Bergen

Sidney and I went to Bergen for a few days, as this is our mid-term break. We took the ferry from Stavanger. It was about a four and a half hour trip with about seven stops along the way. Interestingly, the same boat we went whale watching on in Andenes last summer served as our ferry for this trip, as it is brought down here for the winter.


The ferry ride itself was very scenic and enjoyable, though there were some choppy parts due to weather. The stops were in both villages and towns, and it was almost like a postcard seeing the winter scenery. We also passed several lighthouses - always a favorite in this household!

We arrived in Bergen to - big surprise - snow! This year has been a very odd year for Bergen as well, with abnormally cold and snowy weather. The snow was quite heavy on Monday, then cleared out for Tuesday, and came back again Wednesday. They probably had over a foot of new snow while we were there.




The ferry docks in the most scenic part of the city, just across the harbor from Bryggen, and right next to the shopping district. Many historical buildings are visible, and many of the other attractions are within walking distance. This building is Haakon's Hall, where an early king of Norway was crowned in the 1200's. It is just beyond Bryggen, and very close to St. Mary's Church (also pictured), which is the oldest remaining building in Bergen, dating to around 1200.






Sidney and I checked into our hotel, passing some narrow streets along the way. We stayed at the Rica Bergen, and found the room comfortable, the staff friendly, the location convenient, and the breakfast outstanding (like a smaller version of the Rica in Tromso.) We then went out to see the Aquarium (Akvariat in Norwegian.)











The Aquarium was nice for kids. They didn't have a huge amount of specimens on display, but they did have a nice penguin exhibit and three harbor seals. We were there for the feeding of both, though we were in the brunt of the snowstorm for much of the seal show. There is a 3-D movie, but it is only in Norwegian, so we didn't try it. The Aquarium also hosts a large display of crocodiles and alligators.

In all fairness, as this is the off-season, they are preparing the Aquarium for summer. There is a lot of construction going on and they are developing new exhibits. I am sure it will be much nicer once it is complete, as it already does a good job displaying what is there. There is an exceptional display of the sea life native to the area, and some of the fish are HUGE!


I should also mention that our admission was covered with our Bergen Card. Bergen, like other large cities with a tourist trade, offers a card that covers admission to most museums and attractions, discounts on dining and shopping, and public transportation for a much lower cost than paying for those things out-of-pocket. We bought 48-hour cards for Sidney and I, and it was about 350 NOK ($65). We used the card at three museums, rode the bus a few times, and rode the Floibanen (more in a minute on that) and more than made up for our cost. I always recommend these cards when you are going to be in a city for a couple of days (check out New York's CityPass for huge savings there!)


After the Aquarium, we walked back up to the Sentrum and caught the Floibanen (the funicular that goes up one of the seven mountains surrounding the city.) We were joined by several people going up with cross-country skis and sleds. There were several trails at the top, and the fresh snow was a major draw for locals. Even with cloudy weather and some light snow still falling, the view was wonderful. We had cups of hot chocolate while watching the skiers, then headed back down for dinner (TGI Fridays - we couldn't resist!)


Bergen is a city very much in love with music. Several famous musicians come from here, including Ole Bull (violinist) and Edvard Grieg (composer). Even today, Bergen is known for hosting outstanding music festivals and concerts. Lynard Skynard was in concert this week, and Depeche Mode will be playing this summer.



Tuesday's weather was wonderful, with amazingly clear skies. Bergen gets about 270 days a year of precipitation, so a clear day is very rare. We headed for the Ulriken, a cable car that goes to one of the highest points surrounding the city (another of the seven mountains.) We were again joined by skiers, and this time there were some down-hillers as well. We saw them coming down the mountain in what I would describe as more of a fall than actual skiing. A few landed on parts of their bodies other than their feet.



After Ulriken, we went into the Sentrum again for a walk around Bryggen, then to lunch. Oh, and we bought Kimber's birthday present, which will be in a future post of great significance. The buildings in Bryggen are wooden and a few hundred years old, so there are no square corners anymore. In fact, you can see in the pictures that the buildings are all pretty much leaning in various directions.


The snow did make for some interesting pictures of the roof lines from the backside of Bryggen, and the crowded nature of the buildings themselves could make one claustrophobic!

We did a bit more shopping, and I got my haircut (only 150 NOK/$25 in Bergen!) before returning to the hotel.


We spent some time on our last day doing some "Sidney" stuff. It was snowing heavily again, so we went to the Science Center. They have interactive displays and experiments kids can do, and she had a great time. She actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go to lunch.




We looked around the shops a bit more before heading to the ferry for our ride home. The scenery was even more beautiful than the trip up, as there was more snow. We also saw a few more lighthouses, as well as this oil platform being built.

We will be back in Bergen at some point, as there are activities we saved for when Kimber can come as well. We are especially looking forward to doing the Flaam Railway, which has the steepest continual incline of any railway in the world. If visiting Bergen for just one trip, I would certainly recommend at least four days to see the majority of the sights.

Jack and the Beanstalk

The British Amateur Theater Society (BATS) production of the pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" is finally completed, and the performances were all quite memorable! We did four shows (one Thursday, one Friday, and a matinee and evening performance Saturday) and had total attendance of over 600 people. Not too bad for amateur theater!

For those that aren't familiar with the British pantomime tradition, it usually involves the humorous retelling of a classic fairy tale. There are usually some guys playing girls, girls playing guys, and people playing animals. There is a lot of singing, dancing, and audience participation. Kids are especially encouraged to get involved.


I played the Demon Pestblight, who is intent on causing the Good Fairy Evergreen's hopes for brave, young Jack to fail. I usually arrived on stage to the boos and hisses of the audience, which is to be expected. Most performances I even remembered the majority of my lines!

One item of note from our last performance - the cow (Daisy) had a bit with a song along with Dame Durden that involved getting the audience to sing. Just as the scene was starting, Daisy's head fell off. The Dame did some quick improv, accusing Daisy of getting so excited that she just lost her head, then called for a vet from the audience.


A new visitor to the neighborhood is the Dingxianghai cargo ship. It came in yesterday. Pretty impressive to see a ship this size docked next to our apartment!

Finally, it snowed again last night - about 4 inches. It is forecast to snow off and on for the next few days. And all this in a place they told us didn't get but just an inch or two of snow every year.

Our First Time Skiing

We went on our first ever ski trip last weekend with the British School. It was in Sirdal at the ski slope beside the Marathon cabin. We were fortunate enough to get the cabin for the weekend as well, so it made it very easy to get to the slope.

Sidney, Kimber and I all attended ski school. Sidney was in a separate class from us, which was a good thing. We probably would have spent most of our time telling her to stand up and stop eating snow rather than learn anything ourselves. Not that we learned a lot anyway, but more on that in a minute. Sidney did well in her class and seemed pretty comfortable on the skis. Her favorite parts of class were making a "pizza slice" (snowplowing) and the "Ski School Boogie" (a form of the "Hokie Pokie").

As far as the adult ski school, well, we hurt in places we haven't hurt in for a long time. I am convinced that learning to ski definitely gets harder with age. Kimber did better than I did, mostly because she figured out how to stop. I got the award for the most dramatic fall, but did not injure myself or anyone else in the process. I did learn how to turn, and the instructor reluctantly told me that since I couldn't seem to get myself stopped snowplowing, just to turn and stop instead. He said he had never told anyone that before, and I was glad I was able to give him a unique experience. After that, I was able to relax and enjoy it, and I didn't fall anymore. We will see how the ski trip in March goes. I still don't think we are ready to invest money in our own ski equipment.

Things are going well with my play practice. We have rehearsals tonight and tomorrow, and the first performance is Thursday night. I have most of my lines memorized, and feel like I should be okay by Thursday (I hope!)

For those that have been thinking about contributing to the Haiti Relief effort, I can suggest a way. A friend and classmate from nursing school, Melody Webster, is going down with a group called MercyWorks. Here is the link to the organization: www.worldwidevillage.org. If anything, please pray for them and their efforts, and for the people affected by this tragedy.

Finally, an update on our forecast. The snow that arrived just before Christmas is still here, though it has turned to ice in many places. We are forecast to get an inch or so of snow tonight, but the temperatures warm to a balmy 6C (43F) over the next couple of days, with about an inch of rain as well. Thursday is to be clear and breezy. Hopefully that will be enough to get rid of the snow. Since Stavanger Commune has gone through their next three years of budget for snow clearing (and the streets are still bad in places), I am sure everyone will be happy to see it gone!

Elephants, Poike Pot, and Christmas By The Pool

After returning from Cape Town, we went the next day to the Elephant Sanctuary near Pretoria. We had tried to go previously, but didn't quite make it in time for the tour (see the previous post re: monkeys.) This time we made it with almost an hour to spare!


Upon arriving, we saw two little meerkats running around in the parking lot. I mention this because these are my favorite animals from Africa. We checked in at reception and went out to wait for the tour to start.


The reserve was set up to save elephants that are "problem" elephants, prior performing elephants and elephants that may have been nearly exported illegally. They currently have five elephants - two young males just entering sexual maturity, two females, one of which is 17 years old (the matriarch of the herd), and one bull elephant that is just being introduced to the herd.


The experience is designed to be very interactive with the elephants, as well as informative. Participants get to start by observing the elephants, then feeding them, then are presented with an informational program and tour of the facility. Everyone then goes out to the forest to really get in touch with these beautiful animals.




When I say "get in touch," I mean it. The guides take you to an elephant and you touch and observe almost every part of the animal. Participants are then treated to an "elephant kiss" as you can see by the photos of Kimber and Sidney.


Finally, everyone gets to go back and "walk" the elephants. The elephant latches onto your fingertips with the "finger" on the end of their trunk and follows you around the track. Some people ride the elephants, but that seemed just a little too cheesy.


One issue that was brought up is the difficulty in reintroducing the elephants into the wild. Populations have exploded, and each individual elephant requires a substantial amount of land to graze. Even the largest reserve in South Africa, Kruger Animal Reserve, is currently at almost double its capacity for elephants. Another issue is that elephants, being very intelligent animals, may not want to stay where they are taken and have been known to return to the place they came from within a few weeks.


We relaxed a bit the next day and did a little shopping in preparation for Christmas. Bill invited some friends over for an impromptu Christmas Eve party, and we prepared a poike pot by the fire. Poike pots are small cast iron cauldrons in which meat, veggies, wine, and almost anything else can be dumped in and set by an open fire for stew. Bill chose to add about 20 Thai chilies, so the stew was a little spicy, but very tasty. Sidney and Keti were playing in the pool, and as they got cold, they would go over and warm themselves by the fire.

We did the stuff everyone does for the kids on Christmas Eve after the kids went to bed, and Bill started smoking a pork shoulder roast for Christmas dinner. It smoked all night and part of the next morning, but more on that in a minute.


The kids got up around 7 a.m. and started in on presents. Regina was very good to help us out in making sure Sidney was well represented with the other two kids. Sidney had a great time, as did Rielly and Keti and the adults, and the gifts were all well received. After filling themselves with junk food and breakfast, the kids went to play with their toys.


After much preparation by Regina and Bill, Christmas dinner was served on the patio. The weather was beautiful (as it was for our entire trip), the food was excellent, and the girls ate in their bathing suits! South Africa is definitely not the place to go if you want snow for Christmas!





Kimber and I spent the later part of the afternoon packing. The next morning, Bill and I took it easy with the kids while Kimber and Regina went for pedicures. Oh, yes - Sidney also had her first motorcycle ride! Bill took her for a ride around the block. The helmet was almost too heavy for her and she sort of just laid down on the gas tank for most of the ride, but she enjoyed it! In the afternoon, we finished the last minute preparations for our departure and headed to the airport.


It was very sad for us to leave our friends, and Sidney said she especially would miss Keti.

Our flight took off into a thunderstorm, and the lightning was very cool to see as we rose through the clouds. We flew all night to Frankfurt, where we spent our five hour layover in the business lounge eating and resting, then flew into Stavanger.


Imagine our surprise when we landed to this white landscape! It apparently snowed all day on the 23rd and part of the day on the 24th. It hasn't been warm enough to melt much, and the forecast doesn't have temperatures above freezing for the next week. I can feel my tan disappearing by the second!

Thanks to Bill, Regina, Rielly and Keti for their warm hospitality and friendship during our visit. We love you guys!