Norway

Steve and I spent last week in Norway. We flew into Bergen on the west coast. We spent two nights there. Bergen is, in my opinion, very similar to Boulder in its size and feel. From Bergen we went north, by train, to Flam. When we mentioned to any Norwegian that we were going to Flam after Bergen they all replied with, "Why, there is nothing to do there". This was exactly the reponse we were looking for. We wanted to relax and do nothing. Flam was small and quiet, but it was still really nice. The only downside is that it is frequented by cruise ships. And cruise ships bring annoying tourists with them. But we enjoyed ourselves exploring the area and took a major bike ride up approximately 800 meters (in elevation) among beautiful water falls and surrounded by incredible mountains. Flam was quiet and calm once the cruise ships floated away and we enjoyed that very much. From Flam we spent 24 hours in Oslo. While in Oslo we visited the Nobel Peace Center which is the most interactive and technical museum we have ever been to. We learned a little about some of the laureates including a Albert Lutuli in 1960 (instrumental in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa), Aun San Suu Kyi in 1991 (who fought non-violently against the military junta in Myanmar), Schweitzer in 1952 (for founding Lamberene Hospital in Gabon), and Kissinger. It was also interesting learning about Alfred Nobel, who created the Nobel prizes. He was quite an inventor with over 300 patents. Of course, his most famous being TNT. He lived most of his life in Paris but travelled throughout the world. He was a lonely man having never married.

From there we saw Munch's The Scream at the National Gallery. How it has been stollen twice is beyond me. We also went to the Viegland sculpture park which had over 100 sculptures throughout the park by various artists.

Being gone only a week, we are already longing for another holiday. One week is way too short.

The pictures are here.