5-28-03 Greetings from Bergen, Norway

It has been a great trip so far. The travelling takes more energy than I thought, but I am getting into the flow of it. I always seem to be spending my time figuring out where I will stay and how I will get there, but I am doing less and less of this as I gain more travel experience. I will describe where I have gone and what I have done in the paragraphs below in more detail, but first a few thoughts.

The Norwegians are very nice. I have talked with people everywhere. I have only had a few political discussions and no fist fights yet. The people I did talk with about the subject were mainly curious and I have learned a few things about their perspective as well. Everyone speaks English which is great for me. I have learned how to say "Thank You", TussenTakk, everyone looks surprised when I say it so I will have to see if I'm saying it wrong!

The scenary is beautiful. Not a lot of people, I think 2 million people in Norway. Their cities are very close to nature. Mostly overcast so far, but today it is about 10 degrees warmer and I am loving it. They have a jazz fest this week so I am looking forward to seeing a concert or two tonight.

The hostels have been fine. It is a change of lifestyle for sure. I am currently in a dorm room with about 30 other people, girls and guys. I was in the men's shower this morning and getting a chuckle out of the guy next to me because he made these girly noises everytime the water turned on ( cold showers if you do not get up early enough ). The shower room is shared, with a partition between the actual shower heads. You probably guessed it, but it was not a guy at all.

I am the only American on the road so far. The Australians are everywhere. Rather than a Peace Corp, I think they have a Party Corp. A lot of German woman too, German men don't seem to travel.

I hope you enjoy the latest pictures. I have about a 70% success rate in uploading them so there are a few I could not share. Still working out the kinks, maybe I will be able to add them later. I could not see the videos and therefore could not name them, but give them a try.

Read below for more detail.

Craig

Oslo - I spent 3 days in Oslo, saw the obligatory tourist sights such as the Viking Museum, the Ski Jump, and Thor Hierdahl's Kon Tikki Museum. That guy was crazy. The best part of Oslo was being there for their independence day, Constitution Day. They are all in their traditional dress and watch a 3 hour parade of the school kids walking down the main street ( Karl Johans Gate, he beat the French but wanted Norway for the Swedes, and only spoke French himself so did not become the King, but he got the best street named after himself ) and up to the castle where the King waves to them. The kids are very cute and singing their school songs. Also lot's of great bands. I liked the baton girs who danced to "Lola" the best. I walked up and waved to the King as well. The Norwegians spent the whole day in Olso, enjoying the weather, talking, eating ice cream, just being. It was nice to see.

Lofoten Islands - I spent two days travelling and two days in the Lofoten Islands which are north of the Arctic Circle. They are absolutely spectacular. As you approach them from the ferry, they rise out of the ocean like the Grand Tetons. No one was there because it is the early season and it was cold, but I took in the scenary. I stayed at the southernmost village called A ( pronounced Oh ) and also at Henningsvar. Met a guy who walked the trail from north to south over the mountains. I would love to do that. He saw a lot of birds and 7 Sea Eagles. They catch and dry Cod in Lofoten, used to be the big Herring center. The gulf stream is there so it is very mild considering they are so far north. Perfect conditions for drying Cod, not too hot, not too cold. Then 36 hours of straight travel back to Bergen.

Bergen - I have been here 5 days and I am enjoying taking it easy. Although I finally started to jog to prepare for the Alps and I took a 3 hour hike yesterday, uphill and steep for 2 hours. I am Fjording here. I went to a beautiful Fjord yesterday, Hardaiger Fjord and to a small town called Ullensvang where they grow apples. The English monks brought apples there a while ago and now it is the apple center of Norway. Extremely beautiful. The trees were blossoming and the village was still very small. It is great that places like this still exist, not overbuilt. Well, that is it for now. Off to the jazz shows in Bergen tonight and then to Denmark on Friday.

My Mom, Dad, Sister, and Grandpa all had a great time at the Derby! We didn't see much of the race ( It's a long story about our seats. ), but we soaked in the experience. Mom and Julie wore hats and everybody drank Mint Juleps. Mom, Dad, and I also bet on the winner, Funny Cide and that made everything worthwhile! Check out the pictures and video.