Being Spoiled in Norway

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Feeling completely rested and full of energy, we boarded our plan from Frankfurt, Germany (after a train ride from Basel) to Oslo, Norway with even more excitement than simply landing in a beautiful country for vacation. The reason for this extra bit of anticipation was because of who would be greeting us at the airport!!! The University of Missouri track and field team has been, quite intelligently, recruiting Norwegian athletes for the past decade or so and as a result of Tom's brother being a member of the team, we were introduced to several Norwegians during our time in Columbia. Espen and Eli, both multi-event athletes at Mizzou in the late 90's and early 00's (decathlon & heptathlon), have since moved back to their home town of Drammen - a mere 40km SW of Oslo - and started a family that now consists of Herman (2 and a half year old boy) and Guro (7 month old girl and Tom's new girlfriend).

Guro warming up!!!

Despite having two small children and recently moving into a new home in June, Espen & Eli invited us to stay with them for a good chunk of time while we were visiting Europe. In addition to Espen and Eli, we have another extremely close friend, Rannveig, that lives in the town of Moss and was also a heptathlete at Mizzou! Apart from a quick visit with Espen in October in Kansas City (actually the guy pictured in our very first blog post with Tom and Joe) and a homecoming visit in 2004 with Eli and Herman -and having not seen Rannveig since 2000 - we were craving the opportunity to reconnect with these friends --- giving us the chance to finally see familiar faces and - oh, yeah - visit one of the most spectacular countries on the planet!!! Needless to say, this visit to Norge (the Norwegian spelling of "Norway") was something we had been waiting patiently for since we left St. Louis back in November!

After our arrival on the 24th of August, we settled into Espen & Eli's gorgeous home and acquainted ourselves to the bustling town of Drammen, a large port city (every car imported into Norway arrives in Drammen before being sent around the country) at the end of the aptly-named "Drammens Fjord." Our first weekend we became even more "acquainted" with our surroundings as we all focused our attention on the scotch cabinet --- a past time both Espen and we enjoy! That broke the "ice" and later that weekend we transitioned to something a little more active. We set out for Espen's parents cabin on the water for Tom's first attempt at water skiing! Although Espen and his father, Per Arne, told Tom it was "fairly easy", the first few attempts solidified his personal intuition that skis do NOT belong on his feet and certainly not while holding a rope with the other end attached to a speed boat!!! After a few disastrous attempts, Tom pulled himself together and made a few "respectable" efforts so that he earned honorary idiot of the day!!! It was all great fun and the fjord was beautiful!

Tom thinking twice about water skiing

The next week we took an overnight trip to do one of Norway's most popular hikes --- Bessegen. Espen took a Friday off work and we blasted up there on Thursday evening (about a 4 hour drive from Drammen) so we could walk the hike on a weekday rather than elbow our way through the trail on a weekend. It was a good choice because even despite it being a Friday, seemingly a fourth of Norway had the same idea! We arrived at the ferry boat around 8:30am after camping out Thursday night and hopped on the second available boat. A thirty minute ride later we started the day's first big climb. The entire 6 hour hike contained several large elevation gains - and drops - and overlooked a picturesque lake that reminded us of New Zealand --- especially when we ran into a flock of sheep being herded by working sheep dogs (yeah, they looked JUST like Tank and Tom paid very little attention to Jill and Espen for the time in which the dogs were in sight). We have many great pictures of this hike and it was very memorable --- especially one particular part that is a no-joke section of steep, steep mountain that many people have a very difficult time stomaching the grade. We loved it, though, and even though our legs were sore the next few days...the views - and oxygen - were unforgettable.

Espen--the next Patagonia Model!!!

Jill Races to the Top!

Our next trip within the country was to the wild west coast for a 3 day visit of Bergen, Norway's second largest city and the country's more liberal area. Upon arriving, we quickly were introduced to what Bergen is also know for --- RAIN! Thankfully Eli had given us umbrellas before we left because Bergen is Norway's Seattle and the rain can come at any time and, thankfully, leave just as quickly. We had another connection in Bergen and we met up with Ingunn (Rannveig's sister) for a cup of coffee after we checked into the hostel. We had great conversation with her about Bergen, the schooling system here in Norway (which is free for nationals...paid for through income taxes --- much different to our system where college tuition is forcing parents to eat ramen noodles for 4 years), the medical insurance system (also free for EVERY Norwegian --- just a "tad" different from us) and her goals after law school. We did receive one rainless day in Bergen and we took advantage by taking a cable car up one of the five mountains that surround Bergen and hiked for a few hours. The views from above gave us a great appreciation for the area and how it is laid out. Islands, fjords, rivers in basically every direction possible and a labyrinth to the eyes! Ingunn and her good friend Tom, had us over for dinner our second evening and we had fresh fish from the never ending fish market in Bergen (also reminiscent of Seattle with salmon, salmon and more salmon waiting to tempt the senses) and white wine. Thanks for that, Ingunn and Tom!!! That was great! We tried to get on a fjord cruise our last day in Bergen but the weather and the tourist office tricked us into thinking Wednesday would be a good day (in other words, it rained and fjord cruises don't run on wednesdays in september). So despite not getting to cruise on the fjord...our time in Bergen was wonderful and the train ride to and from Drammen was amazing! Beautiful, beautiful countryside!!!

Bergen, Norway


The only other day trips we went on were two visits to Oslo. The first day was just a walk around the pedestrian-only sections and walking near the government buildings downtown. The second day was centered around two of Oslo's more well-known destinations: The Vigeland Sculpture Park and the famous Holmenkollen Olympic Ski Jump. The Vigeland Sculpture Park was extremely worthwhile as it consists of 212 sculptures of granite and bronze designed and laid out by the famous Norwegian, Gustav Vigeland. The statues are modeled after nude men, women and children depicting all aspects of life through positioning and design.The layout of the park and the statues were to symbolize the cycle of life and there was meaning and purpose to every aspect of his amazing work. The second, Holmenkollen Ski Jump Center, is Norway's most visited tourist attraction and has a museum that shows the history of skiing and how integrated it is with Norwegian culture while the ski jump tower is a sight to see considering most people have never seen a ski jump venue. One can ascend the top of the ski jump tower and have remarkable views of Oslo but we opted out this time. Our time in Oslo was great and we can see what makes this city so attractive to live in --- despite the ridiculously high cost of living.

Vigeland Sculpture Park

But aside from all these side trips we went on, the best part of our time here in Norway was just visiting with our wonderful friends. We visited Rannveig in Moss one evening and finally caught up with her as well as checked out her hometown and condo. She made us a great dinner and it was just amazing to see her face after five and a half years! There was so much to catch up on that she had to come to Drammen that weekend so we could continue filling each other in on what all that has transpired over the years. So our last weekend in Norway was filled of quality time spent with Rannveig, Espen, Eli and the kids --- just what we wanted. As mentioned above, the part we will take away most from Norway is how special and dear our friends are. Eli's parents had us over for an amazing dinner one night, Espen's parents also spent time with us, allowing us to visit their cabin on the sea along with lending us their bikes and of course, Rannveig and Ingunn, all made us feel so at home in Norway. Part of Tom's family heritage is from Norway so part of this experience helped him feel closer to his roots. It is always good to know the people and places where ones ancestry comes from.

But we owe a special, sincere thanks to Espen and Eli. They put us up for 3 weeks despite working and raising two small children, fed us full of endless tasty delights, allowed us to use one of their cars for small trips and treated us to countless other things that we are still amazed they lavished us with. You guys did too much and we are unable to capture the words that most adequately tell you how thankful we are of your friendship and hospitality. We will never forget this wonderful time together and you too will ALWAYS have a place to stay with us!!! We hope it isn't too long before we see you next!!! And maybe next time we will be able to converse with Herman!!! For all of you reading, Herman speaks Norwegian, so we frustratingly resorted to non-verbal communication, leading to confusion for little Herman. But the experience was good for him, having heard English over and over while we were there.... we think he might have picked up a few things, as we did from him :) Thanks for everything!

So, WOW, where to next? After 3 great weeks in Switzerland and now 3 more amazing weeks in Norway...what is next on the agenda for us? The answer to that would be working on an organic vineyard in Tuscany starting on the 15th. We will be there for 2 weeks harvesting the grapes and helping in the wine making process before flying to Barcelona on October 1st to visit with Jill's mother Barbara, for a much-anticipated 12 day reunion!!! Stay tuned...

--- Norway pixagogo link: http://www.pixagogo.com/1086875618 ---