I just returned from a trip to Norway with a side trip to Denmark, visiting my friends Anita, Arve, and their daughter, Ina. I had a great time, in no small part to my hosts and their extensive planning efforts. Upon arrival, 3 hours early, Anita and Ina came to pick me up at the airport. From there, we went to the house and picked up a few things before heading off to their cabin, a few hours' drive away, where Arve met us for a weekend of fun. The cabin is perched on a hilltop overlooking a fjord, and is near only 3 other cabins - remote but fully modern inside. What an escape! In the morning, we all headed to Arve's home town, Odda, which is famous for its fruit orchards. We stayed at Arve's mom's house - she was vacationing in Spain - and her house has a fantastic view along yet another fjord.
The next day (Saturday?) started off rainy, but that didn't stop us from going fruit-shopping, directly at the orchards. Arve's long-time friend, Oysten, has a plum orchard and his family treated us to waffles and cases of plums. Later that day, we went hiking up to a glacier. It was a good hike but a bit steeper than what I'm used to. So, as a result, I was passed up by an old man, Anita who was carrying Ina, and Arve who was following their dog, Bajas. By the way, their dog is a wirehaired dachshund!
On Sunday, Anita, Ina and I headed to Kristiansand to catch the ferry to Denmark in the morning. Finding an open restaurant there at 9 pm was quite difficult. Unfortunately, Anita received a speeding ticket along the way - I offered to play 'dumb tourist' but she wouldn't let me. The next morning, we were on the 3 hour ferry to Denmark. Anita reserved seats in the restaurant, so we were guaranteed a comfy place to sit, an all-you-can-eat buffet, and a child seat. We dressed Ina in her "pooping in progress" shirt, which was quite unfortunate, because she lived up to that statement several times that day. The girl is certainly a trooper - loves travel, and has been to more countries before the age of 1 than I had visited by the time I was 23!!
In Denmark, we did a bit of shopping. I found a *killer* pair of black knee-high boots, a nice top, and a chic jacket. We also stopped at a Wal-Mart like grocery store to buy LOTS of meat, cheeses, and other supplies. Later that week, Anita and Arve were holding two birthday parties for Ina's first birthday, in addition to hosting a houseful of guests the following weekend. Thankfully, we had a refrigerated cooler. It was much cheaper to take the ferry to Denmark to purchase the quantity of meat and supplies needed.
On Tuesday, we went back to the house in Stavanger to unload groceries, relax, and spend some time with Arve. Unfortunately, my flight back was Wednesday morning, and I returned to work on Thursday (albeit hit by jetlag pretty strongly in the afternoon).
On my flight back, I had the pleasure of being seated next to a cultural anthropologist (what I would be if I could choose professions). She had just spent 3 weeks in Finland studying and researching native folk art. We had a great series of conversations, between laughing at the in-flight movie, Sunshine Cleaning. (The Hangover was not showing on that flight :-().
Anyway, I'll add a few photos here and more single photos above. Enjoy! And Thanks, Anita & Arve!!
