Bergen, Norway

After I arrived in Norway, I was ready to achieve another part of my dream. This was to walk the same narrow, cobblestone streets that my great-grandparents walked at the turn of the 20th century - my great-grandfather as a missionary, and my great-grandmother as a resident. Other than the satellite dishes, many of the streets looked as if they had not changed much. I enjoyed the harbor, especially in the evening with the street performers, my first-night downpour without my umbrella, walking through the fish market on a Saturday morning (except for the smell), and the lovely shops that have existed for more than a hundred years.

One of my stops on the trip was to visit the home of Norway's most famous composer, Edvard Grieg. His name may not sound familiar to most people, but his music is. What I like most about Grieg is his ability to transform the emotions of life's ordinary and extraordinary moments into beautiful music, as well as his ability to embody the inspirational and spiritual nature of his surroundings (i.e. the wilderness of Norway.) Not surprising, his composing hut has a beautiful view overlooking a tree-lined lake that undoubtedly inspired his music.

One of my mandatory sites in Norway was to see a stave church - the centuries-old wooden churches with unique architecture and design that, as a tool to convert former pagans to Christianity incorporated early Christianity with pagan symbols. Unfortunately the original near Bergen burned down in the 1990s, but it was rebuilt. A stone cross from the early years of Christianity still remains there. I also had a good conversation with a graduate student conducting a survey about churches as tourist spots in Norway and Europe. We talked about his study, the religious lifestyles of Americans and Europeans, as well as a little of my own beliefs.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was my journey to Flam and taking a little cruise around the infamous fjords of Norway. It was incredible! I would love to return again someday and maybe take a hiking/kayaking trip around the fjords just like the American girl I met at the laundromat.

The train ride down into the Flam Valley was impressive and throughout my whole fjord journey I saw numerous cascades flowing down the deep green, and sometimes snow-topped, fjords. I also enjoyed seeing the beautiful little towns scattered throughout the fjords, from the deep valleys to the high peaks. The envy toward those Norwegian shepherds continued to grown inside me...

I enjoyed a sunset at the Bergen fortress one evening and it was very beautiful. My favorite sunset of the whole trip was enjoyed at the top of a hill overlooking the whole city and harbor of Bergen. I was able to take a tram up to the top and stayed until 11:30, just enjoying the view.


This pretty much wraps up my Scandinavia trip. Hope you enjoyed the ride. I would love to take this trip again, but I'm afraid it's going to have to wait for a very long time. I guess it's back to more diverse blogging.

Oslo, Norway

This was it. This was my gateway to achieving my 17 year dream of going to Norway and now I had achieved it. I had only one day to explore Oslo. Oslo is a beautiful city, lots of statues, clean streets, (except for the section of downtown that was torn up for construction), fountains, a mix of old and new architecture (the majority still had the antique feel) and lots of flowers.


My first stop in Oslo (after a much longer than anticipated trip the day before from Copenhagen) was the Akershus fortress and castle. Much of the building dates back to the late 13th century. This was a great place to take some pictures and get a view of the city.



















My second stop in Oslo was the National Gallery. So many wonderful works of art and masterpieces that were centuries old from different Norwegian artists. My favorite part was the room dedicated to the most well-known artist, Edvard Munch. I am fascinated by how he is able to convey such intense and personal feelings, philosophies, and experiences into his work. He is most well known for his painting of "The Scream", which I have a parody on the left side of my blog. It was fascinating to learn about how this painting was inspired by a personal experience of his. This particular version (he made multiple "Screams") was stolen a few years ago and recovered earlier this year. The restoration efforts, due to some defacing it underwent, were amazing. I was also able to enjoy the beautiful "Madonna" painting that was also recovered this year. Another painting that I was fascinated by was "The Sick Child" which was a work he painted at the age of 22 and was inspired by the death of his own sister. Despite the harsh criticism he received for his style and technique, I thought it was an excellent work. If I had more time, I would have visited the Munch Museum in Oslo, but I felt like I did get a good introduction to his life and works.

After an afternoon visit to the Royal Place and gardens, I spent the evening in Frogner Park and the Vigeland Sculpture Park.












The theme of the Vigeland Sculpture Park is the Human Condition and the cycle of life. Over 200 bronze and granite statues were designed and created by Gustav Vigeland during the early half of the 20th century. One of the highlights of the park is the Monolith, a single, carved piece of stone consisting of piled figures that look as though they are struggling to rise to heaven. This work is said to represent man's desire to become closer with the spiritual and design. It is suppose to portray a feeling of togetherness as the humans embrace one another as they are carried toward salvation. Another interesting point about the Monolith is that the humans at the top are children and babies, those who are closest to heaven and all that is divine. There was something about the range of human affections, emotions, and relations portrayed in all of the statues in the park that I found intriguing. The essence of the human soul and its basic relationships- parents, children, friends, siblings, lovers, enemies - all depicted in stone and bronze; giving life to the lifeless. It was a very memorable experience.

My day in Oslo ended with a trip back to the hostel on the tram, just in time to barely miss the beginning of a thunder and lightening storm. I wanted to see it, but it was quite late and I had a morning train ride to Bergen. Plus, risking electrocution when one is alone in a foreign country may not be a good idea.

Some other random observations about Oslo:
* I've never been to a city where street performers are dressed up as famous natives (well, maybe the exception of the Ben Franklins in Philadelphia). In Oslo's case , it was the playwright Ibsen.
*There were a lot of Spanish-speaking tourist in Norway. I would have never thought...
*I finally caught on about the true value of the recycling redemption value of plastic water bottles. A refund of a krone (probably about 20 cents) is a krone more to spend, especially in a country like Norway. I finally gave up buying bottled water in Bergen anyways.
* I did take a couple breaks from walking all over the city to watch some children play in the city's fountains on a hot, summer day. I was tempted to join them, but I refrained.


It is safe to say that Oslo was the cultural highlight of my trip. Stay tuned for more Norwegian beauty and adventures...

Notes On the Train 2

This is from August 3, on my all day trip from Bergen, Norway to Stockholm, Sweden. Just some more random thoughts:

* "Good luck and bad luck continues with the trains. I didn't know I needed a reservation from Oslo to Stockholm. It didn't say anything in my train guide and I was worried when a conductor told me the train was full. I lost my comfortable seat in Karlstad when a young Swedish soccer team invaded the car and I had to settle for a jump seat in the next car. The good news was that my train wasn't late arriving into Oslo, woohoo!!"

*"I still have not bought any real souveneirs. I figured I could always go to the Scandinavian shops in Solvang, or San Diego, San Francisco, Salt Lake City... or any other places that start with an 'S.'"

*"How I hate sitting near the restroom! For the six hours from Bergen to Oslo, I would get an occasional whiff of "public restroom" smell, even though there were 2 doors that separated me from the restroom." Oh, the annoyance...

*"Last night I was assaulted with a bag of Museli in a Bergen grocery store. I guess if this is the worst crime I have to face as a tourist, than so be it. Those crazy Norwegian hooligans..."

Referring to my trip to Voss, Norway the day before. My plan for a day-hike to a waterfall was spoiled by rain and the need to do laundry at a partially-hidden laundromat (where I met a girl from the US who was born not far from where I live and has an aunt in my hometown, small world...). But I did manage to enjoy some of its beauty.

*"Skies are beautiful as usual, in their partly-cloudy manner. I loved how in Voss the clouds would delicately drape over the hills...

I LOVED the wild raspberries in Voss. At first I didn't want to touch them until I knew exactly what they were, but I saw a woman who validated that they were safe to eat. Having been "pre-washed" by the recent rain, I could just pluck them off the bush and pop them in my mouth. Sooo good...

Having recently tried the Voss brand water back in the states, I decided to see if the Voss tap water from the train station sink was any good. The result: Best tap water ever!! Much better than I expected, I don't remember any aftertaste. Huzzah for Voss tap water!! "

"I had a moment of free time that I think, in a "tender-mercy" kind of way, was meant for me to just chill. The batteries in my camera were dead and I had at least an hour before the train back to Bergen arrived. There was a small promontory of rocks that stretched into the lake where I just sat and chilled. It felt pretty cool to be surrounded almost entirely by water. I watched tiny ripples being formed by, as I later discovered, little fish no longer than my little finger. Although I was on vacation, I have found it hard to relax. I am always thinking ahead, trying to plan the evening or the next day, thinking about work, thinking about what I was going to eat next. thinking about finances, a little scared of the fact that I will be starting my new job in a few days. But I tried to soak in the moment and eventually a feeling of peace confirmed that everything will be alright. Enjoy the moment. And I did."

Here's just a few shots of Voss and my chilling spot:

That's it for now. Stay tuned for when I hit Sweden in my next post.

Notes on the train

I may have mentioned before that I spent a lot of time on trains while in Europe. A lot of time, some journeys consuming practically my whole day. Most of the time it wasn't bad at all. In fact, one of my favorite parts of my trip was the train ride between Oslo, Norway and Bergen, Norway. I knew Norway was beautiful, but I was practically floored. Here are some of my notes that I wrote while on my journeys:

*Copenhagen to Oslo (a trip that took me four hours longer than I previously planned, one of the rails was closed so I had to hop a bus in Goteburg, Sweden, and take one or 2 more trains from Sweden to Oslo.)

One of the cool things that I noticed as I was standing in a very crowded Swedish train to Goteborg, was a mother and son, both in full back-packing gear. I thought, how cool is that? What a great bonding experience for them both. I'm guessing they were German. The boy, who looked no older than 8 or 9 years old had his own large backpack with a tent hooked to it. Clad in typical outdoor wear, including a bandana around his neck and his shaggy hair poking out from his hat, he looked like he could be a model for REI. They finally were able to get a seat and there was such a tender moment to see the boy napping on his Mom's lap. I really was tempted to take a picture, but circumstances wouldn't let me, and I had no idea how to ask their permission in German. It was a sweet moment. I had seen a lot of young adult backpackers, but this moment was special.

As I spent a lot of time looking at the scenery (and I apologize for lack of pics in this blog, my windows on the trains would not open), it would start to bring out an inner poet. As I was accomplishing my 17 year dream of going to Norway, I could not help expressing some of my thoughts, so here are a couple...
"I stare at the horizon where my dreams and reality meet,
A view only attainable by the hills I climb.
The heavens above watch over me like a protective parent,
Reminding me of its consistency and infinite presence..."

Oslo to Bergen route
It's hard to describe some of the beauty of Norway in English, but here is an attempt with some words that I wrote down:
"Wildflowers of purple, pink, yellow, and white against the green back drop of fields, hills and fjords. Pine tree needles hanging from the boughs like the oversized sleeves of a wizard or the wings of angels. Patches of snow in late July cling settles in the crevices of the hills. Lakes and streams of emerald green. Grass-covered roofs, some occasional livestock, and capsized row boats catch my attention." For a moment I considered living out the rest of my days as a Norwegian shepherd in such scenery, but I realized this would not pay off my loans.

Some notes based on random thoughts from 7/30/08:

"The train system has not been as easy as I thought it would be. I'm stuck in a tunnel on the way to Bergen and we've just been advised to open the windows, (I was in that tunnel fo almost an hour, that's when I broke out my notes and camera and kicked off my shoes a seen above). Oh, and did I mention there's no air-conditioning? I'm beginning to worry about my trip from Bergen to Stockholm, since I jus have such a short window of time to catch the train from Oslo. From one end of a country to the end of another... "
In regards to eating on a shoestring in Europe: "They say man cannot live on bread alone (that's all I had on my train ride). Well, maybe kebab-pitas, an occasional hot dog, water, and chocolate milk can be sufficient. Not very well-balanced, I know. I still await mytaste of the famous Norwegian strawberries (bought at the fish market in Bergen, I liked the ones in Denmark better, but they're soooo good! And little too! And beautiful - almost took a picture of the Danish ones, but was holding out for the Norwegian ones.) I have become a con osier of Scandinavian chocolate milk. My favorite was called Chocio, which I believe was from Denmark. I have also discovered that there is such thing as hot dog dressing. Some dressing comes with a bit of a garlic taste, it was quite good. Sometimes potato salad might be added to the hot dog wrapped in a Scandinavian tortilla. That was new. "
"Phillips batteries stink - will not buy any more of them." I bought 2 packages of Phillips in Copenhagen for my cameras, none of them worked. I tried to uphold this oath when I was looking for camera batteries in Stockholm. Four or five stores - all Phillips. Finally got some more expensive German batteries at an electronic store, but oh, the peace of mind.
"Train seats are more comfortable than airplane seats." I had painful circulation issues on the flight over that kept me up most of the flight. Love the space of train seats.
"Why does a cool lightening storm have to begin once I get back to my hostel?"
"Scary, I'm starting my new job a week from now/ Luckily I have my Tarascon Outpatient Pediatrics pocket book. Something to rotate between my pocket Book of Mormon and Norwegian phrase book."
"Dutch guys rock!"
"Time to liberate my feet from my shoes. They've been so good to me. On Sunday I counted about 6 blisters. I curse my sandals!"

I'm going to leave it at that for now. I'll probably post more thoughts traveling between Bergen and Stockholm.

Catching Up

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post so I should probably do some updating. It's been quite a ride this past week.

1. I found out that I will be having a second nephew. Now Little B. is going to have to share his title of "Cutest Nephew Ever!" He's still set to make his arrival in October and things are looking well so far.

2. My sister arrived after a very long flight with Brian. She was quite tired. It took Brian a few minutes to remember who I was but I think he caught on. On our way home I pointed and said "Mountain!" (Not too many of those in Alabama and I took him there the last time he was here). He pointed towards the window and said "Ah-deet". He still melts my heart everyday. He's crawling, babbling, and poking my nose now. He's growing sooo fast!

3. I had a friend from Northern Cali come and visit and it was good to see him again. I hit the health science campus one last time and had lunch at one of my old post-exam lunch spots - King Torta.

4. Oh yeah, I had this thing called graduation. It was the beginning of a very long day. A very hot day with the temp hanging around 100. And of course I am in a black long-sleeve gown with a seat in the first row of the section directly beneath the sun. I forgot how much sun-burning toes hurt. It was an early morning and I left around 6:15. I found that my sister had decorated my car, it was so sweet of her! I got there in time. One of the top-bananas of Disney gave a commencement address for the 10,000+ students that were there. All of the speeches throughout the day were great and inspirational. I also loved the band playing at the beginning and the end and all of us doing the "Fight On" sign. I had my program ceremony after that and strutted my stuff down the red carpet. Luckily didn't stumble like I was afraid I would do (especially being the first in line).

I love my classmates!! Yay us!!I thanked some of my friends, faculty and staff afterwards. My family was great and even made some posters with "Rapper J" and other things on them, and of course, my nephew was my biggest fan.
I couldn't help showing him off. My family and I took some pictures and we left about 1:30. After a cold shower I did some final preparations for my open house that night. It was good to see so many familiar faces again. I have so many wonderful people in my life, I am thankful they were able to come out and celebrate with me. We had lots of food, including my homemade empanadas that many have raved about for the past few days (I took some leftovers to a church potluck). Great times had by all. The day didn't end for me until about 1:00 Saturday morning. It was still a "magical" day, as Mr. Iger put it, and a great end to my 20 years as a "student"

5. Saturday I slept a bit more than I had the past few days but I still felt a bit tired. I escaped the 104 degree heat and went down to the coast and enjoyed a shake at the Shake Shack of Crystal Cove.

6. I went to a wonderful wedding reception for some friends and saw more wonderful people. More good times.
7. Saturday night I celebrated Norwegian Constitution Day or also known as Syttende Mai. This was the first official celebration that I have been to for it. More wonderful people, more great food, more good times. I think my Norwegian ancestors would be proud, with exception for my boot-throwing ability. One event of the night was a boot throwing contest that began in the apartment parking lot. I was doing a practice throw and the boot ended up landing in the cab of a pickup truck with a loud "thud". Most of the people ran and tried to hide and we tried to muffle our laughter. The boot-throw was moved to the Walgreen's parking lot and my next throw was much better that time.

So now it's been a few days since that crazy week/weekend. I finally went back online after a nearly four-day absence (that's rare for me!). I had the ceremonial changing-of-the license plate-holder. I feel as though I have recovered energy-wise. Still enjoying my nephew. Still eating leftovers. Still working on some thank-you cards. Still studying hard. If my posts seem less and less frequent, it probably has to do with my studying. Less than 1 month until my big test. Uggg... I probably will write a post on that in the future just to let you all know I am still alive. Until next time...