Day 22 - 29: Bergen

The week in Bergen was a balance of trying to get to seeing everyone and enough time just for us to wander around the city.

We started out just with a day for ourselves. Travel days are always tiring, whether it's flying across the world or just switching sides of the family from Hardanger to Bergen.

Our first day in the city we actually ended up running into my father's cousin Helge and his wife Tove. It was pretty amusing to just be wandering down the street in Bergen and to run randomly into people we know. Back home in Vancouver, it's usually Beth that does this. Leave it to Jon to do it in Bergen, Norway...


We did the needed touristy things. We went to the Gingerbread City (Pepperkakebyen). Children from all over the area make various gingerbread things: houses, boats, trees, churches... and on and on and on. They're all brought together yearly and a gigantic city is made. I wasn't as impressed with it this year as I have been in the past... Later on, we found out why. Apparently this year someone broke into the exhibition the day before it opened and crushed everything. The show was delayed by a few days and things were quickly fixed and made again... Just imagine the thousands of cute little Norwegian children and their disappointed faces. Christmas lost! Apparently the city was crying to bring out the stocks for a public shaming.


We also took the funicular up to Fløyen, one of Bergen's seven mountains... There's a national park at the top and just the most beautiful view of the city, not to mention some of the best damn sledding in Bergen. Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to sled down it, but we did make two trips up to the top...one day and one night. 





Helge was a great help for our entire time in Bergen. We met up with him the next day at his house. Given that I had only ever walked to his house once or twice and usually after several beer, this was a little adventure. Basically it consisted of me calling him every couple hundred feet for directions. Nine or ten calls later and we found it.

We spent some time with Helge and Tove. It was nice. Many pictures of trips to Thailand. It seems Thailand is a very popular tourist destination from Norway. It seemed as though anyone who spoke of vacation was talking about Thailand.

Helge took us out into the city where we met up with my second cousins Eirik and Camilla, also Martin (Camilla's fiancé). It was wonderful to see them all. Last time we were in Norway, they were all in different places, so we missed the chance to see them. It had been almost six years since I had seen them last, and it was great to have a chance to catch up and meet Beth.

Helge also took us out the next day to visit my Great Aunt Gudrun. She is a wonderful lady. I have so much gratitude toward her. Gudrun and her late husband Ledvin (my Grandfather's brother) were the first two people I met in Norway over ten years ago. Their reaction to me back then was amazing and one that I'll always be grateful for. They taught me the pride and strength in my family name and that I cherish.



(Gudrun, Jon, Helge)

Gudrun and I spent a lot of time together when I lived in Norway in 2002. She doesn't speak English, so there were many days when I spoke nothing but Norsk. Bad Norsk, but Norsk nonetheless. The two of us are quite close and it's always nice to see how excited she is to see us.

We found this time that she hasn't changed a bit since the first time I met her. It's amazing how healthy and fresh the Norwegian lifestyle is. We had a good afternoon eating snacks and drinking coffee. It's always very important that I see her.

We had hoped to go out to the island of Fedje for New Year's eve, but that wasn't meant to be this trip. Martin is from Fedje and his family always has a great Nyttår fest (New Year's Eve party). Unfortunately, there were just too many family members going to be there and no free beds, so we ended up staying in Bergen.

New Year's Eve in Norway is pretty fantastic. As the clock comes to midnight, the fireworks start. Every direction you can see, there are fireworks. We went outside on Glenn's balcony and watched. Excellent view over the water and into the heart of Bergen's harbour. Quite the show.

The next day our plan was to visit my Grandfather's sister, my great Aunt Asta. Helge was kind enough to be our tourist guide again. He wasn't feeling all that well, since he had been up until 4:00am partying. Norwegians definitely know how to party. He was a great sport though.

To me, Asta is sort of royalty. She is the last left of my Grandfather's siblings. Last of her generation. She is a pretty amazing woman. Her husband Arne passed on several years back, before our last trip. She definitely lost the spring in her step... However this time we had the honour of meeting her new friend Einar as well. It was great to see how happy she is again.



(Jon, Asta, Einar)

We spent several hours with them. Of course, once she heard that we were leaving on Sunday, she insisted that we spend the night there Saturday. Her house is very close to the airport, so it has become almost tradition that I spend my last night in Bergen with her. It was also a great reason to be able to go back and spend more time with them.

We ended up saying our farewells to Helge and Tove that night. We had much thanks to Helge for everything he had done for us.

Suddenly we realized the time was really ticking away for our time in Bergen. Our last day was a busy one of packing up and visiting. We went back out to Eidsvåg. My second cousin Christian and his wife Birte live on the main floor of the house these days, and Gudrun lives upstairs. We had missed them last time we were here mostly (we saw them for about five minutes) so it was great to be able to take some time and visit. Of course, getting the chance to see Gudrun again was a definite plus as well.

Eirik joined up with us again there, and Camilla and Martin soon thereafter. The five of us (and Martin's niece making six) went out for dinner to Peppe's Pizza for the last supper.

I have to explain a little about Peppe's. It's a Norwegian pizza chain. Like everything in Norway, it's expensive... but it's good. The real benefit we found though was that most of their pizzas can be ordered gluten free. As one could imagine if you know my wife, Beth loved this. Actually, we found Norway in general to be very easy and aware of the condition. The shops, even the littlest stores out in the countryside all had gluten free products. The whole thing made life for Beth quite easy in Norway during this trip.

So our last dinner with them was great. We didn't really get to see them as much as I'd have liked, but at least we did get a chance to see them.



(Camilla, Martin, Beth)

Eirik was good enough to drive us back out to Asta's. We spent the rest of the evening with her and Einar. She really is a remarkable woman. Seeing them happy and laughing together was excellent. If I'm that happy when I'm 80, I'll be counting my blessings.

As our flight was an early one the next morning, we turned in not too late. Tomorrow is a travel day... Arctic Circle, here we come!

Day 20 to 21: Christmas and the road to Bergen

Originally we had planned to move on to Bergen as of Christmas Day. The main celebration is over and it seemed like a good time to switch sides of the family. However, we ended up finding out that things had changed in the past six years since the last time Jon was here for Christmas. These days there is no bus service at all on Christmas Day, so that put that plan to an end.

Turned out it was a good thing anyways, as it made it possible for us to spend our last day in Hardanger with the entire family out at Hans' hytte. Even Ola!



So, it was an afternoon of more great desserts... charades... and just general good cheer.

We said our farewells to all from Rosendal as well as Hans and Oddny, since we wouldn't see them again before we left the next morning.

We were having some trouble getting accurate information on just when the next bus actually did leave Mundheim. We didn't really want to leave, of course, but we knew that time was ticking down before we would be flying up north, and we knew it was time to go see the other side of the family. Calling the bus line brought up bad news... apparently there was no service out to Mundheim on the 26th either. Svein didn't think that was actually the case though, so we let everything slide until that morning. Then we would figure it out.

The morning came. The bags were packed. Everything was good to go... except by now we had confirmed that there were indeed no buses. So once Svein got home from work, he'd drive us out to Bergen.

It's about an hour's drive to Norheimsund, a town on the north of the Hardangerfjord, where we would have been able to get a bus. But it's just an hour and a half to Bergen. Bergen was the better call.

It was definitely a beautiful drive. Since the first snow came down, it hasn't left. Apparently this is very unusual for this area of Norway. Usually, like it does in Vancouver, the snow comes down, stays a day... and melts away. This year there has been much snow. Everywhere.

The problem was that I hadn't nailed down all the exact details on when we were to get to Bergen. So as the drive progressed, our plans changed. First we were going to Sveinung and Eva's. Then we ended up going to Gudrun's, who didn't turn out to be there at that exact moment. Finally we ended up back in Arna with the family there.

It was nice to get a chance to spend another afternoon there before we finally did make it in to Bergen.

We spent the first night with Sveinung and Eva. Eva is my father's cousin, my Grandfather's brother's daughter.

Then, the next day we headed out to where we were staying for our week in Bergen: my second cousin (tremenning) Glenn's apartment. Glenn, Eva's son, is out working on the local cruise ships right now. So for the first time since we'd left Iceland, for the next week... we're pretty much on our own.

Day 18 to 20: Christmas in Mundheim

Our return to Mundheim consisted pretty much of one thing: playing in snow.

There was close to a metre of the stuff, which made for some fabulous sledding. Of course, the problem was that without a good ski lift... or at least a rope tow... it was one heck of a climb back up the hills. Very steep.



By the time we had a decent run going... We were so exhausted we had to come back the next day to actually try it.



In Norway, the celebration for Christmas is all on Christmas Eve.

But before the presents, there was some serious work to be done. The morning of Christmas Eve my Great Uncle Hans came down to the house. He wanted me to come up with him, to pay our respects and clean off the grave of my great-grandparents. The two of us walked up the road to the old graveyard together. He had to show me the way to the grave, since it had been many years since I had been there, and of course it was all covered in snow.

It was very moving. The two of us standing there in the snow together. I shovelled off the grave itself, making it clear enough that we could lay a candle and a wreath. We both paid our respects, said our thanks to these people without whom we wouldn't exist. It was interesting for me to watch my Great Uncle, see this wonderful man paying respects to those that have been gone for so long.  He doesn't speak English... but we didn't really need to speak. It was a good moment, one that I will cherish.



With the serious part done, then came the celebrations. It's tradition to go up to Tante (Aunt) Lisen's for rice pudding on Christmas Eve afternoon. She lives in the upper part of the house we stay in in Mundheim. In the rice pudding, there's an almond. If you get the almond, you win a prize. Svein has had this honour for many years running now, and he's quite proud of his track record. However, unfortunately for Svein, this year Beth had the honour of the lucky almond. Or so we thought... turns out, Lisen had put in TWO almonds this year since there were so many of us. Well, still no dice for Svein--Malene had the second almond. Malene won some chocolate, and Beth won a scratch and win ticket. Too bad for us, she didn't win the million kroner (~$200,000) prize.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, family members stopped by to drop off all their gifts. The pile around the Christmas tree grew bigger and bigger.

Then it was time for dinner. Ingebjørg and Svein laid the feast out on the table. Pinnekjøtt (lamb ribs) is the main traditional dish, but over the last ten years, kalkun (turkey) has been gaining ground. So much good food... and of course dessert. Yum!



Finally came the part the kids are always waiting for: the presents. Malene had the honour of playing Julenissen (Santa Claus) and handed them all out. Then one by one they were all opened. Of course, even though we had said we didn't want anything, there was still a small pile of presents for the two of us as well.

Overall, it was a great day. A lot of fun and great time with the family.

Day 15 to 17: Rosendal

The weekend came... and though we really had no concept of weekends at all, we thought it would be a fine day to go to Rosendal.

We woke up Friday morning and there was snow. Lots and lots of snow. It wasn't there when we went to sleep... but there it was when we awoke.

No problem. This isn't Vancouver. The world doesn't shut down with an inch of snow!

We were off.

Ingebjørg dropped us off at the ferry in Gjermundshamn and we were on our way across the Hardangerfjord to Rosendal. It's a 45 minute ride when it stops at the island of Varaldsøy on the way, which ours did. (It's 25 minutes without Varaldsøy.) Across we went, on to Løfallstrand, the gateway to Rosendal.

Ingebjørg's sister Gunvor and her family live in Rosendal. Her husband Rolf picked us up at the ferry. They have three children: Øystein, Håvard and Ola. Every day for the last three months before we left on our trip, Øystein would message Jon on MSN Messenger asking him "When are you coming? When are you coming?". So we had a pretty good idea that the kids were excited.

We were too. Rolf makes the most amazing smoked salmon in his Hunstad-oven™. Beth has been craving this since the first time she had it in 2006. Mmmmmm!

Rolf and Gunvor have a great house right on the fjord. With the snow, the kids had set up a pretty killer sled course down the side of the house. Of course it needed a ramp. Jon got some air!



It was a lot of fun. You just can't beat good food and good times.

The biggest change from the last time we were here was Ola. Where last time. he had wanted to be in every picture... This time, if you pointed the camera in his general direction, he would dive behind a table, a wall, a person... anything to escape the camera lens. Luckily, Jon had bought a toy before we left home: a trick lens. It's mirrored, so if you point it forward, it actually takes a picture to the left or right at 90 degrees. Great for shy kid photography!

Using the lens, we actually got some good shots of him. Mirrored of course, but very nice. Definitely a recommended toy if you have kids around.



We also ended up going to a Christmas concert at the Rosendal church. It was a good (and very quick) show. It turned out that due to the weather, the conductor of the choir couldn't make it... so the entire choir part was cancelled, leaving just an hour of other performances. Håvard played with the school band. (The rest of the time he rocks out with his band, Black Water. If it's black, it has to be cool!)

Suddenly though, we found ourselves thinking about time. How much time we spend doing this, how much we do that... Five weeks initially seemed like a ton of time, but now that we're in the midst of it, we realize that we might have planned just a little too much into this trip. Iceland, dog sledding, Denmark... but it is what it is. So we decided it was time to head back to Mundheim. A few more days there up until Christmas... and then on to Bergen.

The Darkest Days...

A few days before Christmas, Hans Inge knocked out the internet in Mundheim. As it was so close to Christmas, there was no way to get it repaired so... gasp!!! We were without the net.

There were some withdrawals, mood swings... and the blog got behind by a week. We'll get it caught up soon!

We did have lots of fun in the meantime!

Finally, a video... Iceland!

Days Eight to Fourteen: Mundheim

If there's truly a place in Norway that is home to me [Jon], it's Mundheim.

The first time I came to Mundheim, over ten years ago, I was enchanted. I could feel the land in my blood. My great grandparents lived here. My grandmother grew up here. Her brother, my great uncle, still lives here. His daughter Ingebjørg and her family live here as well.

It's truly a part of me.

The town itself has a population of about 40 people. A lot of the houses here are just summer homes these days. People live in the city and come out to the country for the summer. It's a quiet place. You can actually see the stars at night.

If you need food, you can cross the street, take your boat out on the fjord, and catch your dinner fresh. The first time I tried fishing here, the fish practically jumped onto my hook.

We're currently nine time zones ahead of our normal PST. We've adjusted now. Things are normal. Our days right now consist of relaxing. It is vacation after all.

We've done a tiny road trip (all of a mile or two) out to my great uncle's hytte (hytte is basically a summer house, cabin in Norsk). That was an interesting day. My great uncle doesn't speak any English. Plus, he wasn't expecting visitors that day, so he also didn't have his hearing aids in.

Communication was pretty funny.

I speak and understand some Norwegian. Much more than the first time I was here... So we are able to communicate somewhat with the older generation. It's always amusing to try. They appreciate it.

Hans' hytte is a thing of beauty. He started building it about nine years ago. Each time we've come to Norway there has been more to it. The second time I was here, the house itself had been built, but it was still quite rough inside. The third time I was here (Beth's first time), the inside was finished and he had started doing more outside. There was a dock and a dumb waiter that led from the water up to the house. He is always hard at work on this house. Pretty much every day he goes out and works more on it. Now there is a garage that wasn't here last time, a boathouse, trails all over the property, gardens for potatoes and beans, apple trees...

It's pretty amazing.

Beth also got to experience her first Norwegian Christmas tree hunt. Actually going up into the mountain, finding the right tree, picking it out, chopping it down...

I should point out for the record, it was me who chopped down the tree... It was a little one, and Beth will plant two more to replace it when we get home. ;)

We also got up to the old hytte, a cabin on the mountainside that I had actually never been to. My great uncle's first hytte. As the stories go, he was single when he made it... So it's small: one bed, a little table. Enough for the bachelor on the mountain side.

Let's just say that although the old hytte is very charming... and beautiful... the new hytte is definitely a step (or ten) up.

Beth also had the chance to go to a nearby bunad store/coffee house. A bunad is a traditional Norwegian costume worn on holidays, weddings and celebrations. Each area has their own particular style. Some villages have very specific variations. Beth has dreamed of making us both Hardanger bunad with the particular Mundheim bits, so on this trip, she got her first supplies to start them. On the female bunad, there is an embroidered patch under the vest called a bringklut. She found a design she liked and picked up all supplies. For me, she found the proper sock pattern and the right yarn. She'll be busy once we get home. Or more likely next summer after her graduation...

We also got our first snow. Friday morning we woke up and suddenly there was lots of snow on the ground. It's going to be a white Christmas in Mundheim! [Beth's note: YAY!!!]

So after nearly a week in Mundheim, we thought it was a good time to go to Rosendal and spend more time with other parts of the family. Ingebjørg's sister Gunvor lives in Rosendal with her family. So it's time to brave the snow and move on for a bit. We'll be back in Mundheim early next week and stay until Christmas. It's still early in the trip... but time seems to be moving quite quickly.