Catching up from Croatia

We intended to make a post before leaving Stavanger, but with the activity of the week leading up to leaving never got around to it. Kimber got back from Scotland okay, though the hotel was a bit of a let-down. Sidney and I finished up school for the term, and now are off until the Tuesday after Easter.


We had a nice visit with Jinni, who was over from the States. She brought us all kinds of goodies from the U.S., and we had a nice dinner of nachos and a good game of Ludo. Andrea was there, too, and everyone had a great time.


We had another visitor to our port before we left. The Wilma came in and dropped off a bunch of large chain. At the same time, the crane ship did a lift of two of the concrete structures they have been building on the pier next door. Cool stuff!

And now for our trip. We left Monday morning and flew through Frankfurt (4 hour layover) and on to Dubrovnik. We were quite surprised by how mountainous the landscape of the Croatian coast actually is. It almost seems that the mountains drop straight off into the Adriatic.


Our hotel is very nice, and well worth the price for the week. The room has a view of the sea and the hotel has a private beach. It is a little cool for sea swimming, but there is a pool and hot tub. It is also nice listening to the waves roll in onto the beach.

We had a nice dinner of pizza and salad (about $30 for two large pizzas, a large Greek salad, one liter of mineral water and 0.5 liter beer.) Quite refreshing both in taste and in price!


We got up this morning and, after a great breakfast buffet at the hotel, headed to the Old Town. We started out by walking the city walls (about 2 kilometers and certainly some of the most beautiful views of the old town.) One thing that impressed me most was that the old town is still very much a "living" city, with schools, apartments, people hanging out laundry, etc. It is quite a spectacular place.


This city dates to before the 12th century, and has been under many flags, including its own. It once rivaled Venice in importance as a port, and has seen such names as Ulysses, Marco Polo, Richard the Lion-Hearted, and Napoleon in the area. Modern times have brought many other celebrities, as well as conflict. Bombed during WWII as well as the more recent Croatian War of Independence, the city had rebuilt with a spirit that hides the physical scars but honors the people who died for that spirit.


The people here are very friendly, but it helps to have Sidney around. She seems to be able to get anyone to do anything, regardless of the language they speak. The hotel staff all know her name, and some of the other tourists we ran into remembered her when we saw them elsewhere. What a con!









We walked down one of the main streets in the old town to find a place for lunch.We had lunch at a cafe just across from the Orlando column, a statue erected in the 1500's to honor independence. Sidney ate several bites of my octopus salad. When I asked her what she would say if she went to an aquarium and saw an octopus, she replied "Yummmm!" Definitely not a vegetarian!







After a little more leisurely walking through the old town, we returned to our hotel. The wind picked up today and the sea was quite spectacular, so we walked down to the beach for some pictures. Afterward we went for a swim in the pool, then a relaxing evening before the adventures of the next two days.

Tomorrow, we are heading south for a day trip to Montenegro, the country just south of here. Thursday we are going into Bosnia-Herzegovina to see the city of Mostar, the meeting place of East and West and the scene of some harsh battles from the recent war.

Skiing again!

This past weekend was the Marathon Family Ski Weekend, and Kimber was one of the organizers. We went to Sauda, an area we visited early in our time here in Norway. It looks a bit different in the winter, but it was still a really nice place.

We went by ferry, which actually docked right below our apartment (the Marathon office is just on the other side of our building, so it was the closest the ferry could get to the office. It was a two hour boat ride to Sauda, and the ferry delivered us right below the hotel. After a one minute bus ride up the hill a bit, we were there.


The hotel was a different one than we stayed in before, but it was quite nice. It is an older building, and the woodwork and staircases gave it quite a lot of character.

We were going to have a snow light competition the first night, but everyone was a bit tired and the weather did not cooperate, so we all just hung out in the lounge area for a while.



The next morning (after a filling buffet breakfast) we went out to ski. The weather was rainy and the snow pretty slushy, but Kimber did some downhill practice while I took Sidney over and had her practice going down some smaller hills to build her confidence. I did not ski since it was easier to pick Sidney up without worrying about falling down myself. We took the early bus back, since Sidney was pretty worn out, and Kimber went for a walk while I stayed with Sidney.


Saturday evening was the Snowman contest. There were three families competing, and Sidney and I built ours for fun. That is where Sidney's quote about me not having an idea came from. The snow was a bit slushy, but it held together well for building.

Saturday night was the Pub Quiz, which Kimber and I both organized. There were four teams of mostly Brits, and it was a pretty good time (though I admit I made it a little too long.) Either way, everyone had fun and we all got to socialize a bit.


We tried cross country skiing on Sunday, and the weather and snow conditions were much better. I, however, did not ski again because the bindings for my skis did not match the type of boots I have. It worked out well, though, as I pretty much walked along with Sidney to pick her up when she fell down (and pick Kimber up, too, once.) Sidney actually got the hang of it and did pretty good, though she is still a little afraid of going down the hills.


All the kids seemed to have a really good time during the weekend. There was a kid's activity coordinator Saturday night, and they played games, made masks and ceramic mugs, and all got conned by Sidney. Somehow she is able to wrap older girls around her finger.


We took the ferry back to our apartment, which was really nice to be able to just walk upstairs from being dropped off. Along the way, we saw some nice scenery, as well as the big crane ship we saw last year. It is amazingly big. Notice how the crane sticks up into the clouds. (Okay, the clouds were pretty low, too, but it is still a really big ship!)



Sunday night saw our first soccer game of the season. Since there is construction on the pier the ferries used last year, they all dropped off either under our building or at the building just across from us. It was entertaining to watch.

The Vikings won 4-0, and the game was televised. Having the stadium behind us gave us a clue as to when they would score, since there was a 10 second delay between the live event and the broadcast. Kimber and Sidney were both asleep before the game was over, but I stayed up until the end.

Kimber is off to Aberdeen, Scotland, until Wednesday. She is staying at a hotel that is a converted 19th century mansion. The mansion itself is a replica of a castle. She took the camera, so maybe we will post a picture or two before we head off to Dubrovnik next week.

Spirit of St. Patrick's

When living in a foreign country, it is sometimes difficult to get into the spirit of a holiday the same way you do when living in the culture you were raised in. Some holidays are not celebrated in the same way. Some holidays are on different dates. Some just don't exist at all.

Take Mother's Day as an example. Norwegians celebrate Mother's Day on Valentine's Day (February 14th.) Brits, who make up the largest part of the ex-pat population here, celebrated Mother's Day this past weekend. We Americans don't celebrate it until May (oddly, about the same time as Norwegians have their National Day on May 17th.)

Since there is so much cultural confusion with holidays (and don't even get me started on the differences in how we celebrate Easter and the way it is celebrated here), it is sometimes difficult to get into the true "spirit" of the holiday. Kind of like celebrating Christmas in the summer weather of South Africa - it just sometimes doesn't "feel" like the holiday.

St. Patrick's Day is usually a fun little holiday, especially for those of us with Irish heritage. There doesn't seem to be a lot of awareness of the holiday here, though. I was probably the only person at school (besides Sidney) wearing green because it was St. Patrick's Day today. Many of the Norwegians in Kimber's office didn't even know that today was St. Patrick's Day.

Yet there was some saving grace to the day. "Spirit of the Dance" was in town to perform, and Kimber and I were able to go see the show. It was kind of nice to go on St. Patrick's Day and watch some Irish dancing and listen to a little Irish music. The performance was impressive (especially the rapid costume changes!) Since it was a school night, Sidney stayed home with Andrea, one of Kimber's co-workers, and was in bed by the time we arrived home.

And just a little bit more about the day - I was able to watch a few minutes of the St. Patrick's Day parade from Savannah, Georgia, on the CNN website this afternoon before we left. Unfortunately, there was no green beer to be had here!

Another ship in our log

Yesterday morning we were greeted by the sight of a new visitor to our port. The Stadiongracht is a general purpose cargo vessel registered in the Netherlands. She arrived yesterday to deliver eight large cylindrical objects (two can be seen on her deck in the picture.) The cylinders have "FPSO" painted on the end of them, so they will most likely be part of a Floating Production Storage and Offloading ship. Kimber's company's ship, Alvheim, is just such a vessel. It would be interesting if they were building one of these ships here to be able to see the construction process.

Speaking of construction, the pier project next door is coming along. They have just about finished pouring the new support structure within the old pier foundation. They are also erecting a new crane on the pier itself. I am beginning to think the crane is the national bird of Norway with all of them that I see around here!


And on another note, we helped Sidney out with a little project from school. Her school is trying to be certified as a "Green" school, so they are doing an "Eco-Week" next week. The kids were asked to make an outfit out of recycled materials, so we made Sidney a dress out of a map (which we seem to have tons of with all our traveling!) We still need to make her matching hat, but I think it is pretty cute. Unfortunately, it is not very functional, since she can't sit in it and has to shuffle when walking to keep from tearing it.

Coastal Living

We have enjoyed living near the coast for several reasons. One is that we like going to the beach in the summer. Even though the water in the North Sea is rarely above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, Sidney and I will do a little wading (until we turn purple or numb). We also enjoy seeing ships and lighthouses. We added another item to our list yesterday - coastal hiking.



We went south to Egersund and then drove north along the coast until we reached a little town called Orre. We parked and hiked out to the shore, then around on some of the hills and beaches in the area. It wasn't much of a hike for distance or technical difficulty, but the beaches and coves were very nice. Sidney and I might take the train down and try the beaches there this summer, as there were several little "hidden" coves with nice sand and good surf.






We also explored some historical sights. There was a little cemetery and chapel which was quite scenic. It is located on the site of a previous church that dated back to the 1300's, and there are several victims of a famous Russian shipwreck in the 1800's buried here. Some of the crosses also showed signs of having been used for target practice during WWII.


The Germans had fortifications in the area during the war. These are anti-tank defenses, known as "Hitler Teeth". These, combined with ditches and artillery batteries were part of the German defenses in the area.




Another site of German defenses was at this lighthouse. The Germans had several bunkers as well as a coastal artillery battery at this location. And while we did not explore it completely, the area also is the location of several German tunnel complexes.

Part of the reason we didn't explore as much was that the weather is doing some crazy things right now. For example, today I went fishing with a few people from Kimber's office. One minute it would be nice and sunny, and the next we would be pelted with ice and snow. We didn't fish for very long. That is what we get for believing the weather forecast!







We had a visitor at the port beside the apartment the other night. It was a heavy lift and cargo ship known as the Tramper of Big Lift Shipping.. It is actually listed on a web site called uglyships.com because of its unusual appearance and lack of an aft deck.

Next weekend is our ski trip with Kimber's office. While we are happy to see the snow melting in Stavanger, we hope it is sticking around at least a little longer up in the mountains. Otherwise, we will all spend a lot of time at the hotel!

And finally, only two weeks until we depart for Dubrovnik, Croatia, for Easter. We are also going to try to make some side trips to Mostar, Bosnia, and somewhere in Montenegro as well. We will have lots of stuff for the blog then, I am sure.

They can't clear the snow from the sidewalks, but...

...they can clear the snow off the soccer field. Well, at least this is a sign that Spring is coming and the team is going to start practicing again. This also shows what an unusual weather year that we have had here this year - that the snow would have to be cleared off the field mechanically before practices could begin.

The snow has also been one of Sidney's favorite things to play in this winter. Here you see her making a snow angel. She and the other kids at school slide around the playground like little penguins, and the size of the snowballs they create after a fresh snow - they can barely roll them!













But, alas, Spring will soon arrive, and to mark its coming, we took our first hike of the year today. We went up Dalsnuten, the mountain across the fjord from us. The path was snow covered most of the way, but It was quite easy to do. The weather also was very nice, affording us a wonderful view from the top. It also wasn't very windy, so we were able to enjoy it without frostbite. Sidney liked coming down better than going up, primarily because she could sit on her bottom and slide quite a way down the steeper parts. Here is a 360 degree view from the top. Just click on the image to see it full size.



After Dalsnuten, we went and had a pizza (seriously the best pizza we have had in the year we have been in Norway!) and did a little shopping. We then came home and relaxed before cooking dinner. We had some duck leg/thighs, and our little carnivorous daughter loved them. She made the comment that she wanted us to "buy more duck meat" because "it is really good." She doesn't quite get that the only real reason I bought it was that it was on sale for 99 NOK a kilo, which is a very affordable price here, and not likely to be a price we see again anytime soon!

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.