tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86725925347216069302024-03-21T08:03:11.901-04:00Midnight Sun in Norway!Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-28429204599243062052015-07-13T15:04:00.001-04:002015-07-13T15:12:41.116-04:00Final wrap-upOur short trip to Scandinavia didn't seem like a short trip at all, largely because the bulk of our time was spent in such a rural place and we didn't have easy (at ALL) access to the Internet. We slept late and took a long daily nap, we drove around the place, we took hikes in a forest, out near the end of a peninsula, and in a glacier valley. The trip started badly, with SAS losing our luggage and taking way too long to get Marc's to us, which was a big problem primarily because it was very cold and we didn't have our coats or warm clothing until we finally got the suitcases.<br />
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What surprised us? A few things surprised us the most:<br />
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<b>1) The lack of fish in Norway</b>. You just can't buy fresh fish at the markets in Lyngseidet, and we were told that this is common. In the Lyngen area you just know a guy who catches them, or you catch them yourself. Magni told us with a grim expression that there are one or two corporations in Norway, now, who control the fish. Norway IS fish, fishing, fishermen (and a history of Vikings!), so this shocked us both, and I had the impression from Magni that it's a sad turn of events.<br />
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<b>2) The huge expense</b>. In many ways this trip was the polar (polar, hah, no pun intended) opposite of trips we usually take. Usually we go places where the main thing to do is visit produce and meat/fish/chicken markets, and usually those same places have extremely cheap and delicious food. On this trip, though, there were NO markets of that sort, and the food was extremely expensive. A beer at a pub in Tromso was $9, and a Burger King Whopper was $15. No exaggeration. In Copenhagen, our small breakfast of two cinnamon rolls and a cup of plain black coffee was $35. That never failed to shock us. Magni and Ole told us that the taxes are so enormous in Norway that it's hard on the people; food is taxed at 50%, for instance. One thing we'd read before we left was that we should never comment on how expensive everything is, because the Norwegians know it all too well already. And boy, is it.<br />
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<b>3) The 24-hour light.</b> I was the only one surprised by this, Marc wasn't surprised, but I was expecting that the 24-hour light would influence my ability to sleep in some way. It didn't, at all. We also thought there might be black-out curtains since we stayed in places that were set up for tourists, but there weren't any -- and we didn't need them anyway. I thought it would make it hard to sleep, to go to sleep, to stay asleep, but that didn't happen any more than it usually does for me. It <i>did </i>make it hard to understand what was going on when I'd wake up in the middle of the night. 2:30? Does that mean night or day? I had no easy cue about whether I should try to keep sleeping or go ahead and get up, but that's all. Of course we were jetlagged too, but I still thought it would influence me in some way and it didn't.<br />
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And then I hadn't realized that the fjords, those enormous, deep, long inlets from the ocean, would behave like the ocean. They would go out at low tide. They would lap the beaches, in places where there was a beach.<br />
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We were both moved by the beauty of northern Norway, and we were tickled by the 24-hour light. It was a bit surreal to see the sun in the sky at midnight, and it was pretty great not having to worry about getting back to the cabin before dark, since it was never dark. We were both surprised by the incredible infrastructure in Norway; even in the most remote places, the roads were beautiful and there were streetlights everywhere -- a necessity, we suppose, during the Polar Night.<br />
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These pictures capture my favorite moments, in random order:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK_BjtkpnSKM04VMpSXh670Cl8Uop-nQGY28jBkXlZKnKr2dnCrrRMUcg10HzlapkQHALFvi3ErkYBFVUH7QHocxC5KV9_E5u9YCiuu6I2FxFVzltQPN3AGJm7sY6XFlRsvGNDOqmJSVN/s1600/balsfjord3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoK_BjtkpnSKM04VMpSXh670Cl8Uop-nQGY28jBkXlZKnKr2dnCrrRMUcg10HzlapkQHALFvi3ErkYBFVUH7QHocxC5KV9_E5u9YCiuu6I2FxFVzltQPN3AGJm7sY6XFlRsvGNDOqmJSVN/s640/balsfjord3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the gorgeous beauty of Balsfjord -- and blue skies, which were unusual. North Norway to the T.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDI7KM7ATAE_d9PelBibYBiKKvlNudUvQPcTaWWN-2KlLwFdS82xOm4LH6mmyEdHgzN_YBq6CETBh_sawxQUoIFIaXtXFHXv5fkPjJrjswgb9XOLXwE5ozMMu-Gq808fHmh-Idc3C9kx1P/s1600/copenhagen+canal7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDI7KM7ATAE_d9PelBibYBiKKvlNudUvQPcTaWWN-2KlLwFdS82xOm4LH6mmyEdHgzN_YBq6CETBh_sawxQUoIFIaXtXFHXv5fkPjJrjswgb9XOLXwE5ozMMu-Gq808fHmh-Idc3C9kx1P/s640/copenhagen+canal7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gosh. Copenhagen. And the thrill of an accidentally great photo. :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLEJtz3tRUjZZiqAGnAA0a7rMzpR3LXNk2fNJWW5kr9x7HrrHNS1yegbMjH1k9JJ7XXbf5rloyAjG4ZMQj7cLsaUff6mRuZnzpybIF11yCOpitfxxsWndw8G651CPk6fCWfFbPG9FHayA/s1600/copenhagen+jazz+band.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFLEJtz3tRUjZZiqAGnAA0a7rMzpR3LXNk2fNJWW5kr9x7HrrHNS1yegbMjH1k9JJ7XXbf5rloyAjG4ZMQj7cLsaUff6mRuZnzpybIF11yCOpitfxxsWndw8G651CPk6fCWfFbPG9FHayA/s640/copenhagen+jazz+band.jpg" width="542" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Listening to Dixie Land Jazz in Copenhagen.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAa94RypLoc1TctQyFSWotZzLh_3u0EbvfyW1dT0tCJfUQVX9tcTK4MNcz4jDVD-7rKOIMY3turIhY-vMPfzF0lJP56b3zAcV0NRa6dRhyXPa8_oPCapY3jj0__Oe73acOxorFs7L8FPg/s1600/copenhagen+square3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIAa94RypLoc1TctQyFSWotZzLh_3u0EbvfyW1dT0tCJfUQVX9tcTK4MNcz4jDVD-7rKOIMY3turIhY-vMPfzF0lJP56b3zAcV0NRa6dRhyXPa8_oPCapY3jj0__Oe73acOxorFs7L8FPg/s640/copenhagen+square3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the beauty of a European capital, Copenhagen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBABJu0F6ZhtKAjLfi_1UlfRvBHqP0wMX-xP2E4U0s6PU7BzRpvxc_grvBVSEGeuGGh4oKL7LbCJR2ib1hZqcxaN2gWyGpHY8pl8aMTy_sqA3RGeIy2S85Qutrto5HHG1PEUkXEGQ3Eczb/s1600/lulledalen+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBABJu0F6ZhtKAjLfi_1UlfRvBHqP0wMX-xP2E4U0s6PU7BzRpvxc_grvBVSEGeuGGh4oKL7LbCJR2ib1hZqcxaN2gWyGpHY8pl8aMTy_sqA3RGeIy2S85Qutrto5HHG1PEUkXEGQ3Eczb/s640/lulledalen+river.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this beautiful river, in the gorgeous forest (below) in Lulledalen Skogssti</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwnebJSbU1UX3TnSaYQcBn7DMhuZ9GMpG4RPcpKWhX56FwbIdU7Oma4m2Z5Ob1SNFEUcWBxzWAcAgO4nmgXDCyaO8uQvERqBsM_UIApz2ogQtoZeQkeLQHhh_zWoID2u65hwVq8Fab_Z9Z/s1600/lulledalen+woods2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwnebJSbU1UX3TnSaYQcBn7DMhuZ9GMpG4RPcpKWhX56FwbIdU7Oma4m2Z5Ob1SNFEUcWBxzWAcAgO4nmgXDCyaO8uQvERqBsM_UIApz2ogQtoZeQkeLQHhh_zWoID2u65hwVq8Fab_Z9Z/s640/lulledalen+woods2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5hmhE6Yg4cchomcjrgtlv_8CIgoLN44RiuMUHyK70I1lfWFSANRiUpepYHLLpHpvw0Z77DwS2SuGnZq8hm2O-ShuMF6L6s3mzjwspmTy1VkqJYjzrkYC7p8svYG7ig2xN0LcLFEI4lzh/s1600/lyngsdalen+from+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5hmhE6Yg4cchomcjrgtlv_8CIgoLN44RiuMUHyK70I1lfWFSANRiUpepYHLLpHpvw0Z77DwS2SuGnZq8hm2O-ShuMF6L6s3mzjwspmTy1VkqJYjzrkYC7p8svYG7ig2xN0LcLFEI4lzh/s640/lyngsdalen+from+bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and then this magnificent glacial river in Lyngsdalen/Vuosvaggi</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU8GT3MwgLuI9lWtWLorloBezdGTtU077EoTaDOEbFvcaybTftXHrY4UY_NYQPKJGHUGc4TcSKqo-z-lWqvDxAJTYYPXRsp7TZ8mZEEzdWVgDQgxR-fkmP2TN9Y8rmSKyDc4WpTJU8XHT/s1600/lyngsdalen+lori+drink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU8GT3MwgLuI9lWtWLorloBezdGTtU077EoTaDOEbFvcaybTftXHrY4UY_NYQPKJGHUGc4TcSKqo-z-lWqvDxAJTYYPXRsp7TZ8mZEEzdWVgDQgxR-fkmP2TN9Y8rmSKyDc4WpTJU8XHT/s640/lyngsdalen+lori+drink.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and drinking handsful of icy cold water in the hot sun -- helped in every way by Marc</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOppMDX1SMf22xVnD_79Fyi95Pwhhyphenhyphen1iE3mdtPn8vlEIknlQm2PH_ziK7xpMIEFqmUgP0vjUNPAPzoZJB80adVQfPad6k0NXwQOwtaSm8YaEyM1y5wz4xcDHg5KduP4r5tSvEA9i83EgaY/s1600/old+stockholm+tree+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOppMDX1SMf22xVnD_79Fyi95Pwhhyphenhyphen1iE3mdtPn8vlEIknlQm2PH_ziK7xpMIEFqmUgP0vjUNPAPzoZJB80adVQfPad6k0NXwQOwtaSm8YaEyM1y5wz4xcDHg5KduP4r5tSvEA9i83EgaY/s640/old+stockholm+tree+square.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and another square, another beautiful European capital -- Stockholm this time</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExTx5wyFhTUllzjvtYPW3Cu0pNQx03nIEPCOovsRRndu882xpes8m2CXDnX6lJm2LjziWs_NYOZxBCgn1QLlJ5tuaF-CwAxNhnqhzRnDsAiOkp2ZS1ellz6ocI-WNVRvR4ieKdEgvkOSp/s1600/russelv2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExTx5wyFhTUllzjvtYPW3Cu0pNQx03nIEPCOovsRRndu882xpes8m2CXDnX6lJm2LjziWs_NYOZxBCgn1QLlJ5tuaF-CwAxNhnqhzRnDsAiOkp2ZS1ellz6ocI-WNVRvR4ieKdEgvkOSp/s640/russelv2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the rugged remote beauty of Russelv, on the tip of the Lyngen peninsula</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu42kwvSlRw1_bhl321NULt17o6Kh0jm-tTGDlaJcTVZJluvLQl90r9_gaebGY_-mUDGN-Jp_usXPmcad-3djn60Le15t4vA4ZxRDx4WWEw2XpsG8oIHfQZ0kvSTA21L1Ef3iGiP7xMffb/s1600/russelv+lori+marc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu42kwvSlRw1_bhl321NULt17o6Kh0jm-tTGDlaJcTVZJluvLQl90r9_gaebGY_-mUDGN-Jp_usXPmcad-3djn60Le15t4vA4ZxRDx4WWEw2XpsG8oIHfQZ0kvSTA21L1Ef3iGiP7xMffb/s640/russelv+lori+marc.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and being chilly and windswept together at Russelv, but at least we had our coats</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Nl0EhT4Ldmtqspc0SzPf5XyhktVU9NCATuML2xeNfqNwME_PL6gWLoDPCTU7Qze0RqZOENTHXinTNhjCh1KvPTjbcT-l6yxbZP-feXGjz9sNO-ivSdHp1iqC3LWazov7ApS-Yp1-_naY/s1600/russelv+midnight+sun2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Nl0EhT4Ldmtqspc0SzPf5XyhktVU9NCATuML2xeNfqNwME_PL6gWLoDPCTU7Qze0RqZOENTHXinTNhjCh1KvPTjbcT-l6yxbZP-feXGjz9sNO-ivSdHp1iqC3LWazov7ApS-Yp1-_naY/s640/russelv+midnight+sun2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the magic of seeing the blazing sun at midnight</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0GeRBaAf4U70nWtoMPD5eIocuqJQ9UhQQ5hQ-86A2DKUyM_3Og9dO8QB_SBrZ6sAXkMylpAp73ZuwmUpR4sLncUSppa6Wq8KofzfZB8WtMLALdmD3MVCI1H6hlsWUOdtcR93jEWCXZfu/s1600/svensby+marc+cooks2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0GeRBaAf4U70nWtoMPD5eIocuqJQ9UhQQ5hQ-86A2DKUyM_3Og9dO8QB_SBrZ6sAXkMylpAp73ZuwmUpR4sLncUSppa6Wq8KofzfZB8WtMLALdmD3MVCI1H6hlsWUOdtcR93jEWCXZfu/s640/svensby+marc+cooks2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and Marc making us lovely dinners every night in our cabin<br />
in Svensby, at Solheim Fritidsgard</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozYD06FYzBM56ItZK7_y6YeMpx3RtszeKUUehR5Szj-xc3KHCXJMA2JeTOgpnHs0yRIvAiC_RTwQGxaxjfNOSX46FIFhJ_9AKBc0P_Mm9YQIWLtMCHHW5tRWAuOvBesQmXKBYL2sDX5lE/s1600/svensby+midnight+pink3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgozYD06FYzBM56ItZK7_y6YeMpx3RtszeKUUehR5Szj-xc3KHCXJMA2JeTOgpnHs0yRIvAiC_RTwQGxaxjfNOSX46FIFhJ_9AKBc0P_Mm9YQIWLtMCHHW5tRWAuOvBesQmXKBYL2sDX5lE/s640/svensby+midnight+pink3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the soft dreamy magic of pink light at midnight, seen from our cabin in Svensby</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInO4XMGGC88n0p-HOa5_56Oy6u42UI28052cQ6aLdZtPA_pWBu-Xxgcx1Pesga55xnEPUmwQWh9omyYninFKmh7l_82XX7GrxIFeCKbzQ6_h6cWo_g1jzqR6Ea3Gt8OnTr-fBO5UnUV0R/s1600/svensby+sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInO4XMGGC88n0p-HOa5_56Oy6u42UI28052cQ6aLdZtPA_pWBu-Xxgcx1Pesga55xnEPUmwQWh9omyYninFKmh7l_82XX7GrxIFeCKbzQ6_h6cWo_g1jzqR6Ea3Gt8OnTr-fBO5UnUV0R/s640/svensby+sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the picture postcard beauty of the Lyngen Alps</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjYyS1CjRrkoESbAA4MprQHSVk_IW5i6e_b-WpxBTakaJh1nAdMPxM0PO0utstsOjHw9QOpZAo5gQ_gnsknvCBoE1lOBHn0thnAo3LuEsskZJ0S2mhrNC0gemF0M8vSg-rMUwd9ytHdKh/s1600/tromso+harbor7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjYyS1CjRrkoESbAA4MprQHSVk_IW5i6e_b-WpxBTakaJh1nAdMPxM0PO0utstsOjHw9QOpZAo5gQ_gnsknvCBoE1lOBHn0thnAo3LuEsskZJ0S2mhrNC0gemF0M8vSg-rMUwd9ytHdKh/s640/tromso+harbor7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and the charm of the Tromso harbor</td></tr>
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It was a very different kind of trip for us; we're not so much European travelers as SE Asia travelers, but it was a huge thrill to see those magnificent fjords, the glacier valleys, the rugged and beautiful landscape. We didn't interact with enough Swedish people to have any sense of them, but we did with Norwegians and Danes. The Norwegians we met were friendly and helpful and very proud of Norway, although Magni and Ole's comments about the economics of living in Norway moderated that pride just a tiny bit. But Norwegians love being Norwegians, and rightly so. They are proud of their beautiful country. They keep a bit of distance between themselves and you, but they are nonetheless friendly and helpful. (And as a cashier told us in Tromso, Norwegians love machines!) One thing that struck me was that I felt so much more free in Norway than I ever feel at home in the US, and I kept wondering about that. It seemed to stem from the way you can just go anywhere you like, there, and that left me with a feeling that people trust each other not to be terrible people. (And in fact, that trust seems very well-deserved.) It isn't that I walk around the US thinking I'm going to be murdered at any moment, but at the same time it's never a shock at all when our next big slaughter happens, so in some way it's in the very far corners of my mind. But there, people just trust each other and I really <i>felt</i> that. We are fetishistic about fighting for our 'rights' but seem to have lost sight of the right to just be free and happy, and they seem to have kept the proper order of things, in my opinion.<br />
<br />
One thing I felt in Copenhagen was the easy happiness that always shows up in global happiness indexes. Like people in Amsterdam, they bike everywhere, no matter the weather. Everyone we interacted with was unhurried and easy, and I liked them very much.<br />
<br />
And so farewell, beautiful Scandinavia. I had a <b><i>wonderful</i></b> time. I will keep reading Norwegian authors, and now I'll have a better understanding of the stories and the people and the places.<br />
<br />
Next up on our travel itinerary, <a href="http://seasia5.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">a return to SE Asia</a> -- Vietnam and Thailand in November.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-55263227565894104472015-07-13T14:18:00.000-04:002015-07-13T15:34:32.447-04:00Copenhagen the beautifulWe didn't have much time in Copenhagen -- two nights and one full day -- but we made the most of it. The Copenhagen airport, first of all, is so fancy! (And it merits saying, here, that there is free wifi all over the place except in the US, where it's just another way to make a bit of money off people. But everywhere else, there is free wifi in the airports, and at coffee shops and restaurants, and many public spaces.) Baggage claim in Copenhagen is very high tech; there are electronic signs indicating how many minutes it will be before the bags from each flight arrive. It was fifteen for us, so Marc did a bit of scouting to figure out the situation with buying a ticket for the trains. I wish Newark would institute the same kind of electronic notification at their baggage claim.<br />
<br />
Anyway. So we got our bags, navigated our way through (a) figuring out which of the several different types of ticket-purchasing machines would work, (b) buying two train tickets, and (c) finding the right train. And miraculously, given who we are, we got on the right train and made it easily to our destination, Central Station in Copenhagen -- ~15 minutes on the train from the airport.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkuIrR2Wk-lVa0_FKNWlWXLggBmoTgHQv3IjTHGaSShnPlZAdqbUM6Yvbh1L75vDVxaUtiG9-NA8EReRNEaLbKvrUDR3I9bDZxb0gbGkndgrRUB3BMqtSoSbtnjEsKtFx7WFR9RH8qhCy/s1600/copenhagen+central+station+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCkuIrR2Wk-lVa0_FKNWlWXLggBmoTgHQv3IjTHGaSShnPlZAdqbUM6Yvbh1L75vDVxaUtiG9-NA8EReRNEaLbKvrUDR3I9bDZxb0gbGkndgrRUB3BMqtSoSbtnjEsKtFx7WFR9RH8qhCy/s640/copenhagen+central+station+back.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">from the back -- where all the trains come into the station</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1iXXlh9lm-QxMlo5snBtND5tDaSIXLU7URGOSPyX53tAvRid7p5XZUO1-YspKxgnBRVMwCfsX87-xOdmKVJrbhvmP_IeWQUcItRVzOuiT3gxz5s7jdar2bqfl5DMolMnLgr6COTUktPN/s1600/copenhagen+central+station+front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN1iXXlh9lm-QxMlo5snBtND5tDaSIXLU7URGOSPyX53tAvRid7p5XZUO1-YspKxgnBRVMwCfsX87-xOdmKVJrbhvmP_IeWQUcItRVzOuiT3gxz5s7jdar2bqfl5DMolMnLgr6COTUktPN/s640/copenhagen+central+station+front.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">such a magnificent building, with turrets, even</td></tr>
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Our hotel was a very short walk from the station, good planning trip planner! It was a semi-fancy boutique hotel, with all-organic everything, including a big basket of organic apples on the floor by the front door, free for the taking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAerjmV0VFmskvJsrZwHf2Sb5PWRc5g4Rp_Zmt7tbyFnmdCtV8ICue5V-3jjhmrdZgvYwKUr7R5aVebU24FDqL4lE7efBB7nKERf4d9xXXBbIM2AOtSa75MHEfXpJpZ4b866ktv9tbpBL/s1600/copenhagen+hotel+axel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjAerjmV0VFmskvJsrZwHf2Sb5PWRc5g4Rp_Zmt7tbyFnmdCtV8ICue5V-3jjhmrdZgvYwKUr7R5aVebU24FDqL4lE7efBB7nKERf4d9xXXBbIM2AOtSa75MHEfXpJpZ4b866ktv9tbpBL/s640/copenhagen+hotel+axel.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the front of our hotel -- Axel Guldsmeden</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCt745ftNatSj2yyiOacznbkOaDjEI5z4A-DXmQiNBoC7opvfmRSOTSqjgtV1k1oeFDOl14xQaZCN6lgnx5XFLtcTumBctOrdvSMSyWZkfJ-YFC5QH-6pOBIatBtSYE1Pm9ZXjvkX98jG/s1600/copenhagen+lounge+hotel+axel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCt745ftNatSj2yyiOacznbkOaDjEI5z4A-DXmQiNBoC7opvfmRSOTSqjgtV1k1oeFDOl14xQaZCN6lgnx5XFLtcTumBctOrdvSMSyWZkfJ-YFC5QH-6pOBIatBtSYE1Pm9ZXjvkX98jG/s640/copenhagen+lounge+hotel+axel.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the lobby area -- furs for fancy lounging, I guess</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXoi4EbZgU16M5juI68ED5aC6wRtDxBl2xyDRU6qo4kd61ahTugE4K3Dgb8hnhUnPnsGGfJp_428ncFyeSwNdBwGhg8eL0aLG5cwdiTugn0ifLiD7D4gFfJUqSx7Yc0AtWrVoTm3npC3qS/s1600/copenhagen+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXoi4EbZgU16M5juI68ED5aC6wRtDxBl2xyDRU6qo4kd61ahTugE4K3Dgb8hnhUnPnsGGfJp_428ncFyeSwNdBwGhg8eL0aLG5cwdiTugn0ifLiD7D4gFfJUqSx7Yc0AtWrVoTm3npC3qS/s640/copenhagen+school.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a school across the street -- sturdy old Danish architecture</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH5sHRkctbJpwyr_S3NTk6qLNGVOPm25zpeZjDNIIyhqHah5lq7oD7Hn6mdoLIxxTZbAwbXW2tM-2K8qf39qcR81Y-pVNDTZuyNA4wy2LxDPyMLLfNntbu8h4ejPiG4rmDrDgQ8KoiHmm/s1600/copenhagen+our+corner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhH5sHRkctbJpwyr_S3NTk6qLNGVOPm25zpeZjDNIIyhqHah5lq7oD7Hn6mdoLIxxTZbAwbXW2tM-2K8qf39qcR81Y-pVNDTZuyNA4wy2LxDPyMLLfNntbu8h4ejPiG4rmDrDgQ8KoiHmm/s640/copenhagen+our+corner.jpg" width="498" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">on the corner -- I'd have loved to see the lights atop that building lit up,<br />
but we never did</td></tr>
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Unfortunately, the wifi was entirely unreliable when it was even available, and it was hot in the room, and there was no hot water in the sink. But the location was so great it was fine. The afternoon was very windy, and cold ("We prefer to call it 'fresh,'" said the guy at the front desk) so I wrapped my scarf around my neck and put on a coat and we headed out for dinner at <a href="http://fiskebaren.dk/en/" target="_blank">Kodbyens Fiskebaren</a>, a place recommended by the 'we call it fresh' guy.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SNpfjaMNrRE2X6WkkLZ48XvjrF38Ptk6Ntjylpd7PHDgNtXDTMpxkCAq9O9kmm7N-C-Gc9nix6cA0C0Xx1u_U11EhC-ucTWhSD2TuolEnNB6-euIX9ahP03wH7IdyeRiXdXUFwWTudEj/s1600/copenhagen+bread+butter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SNpfjaMNrRE2X6WkkLZ48XvjrF38Ptk6Ntjylpd7PHDgNtXDTMpxkCAq9O9kmm7N-C-Gc9nix6cA0C0Xx1u_U11EhC-ucTWhSD2TuolEnNB6-euIX9ahP03wH7IdyeRiXdXUFwWTudEj/s640/copenhagen+bread+butter.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bread too salty, and unusual whipped butter to start</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq1-w1hzBM91fZQKcc5DJZ5OljpPJeb4RFnKSx3HmOWIZYiclFG-kI6PDNtyz4LkHeMFtIaoBlUX38V-pU0im_pnXI4roJ_Y925C1tuW-vz0h06R_CPqjkHTEHINID7pmML_bjBaDgTm29/s1600/copenhagen+cabbage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="616" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq1-w1hzBM91fZQKcc5DJZ5OljpPJeb4RFnKSx3HmOWIZYiclFG-kI6PDNtyz4LkHeMFtIaoBlUX38V-pU0im_pnXI4roJ_Y925C1tuW-vz0h06R_CPqjkHTEHINID7pmML_bjBaDgTm29/s640/copenhagen+cabbage.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we shared this cabbage, which sat atop mashed potatoes and was accompanied by parsley sauce<br />
(the small green blobs -- VERY good)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSa9xvKMEb-WNbjAhUudAtbYyl5B1Z1v_L7sb4jqbYLuoPuks00qOEHYGIk7j1KpHS80FPs_dHdiClDnEXMyz8sNeOg8gz1nhxQWb40veMVZYf0JERsXdYJftfWZ7YOWIPiouC2ZAIVUIK/s1600/copenhagen+fish+and+chips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSa9xvKMEb-WNbjAhUudAtbYyl5B1Z1v_L7sb4jqbYLuoPuks00qOEHYGIk7j1KpHS80FPs_dHdiClDnEXMyz8sNeOg8gz1nhxQWb40veMVZYf0JERsXdYJftfWZ7YOWIPiouC2ZAIVUIK/s640/copenhagen+fish+and+chips.jpg" width="548" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a "medium plate" -- the best fish and chips I've ever had, and in the foreground<br />
that's some kind of mustard and horseradish accompaniment</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVsDuMy-32xvAxnNCNMvZMVA2WB90y4aXO8pyQhw4nZbpsx7Mh9dSavDYocfmFXJjjVIzqNLwqFLfrE9hgqnro6fdXw4ELOWphMHRmXpJyVnOUne-etI6PWVPLpNJh5a1OekAejXH6_GH/s1600/copenhagen+mullet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVsDuMy-32xvAxnNCNMvZMVA2WB90y4aXO8pyQhw4nZbpsx7Mh9dSavDYocfmFXJjjVIzqNLwqFLfrE9hgqnro6fdXw4ELOWphMHRmXpJyVnOUne-etI6PWVPLpNJh5a1OekAejXH6_GH/s640/copenhagen+mullet.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc's seared mullet, with radish ribbons on top and a lovage sauce, SO good</td></tr>
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We started with "snacks," which was a small plate of four deep-fried cod cubes, extremely delicious and presented in a newspaper cone, and two pieces of super crispy fried fish skin. We were both surprised that I ate that, but it was very good. The wait staff were all super skinny young people dressed in black and sporting tattoos -- they'd have fit easily in Austin. And the music? Benny Goodman, <i>Stomping at the Savoy</i>, which made me think of my kids when they were little because they loved that.<br />
<br />
The next morning we took a canal boat tour to give us the biggest bang for our buck, time-wise, and we're so glad we did. We got to see the highlights of the city -- the parts that front the canals, anyway -- and learn a bit about the place too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz04sMwj9Km2Iz-ckQu867_ZgUlvXBwDXA_OhiZpD9DBYLgeYoW3ZWPvHcVsm0Of46QIXd_WmVlzqLfCIZKaPshwuiZuFNNIC6czobUc7PfTKvYsgOIAB95VW0pBv7WezDKNJe4ZC6FyOS/s1600/copenhagen+boat+dock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz04sMwj9Km2Iz-ckQu867_ZgUlvXBwDXA_OhiZpD9DBYLgeYoW3ZWPvHcVsm0Of46QIXd_WmVlzqLfCIZKaPshwuiZuFNNIC6czobUc7PfTKvYsgOIAB95VW0pBv7WezDKNJe4ZC6FyOS/s640/copenhagen+boat+dock.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">here's where we caught the boat -- such a leafy, beautiful place Copenhagen is</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqfxohdPlENHRR96gKKPaXDyF66tOReiIIsSBEuVAkmUMjYP9QS0PX6vuj6E_lpnb-Fq0QRv6kcoefG1chBzAV2JlFo3yuArGuD6tqunFjHynTp5_wHcKsvQeqMue_RKWvCjZ7dJ8ewxr/s1600/copenhagen+canal4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqfxohdPlENHRR96gKKPaXDyF66tOReiIIsSBEuVAkmUMjYP9QS0PX6vuj6E_lpnb-Fq0QRv6kcoefG1chBzAV2JlFo3yuArGuD6tqunFjHynTp5_wHcKsvQeqMue_RKWvCjZ7dJ8ewxr/s640/copenhagen+canal4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the new harbor, carved out by some king, which one I've forgotten by now</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgST2hpgCI_LbeABPZZIgT1fQa8gPkFDWlCSLeOIo_WJX7zvij2WY5HdulxiZm5jBNdHn548CD1Kj7aqVUs4hCr1_BUAL-Zojq6ZFjuqRi59OPGuQX8D7BuhFueg7AA9SVbcqsjYiuynJEv/s1600/copenhagen+canal5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgST2hpgCI_LbeABPZZIgT1fQa8gPkFDWlCSLeOIo_WJX7zvij2WY5HdulxiZm5jBNdHn548CD1Kj7aqVUs4hCr1_BUAL-Zojq6ZFjuqRi59OPGuQX8D7BuhFueg7AA9SVbcqsjYiuynJEv/s640/copenhagen+canal5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">but he loved the look of Amsterdam, so that's what he went for</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRc8e5hLVnSXDvT-MpblmwU33G5nfuAD0n_EKInCmHBPuUkiYIDF3xXQp8h_KMBT2fvHPGRRABRzJJpHmhGl1LMit7LpIFrX92ieqfOX0Q77-gxf0lwuWHpK70Zl93qNDcOTp34Lw6Q5hF/s1600/copenhagen+dragon+tail+spire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRc8e5hLVnSXDvT-MpblmwU33G5nfuAD0n_EKInCmHBPuUkiYIDF3xXQp8h_KMBT2fvHPGRRABRzJJpHmhGl1LMit7LpIFrX92ieqfOX0Q77-gxf0lwuWHpK70Zl93qNDcOTp34Lw6Q5hF/s640/copenhagen+dragon+tail+spire.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the spire there on the copper-topped building is made of four dragon's tails -- and this building<br />
(coincidence, they wonder?) has never burned down, unlike the one next to it which burned three times</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qOeTcidKOqp0OeklK32HmnQDNxQXGDlRXYAJqYMQ7M5qk429QEshDswUY-hAQHVhPtyHFAL1jhNwjKhfNtBEzFJdkOGU-mrcuAhqEzTmGDXELN1KSlc5_yLo9HHqvnUNcGFjyrIFdV5U/s1600/copenhagen+drawbridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qOeTcidKOqp0OeklK32HmnQDNxQXGDlRXYAJqYMQ7M5qk429QEshDswUY-hAQHVhPtyHFAL1jhNwjKhfNtBEzFJdkOGU-mrcuAhqEzTmGDXELN1KSlc5_yLo9HHqvnUNcGFjyrIFdV5U/s640/copenhagen+drawbridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the drawbridge went up so that sailboat could come through, while we waited.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZdX-cqI1PKBaEo2UKYsg7ryy-uyZfhWMsCPN3Vp89_UwIKMbvZn4b_cNyrg9Vhyphenhyphen-1Xp7nyVQ5oXPV-Zfm_htJMJ10ACTobxKPNNeVv2rLMlv0jrsiBq3rCLk4-uCMHvb5klIL0KcvZgF/s1600/copenhagen+lori+headache.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZdX-cqI1PKBaEo2UKYsg7ryy-uyZfhWMsCPN3Vp89_UwIKMbvZn4b_cNyrg9Vhyphenhyphen-1Xp7nyVQ5oXPV-Zfm_htJMJ10ACTobxKPNNeVv2rLMlv0jrsiBq3rCLk4-uCMHvb5klIL0KcvZgF/s640/copenhagen+lori+headache.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sudafed and a Tuborg to the rescue against my headache</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kseJmHD8g3ehwTEkwoi7DuFGluT4sHXSBaQVZw5EnzVVWO4zm2v2cmuSvTTxy_JJaVoDEj4dhwu5iZrRZwfBJ6zmSY7-rSZM2Vwb6vwhAcZuZIiF3tMqCDWVMVwhuez0Vpt1Zarh-5MK/s1600/copenhagen+oldest+brewery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kseJmHD8g3ehwTEkwoi7DuFGluT4sHXSBaQVZw5EnzVVWO4zm2v2cmuSvTTxy_JJaVoDEj4dhwu5iZrRZwfBJ6zmSY7-rSZM2Vwb6vwhAcZuZIiF3tMqCDWVMVwhuez0Vpt1Zarh-5MK/s640/copenhagen+oldest+brewery.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the oldest building we saw on the tour -- 1600s, 1634 maybe? -- a brewery, which was an important building<br />
because the navy paid its men partly in a beer ration, something like 10 liters a day. The tour guide<br />
said that wasn't as much as it sounded, because the beer was very weak -- just slightly more<br />
alcoholic than water, and in fact the alcohol was there to kill the bacteria. Yeah. Sure. :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv9YhgdFfqmiPlahsesiFNDoD9xBcIjWMkujZrUiF4zLDv_KjqrpoXbqmAskLRN4_VyHdISzx1EwnrdggP6GEduMEiSny3TgxlAkHiiFOrUnhB0cEXqlVypWZ2BTmgHoMkQJuSiYM4W7t/s1600/copenhagen+opera+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqv9YhgdFfqmiPlahsesiFNDoD9xBcIjWMkujZrUiF4zLDv_KjqrpoXbqmAskLRN4_VyHdISzx1EwnrdggP6GEduMEiSny3TgxlAkHiiFOrUnhB0cEXqlVypWZ2BTmgHoMkQJuSiYM4W7t/s640/copenhagen+opera+house.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the fancy new opera house, built and financed entirely by one rich guy who donated it to the city.<br />
it's enormous -- two football fields could fit on that roof, and it goes 5 floors below ground/water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HlI_cAXwdcKm3xqv1GhhxXNvV5ApPCBLY7ViX3D1slDT-jY8YQuXGHmiENpG549vGgDWdGShgJRojYmBf5sssuAzKRS6HbHsxGWVCA0LAwzrWg9-Fv36t0yyELkURHfDSpZ-yduaWmha/s1600/copenhagen+theater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0HlI_cAXwdcKm3xqv1GhhxXNvV5ApPCBLY7ViX3D1slDT-jY8YQuXGHmiENpG549vGgDWdGShgJRojYmBf5sssuAzKRS6HbHsxGWVCA0LAwzrWg9-Fv36t0yyELkURHfDSpZ-yduaWmha/s640/copenhagen+theater.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and this is the new theater. When it opened, the first performance, quite appropriately, was Hamlet.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvJQYiH16SXhLvLsvbvZsbAnx-hDAvWVbqeiDRHancLFG9XOJlHkifAHtOx_rbQac7UkFUS759Cvyyu5M0-uUCfyaZGGrH_UdNeLad8nSDQjioOIRAe2Fj6JeJOJqtIyjhORX6P5mMeo2/s1600/copenhagen+queen+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvJQYiH16SXhLvLsvbvZsbAnx-hDAvWVbqeiDRHancLFG9XOJlHkifAHtOx_rbQac7UkFUS759Cvyyu5M0-uUCfyaZGGrH_UdNeLad8nSDQjioOIRAe2Fj6JeJOJqtIyjhORX6P5mMeo2/s640/copenhagen+queen+house.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the queen lives in the dark-roofed mansion on the left, but I was interested in that domed roof beyond</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosC0e8JmD0yi9LWbV6xhPI6FuURS5PTc9QZUsz2VxUCv93QOV_JFzxWws7cU_4fzd71AF3MiZlcxuMpUY80iee8T-vPyzQDop9Py_Y2AxUbFpVg7jPFDFdBzur3HWAnWrqYvPeTXYgYxQ/s1600/copenhagen+standard+exferry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosC0e8JmD0yi9LWbV6xhPI6FuURS5PTc9QZUsz2VxUCv93QOV_JFzxWws7cU_4fzd71AF3MiZlcxuMpUY80iee8T-vPyzQDop9Py_Y2AxUbFpVg7jPFDFdBzur3HWAnWrqYvPeTXYgYxQ/s640/copenhagen+standard+exferry.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that Deco-styled green building used to be the terminal for the ferry to Sweden, but since they built a bridge<br />
and tunnel, the building has been converted to hold restaurants.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcVn3ATVh9_L7d4BBw_0y_FaB3I3bOwWtkcq6gq_G1QgEgs0rOQHPf5qPuDNQyMvgU-MfkfXDtG68luxPnMir31T0LHpw92RavixmVzhWIodj3eomPsfzoQ0RX6TKVQIfzM20h3TU3arx/s1600/copenhagen+stormbroden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghcVn3ATVh9_L7d4BBw_0y_FaB3I3bOwWtkcq6gq_G1QgEgs0rOQHPf5qPuDNQyMvgU-MfkfXDtG68luxPnMir31T0LHpw92RavixmVzhWIodj3eomPsfzoQ0RX6TKVQIfzM20h3TU3arx/s640/copenhagen+stormbroden.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This "storm bridge" had extremely narrow openings -- in fact, the boat barely squeaks through, less than an inch<br />
on either side. This is the bridge that determines exactly how wide and long boats on the canals can be.<br />
It was designed to limit foreigners' attacks (i.e., the Swedes) on the city.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After our boat ride, we wandered around some more and then found our way to Freetown Christiania. Squatters took over the place in 1971 and just wanted not to have to follow anyone else's rules, and they wanted to smoke all the pot and hash they wanted to smoke. The city finally just let them be after a bunch of efforts to get everyone out of there, and tourists flock there. We walked through and stopped for a batch of hummus and a shawarma sandwich.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTMbgWJYPhq9x0aNphm2FdL-Kzkxl0WV5iJhP8eiBMuhZmt0kEcmiUEn9i5j2gFBUnt6PGbpR0kHHTgqSEBZa2qSgpa4FPkX16IetP9fjKGaHYxTCMVkvdzj_vHoGJnMmYhVxt4ENIwij/s1600/copenhagen+christiania1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTMbgWJYPhq9x0aNphm2FdL-Kzkxl0WV5iJhP8eiBMuhZmt0kEcmiUEn9i5j2gFBUnt6PGbpR0kHHTgqSEBZa2qSgpa4FPkX16IetP9fjKGaHYxTCMVkvdzj_vHoGJnMmYhVxt4ENIwij/s640/copenhagen+christiania1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtu__ut_-Zu8wjk_sT5x9zUvDIvWpf6yL9OHaaQOPe8WPG3RkksVktOviQ2ydYFEZi1wzLeeOEeUGV0qHhq_iSkYRZcv8DFEXC4ZDhw4RIWK36s_w4ZECAGxUB06tEoWtBLRc2VCQAFNf/s1600/copenhagen+christiania+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKtu__ut_-Zu8wjk_sT5x9zUvDIvWpf6yL9OHaaQOPe8WPG3RkksVktOviQ2ydYFEZi1wzLeeOEeUGV0qHhq_iSkYRZcv8DFEXC4ZDhw4RIWK36s_w4ZECAGxUB06tEoWtBLRc2VCQAFNf/s640/copenhagen+christiania+house.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGuDblojqZupveDNq2avtElP4OTBVbK_r5Ph89ZnkvAnzjvuQHtLTj90ZDygmNrVxfphZDgwbDEjh4qsCJDOQdMNp5cK2o4YuBZ64GZ9HF1fEraiXk0j9v1-bFVcOnNwLWBhCun9vjWNz/s1600/copenhagen+christiania+painted+wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGuDblojqZupveDNq2avtElP4OTBVbK_r5Ph89ZnkvAnzjvuQHtLTj90ZDygmNrVxfphZDgwbDEjh4qsCJDOQdMNp5cK2o4YuBZ64GZ9HF1fEraiXk0j9v1-bFVcOnNwLWBhCun9vjWNz/s640/copenhagen+christiania+painted+wall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">exalting one drug and crying out against another.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's a big beautiful church nearby -- we stopped in to see it, too:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qISC3WPiqwA_XxUfa2R06nJOOBSfG-KX2YlNELteMiR3wxaoBrowAYMPaWo-FP9gHDfGFlLsNze8w2s_Qox4RSIdWi6nt7lXv8nPABNkhyc9mdyPpFsQ6PU_4LvJgVumF726S6Im-c4r/s1600/copenhagen+christiania+church+organ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-qISC3WPiqwA_XxUfa2R06nJOOBSfG-KX2YlNELteMiR3wxaoBrowAYMPaWo-FP9gHDfGFlLsNze8w2s_Qox4RSIdWi6nt7lXv8nPABNkhyc9mdyPpFsQ6PU_4LvJgVumF726S6Im-c4r/s640/copenhagen+christiania+church+organ.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a big, fancy organ inside -- held aloft by a pair of elephants (??)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GxYf6xAY5TOvd5tb-pxACW9Vo9zrOQr3NiD1fezn43ccrBvYOEMaiuhehMBsLu97qXheaUUfPjmMsEeBtsCttWjl9FxYkwr1gxJreSKJ0-BgHdJVwv9fvROshrz4Y2lOQ0J_JxESl0TR/s1600/copenhagen+christiania+church+spire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GxYf6xAY5TOvd5tb-pxACW9Vo9zrOQr3NiD1fezn43ccrBvYOEMaiuhehMBsLu97qXheaUUfPjmMsEeBtsCttWjl9FxYkwr1gxJreSKJ0-BgHdJVwv9fvROshrz4Y2lOQ0J_JxESl0TR/s640/copenhagen+christiania+church+spire.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and you can see the church's spire from so many parts of town -- and if you're a different<br />
kind of person than we are, you can also climb the stairs that spiral it, to the top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a rest, we did some research and found a little restaurant for our last dinner in Copenhagen -- Chez Bruno, House o' Meat (OK, La Maison du Boeuf). I had a gorgeous and so delicious vegetarian dish, and Marc had grilled tuna steaks. SO good, I especially loved mine.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQkO4IFTd3EBxTWXWIIC0CWqqwfJj-3T7ZBzn1egPuTlYN4FMu4Fy549yMQ9s5nvLEuydpkeXbWoc9mqNTJ08c4BQZXW2MstpwbceNLqRaNOgntfxqE5NVdVBe1jIZdvj6ejmPQhE18x6/s1600/copenhagen+theater+chez+bruno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQkO4IFTd3EBxTWXWIIC0CWqqwfJj-3T7ZBzn1egPuTlYN4FMu4Fy549yMQ9s5nvLEuydpkeXbWoc9mqNTJ08c4BQZXW2MstpwbceNLqRaNOgntfxqE5NVdVBe1jIZdvj6ejmPQhE18x6/s640/copenhagen+theater+chez+bruno.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">there it is, next to Det Ny Teater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORuXWlvhdck27vJnlYTqBY-WWzr61mSTHJW9v1MwBrDpv_VUOY0QgZ5YnyK5oNecOA2v30XWPsuoDsaI3OBai815xQko_AyVWmGoi9cjMYwOXR-PNP-cl0rRasdzbJ8Hg0Qiw478VWoWp/s1600/copenhagen+chez+bruno+tuna+steak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORuXWlvhdck27vJnlYTqBY-WWzr61mSTHJW9v1MwBrDpv_VUOY0QgZ5YnyK5oNecOA2v30XWPsuoDsaI3OBai815xQko_AyVWmGoi9cjMYwOXR-PNP-cl0rRasdzbJ8Hg0Qiw478VWoWp/s640/copenhagen+chez+bruno+tuna+steak.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc's grilled tuna steaks, beautifully prepared</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LPhepi3X2OJQlQIoRu3dHIqnJFXlgljvVHwchFGMj9AVrBzCpw244BfVn8-MKlVwcTaJlUlGJBpckC6VKrwUGG1pGF9vmUDQhV4OAA3GezyyiN2AhxOmpSUpdGC8lhaS4Cy1MK8Ql4R8/s1600/copenhagen+chez+bruno+vegetable+plate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LPhepi3X2OJQlQIoRu3dHIqnJFXlgljvVHwchFGMj9AVrBzCpw244BfVn8-MKlVwcTaJlUlGJBpckC6VKrwUGG1pGF9vmUDQhV4OAA3GezyyiN2AhxOmpSUpdGC8lhaS4Cy1MK8Ql4R8/s640/copenhagen+chez+bruno+vegetable+plate.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And mine -- and gosh, I wish I were eating it right now! Goat cheese and olive tapenade in phyllo, and then a<br />
spread of perfectly cooked vegetables, with some cold cucumbers and radishes for contrast. SO good.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After dinner, we walked back to the old part of the city for one last chocolate waffle (which sadly didn't actually have chocolate in it) and an ice cream cone. There was a kind of scary busker nearby so we walked on a different street and came across the sheer wonder of a Dixie jazz band playing Sweet Georgia Brown. I nearly fainted from happiness -- what a funny world, what an easy shot of bliss. Me, a Texan/New Yorker, standing in a square in Copenhagen on a warm summer Sunday night, listening to a Danish Dixie land jazz band playing Sweet Georgia Brown. Isn't that the funniest combination?? People were dancing and the night was soft and I was laugh/crying. I love that.<br />
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<br />
As we were going to sleep, there were fireworks going off in the neighborhood of the hotel for some reason we don't know. The next morning we were up and out for the train to the airport, Copenhagen to Toronto to New York. Travel days themselves are rarely fun, and that one was no exception, though nothing truly horrible happened -- and our luggage arrived with us, a newly appreciated treat.<br />
<br />
So I learned that I really love Copenhagen, which was a surprise. It's such a beautiful city, filled with lovely people who love to bike no matter the weather. There were a great many homeless people begging, I hadn't expected that. And of course it was expensive (though no match for Norway, nothing could be). We had two cinnamon rolls and one cup of coffee for $35, just to give an idea.<br />
<br />
This is one of my favorite things about traveling, the way you can find new places to love.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-78343913558823468812015-07-13T10:39:00.003-04:002016-10-07T19:29:49.066-04:00Midnight SunOur last full day in Norway was such a delight because the weather turned sunny and warm. Blue skies, just a few puffy clouds, and nice temperatures meant we didn't need to wear our coats. It also meant we finally had a chance to see the midnight sun.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our last evening I sat on the small porch to draw the mountains across the fjord,<br />
while enjoying a Norwegian beer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM9t8ykbB98oi-S8pDmINVHx417QzkPWaCTF1PeBd-WFmcp6L_yEvJ6BnxnLb3yGRQ-BJ6Umh7jakYTOaXJ1ZILc2VPZl_NSDkz_z3FYpH_N6S_xlTVoyUy9Jjpy36OCyo3PXO70-Gfph/s1600/svensby+cowherder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM9t8ykbB98oi-S8pDmINVHx417QzkPWaCTF1PeBd-WFmcp6L_yEvJ6BnxnLb3yGRQ-BJ6Umh7jakYTOaXJ1ZILc2VPZl_NSDkz_z3FYpH_N6S_xlTVoyUy9Jjpy36OCyo3PXO70-Gfph/s640/svensby+cowherder.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I heard the cow bells and glanced up to see this guy walking his cows. Later we had to step through<br />
the landmines of cow poop littering the road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When we went to pay Ole and Magni for our five days in their cabin, we had expected to do the financial transaction and be on our way; it was 8pm and we hadn't eaten our dinner yet, which we planned to do right after paying them. We walked over and Magni asked if we wanted coffee or tea, and it turned out that she had made a big plate of waffles and they wanted to sit and talk with us for a while.<br />
<br />
So we sat, we ate waffles (made with milk from their cows) with homemade jam and brown cheese -- which I ate, and it wasn't bad just kind of creamy but tasteless -- and drank coffee and talked for about an hour. We asked how many cows and sheep Ole tended (four calves and several sheep) and then I mentioned that I enjoyed the smell of the barn, the manure. Ole and Magni both laughed, and Magni said it's a romantic smell: "farm romantic." And apparently there is a reality show that's popular in Norway that's just like our show The Bachelor, but with farmers. After a round of 'speed dating,' the show spends several weeks narrowing the field to one final man or woman. Magni said it's funny because people are so ridiculous, and I said it's the same in the US. There is another reality program where contestants have to work a farm using methods from the early 1900s, and that's not a funny show because it's very hard work.<br />
<br />
They had a young man helping Ole on the farm for the summer, from Chechnya. This was his second summer with them; after the first summer he said the work was so hard he'd never come back, but he did come back after all. He sat with us and finished off all the waffles. Another man came by with some fish he'd caught, and then he sat and chatted in Norwegian with Ole and Magni for several minutes. We can't exactly figure out what Ole does; mainly he seemed to drive his tractor back and forth all day to and from the barn hauling manure, and one day he mowed the grass. The young Chechen boy seemed to finagle the sheep a bit. Perhaps he had land elsewhere that he farmed.<br />
<br />
I had such a stereotype in my mind of "Norwegian farmer" based on Garrison Keillor's "Norwegian bachelor farmers" from <i>Prairie Home Companion</i>. But Ole didn't fit that, of course. I mentioned that I'd just finished reading all four of the Knausgaard titles that have been translated into English at this point, and both Ole and Magni kind of grimaced a bit. Magni knows Yngve, Karl Ove's brother, and both of them said that Knausgaard was not liked in Norway -- which I had heard myself. Telling the family secrets, not a good Norwegian way to be. He's very American in that way, and very un-Norwegian. But then Ole started asking me if I'd read other Norwegian writers -- Ibsen? Have I read Ibsen? (Yes, I have.) "He's a dramatist, you know," Ole said. I mentioned that I'd started reading Knut Hamsun and they both approved. Nesbø, Ole asked? I will, I promised. We'd seen their enormous library when we'd go into their house to use the Internet, and it was very impressive. So yes, Ole is a Norwegian farmer who loves Ibsen and Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. I tried out my few words of Norwegian and despite it sounding to MY ear like I was pronouncing things as Ole did, he always did this kind of smirk at my pronunciation. Although both Marc and I feel socially awkward and anxious about this kind of thing, I enjoyed the conversation we had with them very much, and feel like it was such a good part of our time there.<br />
<br />
But finally, back to our cabin for Marc to make us one final dinner, and then we waited around until about 11 and headed back to Russelv for a chance to see the midnight sun. Russelv is on the tip of the peninsula so the mountains don't obstruct the horizon, and since the sun is relatively low in the sky although still quite visible, an unobstructed view is best. We'd been there on our first day, during the day, and we tried one other midnight to no avail, but this last night it all worked:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyz0bEJLwVxKplN5wgNQ3npyf7K0NoXU0Px6vMVnFXZZ0lsHLuE_URHKPfk5W7dgoBDLT5Y4Ty8QmQTvN0ROFqs6yoI_NcEJgGkxOIR0yAOxVEfinE86Eem9le0Esn7QX4IUtOVkMU4UTJ/s1600/russelv+midnight+sun2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyz0bEJLwVxKplN5wgNQ3npyf7K0NoXU0Px6vMVnFXZZ0lsHLuE_URHKPfk5W7dgoBDLT5Y4Ty8QmQTvN0ROFqs6yoI_NcEJgGkxOIR0yAOxVEfinE86Eem9le0Esn7QX4IUtOVkMU4UTJ/s640/russelv+midnight+sun2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's MIDNIGHT.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYKAwRMV7sorTU3_82DK4F2FTB4yjMd4-e_ieesxSP8a3aH7BAzLGXMeKgxpBp8PCuRx9jjowq-_Evzy_bbIBzcNlp6cYDVbppO9SR550p5daTZzchgvRO8nD_mhPpXw3_s1Nek078KqU/s1600/russelv+midnight+sun3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJYKAwRMV7sorTU3_82DK4F2FTB4yjMd4-e_ieesxSP8a3aH7BAzLGXMeKgxpBp8PCuRx9jjowq-_Evzy_bbIBzcNlp6cYDVbppO9SR550p5daTZzchgvRO8nD_mhPpXw3_s1Nek078KqU/s640/russelv+midnight+sun3.jpg" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MIDNIGHT.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrmnlFdmyLmDPEIpUV44jbScMlEc8UCY8o2z03IVgWycMQFpdjEO4rwqKn0OXRYskwSTEWFOHIX9CzTMdpJN5oK5n2tMjSbCk0fmQ645L3KykxZrFdKJ52UYuzEbqqzFc03sd-7bE7Vjn/s1600/svensby+midnight+pink3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrmnlFdmyLmDPEIpUV44jbScMlEc8UCY8o2z03IVgWycMQFpdjEO4rwqKn0OXRYskwSTEWFOHIX9CzTMdpJN5oK5n2tMjSbCk0fmQ645L3KykxZrFdKJ52UYuzEbqqzFc03sd-7bE7Vjn/s640/svensby+midnight+pink3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back at Svensby, the light was so soft and pink -- the mountains looked pink,<br />
the fjord was pink-tinged. Just so dreamy and beautiful.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We were up early to catch the ferry to Breivikeidet the next morning, and then on to the Tromsø airport for our flight to Oslo and on to Copenhagen. Leaving Norway we had much better views from the air -- no clouds this time -- and the views were breathtaking:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYwLsHHoIrp7WlYodcOwnwRZ3mp7sL9JtlIDwTMGL3iFa6gMyn-28hZqcB_4Wx42ovU3edw9JfYNioqmYQ2RvMRruliiVz03aQ0zIHwe3WAfxFnAieYeWeFfJ1RtqQuGCDJ06nyi6k5Uq/s1600/leaving+tromso1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYwLsHHoIrp7WlYodcOwnwRZ3mp7sL9JtlIDwTMGL3iFa6gMyn-28hZqcB_4Wx42ovU3edw9JfYNioqmYQ2RvMRruliiVz03aQ0zIHwe3WAfxFnAieYeWeFfJ1RtqQuGCDJ06nyi6k5Uq/s640/leaving+tromso1.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">an archipelago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAgeNvBVdYc6jJ_5GOxeRH_lia8dc4-pIgTFrx45bGKEfLvKR7UqbJTGuRS_DjfgB_ABEoMtwu9x9CTqTWz5TcUjm1rT1G3r0DaJMd86EGO-A-SXPt6W3zKJqw4gO6RwKBFXbE_rJY-gZ/s1600/leaving+tromso3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtAgeNvBVdYc6jJ_5GOxeRH_lia8dc4-pIgTFrx45bGKEfLvKR7UqbJTGuRS_DjfgB_ABEoMtwu9x9CTqTWz5TcUjm1rT1G3r0DaJMd86EGO-A-SXPt6W3zKJqw4gO6RwKBFXbE_rJY-gZ/s640/leaving+tromso3.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beautiful fjords</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9C-PVDeiylTI9qud54Ep_Vw_AAE6zrywaTzqviAp64LVpYnQwe9NSeH-mXqCF7zhyId7y3_aRWE4mQTpR_F0NETZMKHZJJpISG9xs9uHbpOWiMTqy_pYTTFwzlZo1bTPFotkqSMaIgp4X/s1600/leaving+tromso2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9C-PVDeiylTI9qud54Ep_Vw_AAE6zrywaTzqviAp64LVpYnQwe9NSeH-mXqCF7zhyId7y3_aRWE4mQTpR_F0NETZMKHZJJpISG9xs9uHbpOWiMTqy_pYTTFwzlZo1bTPFotkqSMaIgp4X/s640/leaving+tromso2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and snow- and ice-topped mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_RWCM5Va6vSrY6NUA-1GcZRwf9-DivYvMRt4_zNM_WtKnH2vp-DmHF5bXc6MpkzzKg3FHbjQ7ssKYW4Pb1qHkQyUKarWGgNAG2skrt2kKaaW-gy6hX3cDKgh2UOWx5Djw35_DOlU30YM/s1600/oslo+below.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_RWCM5Va6vSrY6NUA-1GcZRwf9-DivYvMRt4_zNM_WtKnH2vp-DmHF5bXc6MpkzzKg3FHbjQ7ssKYW4Pb1qHkQyUKarWGgNAG2skrt2kKaaW-gy6hX3cDKgh2UOWx5Djw35_DOlU30YM/s640/oslo+below.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">but flatter and greener in the south -- Oslo below</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Next stop: Copenhagen. Farvel, Norway.Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-20529907328325150352015-07-09T11:41:00.000-04:002015-07-09T11:41:11.749-04:00Lyngsdalen/Vuošvággi<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Vuo<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">š</span>v<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">á</span>ggi is the “gateway to the highest mountains in the Lyngen
Alps and the highest mountain in Troms – Jiehkkevarri, which is 1834m above sea
level.” It’s a tremendously beautiful valley, and in one spot you can see three
glaciers (though we still haven’t figured out which ice masses are glaciers and
which aren’t). When we woke up this morning and it was such a gorgeous, sunny,
blue-skied day, we decided to head over to the valley for a good hike. For
yesterday’s hike in the forest, I wore a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece
sweatshirt, a scarf, and my warm down coat, all at once and the entire time.
Today I just wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and sometimes my scarf, and I was
sweating. What a difference. Seeing the forest on a cloudy day was not bad at
all; there would’ve been little light trickling in anyway. And seeing this
majestic valley on a clear, sunny day . . . well, it was just spectacular, in
every way.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the first tricky bit to navigate was finding the
entrance. There are no signs for any of these places (or restaurants or cafes,
for that matter), so we never know if we’re in the right place. Our guidebook said
to park at the Furustua in Furuflaten. What is a Furustua? A building? A park?
A river? A lot? We knew it’s a proper noun but that wasn’t enough to be helpful. </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiurUUjrySahhVuujTM39b_J6ateizK8tKdqzE8OcZEqhcJ6PZ8VrBmBhYuVf6WsmBuWNtHNqhNFEAmYFTZOgRQqPA0lRof7mB425FH9ga6pwbDP_-h6IRbqaRrLvbRK7_M-ZggaGsGbzqv/s1600/lyngsdalen+lori+wood+woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiurUUjrySahhVuujTM39b_J6ateizK8tKdqzE8OcZEqhcJ6PZ8VrBmBhYuVf6WsmBuWNtHNqhNFEAmYFTZOgRQqPA0lRof7mB425FH9ga6pwbDP_-h6IRbqaRrLvbRK7_M-ZggaGsGbzqv/s640/lyngsdalen+lori+wood+woman.jpg" width="378" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this woman stands in front of the Furustua</td></tr>
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Luckily we saw a cabin that seemed to be “the Furustua” so we parked and walked
back up the highway to the football field, where we were supposed to turn left
and find our way to the path. The thing about a place on a fjord is that you
know at least one direction not to turn – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not
</i>toward the fjord. So we turned at the football field and set off, heading
for an alleged bridge, which we found.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnRIq5KS8R9iLOlkxHAm8hJK2uHGNmIkmagXo0L2PdVOii46AVN_kSgLfkByKm2R8nPy25v3AT_Qbl9Fb6CP_lbnKZP7jkTmnrSFCiZtF1ZE0C-P3MWY9eqXgsRBSEECo5odi_JGL7gfS/s1600/lyngsdalen+back+toward+fjord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnRIq5KS8R9iLOlkxHAm8hJK2uHGNmIkmagXo0L2PdVOii46AVN_kSgLfkByKm2R8nPy25v3AT_Qbl9Fb6CP_lbnKZP7jkTmnrSFCiZtF1ZE0C-P3MWY9eqXgsRBSEECo5odi_JGL7gfS/s640/lyngsdalen+back+toward+fjord.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the view back toward the fjord</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBylj0X5e3hSWJ1Thc2HaKFtTLb5b8wawcfVLbNe-5bj4MhX8hhTjefAEexF2Xi2h2kM9voTSovj24qjaANxnkALCbwHYroiQhqrja-xiHUNu7qi16YJio2T77RSTzg0uAeZRPeP5Rm7Dx/s1600/lyngsdalen+from+bridge2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBylj0X5e3hSWJ1Thc2HaKFtTLb5b8wawcfVLbNe-5bj4MhX8hhTjefAEexF2Xi2h2kM9voTSovj24qjaANxnkALCbwHYroiQhqrja-xiHUNu7qi16YJio2T77RSTzg0uAeZRPeP5Rm7Dx/s640/lyngsdalen+from+bridge2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">standing on the bridge looking toward the valley</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYUiacDqX4vrYcXc0Z9iATE70EdEAIXpN-WRXkHrv6AYcUWBdf6SHuzMwaEZuWjPXFYcuDc9C0uKrI0Og3EDN4XLVVX63iYdMVl617Vwx5H78ODUVa-nWr1iK8Ogh9CgZPBcU0EWu3U4T/s1600/lyngsdalen+from+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYUiacDqX4vrYcXc0Z9iATE70EdEAIXpN-WRXkHrv6AYcUWBdf6SHuzMwaEZuWjPXFYcuDc9C0uKrI0Og3EDN4XLVVX63iYdMVl617Vwx5H78ODUVa-nWr1iK8Ogh9CgZPBcU0EWu3U4T/s640/lyngsdalen+from+bridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and away, toward the fjord</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPFqpUZ6Dk0jvHjxrlVzchN4cRZ-qE9XJAT8sI-iCdcNO1v42atq8ibIgb1kH51nIDTbZTLFT8-DhAbq4sGkDrL4mko7g8r6PLIeJsOrwL7oTpMZExiJ91zpCb1-Bu-KkZexeK3frIGgT/s1600/lyngsdalen+marc+lori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGPFqpUZ6Dk0jvHjxrlVzchN4cRZ-qE9XJAT8sI-iCdcNO1v42atq8ibIgb1kH51nIDTbZTLFT8-DhAbq4sGkDrL4mko7g8r6PLIeJsOrwL7oTpMZExiJ91zpCb1-Bu-KkZexeK3frIGgT/s640/lyngsdalen+marc+lori.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ready for our walk in the sun</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike the hike in the forest, this hike didn’t have any
signs or posts, no direction markers, no nothing, but we did have a topo map
and as long as we kept the river on our left we couldn’t go wrong. It was an
easy, level walk, an occasional place where there was a narrow, gravelly ledge
to navigate, but mostly it was just a beautiful walk along a pounding glacial
river in the midst of an alpine valley. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCjpDSIRS0hdiyVszUI2902Af2xi02DliiJYd3v-REif4w3eM7yoDEpKVlFlUBtQL9pDjAxxxqWhQK0Wkg99ntfcMJyRVCTbXKRwo-9kzAZ7vKAsYWArcDt8Up1bra1mCDjkvAeEQdvqY/s1600/lyngsdalen+glacier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCjpDSIRS0hdiyVszUI2902Af2xi02DliiJYd3v-REif4w3eM7yoDEpKVlFlUBtQL9pDjAxxxqWhQK0Wkg99ntfcMJyRVCTbXKRwo-9kzAZ7vKAsYWArcDt8Up1bra1mCDjkvAeEQdvqY/s640/lyngsdalen+glacier.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAg49AD8yowXyTOP8FeZWybySGPtfchzNGYGd9XnqE5DGYWj4m4PqAZXgJke2z95ZGfZUfSl1fHaST936i9NIucH1Wr0W7uAave57vYAumDmpyHskXB_1L0E0cl7VUvnnkH2v87L4PyOd/s1600/lyngsdalen+jiehkkevarri+mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkAg49AD8yowXyTOP8FeZWybySGPtfchzNGYGd9XnqE5DGYWj4m4PqAZXgJke2z95ZGfZUfSl1fHaST936i9NIucH1Wr0W7uAave57vYAumDmpyHskXB_1L0E0cl7VUvnnkH2v87L4PyOd/s640/lyngsdalen+jiehkkevarri+mountain.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uIGin62TbpI3wi95s5xAp-uC1AkflGDJgQYnS8ccP5F-zjcP5-8IX7Z2kKwqo-VViW8C6fE4V3_csmbEWJaQcZYHN4yW78z9BYLi75Fff_NS7dTPfBUqvG6nwWj65kSsVU9qJVOp_2w8/s1600/lyngsdalen+lyngsdalselva+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-uIGin62TbpI3wi95s5xAp-uC1AkflGDJgQYnS8ccP5F-zjcP5-8IX7Z2kKwqo-VViW8C6fE4V3_csmbEWJaQcZYHN4yW78z9BYLi75Fff_NS7dTPfBUqvG6nwWj65kSsVU9qJVOp_2w8/s640/lyngsdalen+lyngsdalselva+river.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1qaGcxaWc3ldu010OFTfQjhuAdnx28gZZ4VF_5Vn1_7wFd_1U3ELW00dmhYCF5UA4Wfz_ZhWsE5Fw1cEed-HprZJNnjJu7gWLZ9BcjBUFmxqm-Zotq33wJAPcKhNFh2vr0WQ4ta0m4Lf/s1600/lyngsdalen+walk1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI1qaGcxaWc3ldu010OFTfQjhuAdnx28gZZ4VF_5Vn1_7wFd_1U3ELW00dmhYCF5UA4Wfz_ZhWsE5Fw1cEed-HprZJNnjJu7gWLZ9BcjBUFmxqm-Zotq33wJAPcKhNFh2vr0WQ4ta0m4Lf/s640/lyngsdalen+walk1.jpg" width="510" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP5HxbpAYHyYRzR_0X7uyum3hgiOAjCURJyOKjJq96BvJdx_2I4LRgRYZsmRSdXfMvqdVEgOhHHiJZ9lgo_FLMV4AzjjPfQaJNH8-GvAxbhC48QF0l_3_r5iAZM2rdcDyvrEoApzDEHMi/s1600/lyngsdalen+walk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaP5HxbpAYHyYRzR_0X7uyum3hgiOAjCURJyOKjJq96BvJdx_2I4LRgRYZsmRSdXfMvqdVEgOhHHiJZ9lgo_FLMV4AzjjPfQaJNH8-GvAxbhC48QF0l_3_r5iAZM2rdcDyvrEoApzDEHMi/s640/lyngsdalen+walk2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
We both kept thinking about The Sound of Music (alpine
valleys will do that, I suppose), and I had an old song in my head I remember
from Girl Scouts – “The Happy Wanderer,” I think it’s called:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to go a-wandering / along a mountain
track / And as I go / I love to sing / my knapsack on my back. / Val-der-ee /
Val-der-ah / Val-der-ee / Val-der-ahahahahaha / Val-der-ee / Val-der-ah….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’d left our water in the car, but you know, there was a
gorgeous glacial river just <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">right there</b>.
Finally the path wound down next to the river, so we walked to the rocks along
the edge and I drank handfuls of icy water. It was so delicious. The sun beat
on my back, the water was pounding past, and thundering down the face of the
mountain just ahead, and there were birds singing everywhere. It was one of
those experiences where you feel like if you died right in that moment it would
be OK. That’s how I felt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0idIiOYuPlJ5CborGh8sS7WMsOIci88c21w4PnHSzULrtX3cO968sPv_5z6m0hdKr0Un6SZglQT2SSsNO6Hkr_a2F0ICtnruWjC3RYNdq4urIpq5NF0vyaOiu80uJTRB9xX9TgXXS2o0/s1600/lyngsdalen+lori+drink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0idIiOYuPlJ5CborGh8sS7WMsOIci88c21w4PnHSzULrtX3cO968sPv_5z6m0hdKr0Un6SZglQT2SSsNO6Hkr_a2F0ICtnruWjC3RYNdq4urIpq5NF0vyaOiu80uJTRB9xX9TgXXS2o0/s640/lyngsdalen+lori+drink.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cold and sweet water......but emphasis on COLD!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The place was packed, though; we passed a couple of people
going in, and a couple coming out. For this part of the world, that is PACKED.
Once we passed them, though, the place was empty and remote and I just kept
thinking that it stands there just like that, through the Polar Night, and the
Lights dance in that valley I bet, and when I’m back in New York City, or in
Austin, or when I’m in Vietnam in November, those mountains will be standing
astride that beautiful valley in their watchful silence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was a little patch of the path that was landmined with
piles of poop – horse, I think – and just when I thought I’d navigated around
it all, I climbed up on a big hunk of rock to take a look around and noticed
that I had missed avoiding one pile, which was now pretty firmly stuck to the bottom
of my foot. I scraped it on grass and one rock after another, but couldn’t get it
clean. Again, the nearby glacial river to the rescue – along with Marc, who
took care of it for me while I sat in the sun and soaked it all up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZRg2-on_PEPh3z2u48xfp2g4znHzH5iOZZEByUddouHhh4dekW6iQCnQoQubQl00aLAMaGlR3ehmGvCDVXkWO-BiKHZvyZhJYT6mur48gfQvhkTEUnecLRKgTqebg2TolUF65nDI_0tI/s1600/lyngsdalen+marc+lori+shoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZRg2-on_PEPh3z2u48xfp2g4znHzH5iOZZEByUddouHhh4dekW6iQCnQoQubQl00aLAMaGlR3ehmGvCDVXkWO-BiKHZvyZhJYT6mur48gfQvhkTEUnecLRKgTqebg2TolUF65nDI_0tI/s640/lyngsdalen+marc+lori+shoe.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so sweet of him to do that for me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe the poo came from these guys, though. They stuck out
their tongues at us and bleated to beat the band.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeaIgsMhNss43sypw0OL1OIn53fi1In0qod0Qu-8uYEkm7OfhMi9dVyD7ztXUwSIHEYpgWAVWGcle3vOzMMJO-jDhq6ZfeXLRGPVVRnJF2ENwgLMdhJQXFuLE7GBpQtU1SDpKv6XOqYS5/s1600/lyngsdalen+sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeaIgsMhNss43sypw0OL1OIn53fi1In0qod0Qu-8uYEkm7OfhMi9dVyD7ztXUwSIHEYpgWAVWGcle3vOzMMJO-jDhq6ZfeXLRGPVVRnJF2ENwgLMdhJQXFuLE7GBpQtU1SDpKv6XOqYS5/s640/lyngsdalen+sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have driven and walked all over this little peninsula in
North Norway and have been dazzled by it all, no matter the skies. We have had
such fun with the 24-hour daylight; we’ll be out and about and one of us will
start to say something about getting back before dark and then we’ll stop –
there IS no “getting back before dark!” We’re trying again tonight, assuming
the skies stay clear, to drive out to the tip of the peninsula to try to catch
a glimpse of the midnight sun. If we find it we do, and if we don’t, it’s OK.
It’s been such a beautiful place to spend several days.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tomorrow we’re up early to catch the ferry back to
Breivideidet and then on to Tromso, to the airport. We fly through Oslo to
Copenhagen, where we will stay for two nights before heading back to New York
City. So with this post I’ll say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tusen
takk, Ole and Magni, and Svensby and Lyngseidet and all the mountains and
valleys and fjords. We had a wonderful time. Det var hyggelig </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ȧ</span> treffe deg. Ha det bra!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-30638025403304945822015-07-08T15:53:00.004-04:002015-07-13T10:40:51.148-04:00Lulledalen Skogssti<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Today we decided to head over to the next peninsula to the
east, the one that abuts Finland, for an easy hike along the Lulleelva River.
It’s in a protected area, which means you should not hurt anything or ‘invade’
it, although of course you can forage for mushrooms and berries all you want,
and you can just camp anywhere you like. (Too bad, none of the berries are out
yet; the tourism guy in Lyngseidet told us yesterday that the berries are
around in August.) We drove over to Lyngseidet and caught the ferry to
Olderdalen, and then drove ~20 miles to just past Skibotn. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFgQ3WlSpzA2SspRiQr5QOD9c5-nJdzaCoPt9MdmZ4dddQgZIG9hRqJoaVIyMhO5OcUlqaurj2aiVHm5SbceLgKpTVjymUxqkzI49zEMq2H9AefhOI6WtNrNVnvauqAMQTDQM5QV3CQ6l/s1600/lyngseidet+ferry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvFgQ3WlSpzA2SspRiQr5QOD9c5-nJdzaCoPt9MdmZ4dddQgZIG9hRqJoaVIyMhO5OcUlqaurj2aiVHm5SbceLgKpTVjymUxqkzI49zEMq2H9AefhOI6WtNrNVnvauqAMQTDQM5QV3CQ6l/s640/lyngseidet+ferry.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ferry heading across the fjord</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QYWM0izo1KNaClfhs2VZo3950nY-TpP_xu3ZWdDhtaNCAKPBl6VS63CoGTFV4Zu-C3H10FmxKMcd0xYEARvSUjfqlmQYW17chaeUecgMedQsjT3UWPmq0DrGzTYeextxnLqvfb2erd1O/s1600/lyngseidet+ferry+food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7QYWM0izo1KNaClfhs2VZo3950nY-TpP_xu3ZWdDhtaNCAKPBl6VS63CoGTFV4Zu-C3H10FmxKMcd0xYEARvSUjfqlmQYW17chaeUecgMedQsjT3UWPmq0DrGzTYeextxnLqvfb2erd1O/s640/lyngseidet+ferry+food.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">want some food? She has you covered.</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqbS2QFojIJyZQuehYUV-8bvFKrU3ChhoGWLhPoPN_gFU_GHLxo7f7GigE6i75oU6YI2o47ncBQ-xkQv48-gU5ufGfNZR5ibXlhNim2MiuB6PJOYVphpFgtRv1hjnlCaDNL1UND73kJPB/s1600/lyngseidet+ferry+lounge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQqbS2QFojIJyZQuehYUV-8bvFKrU3ChhoGWLhPoPN_gFU_GHLxo7f7GigE6i75oU6YI2o47ncBQ-xkQv48-gU5ufGfNZR5ibXlhNim2MiuB6PJOYVphpFgtRv1hjnlCaDNL1UND73kJPB/s640/lyngseidet+ferry+lounge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the ferry lounge -- the trip took about 45 minutes</td></tr>
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All we knew was that
it was classified as an “easy” hike, it was 3.1km (and in a loop, we thought
even WE couldn’t get lost), and it should take 40-60 minutes. Approximately
170m above sea level. Forest. River. Gorgeous.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As we headed into the forest, Marc sang, “I once had a girl,
or should I say, she once had me …” and I busted out laughing. There we were,
in a Norwegian wood, and I have to agree with The Beatles. Yes, it is good. So
very good.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPz77mWfVizi3iB8wFfnVE9vLSEF2KcfoWKT5Ue06rLlZl6ZPDoBTbVU3MAajiRP4NDrri9o-LWUEBzPt7NSN77yaq1hDbImMwsgvljG6L9KtiFqkXthdNGFXpZWzTqIY96tM8gTStbHXN/s1600/lulledalen+woods+panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPz77mWfVizi3iB8wFfnVE9vLSEF2KcfoWKT5Ue06rLlZl6ZPDoBTbVU3MAajiRP4NDrri9o-LWUEBzPt7NSN77yaq1hDbImMwsgvljG6L9KtiFqkXthdNGFXpZWzTqIY96tM8gTStbHXN/s640/lulledalen+woods+panorama.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beautiful place</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRZ3eZzc9J3wLBmURVmI0wpyiuKq8yB1OcOj3W3-CA68_Gds2-jjGAvNW8FJmoNegb2sbaAu5QGlKNoinBLjE5G3rxvTLJZvg7H03RM4MGYOp2HBPFMn5UdPPOvg8b2gybLB7DoGHFIZP/s1600/lulledalen+woods4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRZ3eZzc9J3wLBmURVmI0wpyiuKq8yB1OcOj3W3-CA68_Gds2-jjGAvNW8FJmoNegb2sbaAu5QGlKNoinBLjE5G3rxvTLJZvg7H03RM4MGYOp2HBPFMn5UdPPOvg8b2gybLB7DoGHFIZP/s640/lulledalen+woods4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">magical, really</td></tr>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIM89cwOxbSFmv_wJG0EJVvj5dia6HZs6DvNglCSwn4G77SqxCug9gJ4oaHQTuCE7tliN8c4o53XssTcWc5ONdu4vSvgUjlOrMGhkJIguBlNJ-mWKxBrU5uaJwmGtyidJ9zRwJ3xlVqmjV/s1600/lulledalen+woods2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIM89cwOxbSFmv_wJG0EJVvj5dia6HZs6DvNglCSwn4G77SqxCug9gJ4oaHQTuCE7tliN8c4o53XssTcWc5ONdu4vSvgUjlOrMGhkJIguBlNJ-mWKxBrU5uaJwmGtyidJ9zRwJ3xlVqmjV/s640/lulledalen+woods2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and so so quiet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6P6DamtA_zuojf1v31fesk9tIeEIyLOJMM4faVDuztyvBbsjam6FIU6pWxoesUv1CB4Zn7hf8NyAlpaCs9RiCIo8qmFrRpv0Hyv6wV6-8u9rWOmAZMzDTB6KJP9ZzA4bMwFqPnJDTlTr/s1600/lulledalen+white+pink+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6P6DamtA_zuojf1v31fesk9tIeEIyLOJMM4faVDuztyvBbsjam6FIU6pWxoesUv1CB4Zn7hf8NyAlpaCs9RiCIo8qmFrRpv0Hyv6wV6-8u9rWOmAZMzDTB6KJP9ZzA4bMwFqPnJDTlTr/s640/lulledalen+white+pink+flower.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sweet little flowers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtGVfeVHGiBvU1rJ5LIcENrynFIPs74U55bmWjqzuSY3sRF2-b3pPMJsMgQZF7K3vHOjXn4PdHAuN1xteciouGF41eSgq17-W2aGOnIvvfbA0lw3d6Oy7Ta6brGCXleGr6WfeKcVT_LeG/s1600/lulledalen+orchid+woods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtGVfeVHGiBvU1rJ5LIcENrynFIPs74U55bmWjqzuSY3sRF2-b3pPMJsMgQZF7K3vHOjXn4PdHAuN1xteciouGF41eSgq17-W2aGOnIvvfbA0lw3d6Oy7Ta6brGCXleGr6WfeKcVT_LeG/s640/lulledalen+orchid+woods.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and tall trees</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8T2ogDObSSPYfn8zB5uySpHOocwiEiDR-IvLbtgQrtK0IJKAQRkBwlJVhAheVT0k98bnvNYJvuHwdvFlW852o5AxhJ0wiucAJrGEBXhvtxoZn80pXkrC5pwzlG3nsgpgw3ASPb_RTRplz/s1600/lulledalen+pink+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8T2ogDObSSPYfn8zB5uySpHOocwiEiDR-IvLbtgQrtK0IJKAQRkBwlJVhAheVT0k98bnvNYJvuHwdvFlW852o5AxhJ0wiucAJrGEBXhvtxoZn80pXkrC5pwzlG3nsgpgw3ASPb_RTRplz/s640/lulledalen+pink+flower.jpg" width="638" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pink</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8M8w4VlXt7vBCdoksPZ-CCpQTLS8r71Vr_YVz41vszABruQfXgAYRPWZTmbCzOlFiIdQUDKeljJLBiVsuJP_3byycXqKTtjIbE-OEvCUgdAtp4H4hknYshyphenhyphenQrB4ajwVWU3oBF3xBX5dY/s1600/lulledalen+red+pine+cone+babies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI8M8w4VlXt7vBCdoksPZ-CCpQTLS8r71Vr_YVz41vszABruQfXgAYRPWZTmbCzOlFiIdQUDKeljJLBiVsuJP_3byycXqKTtjIbE-OEvCUgdAtp4H4hknYshyphenhyphenQrB4ajwVWU3oBF3xBX5dY/s640/lulledalen+red+pine+cone+babies.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">red baby pine cones</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdr5tmZbvUGzHd0lEHjn-8gPpIoOzmTLQcuhKYq0Vs8fkByyb9A0WtgpGwOwx6_Px6-_vg2ZuYYchIILgNgFyPKD2Nfn-jUK4fGK-o6s1gvokPldli4WY0Zr36CkNSEnsZs5J-_nt1oKVY/s1600/lulledalen+waterfall3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdr5tmZbvUGzHd0lEHjn-8gPpIoOzmTLQcuhKYq0Vs8fkByyb9A0WtgpGwOwx6_Px6-_vg2ZuYYchIILgNgFyPKD2Nfn-jUK4fGK-o6s1gvokPldli4WY0Zr36CkNSEnsZs5J-_nt1oKVY/s640/lulledalen+waterfall3.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and this magnificent raging river -- </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZYXcGAPEa_0A49kq61uBZ1Gp4s7RH9vCr1wTSlAsa6h17N5CFV4RWS1PClDXTyRdaQHo0VFSXlAqYpls1L2ebdQfml_kn35sAVkxU8gaYiBwOSWGMzXAvQZZ8XpBRXCVdzDnc2-yuKrG/s1600/lulledalen+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZYXcGAPEa_0A49kq61uBZ1Gp4s7RH9vCr1wTSlAsa6h17N5CFV4RWS1PClDXTyRdaQHo0VFSXlAqYpls1L2ebdQfml_kn35sAVkxU8gaYiBwOSWGMzXAvQZZ8XpBRXCVdzDnc2-yuKrG/s640/lulledalen+river.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we could hear it the whole time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4C6ek-3TKH4lWdKqClerTgLVpaMnk7uT-Z_fErzbQz3LxeHQzYmHaB_4UNAqYyjP5I9MIMKXbtQSzgCYzTShv-N_AbHO-CZTOUtB9aV3bjMYWh0X_9R5qmQtXWRkllttXE_c3sDDlpreJ/s1600/lulledalen+three+toed+woodpecker+holes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4C6ek-3TKH4lWdKqClerTgLVpaMnk7uT-Z_fErzbQz3LxeHQzYmHaB_4UNAqYyjP5I9MIMKXbtQSzgCYzTShv-N_AbHO-CZTOUtB9aV3bjMYWh0X_9R5qmQtXWRkllttXE_c3sDDlpreJ/s640/lulledalen+three+toed+woodpecker+holes.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">three-toed woodpeckers make rings of holes to mark territory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDhOLNvdxUZf5UgeCZXDOSUHzL3e6OlzokFASpoQkHf-yY_-Rd0StNsjO3H1q6hAqHbcNotfSS7CTpPsHT6F5PWfgjCKjKd1NhyphenhyphentJY15j_VnfVrvlyhBwtTSIpPprOVWZ8Fl0yYwMy7Y6/s1600/lulledalen+marc+lori.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDhOLNvdxUZf5UgeCZXDOSUHzL3e6OlzokFASpoQkHf-yY_-Rd0StNsjO3H1q6hAqHbcNotfSS7CTpPsHT6F5PWfgjCKjKd1NhyphenhyphentJY15j_VnfVrvlyhBwtTSIpPprOVWZ8Fl0yYwMy7Y6/s640/lulledalen+marc+lori.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">what a great walk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTJUc-OK3rJPmQCXx87ZPIyD7VaTtv26f-iwzA0zetevh3Pj1rYtA8HYKmQD-TtWPihr6QYaM9eG8LZ3knp7tOZRnqujP6uDis8LeK7vHMqLTRLv72hufaz2e4OXe1aNOjCE-DDJLYIaX/s1600/lulledalen+lady%2527s+slipper2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVTJUc-OK3rJPmQCXx87ZPIyD7VaTtv26f-iwzA0zetevh3Pj1rYtA8HYKmQD-TtWPihr6QYaM9eG8LZ3knp7tOZRnqujP6uDis8LeK7vHMqLTRLv72hufaz2e4OXe1aNOjCE-DDJLYIaX/s640/lulledalen+lady%2527s+slipper2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Lady's slippers</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2iWQSH1OxqD-rTQWan6_kWbnBMQE0XoNrThN3ll-C0eeMsKihZ_tmWy_RXwKVBwktSyB5NvEgh6TW14rfzQ9xFLz7Ioc4hNzyAcwHOVHszfV1MOHeybBuz4fhAnMGINtSxl5jXXN8Msip/s1600/lulledalen+fallen+birch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2iWQSH1OxqD-rTQWan6_kWbnBMQE0XoNrThN3ll-C0eeMsKihZ_tmWy_RXwKVBwktSyB5NvEgh6TW14rfzQ9xFLz7Ioc4hNzyAcwHOVHszfV1MOHeybBuz4fhAnMGINtSxl5jXXN8Msip/s640/lulledalen+fallen+birch.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ah, I love a peeling birch, don't you?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCBDXMUTc1B2cWd5caVQhUKV4nEWK29d4F5pIdKTcUkIOqpUrqE7zgjX8iT8YvdgIEdhkPDVvtL-OpXUxtLo5p4EXvhC_5KGIskmjAVssaoGChuzGGdGFKBxeSbSvhoCAoqNVPnjeFY-L/s1600/lulledalen+birch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCBDXMUTc1B2cWd5caVQhUKV4nEWK29d4F5pIdKTcUkIOqpUrqE7zgjX8iT8YvdgIEdhkPDVvtL-OpXUxtLo5p4EXvhC_5KGIskmjAVssaoGChuzGGdGFKBxeSbSvhoCAoqNVPnjeFY-L/s640/lulledalen+birch.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">but we could not figure out which part was the<br />
inside and which was the outside</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsBLdA1NGnpE32EdC3-11yixs1f0oQHQl5MQEhFQNKPareAcjpligRk90Nj7d8kaD3Yz2A3C230aFYe9xekmJN5B9xP0-SazczVnk_-sCLvwc5i5kHjgaZY4l8rm4a04EqDbxLyQrtnB0/s1600/lulledalen+baby+pine+cones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsBLdA1NGnpE32EdC3-11yixs1f0oQHQl5MQEhFQNKPareAcjpligRk90Nj7d8kaD3Yz2A3C230aFYe9xekmJN5B9xP0-SazczVnk_-sCLvwc5i5kHjgaZY4l8rm4a04EqDbxLyQrtnB0/s640/lulledalen+baby+pine+cones.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so many pinecones</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcHvfIsFOU5WghSpWTD-5ElKR7OPg2atmgROFyfXSDv1dHlSP8juhSZBXuFYvlEobViFcUf6ekp7KHs5t8q72-wc7_z5W82FTgrffM7EjUBLF-BRifWayc6Vt_su-g1SPCSvw8c-Yosla/s1600/lulledalen+hut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcHvfIsFOU5WghSpWTD-5ElKR7OPg2atmgROFyfXSDv1dHlSP8juhSZBXuFYvlEobViFcUf6ekp7KHs5t8q72-wc7_z5W82FTgrffM7EjUBLF-BRifWayc6Vt_su-g1SPCSvw8c-Yosla/s640/lulledalen+hut.jpg" width="552" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a place to rest at the trail's end</td></tr>
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The place was completely empty! There were two other cars in the
parking lot, but we never saw another person until we were leaving. All of
North Norway feels like this, empty and uninhabited. There were little signs
all along the path, some in English, describing the vegetation, or a bit of
history (tar pit here, Sami campground there), or giving bits of information
about animals and birds that are found in the area. Lots of moose signs along
the road and we haven’t seen one yet, but we did come upon a giant pile of
moose droppings which was kind of thrilling. We hoped to come across a moose,
but no luck. We saw a few medium-small rodents, bigger than field mice but they
didn’t look like rats, either. They just scurried across the ground into their
little hidey holes.</div>
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The ground was soft, and in fact as Marc noted, the whole
forest was soft. Not only were there pine needles all over the ground, the
ground was kind of boggy, squishy, and sometimes muddy. But the boggy feeling
wasn’t due to it being wet; it’s just the nature of the ground. The trees were
primarily pine and spruce, and the area is known for its 16 species of orchids,
including the Lady’s slipper.</div>
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If you’re a real hiker (and we are most definitely not real
hikers – we are city walkers), we assume you just know the various conventions
for hikes. We, on the other hand, were sometimes unsure where to go because the
path either kind of disappeared or split into two or three paths. And it also
felt like the M.C. Escher forest too, because we climbed up and up and up and
up and never seemed to go down in a corresponding way. There were a few
downhill bits, but not nearly as many as the uphill – and yet we did finally
end up back at our car, just over two hours later. It was just starting to rain
a tiny bit as we were heading out of the forest.</div>
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What a gorgeous place Norway is. </div>
Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-76563397178274634732015-07-07T12:22:00.001-04:002015-07-19T12:24:57.639-04:00Svensby and the Lyngen IslandWe're staying on a little peninsula in the archipelago immediately east
of Tromso.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhOElDLHyvAkM6BDrccdW2xt14ulxzOb4MLZQHiHlK1d_P21LjGSK-R_nsIYTxeuvu5mPBCaaJouqvSTMnzw067oI53f1YAcdUWj7r9VGlehbaCtGeSMtq1aAFllqDDDbv8BvwEq1VlZj/s1600/lyngen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhOElDLHyvAkM6BDrccdW2xt14ulxzOb4MLZQHiHlK1d_P21LjGSK-R_nsIYTxeuvu5mPBCaaJouqvSTMnzw067oI53f1YAcdUWj7r9VGlehbaCtGeSMtq1aAFllqDDDbv8BvwEq1VlZj/s640/lyngen.jpg" width="462" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we're right at the 4/3, there on the left side of the peninsula</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Our cabin is in a tiny village called Svensby, right on the
Ullsfjorden. Facing us is the fjord, behind us is a hilly field, and on one
side is a giant barn full of cows, sheep, and their manure. The farm is owned
by Ole and Magni (a Norwegian farmer named Ole, it's almost too perfect -- and his
wife Magni is sweet and welcoming). We were immediately introduced to Molly,
the farm dog, who loves to play fetch as long as we'll play with her. The cabin
is sweet, with a small kitchen and a woodburning stove, and it's quite
comfortable.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawoZ6-0CtBWqhKtQp-1ZYTtR4ou9uqRFHd5eAAoWob4op0OT1QT3JKmvukMkzTOBUSdRH-EpQoQ77wwCLqACbMfnnKgeYSxo3q__U_ov_dRYIEGOiAqrfSxq-2Ize0EHuYMb-oMxrt0Sf/s1600/svensby+cabin+door+trollheim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawoZ6-0CtBWqhKtQp-1ZYTtR4ou9uqRFHd5eAAoWob4op0OT1QT3JKmvukMkzTOBUSdRH-EpQoQ77wwCLqACbMfnnKgeYSxo3q__U_ov_dRYIEGOiAqrfSxq-2Ize0EHuYMb-oMxrt0Sf/s640/svensby+cabin+door+trollheim.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">walking poles, a snow shovel, a thermostat (it's cold)<br />
and a troll welcome. It's Norway!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuUoJkCQlwMi0Ff0PRb6b5uA5peG3AnhzPm8StS7zHtlzmJKq4VpngQDfEFHI2fvBkpNGmUx06ffi7gXj8gFNqzGhboCw4h2TSRSUTaN_jsxgHlZp43meiVluvoyoTYGvUO3icg9xoysUi/s1600/svensby+cabin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuUoJkCQlwMi0Ff0PRb6b5uA5peG3AnhzPm8StS7zHtlzmJKq4VpngQDfEFHI2fvBkpNGmUx06ffi7gXj8gFNqzGhboCw4h2TSRSUTaN_jsxgHlZp43meiVluvoyoTYGvUO3icg9xoysUi/s640/svensby+cabin.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the blue of these flowers is amazing</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2nocxlPNMr1PPyU7ywyRuZizeL0PooGyHBCrIsfYVlNfvzW_u0KmTQAblOylnd9omM42VWlLWQWjdEc90fKmBhhzVQ5ycWfimR0F-VzpE32TRUBUuUz5sxlDoSLYTUJ5dNQy4PGPfcnq/s1600/svensby+cabin+yatzy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2nocxlPNMr1PPyU7ywyRuZizeL0PooGyHBCrIsfYVlNfvzW_u0KmTQAblOylnd9omM42VWlLWQWjdEc90fKmBhhzVQ5ycWfimR0F-VzpE32TRUBUuUz5sxlDoSLYTUJ5dNQy4PGPfcnq/s640/svensby+cabin+yatzy.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norwegian Yahtzee!! Girls, look!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Nobile;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.3999996185303px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Svensby is right in the middle of the peninsula, essentially, and we're very close to the ferry back to Breivikeidet, and then on to Tromso. There's a ferry not too far away that goes in the other direction, to a peninsula that borders Finland. There are tiny clumps of homes scattered about, occasionally enough that it might be considered a village, like Svensby and Lyngseidet, and plenty of homes sitting all alone. You're never far from water here -- fjords on three sides and the Lyngen alps in the middle. There are 140 glaciers on Lyngen, but we haven't been able to figure out what makes something a glacier as opposed to non-melting snow and ice. All the mountains have big rivers of unmelted/unmelting snow, or bowls of it depending on the formation. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Nobile;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.3999996185303px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Nobile;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.3999996185303px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Our first full day here, Monday, we drove out to the northern tip, to Russely (#1 on the map). There's a lighthouse out on the very tip, and it's supposed to be a fantastic place to see the Northern Lights or the Midnight Sun. (We thought we've been seeing the midnight sun; it's as bright at midnight as it is throughout the day, so we thought that was it, but the way Ole just asked if we've seen it yet -- and he said we could see it at Russely -- we now think that means actually seeing the SUN, not just daylight. It's been so cloudy and overcast, with just patches of blue visible here and there, so I guess we haven't seen the Midnight Sun. That's OK, it's been close enough for me.) So we drove out to Russely for a road trip and to see about that lighthouse. Lyngen is empty-feeling as it is, but as we got farther out toward the end, it began to feel almost desolate. The road ended and we saw a closed gate ahead, so we thought we wouldn't be able to walk out to the tip of the island . . . but as we got closer, we saw this sign:</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IqlOWsNkI8Nr7yaCiWQ8QluvyeQnNZCIwt9Gofc4OFrf6H3UIUkPSAlkzusBUN7T4NRBSS2ZXLKpvcJN1Mvu75sA7l9VIXtNuVZj0TtTlmB6sXpRjVhrSARm-M5Ek-E3eeJULDEJ3L5B/s1600/russely+gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IqlOWsNkI8Nr7yaCiWQ8QluvyeQnNZCIwt9Gofc4OFrf6H3UIUkPSAlkzusBUN7T4NRBSS2ZXLKpvcJN1Mvu75sA7l9VIXtNuVZj0TtTlmB6sXpRjVhrSARm-M5Ek-E3eeJULDEJ3L5B/s640/russely+gate.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so Norway, in every way.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNUkdftLMTjShqpPZrJhUCMEYdeWeQUogKypALYgH3JsBNM0i3Cww40hGMswYyHymR7ilUJ8-KEsfHE6Paaq0Cp6LsO4rPyMn6kth3LD_jwApEFSv_6qT22c4by58shN6ehVI-yFIWfGI/s1600/russely+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtNUkdftLMTjShqpPZrJhUCMEYdeWeQUogKypALYgH3JsBNM0i3Cww40hGMswYyHymR7ilUJ8-KEsfHE6Paaq0Cp6LsO4rPyMn6kth3LD_jwApEFSv_6qT22c4by58shN6ehVI-yFIWfGI/s640/russely+4.jpg" width="626" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lots of coral in among the rocks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJOKoWdSd_F-cnoyimWP_9PpcYpO8XQfukSA3vXnsSkMUxbaQ4RqKJBcWteYcTBlRPvpBaYqZIUyvoR_opO5u2icBCw0rNakVxkwFvu8hBDRhMJNl7MPXFcTgNQk7oVnz3Y9ptU5fdgc6h/s1600/russely2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJOKoWdSd_F-cnoyimWP_9PpcYpO8XQfukSA3vXnsSkMUxbaQ4RqKJBcWteYcTBlRPvpBaYqZIUyvoR_opO5u2icBCw0rNakVxkwFvu8hBDRhMJNl7MPXFcTgNQk7oVnz3Y9ptU5fdgc6h/s640/russely2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that big rock is an "errant rock" which means it was moved there by a glacier</td></tr>
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</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoM5a_gA965d1V0ibQzhWmmEfjcWNv-_yOE7LM7hlZ_azXVMtreHCjI-dW_x6Hhi8iYP4ntoYEG-wkTFQi1sZaGDrplt3NvUzzf_aKbj6aSqhV7xxusJqvCFEmpGMutzEaWAUGv4oLE_81/s1600/russely+lori+marc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoM5a_gA965d1V0ibQzhWmmEfjcWNv-_yOE7LM7hlZ_azXVMtreHCjI-dW_x6Hhi8iYP4ntoYEG-wkTFQi1sZaGDrplt3NvUzzf_aKbj6aSqhV7xxusJqvCFEmpGMutzEaWAUGv4oLE_81/s640/russely+lori+marc.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">brrrrrrr!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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That sign is just so Norway. Every place is a public place; you can camp anywhere,
on private property, even, as long as you keep a bit away from people’s homes.
You can pick berries and forage for mushrooms anywhere you like. I have a
feeling there is a general assumption that people are not assholes, and in fact
people don’t behave like that. The people we’ve seen and interacted with are
healthy-looking and doing their thing, whatever it is – tractoring manure
around, if you’re Ole; greeting visitors, like the young smiling man we talked
to this morning at the tourist info center; helping Americans figure out their
change if you’re the cashier at the market; telling you about the time they
went to New York City while they change your money for you at the post office
or clear your table at the restaurant. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
So we lifted the rope and tied the gate shut behind us, and headed out
for a very windy walk as far as we could go. We didn’t make it out to the tip
to find the lighthouse, but the shoreline was just magnificent. The wind was so
strong, a couple of times I had to lean in hard to keep from being blown over.
I had my earmuffs on, a scarf tied tight around my neck, and the hood of my
coat pulled up and I was comfortable enough. The skies were cloudy, but in a
way that made the landscape even more amazing. We walked on the beach and found
all kinds of little shells and pieces of bleached coral, and that puzzled me a
lot. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We drove through Lyngseidet to locate the grocery store, and to get a
feel for the little village. We’ve seen so many quite elderly people walking
everywhere, even one woman with a walking frame, so when we passed an older
woman we didn’t think twice about it. On our way back, she had stopped at the
side of the road and flagged us down, and asked if we would give her a ride
into Lyngseidet. She told us that she had fallen in love with an American once,
a very long time ago, and now she couldn’t even remember his name. A few miles
later she hopped out with a smile and a wave. She was so cute.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_3QmrvY0yaHRzQb9LGDOl7nOLtSe2esrOlTU7JgwWOHGXgZRIsZ1W5pFfmOQrlLn6ScdJw0ZRz-latCX_sDdPdF90x_huWZaGBmDv5xllDKkE03XstE8HlvMEj_6abqklBWsSemuGOkj/s1600/lyngseidet+harbor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG_3QmrvY0yaHRzQb9LGDOl7nOLtSe2esrOlTU7JgwWOHGXgZRIsZ1W5pFfmOQrlLn6ScdJw0ZRz-latCX_sDdPdF90x_huWZaGBmDv5xllDKkE03XstE8HlvMEj_6abqklBWsSemuGOkj/s640/lyngseidet+harbor.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Lyngseidet harbor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bhL_ZEbr-h3zXTSovWbCGoGOGR63THnTwoG6_ufcLMf9PHaT8SoaSdXWSrXuESpJg9dNoD3Pu928tUGzQwFYFPlYZMPmXxJxQl-qwbb4TX3_m_UhRquoMMnH_4kVW_VA84QykdxjwKRJ/s1600/lyngseidet+santa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bhL_ZEbr-h3zXTSovWbCGoGOGR63THnTwoG6_ufcLMf9PHaT8SoaSdXWSrXuESpJg9dNoD3Pu928tUGzQwFYFPlYZMPmXxJxQl-qwbb4TX3_m_UhRquoMMnH_4kVW_VA84QykdxjwKRJ/s640/lyngseidet+santa.jpg" width="620" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">don't look -- Santa is always watching....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6GWJIa8D6OwDOdWoZedQTd4I48WUtD75cjBQEkYR9cpuakHgcSMcsAj3PE6EfQaAbqxqJoUAotgdO-9yqBITQ_ZZTe1b1tqsuQuohIsYdRcg32AKwVMdMV9ifZn2K5s3XzVv0RxmR5Cq/s1600/lyngseidet+hitchhiker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS6GWJIa8D6OwDOdWoZedQTd4I48WUtD75cjBQEkYR9cpuakHgcSMcsAj3PE6EfQaAbqxqJoUAotgdO-9yqBITQ_ZZTe1b1tqsuQuohIsYdRcg32AKwVMdMV9ifZn2K5s3XzVv0RxmR5Cq/s640/lyngseidet+hitchhiker.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">our sweet little hitchhiker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then Monday night we took a walk at 10:30 so we could be sure to be out
and about at midnight, for the sheer amazingness of that daylight. If anything,
it’s brighter the later it gets for some reason. So we walked south from our
cabin along the road and paused to stare at the amazing mountains, the
beautiful fjord, and the backlit clouds. </div>
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<br /></div>
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This morning, Tuesday, we went back to Lyngseidet because we wanted to
find some fish. Marc had been to the grocery store and could only find frozen
fish, so we planned to check out both grocery stores – SURELY there is fresh
fish here! Gravlax comes from Norway, Norwegian salmon, this is North Norway,
fishing country! Fishing boats everywhere, fishermen everywhere. And yet no
fresh fish to be found. After the second market also had no fresh fish, we
decided to stop at the tourist information center to ask. There was an adorable
young Norwegian man with a huge smile and large teeth working at the center, so
we asked, “Is there a place to buy fresh fish?” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
“No!” he said. He threw back his head and laughed. “It’s crazy, right?”
So we all laughed – yes, it’s so crazy! It turns out that people either catch
their own fish, or buy directly from a guy who catches it. He offered to make
some calls to the ferry at Svensby, but when we said we’re staying in Svensby
and told him where, he said, “Ah, Magni, right?” (Yeah, Magni, Ole’s wife….) “Ask
Magni, she can tell you who will sell you some fish.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was early in the day, so we picked up some maps at the tourist
center and decided to head south on the other side of the peninsula, down to a
glacier near Oteren (#9 on the map). Gosh it’s just so beautiful here, and at
the same time it’s hard to take it in. It’s like it just drifts off the surface
of my mind, somehow, and doesn’t get inside me. Maybe it’s the scale of the
place, maybe it’s just such a different landscape, I don’t know. My eyes gaze
at it, the view goes inside me and passes on through. I linger, I look at the
mountains with an eye to drawing them, I see the different planes and angles,
the scoops filled with glacier, the tree line, the glittery (or flat) water,
the occasional farm, and I am dazzled and yet it drifts through me. I can’t
figure it out. It’s simultaneously an alpine landscape, with rocky peaks all
around and fields full of little wildflowers and sheep grazing, and some other
kind of place, obviously a frozen place, obviously different, obviously a place
of extremes.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
As we were driving along, we saw a magnificent waterfall – there are
dozens of waterfalls everywhere you look, here, plummeting down the mountain
faces, but this one was really beautiful. And then Marc saw what looked like a
dirt road going in that direction, so off we went. Since you can go wherever
you like here, we weren’t worried about it not being a real road; even if it
were private property, we could drive on it. We passed this little sign,
indicating that this was a historic resting place for the Sami people on their
migration.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMqeFTYUGjPLRNOr_SJ7fGEkjQoCaAQdTdglZpVRzE8oFINP6wbTOX8kIYnhtNJ3lGoz7DKaflBebGDvP-JaKMAC1AWUsCsbdRjee5UA5xbHgDly0ZqtLtZx81UukZx1N7LzWQ5fUWvPD/s1600/strandveien+waterfall2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMqeFTYUGjPLRNOr_SJ7fGEkjQoCaAQdTdglZpVRzE8oFINP6wbTOX8kIYnhtNJ3lGoz7DKaflBebGDvP-JaKMAC1AWUsCsbdRjee5UA5xbHgDly0ZqtLtZx81UukZx1N7LzWQ5fUWvPD/s640/strandveien+waterfall2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">you can see it at the bottom of the picture too, running through the forest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqGj_hku1TLtrW5t_EgQTdnM1Jy2S3hnCpgtUQ2-gcNqrVbhU6vjg-aHyLFhNQLwOIUL_7p1ahnDNlPKflAdkRMWNYzVm9pXNtPPrI-k-CQHw17BboUhTkSw8qiAloOG205gShNNTsXoh/s1600/strandveien+sami+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqGj_hku1TLtrW5t_EgQTdnM1Jy2S3hnCpgtUQ2-gcNqrVbhU6vjg-aHyLFhNQLwOIUL_7p1ahnDNlPKflAdkRMWNYzVm9pXNtPPrI-k-CQHw17BboUhTkSw8qiAloOG205gShNNTsXoh/s640/strandveien+sami+sign.jpg" width="326" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">you can enlarge all the pictures</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We never did find the glacier we were looking for; it’s hard to locate
things here because they’re not marked. It’s kind of like you just have to know
they’re there. It isn’t about things being presented only in Norwegian,
although the signs mostly are (even though everyone also speaks English). It’s
just that things aren’t really marked at all. It’s raw and empty and natural
here.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpO4LjxPol4AUqMJHvv7nLJQaSPLABXEusM4SjyBRA2kMjmsrr_WL46tcsC91LWJl9daq4dpgC4anXmKzGxv5AWBCMm5r1vRhQrnUGz7KotgEUBsQTw2qm7XtL7-D9SabcqyQcACGpge2g/s1600/svensby1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpO4LjxPol4AUqMJHvv7nLJQaSPLABXEusM4SjyBRA2kMjmsrr_WL46tcsC91LWJl9daq4dpgC4anXmKzGxv5AWBCMm5r1vRhQrnUGz7KotgEUBsQTw2qm7XtL7-D9SabcqyQcACGpge2g/s640/svensby1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lyngen alps -- just so magnificent</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJSj9HPqT_m4wWV9pSK9wTtBm4j3kZlnO7-J1UsJ4QvgbWQw-1We-qYFsDjr5ZdW4Pr3eD4hrz-V_K2e3f4edUicCDrHVwjZFsPRWA5QgDHtJgjLSpDm63Kkg-NEbPBqX_QOaFLtC6LFAW/s1600/svensby5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJSj9HPqT_m4wWV9pSK9wTtBm4j3kZlnO7-J1UsJ4QvgbWQw-1We-qYFsDjr5ZdW4Pr3eD4hrz-V_K2e3f4edUicCDrHVwjZFsPRWA5QgDHtJgjLSpDm63Kkg-NEbPBqX_QOaFLtC6LFAW/s640/svensby5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">any time of day or night on the fjord</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExXANMQd3Z06LcaAc5VddqCQZsXFo7raESp7KvIif8NPpwhqF-2jfKrVMNmCrbtyFH1HAFykZW1zlwazoqWso4DtWhkmqXpNPEOnx1AoT1v-JIY8RTYWCeprfoHn5oqubNLaPAY-VAP6U/s1600/svensby+11pm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExXANMQd3Z06LcaAc5VddqCQZsXFo7raESp7KvIif8NPpwhqF-2jfKrVMNmCrbtyFH1HAFykZW1zlwazoqWso4DtWhkmqXpNPEOnx1AoT1v-JIY8RTYWCeprfoHn5oqubNLaPAY-VAP6U/s640/svensby+11pm2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11pm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBvLL2VnHrBvOKaTEqLVmGO0YXZY6YFd5d6H7uFE4e2lGU4Q9E_OUBm_ZHVBMc1JvZwvzjMJOWcHrAeVJRcuL5a5_CUsdCl6ANvrKMfV09PPGFlHUok8tUEaXN1rdaVFY-4QZcmN-0Dgs/s1600/svensby+ferry+gulls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBvLL2VnHrBvOKaTEqLVmGO0YXZY6YFd5d6H7uFE4e2lGU4Q9E_OUBm_ZHVBMc1JvZwvzjMJOWcHrAeVJRcuL5a5_CUsdCl6ANvrKMfV09PPGFlHUok8tUEaXN1rdaVFY-4QZcmN-0Dgs/s640/svensby+ferry+gulls.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Svensby ferry coming in</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGg2_HBUWRihcRLpjVT7MCtjG8qaNPwWGWMNjv1pl_btJNrUVn1Jjk6Z_UDZnGGiag2R3m3Y7vQjOS6kQdKGFCVl7oUT59L92KKSJqjj1vmUnCZX4A6ocvjeN2tkSYJbh6uAUxgbtT0dgM/s1600/svensby+home+on+fjord.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGg2_HBUWRihcRLpjVT7MCtjG8qaNPwWGWMNjv1pl_btJNrUVn1Jjk6Z_UDZnGGiag2R3m3Y7vQjOS6kQdKGFCVl7oUT59L92KKSJqjj1vmUnCZX4A6ocvjeN2tkSYJbh6uAUxgbtT0dgM/s640/svensby+home+on+fjord.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">classic home along the fjord -- just a home in the middle of all this beauty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGsMGkOtS-OGsw8alwwFfddecdbLNWTIWSbWre2k4tuavb4_8HPtE0ET6SlnMqJjuFGXOUC2ufGGNF9M-_t1VMcfSE1uCvWHHeEz6BLg84FW3xsCIpu2k6AeEUyCwnafMDaeR5mN3OU6S/s1600/svensby+sunlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGsMGkOtS-OGsw8alwwFfddecdbLNWTIWSbWre2k4tuavb4_8HPtE0ET6SlnMqJjuFGXOUC2ufGGNF9M-_t1VMcfSE1uCvWHHeEz6BLg84FW3xsCIpu2k6AeEUyCwnafMDaeR5mN3OU6S/s640/svensby+sunlight.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the sun broke through the clouds to shine in the middle of the fjord today</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLa9cJpzbiA3MaSb2cfuN9eAb9GaORZz6IDgAgwwMsaA9qAUtcDJT8Kuy9yrC81ndlFXx-XToe6G6KUX8MPtyDfz_5VhZxudLu8OuS6ukln3nLhjIIiW-Ty_5kMN_dVoLhlRWnAer23n37/s1600/svensby+sheep.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLa9cJpzbiA3MaSb2cfuN9eAb9GaORZz6IDgAgwwMsaA9qAUtcDJT8Kuy9yrC81ndlFXx-XToe6G6KUX8MPtyDfz_5VhZxudLu8OuS6ukln3nLhjIIiW-Ty_5kMN_dVoLhlRWnAer23n37/s640/svensby+sheep.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lots of sheep everywhere, and goats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuf8vplesKO3a4uWEEmNnURkzvhPA4jqr2pwaR_6x_r6Wf1pJMtkWr30kAm2rK_Ir3lVc5KAUkw5VV1TYES8gOviGcLh5Sk2jYdzqo48S9Huq5VGi8L2Qm2WUzCJQkK1Ew_WKwRj_0kWE/s1600/svensby+trolls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuf8vplesKO3a4uWEEmNnURkzvhPA4jqr2pwaR_6x_r6Wf1pJMtkWr30kAm2rK_Ir3lVc5KAUkw5VV1TYES8gOviGcLh5Sk2jYdzqo48S9Huq5VGi8L2Qm2WUzCJQkK1Ew_WKwRj_0kWE/s640/svensby+trolls.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and trolls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LGV6ij2cRPSABXC-TMcHz6abAlxZ2oTnZKwYPPgkfzF0lJVLaGjX4cQM0-oFrBzXWZ0ZqY5XD4AdXxsB0EVVXu0mmg4DASa3mIZRQ1q1ix1BWCtmmNGESS-4qrVqFvv3AZoLLVOPnNkF/s1600/svensby+wildflowers3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5LGV6ij2cRPSABXC-TMcHz6abAlxZ2oTnZKwYPPgkfzF0lJVLaGjX4cQM0-oFrBzXWZ0ZqY5XD4AdXxsB0EVVXu0mmg4DASa3mIZRQ1q1ix1BWCtmmNGESS-4qrVqFvv3AZoLLVOPnNkF/s640/svensby+wildflowers3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and wildflowers in fields</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrz4XiWpsL5p23cOK4DSXr3dSSmuoE6cC20sCFmcXcozf5huGcpPkUkhBT9Sk3xvBeCW1PICGfdWeXiqIdKV9dZ-u4XKaqTalUm0VMZ3wW5vxj64icyOud0nwHMU5SWp9QwQdVXXwtpO4/s1600/svensby+wildflowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrz4XiWpsL5p23cOK4DSXr3dSSmuoE6cC20sCFmcXcozf5huGcpPkUkhBT9Sk3xvBeCW1PICGfdWeXiqIdKV9dZ-u4XKaqTalUm0VMZ3wW5vxj64icyOud0nwHMU5SWp9QwQdVXXwtpO4/s640/svensby+wildflowers.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mostly yellows and purples</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One thing I love so much is the sound of the gulls. You can almost
always hear their cries or their chattering, and I don’t think I’ve been along
a fjord yet without seeing them. When we were in Balsfjord, our first day in
Tromso, it was a sunny period and there was a lone gull cruising up the center
of the fjord, in the sun, and I thought how magnificent a thing it would be to
be a Norwegian gull. I thought of another of the movements from Grieg’s Peer
Gynt Suite (can’t think of the title, it’s the one with the slow, lyrical flute
melody line) as the soundtrack for that gull on that glorious day. And Marc
already knew this but I didn’t: did you know that the tide goes out in the
fjords?! I thought they were so large and deep and long that they wouldn’t be
that affected by the ocean tides, but they really go out! Huge expanses of the
beach become empty at low tide, it has really surprised me so much.
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another thing I love about this place is their love of their country.
They LOVE Norway, and being Norwegian. But it isn’t a patriotic, jingoistic
kind of thing – We’re #1! Norway is the best! It’s not like that. It’s more
like, yay Norway! Norway is so good! And you know, it IS so good. So many homes
fly either the regular Norway flag, or a long narrow triangular version of the
Norway flag. We see it everywhere, and there’s even a big flag in the entry
space of our little cabin, should we want to use it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tomorrow we’ll head out in another direction, and we think it’s going
to be sunny on Thursday so we are saving a particular hike for that day.</div>
Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-74772459029103802702015-07-06T11:03:00.001-04:002015-07-07T12:25:22.620-04:00Stockholm and Tromso and the Good Bad Start <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->There was some confusion about our baggage when we were at JFK, getting
ready to leave New York. The woman who checked us in said that our bags were
checked through to Tromso, but we should probably ask someone in Stockholm,
just to be sure. We flew out on Delta and caught an SAS flight out of Stockholm
for Tromso, so when we landed Marc tracked down an SAS employee at an information
desk, who verified: No need to do anything at all, our bags are checked through
to Tromso! No problem!
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Score! We didn't know it at the time, but this is when everything
twisted and went terribly wrong. We had a 6-hour layover and felt comfortable
spending four solid hours exploring, and everything seemed to go like
clockwork. Buy a ticket on the bullet train, check! Ride into Stockholm, 20
minutes, check! Walk to the old city, check! We couldn't believe how perfectly everything
was going! Gosh, so much time to spare, such a gorgeous, sunny, hot day, so
much time to spare.</div>
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Find the herring wagon, check! Gosh honey, can you believe how
perfectly everything's going? We found our way right to the herring wagon,
amazing! The sandwich was pretty much blech . . . not awful, certainly, but
nothing to write home about. Still, we'd planned to eat there and we found it,
amazing! Then we wandered through the old, narrow streets of the old city, enjoying
the architecture and the sunny day. It was very bright; the sun was very low,
but not low on the horizon -- more like low, right on top of our heads. Bright.
But that felt good to our jetlagged selves, especially since we were anticipating
cold and cloudy Tromso. After we explored the old city, we wandered out and
found a gorgeous park with a grassy lawn and giant trees. People were stretched
out on the grass, so we did the same, and snoozed under a beautiful, leafy
tree. There was a street fair going on in the park, and Marc checked out the food
options. We decided against having reindeer and instead had a couple of
exceptional donuts with chocolate glaze (really good chocolate, too) and
crunchy peanut bits. So good. Time to go, back to the train, no problem. Back
to the airport, no problem, this is amazing honey! Can you believe how well
this has gone? I know, me neither.</div>
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So we boarded the plane and were a little bit concerned about arriving
on time, because the rental car place would charge us a fee if we arrived late.
We sat on the plane watching nervously as the baggage handlers were NOT
handling baggage; they were just talking and laughing and goofing around, not
loading the baggage. The plane was hot and we were sweaty and just waiting; the
flight attendants were fanning themselves with paper, and they said we were
just having to wait for the luggage to be loaded. FINALLY -- our luggage too,
we were sure. We'd been assured!</div>
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And so we arrived at the Tromso airport and Marc went to the rental car
counter to get the car, and I waited for the suitcases. And waited. And waited.
And waited. And then everyone was gone, and there I was. No suitcases. Turns
out we were supposed to get the bags in Stockholm, check them through customs,
and put them back on the conveyor belt. (We would've had PLENTY of time to do
this, of course, and would've gladly done it if we hadn't been told not to.) So
the SAS agent apologized, said she hoped we would get our bags the next day,
and gave us overnight kits.</div>
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One of the big problems was that our coats were in the suitcases, and
it was very very cold in Tromso. There we were in our little short-sleeved
T-shirts that had been great in NYC and Stockholm, and that would've been fine
in Tromso, even, if only we had our coats. But without a coat, not good at all.
We got to our hotel around 10:30pm and were dazed and jetlagged and very upset,
so we just went to a restaurant on the opposite corner -- pizza. They'd just
closed, but the guy gave us a table and we had a so-so $35 pizza.</div>
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Saturday was cold and Marc walked around the city between 4:30am and 6
while I slept. We wandered across the street for a pretty bad breakfast ($50)
that left us even more upset. We knew that Norway was expensive, but here are a
couple of examples to give you the flavor of it. A beer is $9. Two Burger King
Whoppers, $30. THIRTY DOLLARS.</div>
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My suitcase was finally delivered early evening on Saturday, and there
was no indication of Marc's. In Marc's suitcase was the computer and some
snacks we'd packed. Since I had my warm coat and a GoreTex raincoat, we both
had something to wear to keep us at least a little warm, so we walked around
the town a bit, explored a little, although worry and anxiety about the missing
suitcase were always right there. We looked around for a sweatshirt, but found
nothing for less than $100, so we decided to wait.</div>
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Saturday, no suitcase still, so we went to the airport and were told
that they hoped we'd get it the next morning. There was mention of it being in
Oslo. No idea, no way to verify anything about it. We drove from Tromso to
Balsford and the warm car and gorgeous scenery helped a bit.</div>
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Sunday we were scheduled to go to Svensby, to the little cabin we have
along the fjord. So we stopped once again at the airport and the SAS agent said
something about Houston. We were told to wait 45 minutes for the next plane
that was coming in from Oslo, maybe it would be on it. (It wasn't.) Then he
said he'd give us food vouchers and we could just wait at the tiny little
airport for two more hours, maybe it would be on the NEXT plane from Oslo. I
cannot properly convey how we both felt. We gave them the address for our
little cabin and drove on to Svensby.</div>
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By the time we arrived, Ole, the farm owner, said the SAS agent had
called him and Marc's suitcase was on a bus to Svensby, and he would go to the
ferry and pick it up when it arrived at 5pm. Nothing is open on Sundays in
Norway, no grocery stores, no markets, nothing, so we ate miserable little
sandwiches we made and were glad Marc's suitcase had arrived.....but there is no
wifi in the cabin, as we'd been told there would be.</div>
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Good thing Norway is so gorgeous. The people are all very friendly and
kind, but not warm or effusive in any way. But man alive, is this place amazingly beautiful. Amazing -- and singular. You know you are here, and no place else looks exactly like this, although I hear parts of New Zealand look like this. Here are some pictures in kind of random order; we've had to come into the farm owner's house to use their Internet and I just want to get some pictures up. I'll have to put order to this when I get home, for myself.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig44Wiukxrglq53no8kMj7HnJ0tDRoRXj61bA4B6AEIIaHad8QvlVkh6wO9rez_LSRywhm2GPluXdvCWfgisAIUO3e8SoRUvX_nWdGlDsmt6q9wbtaRMNzmqG2RWIWpLIM_hFLqtsN8qpf/s1600/balsfjord3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig44Wiukxrglq53no8kMj7HnJ0tDRoRXj61bA4B6AEIIaHad8QvlVkh6wO9rez_LSRywhm2GPluXdvCWfgisAIUO3e8SoRUvX_nWdGlDsmt6q9wbtaRMNzmqG2RWIWpLIM_hFLqtsN8qpf/s640/balsfjord3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balsfjord, Norway area -- typical landscape, typical colors of buildings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBuYaVKQN3HVsG0hHLYSYQQ-Yf0VwmVlTPhN_5sHnJooXa8efCQWWWCAWPHDaZOdDKjy-FY4vz3GmzKxl-97h-ycqdpqT_RGno79zQnCtPqd-OZGkuKt67Gi4CGxw9BsB3Nhq-yDuFnq1h/s1600/balsfjord7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBuYaVKQN3HVsG0hHLYSYQQ-Yf0VwmVlTPhN_5sHnJooXa8efCQWWWCAWPHDaZOdDKjy-FY4vz3GmzKxl-97h-ycqdpqT_RGno79zQnCtPqd-OZGkuKt67Gi4CGxw9BsB3Nhq-yDuFnq1h/s640/balsfjord7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and these fields of yellow flowers, ubiquitous</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgksmjDhpU5RiwQPOc4NqhhbR9BsTgu1PW8NU8pjP1u30PYe70CKvS0pBZPs0bn12h42d3TlUGVJJQ-1F29s-qlMtv_vD8V6YJpBI1ko1gkChAKdeaWAdYL5tC63cAJZ5CLHswrb87rKMno/s1600/lori+marc+tromso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgksmjDhpU5RiwQPOc4NqhhbR9BsTgu1PW8NU8pjP1u30PYe70CKvS0pBZPs0bn12h42d3TlUGVJJQ-1F29s-qlMtv_vD8V6YJpBI1ko1gkChAKdeaWAdYL5tC63cAJZ5CLHswrb87rKMno/s640/lori+marc+tromso.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm so happy to have my coat and scarf -- in Tromso</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyCwuKlq_COWi-6q9lwE4aCHrSgdmYzRPLtYX4JI51CswVEOVYQvmHSK-6e0xamv4pRRhc_vIq00KFoVXzgbjYshfKcw2ELvxVnyHi9_ft5_VY-PtVrQE4b3c6rPfGZk54mUKRgIWIi18/s1600/svensby1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyCwuKlq_COWi-6q9lwE4aCHrSgdmYzRPLtYX4JI51CswVEOVYQvmHSK-6e0xamv4pRRhc_vIq00KFoVXzgbjYshfKcw2ELvxVnyHi9_ft5_VY-PtVrQE4b3c6rPfGZk54mUKRgIWIi18/s640/svensby1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Svensby -- peaks outside our place</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85sWI04JJ99qs1WKAWzqQz0CyHPAIpEatTBN3HuyxZGCEogqzhjNQSzl6UHjbXeTZlgyxavlULIWbNwyF9hFKiS_WkfTpnKUhMcfU9US-aQv8QMVo4jiILWzpeVybshjBAz3eSkJ2w9iM/s1600/svensby2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85sWI04JJ99qs1WKAWzqQz0CyHPAIpEatTBN3HuyxZGCEogqzhjNQSzl6UHjbXeTZlgyxavlULIWbNwyF9hFKiS_WkfTpnKUhMcfU9US-aQv8QMVo4jiILWzpeVybshjBAz3eSkJ2w9iM/s640/svensby2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the gorgeous fjord; we walked here last night; I think this was ~11pm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZid3eCR3aTs6rYN_wrPr0adltJibljPM1liCNg85QWdwyd64FsE9ejVf4xm6Z3wtMOOUk-Pqbd3gcOjDMrn1_Mhh-b72TosIIrdCJmzKckrqSQoMYE60lmQKVyYlP1_g047yFXBr2wzu/s1600/svensby5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZid3eCR3aTs6rYN_wrPr0adltJibljPM1liCNg85QWdwyd64FsE9ejVf4xm6Z3wtMOOUk-Pqbd3gcOjDMrn1_Mhh-b72TosIIrdCJmzKckrqSQoMYE60lmQKVyYlP1_g047yFXBr2wzu/s640/svensby5.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am hearing Grieg non-stop in my head, the Hall of the Mountain King</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcHrY6sfS_YBRJPR2cBRFe4wVwxLZevP5CHB9llqronQAyf3LSlKeYud1oMTOkF2C794_XGLHFThoxSUE6bFyjvne9vGnCdPr5LEHW2iWSqPBLNIvlYn7ZGSpuPl-nvnur_CZUAAKn-Au/s1600/svensby11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtcHrY6sfS_YBRJPR2cBRFe4wVwxLZevP5CHB9llqronQAyf3LSlKeYud1oMTOkF2C794_XGLHFThoxSUE6bFyjvne9vGnCdPr5LEHW2iWSqPBLNIvlYn7ZGSpuPl-nvnur_CZUAAKn-Au/s640/svensby11.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UxNlb5yXOswiuafZkC3LwVH0KYveBbwnucrXreRsiRQBGmazlkBE6I2Ywy9ZrENXE4OtELidG345Npkx2mwzNGq7-cwROpX4xNtTEoiQaspA4ajEQaBZfA4UQnMKUxGWPOsAry0bzpZ7/s1600/svensby+11pm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4UxNlb5yXOswiuafZkC3LwVH0KYveBbwnucrXreRsiRQBGmazlkBE6I2Ywy9ZrENXE4OtELidG345Npkx2mwzNGq7-cwROpX4xNtTEoiQaspA4ajEQaBZfA4UQnMKUxGWPOsAry0bzpZ7/s640/svensby+11pm2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">closing in on midnight</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMMwfzfrbQ_97nI_8DIFPuClVobAA5HnO6hIs4kR_PiYbC89CDUJqLwW_hYfywXr4qfE1NidkuJmkKnnjVn7uap40_nkSMoWid2RqDcITDDEd05Uhli40jBCmiYtsRkn_qfw4NyyGgb1P/s1600/svensby+11pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMMwfzfrbQ_97nI_8DIFPuClVobAA5HnO6hIs4kR_PiYbC89CDUJqLwW_hYfywXr4qfE1NidkuJmkKnnjVn7uap40_nkSMoWid2RqDcITDDEd05Uhli40jBCmiYtsRkn_qfw4NyyGgb1P/s640/svensby+11pm.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">beautiful little wildflowers everywhere</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDfZEJZex-38orfwj4-j7FiUOo1U9C0JEEDkJLrf8Q-CEIiCvnfMj7G2jjTw9UekFquxAGTNLvkmIiRjBqfxPdTu_qdkSWMwyWFH7BABuIbkpaaFokKmT1IfH07vUlWGzmQqI4LMlZq4z/s1600/svensby+at+midnight+watch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDfZEJZex-38orfwj4-j7FiUOo1U9C0JEEDkJLrf8Q-CEIiCvnfMj7G2jjTw9UekFquxAGTNLvkmIiRjBqfxPdTu_qdkSWMwyWFH7BABuIbkpaaFokKmT1IfH07vUlWGzmQqI4LMlZq4z/s640/svensby+at+midnight+watch.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yup. Straight-up midnight sunning it</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzuqUAVnmo0Uh_1VMIpUXNbXOty3Aj6pwlfkSnXIBEDb9xYYTWsZ3HeIFf8-2RTSr7ztiERg3LN3GCqFUNs3Z_5FDqcFbjG4AscCFOG5gKhP5xrx6RIk3-Ko9C4-kE8zrKVpEyD6zt5Bj/s1600/svensby+beach2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzuqUAVnmo0Uh_1VMIpUXNbXOty3Aj6pwlfkSnXIBEDb9xYYTWsZ3HeIFf8-2RTSr7ztiERg3LN3GCqFUNs3Z_5FDqcFbjG4AscCFOG5gKhP5xrx6RIk3-Ko9C4-kE8zrKVpEyD6zt5Bj/s640/svensby+beach2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the beachy area nearby</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9a7GbQ5Ts9OhAlnYJUkmxguyFWgXj32foMzF45MCDp6ZeawtXDxh54mACThyphenhyphen2PastfjISOIKQiOAxvtaQ8Wr2yQ-_M5LA89uCFIq2ncPr3q4xUnpAVccXpujTdVXFL0TgbKyhZEV7FLvf/s1600/svensby+cabin+car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9a7GbQ5Ts9OhAlnYJUkmxguyFWgXj32foMzF45MCDp6ZeawtXDxh54mACThyphenhyphen2PastfjISOIKQiOAxvtaQ8Wr2yQ-_M5LA89uCFIq2ncPr3q4xUnpAVccXpujTdVXFL0TgbKyhZEV7FLvf/s640/svensby+cabin+car.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">here's our little cabin and car</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FtNr6OT2Q9Vcv9I3U76RUMWD69g9_LgFdHFEf1qx8_jqvOjbpmjyAdubWWhyIFf4paputagcGxYPudtT7S3Y6nrO3fEvaRzxmoy7PJVRiFTwTtpUO02_6iGzn9m-w6KwUr27VdKrgTKE/s1600/svensby+cabin+door+trollheim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3FtNr6OT2Q9Vcv9I3U76RUMWD69g9_LgFdHFEf1qx8_jqvOjbpmjyAdubWWhyIFf4paputagcGxYPudtT7S3Y6nrO3fEvaRzxmoy7PJVRiFTwTtpUO02_6iGzn9m-w6KwUr27VdKrgTKE/s640/svensby+cabin+door+trollheim.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and this is Troll Land, you know</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnmNXSUGt_fSBrHyVJ56aq2dWD2eh8Ihd5FB_0TZf8veZVZrLckjg32GmsqBVkFjnc7sTj_3wm64ecsvTKb72SlwcfqJOYM6ivEWXLnB7DLjGQ-ADzjj8ZJIFRvAmZDobSM0HkOVjKOSf/s1600/svensby+flowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqnmNXSUGt_fSBrHyVJ56aq2dWD2eh8Ihd5FB_0TZf8veZVZrLckjg32GmsqBVkFjnc7sTj_3wm64ecsvTKb72SlwcfqJOYM6ivEWXLnB7DLjGQ-ADzjj8ZJIFRvAmZDobSM0HkOVjKOSf/s640/svensby+flowers.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">flowers below our bathroom window</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzj2Yi4KCNRjF2wkfGvWJ4RUC73n5FApLgBcxWWjAnHnii3oYmM6QQ-AhI4ltXSVc148KOXzHvyJeGlOqEvyuve1Fpl2040FYVq3QrhZ7qaICY-ahz8A_vAzPLYaXSBHN6hz3VLM_SVzI/s1600/svensby+grass+house2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzj2Yi4KCNRjF2wkfGvWJ4RUC73n5FApLgBcxWWjAnHnii3oYmM6QQ-AhI4ltXSVc148KOXzHvyJeGlOqEvyuve1Fpl2040FYVq3QrhZ7qaICY-ahz8A_vAzPLYaXSBHN6hz3VLM_SVzI/s640/svensby+grass+house2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it's not uncommon for houses to have sod and grass on the roofs</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-Eu6UNTbyi2d2Bv7COoTuozh3D9pBrkaes9eftu9SekquFajNXahHybO2SLkKrs50RNyHTaoONAvvul00AVdaHfpTc5d6pUoD39ahLaKNxsS1F2AK8zy47CgBk7R4zdsvoQZcND2iNuc/s1600/svensby+grass+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi-Eu6UNTbyi2d2Bv7COoTuozh3D9pBrkaes9eftu9SekquFajNXahHybO2SLkKrs50RNyHTaoONAvvul00AVdaHfpTc5d6pUoD39ahLaKNxsS1F2AK8zy47CgBk7R4zdsvoQZcND2iNuc/s640/svensby+grass+house.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUpVej76vvCYrt86BqPmCB0TA9TvjQD7MRcsuPO65B77_44ydz7PSTdN5VkiHPT4dnWqkoSRommGVwLJPWmZUcFOwJdUDhP3hAyNt9lM6v4iNjUMHflj7KPmlC3QvR1HddOafFa8sunpl/s1600/svensby+marc+cooks2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUpVej76vvCYrt86BqPmCB0TA9TvjQD7MRcsuPO65B77_44ydz7PSTdN5VkiHPT4dnWqkoSRommGVwLJPWmZUcFOwJdUDhP3hAyNt9lM6v4iNjUMHflj7KPmlC3QvR1HddOafFa8sunpl/s640/svensby+marc+cooks2.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a nice hot breakfast, after our days of cold miserable sandwiches and junk food</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yeC8UfKEB_BfVTtqDOAv2B8wSpjfGe4yHbKvuNZEjrlZCBOmub8SSjmzayl3EwcCD7nJKWE7bciTVlrKkKrx-9crz3HZckApM2ExtJaPlYVbEIJV35qOSq5fCcMMrEuM9EqIpLIvsZU2/s1600/svensby+ole+barn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yeC8UfKEB_BfVTtqDOAv2B8wSpjfGe4yHbKvuNZEjrlZCBOmub8SSjmzayl3EwcCD7nJKWE7bciTVlrKkKrx-9crz3HZckApM2ExtJaPlYVbEIJV35qOSq5fCcMMrEuM9EqIpLIvsZU2/s640/svensby+ole+barn.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ole's barn -- and it smells VERY strongly of manure, which is a smell I love</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY3PzULx2_g3aHNz1QlvVylkNeJMZEXFy7sJqPO_2_fGYobapqCO0KrK331Km94OD_Z30CL5Mipp-BiawDbe7g_DiwgLh-nXNeqzEgwqKOeTF_VRi2FxrR4FQ5KdUWlK5DSsFqRbXx2Mk/s1600/svensby+panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYY3PzULx2_g3aHNz1QlvVylkNeJMZEXFy7sJqPO_2_fGYobapqCO0KrK331Km94OD_Z30CL5Mipp-BiawDbe7g_DiwgLh-nXNeqzEgwqKOeTF_VRi2FxrR4FQ5KdUWlK5DSsFqRbXx2Mk/s640/svensby+panorama.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a panorama of our fjord</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBQi1Ui_MISQ2FUsAHda-Icv6KLph79l14BQD1eU2pNLk5Rwo8Ck_OHFf0HcIuMyd8dufvuiCQZ6NjN3hqSXg76WU-zWtc3vmVgcjSz5gCjRYAVY6ZTsVi2NN33xQS9mZw2eqR3x4AFMv/s1600/svensby+wildflower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFBQi1Ui_MISQ2FUsAHda-Icv6KLph79l14BQD1eU2pNLk5Rwo8Ck_OHFf0HcIuMyd8dufvuiCQZ6NjN3hqSXg76WU-zWtc3vmVgcjSz5gCjRYAVY6ZTsVi2NN33xQS9mZw2eqR3x4AFMv/s640/svensby+wildflower.jpg" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">amazing, right?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFq6msKjNEvPOSZ0TV_88r-wdWmXaBa-J_XZkCwDCyBYqch2xK8yNWcFo4VoLDjgVfvsFARdtrx-hb8_NPjFJv_LYz0bj-uQdGKQ-PPJEeq6wffLmxSRtE7M_RAhh3LvUvJybMK0mHbL-G/s1600/tromso+harbor7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFq6msKjNEvPOSZ0TV_88r-wdWmXaBa-J_XZkCwDCyBYqch2xK8yNWcFo4VoLDjgVfvsFARdtrx-hb8_NPjFJv_LYz0bj-uQdGKQ-PPJEeq6wffLmxSRtE7M_RAhh3LvUvJybMK0mHbL-G/s640/tromso+harbor7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Tromso harbor</td></tr>
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My next post will not be so complainey -- we have been hiking and walking around and driving to see some gorgeous places. Lots of good pictures of scenic splendor, and some good stories to tell too.</div>
Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-24317043023259327692015-07-02T11:05:00.003-04:002015-07-02T11:05:57.782-04:00Leaving day!The day we leave NYC is always such a thrilling day; the trip awaits in hope and excitement. We are anticipating less pleasant weather in Tromso than they usually have this time of year, if the current weather forecast holds. We are hoping things work out in Stockholm so we can leave the airport during our long layover and take <a href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/city-guides/stockholm-walking-tour-1/" target="_blank">a walking tour of the old town</a> and eat at <a href="http://www.afar.com/places/the-herring-wagon-in-sodermalm-square-stockholm" target="_blank">the famous herring wagon</a>:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4ux4QYpdqV5zKvGy5FfdlWb0iUKdyGeuwCeb_ooTpgXHErx8uXgJpK3lF20GWJDc8KAdtgsos-NhMuqLbI5xl_2T__dea4VznKM_dITbXd1Ty1CoAwbhVLVQQ1jS8LRo4Jbe8b156ybU/s1600/stockholm-walkingtour-oldtown_3890_600x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4ux4QYpdqV5zKvGy5FfdlWb0iUKdyGeuwCeb_ooTpgXHErx8uXgJpK3lF20GWJDc8KAdtgsos-NhMuqLbI5xl_2T__dea4VznKM_dITbXd1Ty1CoAwbhVLVQQ1jS8LRo4Jbe8b156ybU/s640/stockholm-walkingtour-oldtown_3890_600x450.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the old town, which requires a trip on a bullet train from the airport</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRaMGYT8SA8Suv2Er97zjTQXpjGoSYEfJLDHp_w6SzAAkaCXx9RgDdKLqsh-TnnkacbszT3E23uM7hXsJROgD3bvpQ_7OYN_LI9sPnyfUIn2-iyWnvDKqZ7cK_IoWbxC5uFKcIlxTytFB/s1600/herring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRaMGYT8SA8Suv2Er97zjTQXpjGoSYEfJLDHp_w6SzAAkaCXx9RgDdKLqsh-TnnkacbszT3E23uM7hXsJROgD3bvpQ_7OYN_LI9sPnyfUIn2-iyWnvDKqZ7cK_IoWbxC5uFKcIlxTytFB/s640/herring.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">even I will eat herring...I think....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's going to be 80 degrees in Stockholm, lovely weather for a walkabout. Our coats and rain gear are packed on top in our suitcases, so when we arrive in Tromso we can grab them easily.<br />
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Farvel everyone!Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8672592534721606930.post-10105907314530057612015-04-18T13:24:00.003-04:002015-04-19T09:50:29.260-04:00All that sun!In thinking about our next vacation, the trip planner realized that our jet lag/disorientation will be very strange. We'll leave NYC at 9:30pm, arrive in Stockholm just more than 8 hours later and then another 1.5 hours to Tromso (8:30pm local time), but however we may feel it's going to be sunlight. And then more day, and more day, and more day, and never a dark night to help us start to stabilize our internal clocks. We wonder how weird it will feel, and how it'll affect our jet lag?<br />
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Where we'll be, the sun never sets. <a href="http://www.visitnorway.com/us/what-to-do/attractions-culture/nature-attractions/the-midnight-sun/what-is-the-midnight-sun/" target="_blank">Midnight sun</a>. Although we're going to Copenhagen for a bit and Stockholm for an even littler bit, the bulk of our time will be spent 350km north of the ARCTIC CIRCLE (and only 2,200 km south of the North Pole!). Tromso is the second-largest city north of the Arctic Circle, no less. Here's the circle:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-MZs4DKU7C5A3GIYj39fIR_whyphenhyphenMqJ7z4zpnZFEdpHWB-pY_bYGBGtqe1UEgs3392KxEzSpljcdjiuO_aZFFrzDyTj7bV9euDT-LfxIpq2Fvcr9Onch3YMto7BV42y0MesnUe-R2sfkIe/s1600/arctic+circle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-MZs4DKU7C5A3GIYj39fIR_whyphenhyphenMqJ7z4zpnZFEdpHWB-pY_bYGBGtqe1UEgs3392KxEzSpljcdjiuO_aZFFrzDyTj7bV9euDT-LfxIpq2Fvcr9Onch3YMto7BV42y0MesnUe-R2sfkIe/s1600/arctic+circle.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See Tromso in Norway (the blue country at the bottom)? It's almost at the next latitude in.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE9gYgn45ZJdghAZ8biBTZy37gTWk2iCu7ejdU2HRiK0-H-XS39cwnHQI07KAyeYHI6gdbDHmv7KW3w72cGf_U5QpvOEvk8b1lzBXw3IiCnbPkvss4ar7RMJwZbTm08TVYLCPXQONHP4K/s1600/tromso.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjE9gYgn45ZJdghAZ8biBTZy37gTWk2iCu7ejdU2HRiK0-H-XS39cwnHQI07KAyeYHI6gdbDHmv7KW3w72cGf_U5QpvOEvk8b1lzBXw3IiCnbPkvss4ar7RMJwZbTm08TVYLCPXQONHP4K/s1600/tromso.PNG" height="323" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There it is.</td></tr>
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May 17 is their national Constitution Day, and we found two adorable videos of the parade in Tromso.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oL4UulVGIYk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oL4UulVGIYk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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This one has music by the Foo Fighters.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WV8mrbEB9yM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WV8mrbEB9yM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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This one is less slick and features more</div>
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townspeople in various kinds of dress</div>
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Counting weeks at this point.....canNOT WAIT. Here is the Tromso fjord:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuyy-JUeGvIRMoi7FGvH0Gmlo3xFt6eLJDLKENMLNhC_ZMnksjpAmNKuhSahioCEz4djgAaolCSuvsH0yXNlEB8kohW10mjZcuaItmdK7s7UsBnQfTfyr19MtFVNcVWReV9JWPeM4RobD/s1600/tromso+fjord.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpuyy-JUeGvIRMoi7FGvH0Gmlo3xFt6eLJDLKENMLNhC_ZMnksjpAmNKuhSahioCEz4djgAaolCSuvsH0yXNlEB8kohW10mjZcuaItmdK7s7UsBnQfTfyr19MtFVNcVWReV9JWPeM4RobD/s1600/tromso+fjord.PNG" height="578" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05676317652927356121noreply@blogger.com0