Fjords, Forests and Trains

A few more pictures of Norway, straight from the camera. More to come on Flickr and once we get back to the UK.


My mission to swim in a Fjord was realized. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. The water was heavy and clear, but not very salty.



Hiking in the forests above Bergen, in the rain.



View of the fjords out our train window. The "most beautiful train ride in the world" from Bergen to Oslo sure lived up to its billing.



The train passed through summer, fall and then winter as it climbed and crested the mountains.



On Saturday we took the train from Oslo north to Gran, where a large chunk of my Monroe ancestors, through the Serdahl-Andersen line are from. This is a picture of the historic cemetary that has been use in the city since the 11th century. Chances are pretty good that my great-great-great-grandparents and their families are buried here, although the tombstones have since been replaced.



We stayed with Josh and Kimberly Oldham in Oslo. Kimberly was my sister Sheralie's roommate at BYU. We are so grateful for their warm hospitality and enjoyed a fierce match of Settlers of Cataan on Saturday night. (Josh won).

Bergen

Alex and I are spending the next 6 days in Norway and Sweden. We started today in Bergen, the largest city on the western side of Norway. It is over one thousand years old and served as a center for the vikings and also the Hanseatic league. It was rainy and cold, but unbelievably beautiful. I will be able to tell more about it in future posts, but for now wanted to at least share a few photos.

12 Hours in the UK

Been in the UK for 12 hours. Observations:

1) My "sorry" already has a British twang to it.
2) We live within walking distance of all necessary stores. Very nice.
3) Grocery shopping made me so happy I wanted to move in between the aisle of Indian food and the aisle of chutneys and sauces. This is going to be a good year for my stomach.
4) Flat is extremely pleasant, with thick, quiet walls and a nice third floor view of the neighborhood. New roommates are fastidiously clean and appreciated me making dinner.
5) Dinner was tomato sausage + spicy Indian sauce + potatoes + onion + brown basmati rice with mint and chip ice cream for dessert.
6) The "projects" of Tottenham are really, really nice. We live in a fine neighborhood with plenty of trees, confusing streets and roundabouts, and pleasant brick buildings.
7) I highly recommend flying Air New Zealand. Great food, cheery service, a nice palette for the interior of the plane (black, slate gray, dark green and some purple accents) and a hysterical rugby-themed security video.

Jet lag is messing with my brain. I better go to bed while I still can.