lake enjoying a cool breeze, but instead I was sitting in a library most of the day, without air conditioning. I couldn’t pass up the chance to find out a few more details about Kory’s father’s side of the family that are missing from my collection of data on dead relatives. I should have passions that cause me to be outdoors more, as this one caused me to sit in a hot room and sweat for four hours as there wasn’t even a breeze that reached the research room.

Kaleb and I arrived an hour too early to the city of Ulefoss, thinking the library opened at 10 instead of 11. At least it opened. Many businesses in Norway are closed the entire month of July, including churches, because so many people are on vacation. We had an hour to kill so we found a little second hand store that was a gold mine. I love old Norwegian tin, pewter and wood things. I told myself I was getting my Christmas shopping done, but how I’ll get it all home, I have no idea.

This part of Telemark is well known for its locks and canal system. Kaleb and I stopped to watch them in action for a while this afternoon on our way back to the farm. There are a total of 18 locks in 8 locations near here. They were important 150 years ago when shipping was the only way to transport goods, but today they are mostly used by tourists. We thought about taking the steamboat that goes up and down the canal, but we didn’t want to go without Kory, so we just stood by and watched as the boats full of tourists took the stair steps down the river where a large waterfall once stood. Kaleb was fascinated by the process so at least we did something today that was fun for him because he didn’t enjoy hanging out at the library so much. A water balloon fight when we got home also helped keep his spirits up.

Kory and Hallvard spent their day up on the roof again. They replaced some rotten wood and took down a modification Hallvard never liked. It would make the most sense to tear down the building as it has a serious insect invasion going on and many of the interior boards are rotten, but he feels a responsibility to preserve it for the family. Hallvard has no plans to ever make it livable but he wouldn’t mind turning it into a kind of family history museum (it already is with all the contents it holds). Kory’s family only moved to this farm in 1912, but his grandparents had so many children and some of them had so many children, there are a lot of people now with roots in this place. I suggested they have some kind of 100 year jubilee on the farm and in preparation, ask some of the descendants to sponsor a new window or door or a side of the house in honor of their grandparents who lived here. Hallvard’s wife would just as soon tear it down. Kory’s most worried about future degradation to the building and he wants to be sure it’s tight so the elements don’t continue to eat it up. I think he’s already agreed to pay for the fumigation to get the bugs out, but he’s hoping to get other relatives to pitch in either time or money to help put a good shell around it so it will last another lifetime. We’ll be visiting a lot of his cousins soon so we’ll find out what the interest is in doing something like that. The inside of the house isn’t great, but it won’t hurt anything to stay the way it is and just move things around in an easy-to-view fashion and then it would be something worth visiting. I think the house was built in the 1820s but that isn’t old by Norwegian standards so there is no historical society that could help out. Kory feels like he is honoring his father by working on the house. He never puts flowers on his grave, so I guess this is the man’s way of expressing the same sentiment.

After the roof was done, Kory and Hallvard were drenched in sweat, so we headed to the nearest swimming hole so they could dive in. Hallvard’s oldest brother came by for a visit so he drove us all there. I was already cooled down from the constant bombardments of water balloons, otherwise I would have jumped in, too. We found out while we were there that the farm right next to that lake is where Kory’s grandparents lived before they bought Slaattehaugen. We went up for a visit so I could take pictures of the house and we could all see the setting. Family lore has it that Kory’s grandfather did NOT want to move from that place but his wife insisted, as she got a good price for Slaattehaugen from her uncle (see photo of the farm from a distance – Slaattehaugen means “ the harvested hill” – the old house it behind the new one). Kory’s grandfather did not want to be a farmer, as he was a shoemaker, so his grandmother had to do all the farming herself. His grandfather became depressed and never adjusted to living on the farm. He moved to the second floor of the house and didn’t talk much to his wife after that. That was how they avoided divorce back then. On second thought, maybe tearing down the old house might be the best thing. At least it’s not haunted.

Another Day in Telemark

This was the kind of day I’m glad is over. I’m completely exhausted, inside and out. I feel like someone pulled my plug and I just want to curl up in a fetal position and sleep. Kaleb and I went to Norway’s largest water park today while Kory worked with Hallvard on replacing some of the roof on the old house where Kory’s father was born (see photo). I was worried about Kory being up on the roof today, but I should have been worried about me. I thought I would have fun. I thought the water park near here would be like Silverwood in Idaho where there is a nice wave pool, a relaxing river current, some fun water slides and a good time to be had by all. But that just wasn’t the case. Every attraction was like staring death right in the face. It didn’t go well with me, and a few times I really wanted to back out before literally taking the plunge, but Kaleb insisted. This is what I do for love. I haven’t been that freaked out in a long time. It also didn’t help that I had flashbacks to my near drowning experience on the Oregon Coast when I was 15. (We got caught in a rip tide and the kid I was with died. It really was a miracle I survived.)

One “ride” today was on an inflatable cushion and after going through twists and turns in a pitch black tube, we ended up in a big drain looking thing that reminded me of the vortex where one can drop a coin and it spins around and around until it finally drops in the bucket below. Only it was us, dropping down into the drain like in the movie “Flushed Away.” That one wasn’t too bad. The one I nearly lost it was called the Half Pipe and it looked like a giant skateboard park only water was gushing down from both sides of the big U and we dropped straight down from one side sitting on an inflatable and then swooshed up the other side and back and forth we went until we were sucked down the drain. I wouldn’t do that one again for anything.

I thought I’d like the relaxing float on an innertube down the river current, but as I found out within seconds after entering, it went way faster than what I’d experienced in other parks. I slipped off my tube and someone smacked my face and only then did I realize I was wearing my glasses. They flew off my face and were lost in the current. They were the only glasses I had left as the others I brought with me to Norway have already broken. I cried. I panicked. I talked to the staff and they just shook their head and said they were lost. I tried to explain I couldn’t drive home without them but they had no sympathy. I was desperate. I asked if I could wait until the park closed and try to find them without the current and they assured me that six hours of swirling around in the river, there wouldn’t be anything left of them. So I did the only thing I could do – I prayed. I called Kory and asked him to pray, too. I prayed God would allow someone to find them before they broke to pieces, or that God would heal my eyes so I wouldn’t need glasses. All I could think about was a month of sightseeing Europe and not being able to see a thing. We won’t be in any place long enough to get new glasses as no one here has the advantages we do in America of getting a new pair in one hour. It takes weeks. Within minutes after praying with Kory, Kaleb came running over with my glasses! Someone right next to him found them and yelled out they found some glasses. Kaleb knew they were mine. It was a miracle they were found, a miracle he was right there to get them (they may have never found their way back to me as there was no “lost and found”) and it was a miracle they weren’t broken. One side of the frame was slightly bent but the glasses weren’t even scratched. I cried again out of pure joy, then had to sit down for a while as my body was a limp noodle. I hated the river after that, but still went around and around that football field sized “ride” with Kaleb – but I left my glasses in my backpack. My body never fully recovered, especially since we had to go on the rides one more time.

Kory had a much more satisfying day working at Slaattehaugen – having a bonding moment with his dad’s memory and Hallvard. Hallvard teaches carpentry at the very school where Kory’s dad learned how to be one. Kory was thinking about his dad running around this place as a child and all the things he might have done. This farm really is like being on a movie set – going back to some significant place in history and reliving some of the memories – except Kory doesn’t have many memories here. There is a strong connection nonetheless and it’s idyllic in every way.

I was so thankful to get back to Slaattehaugen I could have kissed the ground. Kory “grilled” dinner for everyone tonight and once again we had a picture perfect evening in the shade of the old house, sitting outside talking on this warm summer evening watching yet another gorgeous sunset just before midnight. It almost felt like a perfect world, until I remembered the day.

Roots

We left Arendal early this morning. I wish we would have had more time to visit Ruth and Morgan because Ruth is very worried if I write a book about life in Norway, my perspective might be skewed from my experiences this past year with the folks that live in Sunnmøre (the region surrounding Aalesund.) Ruth says they are “special.” (I noticed she also used that word in describing other people - and it wasn’t used in a positive way.) She says those who live in Sunnmøre in no way reflect the lives of the average Norwegians. Each area has its own “reputation,” she says, but I didn’t find out what they all are except that those from way up north swear a lot but are very kind people – according to Ruth. Ok, then. I might have to live in Norway a bit longer before I write a book because I’m sure the whole of Norway would not be happy with me, from what I heard from Ruth, if I portray them to be like those we know and love in Sunnmøre. I found out soon after arriving at our destination today, that the people in Telemark (down south) actually chill their pop before they drink it. Here I thought everyone in Norway drank pop at room temperature, but apparently, that’s one of the little quirks that Sunnmøre people do. I have so much to learn.

After an hour long drive east along the southern coast, we stopped off in the popular little tourist town of Kragerø (see photo). It’s as cute as can be but very pricey. Our friends, Emmanuel and Ledto, from our English speaking Bible study group on Monday nights, were moved to Kragerø three weeks ago. We promised we’d stop in and see how they are doing and they couldn’t have been more pleased to see us. They have a beautiful two bedroom apartment with every window overlooking the sea. They have it good. For two years the Kommune here will pay for all their expenses, give them language lessons and additional education if they need it in order to find a job because they are asylum seekers. Emmanuel (pushing the baby carriage in the photo) used to be a pastor in his home country of Eritrea and spent time in jail for his Christianity. They didn’t know when they moved to Kragerø that many others from Eritrea were also living there. Emmanuel wasted no time and has already started a church in his home in his native tongue. The local Pentecostal church is supportive of his efforts and offered him free use of their facilities if his church grows. Emmanuel is certain it will, (four people have already accepted Christ) so God had a plan in moving them there, even though they were sad to leave all their friends behind in Aalesund. It was so great to see them and their new baby and to see how good they have it. Ledto made us a nice lunch and we had an inspiring visit with them before heading out of town.

Another hour on the road brought us to Slaattehaugen, the farm where Kory’s father was born and raised. If one has a need for speed, driving in Telemark will never satisfy it. The road getting here was so narrow, curvy and bumpy there was no use for speed cameras. Self preservation was all I could think about. We came here to visit Hallvard, Kory’s cousin’s son who now owns the farm. Kory has long desired to do some work on the old house, so this is his chance.

It was in the high 80s today – too hot for me. I was thankful for the massive trees surrounding the houses (old and new) once we arrived at Slaatthaugen. They have a trampoline under a large “asp” tree and it was calling my name. I laid down on it and fell asleep right away. When I woke up Kory and Hallvard were sitting in the shade of the old house talking about what to repair first. There was something very romantic and surreal about waking up in such a significant place on such a warm summer afternoon. The pace here is slower. Life is simple. There are rolling hills covered in wheat and rye as far as the eye can see. Evergreen trees cover the highest peaks. Only a few houses in the distance add dimension to the landscape. It’s almost magical. I asked Hallvard what he knew about some of the old books and papers inside the old house. He’d never looked at them. No one has lived in the old house for nearly forty years and the dust covering everything backed up that fact. He went in the house with me and just like in some mysterious old movie he wiped his hand over the thick layers of dust on a stack of yellowed papers and books and took them outside. We sat at a table in the shade and read through letters and cards, receipts and tax records. Most of the letters written were from one family member to another expressing the one’s concern for the other’s soul. Christianity and God were the dominant theme in them all. We found books from the 1800s and an old school book from 1921 that once belonged to Kory’s father. We also found a Christmas card from the 1950s that Kory’s mother sent to his father’s sister who was the last one to live in the house before it was abandoned in 1956. The entire farm was vacant for 13 years until Kory’s cousin, Gunnar, built a new house and moved in with his family of ten children, the youngest of which is Hallvard.