It's 75 degrees with a breeze on my 4th floor story balcony, which is where I now sit in disbelief at how quickly the last month has flown past. The landscape has utterly transformed before my eyes, one day a chilly urban streetscape covered in gravel and lacking any color, to todays technicolor portrait of green trees, fresh flowers, and Disneyland spotlessness. And it isn't just the physical that has transformed. Each day I find myself relaxing into this not so new life. As if I haven't always lived in a spacious European apartment with the sounds of the seagulls and ocean liners greeting me from the harbor every time I open my door.
So besides watching the trees bloom and getting my feet under me, the last few weeks were especially busy and celebratory, with holidays and visitors a plenty. My mom, step-dad, aunt, uncle, cousin, and her two kids all arrived in Oslo for whirlwind family reunion. It was my first major hosting experience, but it was great fun to be able to share my new home and city with my family. It was also a great chance for me to be a tourist in my own city, with my first visits to the Folk Museum, Viking Ship Museum, Polar Ship Fram, and a few others.
After my uncle, aunt, and cousins went back home, my mom and step-dad stayed around for another week to get the full Norway experience. We started off with the
Norway in a Nutshell tour. I had been told by many folks that doing the Nutshell tour, while a typical tourist activity, is definitely worth doing early in my time here in Norway. I completely agree and am so glad I got see the mountains, fjords, and Bergen all in just a couple of days. Coming back to Oslo, I had a few days of work while the folks did some more relaxed touring, with a random Thursday holiday (Ascension Day) allowing for a quick trip down to Hadeland Glassverk.
After a sad goodbye, I had less than a week to prepare for Norway's biggest day of celebration, Syttende Mai (17th of May, or Constitution Day). I'll post on that separately, but enjoy some touring pictures below.
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| Stavkirke at Oslo Folk Museum |
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| Viking Ship Museum |
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| Mountain lake, somewhere in between Oslo and Norway |
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| More beautiful lake scenery |
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| Flåmsbana - the only way from the top of the mountain to the fjord |
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| Flåmsbana makes it's way down the mountain |
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| Small valley village near Flåm |
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| Looking back up the fjord |
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| Small village on the shores of the Nærøyfjord |
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| Brygge area in Bergen |
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| Bergen from the Fløybanen |
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