Norway - Oslo and Veierland

Norway - Oslo and Veierland

We have been home (in the US) for several weeks. I have procrastinated the last few Germany blogs because I feel like writing them will be the real end of our life in Germany.

Before we left Germany, we had the opportunity to visit with the family of one of our exchange students in Norway.

There are several ways to get to Norway from Germany, it really isn't very far. We opted for the most entertaining mode of transportation - the Color Line Ferry. From the ferry, we had an excellent view of the Fjords as we travelled up the coast.

In Oslo, Siri met us at the ferry and brought us home to a traditional dinner. Two items on the menu really stuck out.  First was caviar in a tube. It does not look like caviar in the fish egg sense, but rather like a pale salmon colored paste squeezed out of a toothpaste like tube. Sound appetizing? I took a piece of bread, perhaps with a bit of mustard, added a slice of boiled egg and topped it off with a line or two of caviar. I would never have tried it on my own, but it was delicious.

The second item on the table I will never forget was the brown cheese, or Brunost. This goat cheese is processed in a way that the natural sugars in the goat milk caramelize. If sunshine was cheese, this is what it would taste like. We ate it on bread with sliced strawberries.

The next morning we went to downtown Oslo for the grand tour. We met up with Magnus and Jade at the Opera house. It is meant to represent an Iceberg rising from the sea.

After walking around town a bit we stopped at a church where a memorial was being made for all of the people who were killed in the terror attack that happened in July of 2011. We were in Oslo just before the anniversary.

Many people don't realize the  deep effect this had on the people of Norway. This is a very small country with a population that is equally small. Most people in Norway were related to someone or knew someone affected in the bombing or shooting.

Most of the offices that were bombed survived because the bomber did not know that the underground parking garage would absorb most of the blast. The buildings have not yet been completely repaired.

We continued walking around Oslo and came across this fun sculpture.

The next day we visited the Viking Museum. This is an actual viking ship that was unearthed by a farmer in the early 19th century (I think). Three viking burials were found, so the museum was also filled with various viking paraphernalia.

Just down the road from the Viking Museum is the Folks Museum of Oslo. It was surprising and interesting to see how rich the history of Norway is.

Later we made our way to Frogner Park which houses the Vigeland Sculpture Arrangement. Here my son is recreating the famous Crying Baby statue.

Just as the clouds were about to to burst, we made it to the Obelisk.

The next day, after a few hours drive and a short ride on a ferry to Veierland Island, we arrived at our friends summer cabin. Cars and other motor vehicles are not allowed on the island. It was paradise on the North Sea. We all spent hours rowing boats, fishing for crabs, hiking and spending time together.

Paton is making my viking ancestors proud by braving the frigid waters of the North Sea.

Before oil was discovered, much of Norway's economy was based on Whaling and fishing. This fountain/monument commemorates the dangerous life of the Whalers.

Too soon it was time embark again on the ferry and return to Germany. This time, we were able to snag seats at the music show.

Being able to spend some time with our friends in Norway was a highlight of our year in Europe. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to visit with them. It is truly amazing see the boy that lived with us for a year as a high school student grow into such a wonderful young man.

In the end, this was a perfectly timed trip. I had already packed all of our suitcases, so when we returned to our apartment we could relax and spend time with our friends. We only had one last week to say good bye to Munster, but that is a story for next week.

Time is almost up!

Just a few more weeks till we go home.

Now that we are well into July we have to earnestly prepare to go back to Virginia. The last few weeks have been full of graduations, parties and good-byes. On July 2, our youngest son's friends threw him a small party for his birthday and gave him a really cool remote control helicopter.

The next day I went on a walking tour of Münster led by someone from the Uni who studies German women's history. One interesting tidbit was the fact that a couple of hundred years ago one of the churches here in Münster unwittingly performed the first same-sex wedding.  Of course as soon as the couple was found out, he was burned to death and she was cast out of society, never to be heard from again.

As we were walking, we came across this tree which had Red Bulls tied to it, supplied by the student organization - would you guess that we are in the final weeks of school?

A few days later we travelled to back to Hannover to see the graduation of one of our exchange daughters. It was our last trip to Hannover and we were sad to say good bye to our friends there that have been instrumental in making our time here so wonderful.

We also finally made it to the Münster Zoo. We have had tickets all year, but wanted to wait till we had a nice day to use them. Since we ran out of time, we just had to use them and hope we were not rained on (we were, but not too much).

One of the restaurants had "American" style hot dog which included mustard, ketchup, French fried onions, lettuce, and pickles.

One of the many playgrounds at the zoo had this really tall slide.

We also found this awesome swing that swings like a dragon.

In one of the bird areas you could walk inside and feed the birds.

Even though we are in the middle of July, the temperature is in the 60's and it has been raining. We saw this wolf huddled against a fence.

The zoo is very proud of their dolphins. It is amazing how many animals this zoo has even though Münster itself is not a big city.

I am not exactly sure what this playground attraction is, but my son sure had a great time!

We have seen this style of swing a few times - fun for kids of all ages! 

We have created a life for ourselves here that we are really going to miss. Next week we'll take a trip to Norway via the ferry, then back home for a few days before we leave for our other home.

Quick Visit in Barcelona

Barcelona

Russell wrote a paper that was accepted at a conference in Barcelona. We figured that we should take this opportunity for all of us to see another part of Europe. Even though the boys would miss several days of school, we thought it would be worth it since we don't know when another chance will come along.

We arrived very early in the morning and decided to walk around for a while since we couldn't check in for several hours.

We took a bus from the airport to the central area of the city and then walked down to the harbor. We walked along the dock for a bit and then found what we were looking for.

Before going to Barcelona, I searched for things to do with kids. One thing I had in mind was the the aquarium. Many smaller tanks are spread out through the building, but the most impressive part is the moving walkway that takes you through a glass tunnel where the sea life swims all around you.

After the aquarium we stared to make out way to the hotel when we came across this art installation. Can you guess the artist?  

Roy Lichtenstein

In Germany, we always pack water with us when we go somewhere because there are almost never drinking fountains. Do you see that statue of the women holding up the lovely roof? That is actually a drinking fountain.

One of the most famous sights to see in Barcelona is Sagrada Familia. This was Gaudi's life work. He never expected to finish it in his lifetime supposedly saying that his client had all the time in the world. He started working on the Project in 1883, and it is still covered in scaffolding. The funding comes from private donation.

We would have liked to go inside, but the lines were incredibly long. We did walk all the way around it, even running across a stage where groups of dancers performed traditional dances.

Our next stop was Park Guell.  The park was pretty crowded as well, but it is so large that we could always look at something interesting. Barcelona starts at the sea and then goes up to the mountains. The park is situated in a part of the city that starts rising to the mountains. We were able to see all the way to the Mediterranean.

Art fills the park alongside nature

Hungry for some lunch, we made our way down the hill and came across this Busker.

And then we had lunch! Paella!

The next day the Russell was busy so we were on our own for the morning and afternoon. We stopped in Sarria-Sant Gervasi, a part of Barcelona know for its sweet shops.

We stopped in a lovely church we saw. 

Finally, it was time to head back to our hotel. I had been searching in vain for spanish hot chocolate. None of the cafes we ate in had it. We stopped in a coffee shop around the corner from hotel and finally found some. It was so good - almost like pudding. We went back the next day - and they were had none left!

The next day we went to Barcelona's science museum, CosmoCaxia. I was not sure what we were in for.The entry cost was only 8 Euros for the whole family, so I was a little nervous that it would be lame. 

I was completely wrong. If you ever have the chance to go to Barcelona, do not miss this museum.  We walked through it for 6 hours and never ran out of things to do. 

Now it is time to plan out next adventure!

Visitors and Visiting: Münster and Köln(Cologne)

Finally, Visitors!

Our time in Germany is starting to wind down, so we have been trying to make the most of our last few weeks. A few family members and a very good friend have been able to come and visit us. It was fun to show our friends/family around our little bit of Germany.

Another good thing about visitors is that you are more inclined to go on outings. We finally made it to Cologne (Köln)!  Love Locks are something we have seen in various places in Germany, but Cologne is famous for them. The lock tradition is relatively new in Cologne (less than 10 years). There is a bridge that crosses the Rhine. Safety panels, like the one below, are completely covered with locks almost the entire length of the bridge.

Directly next to the train station in Cologne is the Cologne Cathedral. It reminded me very much of Notre Dame in Paris. We were in Cologne for on a religious holiday, so services were taking place. We happened to be in the square when a service let out and were able to see an impressive procession.

For a relatively small fee, you could climb the spiral steps to the top of the tower to see a bird's eye view of the city.

By taking a small detour, you could visit the bell tower, complete with gigantic bells. 

We were able to sneak in to the back of the cathedral, but they wouldn't let anyone go to the front unless they were attending the service. It is hard to appreciate how huge this Cathedral is.

Ice cream Break!

After spending a bit of time looking at Museum Ludwig, we were ready for a bit of a rest. Museum Ludwig is a fantastic modern art museum with the largest collection of Picassos in Europe.

Remember the story of the shoemaker and the elves?  Well, in Cologne those elves are called Heinzelmännchen, and they also helped finish the Cologne Cathedral. The Heinzelmännchen are especially beloved in Cologne and even have their own monument that you can see part of below.

Below, those talented elves are making sausage from scratch.

I have mentioned before that memorials of the war are sprinkled everywhere. Often, a building is left in its bombed out state while all of the buildings around it are rebuilt. This sign is in an old church. It translates to, "Waiting for the prisoners to come home".

Here is the interior, bombed out and not restored.

By the time we finished looking at the church it was time to make our way back to the train station. We stopped for just a moment at this water play feature.

The next night, some friends of ours had invited us to share a special dinner. After dropping our nephew off at the train station for his trip to Berlin, we hopped on a bus to meet our friends.

Our friends wanted to share the springtime tradition of eating Spargel (Asparagus)! Spargle is something the Germans look forward to with great anticipation. The typical way of eating Spargle is covered with hollandaise sauce and served with potatoes and a delicious smoked ham. Spargel is white rather than green. To get Spargel to be white, they cover the asparagus shoots with earth so that they don't get any sun. We also learned that there are certain farms that are better than others, and that to get the best taste, they first boil the peels, then use that water to boiled the peeled Spargel. This was so fantastic.

Be jealous! Of course, where you live it is probably warm and you can see the sun!