Next, we stayed in Copenhagen. We paid lots of money to stay in a tiny room with two bunk beds. The next morning we took the bus into the center of town. The bus deposited us in the biggest gay-pride party of all time! I think if I ever see rainbow colored ice-cream (or anything else of that color pattern) again, I will run away screaming. We tried to follow a walking tour of the city, but aparently in was designed around the sponsoring businesses, so after a while we left the path to hit up the free Danish museum. Free exhibit, super expensive everything else. We walked through looking at old stuff while our kids ran around screaming until we couldn't take it anymore. After looking at the price of food there, we left and meandered around town some more. After walking past yet another canal, Ariana piped up that she would like to go on a boat. This is a more common request than you might think, but this time we gave in. We paid for the nearby boat tour that took us around canals and out into the harbor, to take a look at such things as the royal palace, the naval base, and some really old buildings. The tour guide repeated everything in three languages (danish, english, spanish?) and still didn't get any tips at the end! We had eaten some pastries with hot dogs in the middle and a red sauce (sold by 7 eleven of all things, but it was something local). After that we tried to make it back to the bus stop. Between us and the bus stop: "Tolerance Block Party." I can't exactly describe what it was like to try to push our way through the throng of multicolored, undulating drunk party-goers with a stroller configured for three children. Lets just say it passed like a bad dream. Or like what I always imagined a person on LSD sees while they are hallucinating. Really colorful and so weird you don't believe your eyes. We finally made it to the bus stop on the other side of the huge celebration and headed for the hotel.
After we made it back, we decided to visit the temple in Copenhagen. It is a beautiful brick building with a small garden area that looked so peaceful in the evening hours. We were glad for the visit even though it was closed.
We continued on our journey the next day straight through Sweden. Yes, straight through. There is nothing wrong with Sweden, we just couldn't find an ATM. We drove all the way to Oslo in Norway and had to pay for gas and toll roads with a credit card.
We didn't actually stay in Oslo, but in a hotel near the airport about half an hour's drive from the city. The next morning we drove back into Oslo to spend the day. First we hurried to see the changing of the guards at the palace. We saw some of the royal gardens (and the "royal ducks" in the royal pond). Then we walked down to the harbor and had ice cream and hot dogs at a playground built on the docks. We walked up to the fortress, but by that point in the day the buildings were closed, so we just looked at the view. We came back to the car to find a parking ticket (apparently we hadn't quite understood the directions of the hotel staff...or the signs in Norwegian).
Today we left the hotel and drove north. And drove, and drove. And drove. We drove through mountains, passed valleys and lakes, all of it breathtaking. Don't get me wrong, cities have their perks. I just can't seem to remember what any of them are when I'm out in a small town or the country-side.
You have never seen beauty until you have seen Norway. We are staying in a small guesthouse somewhere around the middle of Norway in a town of about 240 residents. Our window looks out on one of earth's greatest wonders - a fjord. Now, call me uneducated, but up until about eight hours and sixteen minutes ago, I didn't give a hoot about a fjord. Sure I had heard of them. I could probably have told you geographically what one was and how they are formed. But up until now I had not seen one. Today, I have seen one after another, after another. I am happy to be able to soak up their beauty for the next couple of days, unadulterated by the normal touristic buzz that seems to seep into every travel experience and ebb away some of the magic of the moment and the place. We are staying on a fruit farm in the middle of nowhere, and we have already eaten at the only available food establishment in the area, in the next town over. Most visitors just cook meals from groceries bought at a small store, just like the locals. I love it! Also, we had to take a ferry just to get here, which was cool in and of itself.It has been a little hard to stay in regular sized hotel rooms with an anything but regular sized family (it's almost 11 and the kids are still going strong). But today made it worth it.
This is the ferry that took us across the fjord. They even packed a tour bus on. One the other side you land and drive straight into a tunnel.
Here is the view from our window and balcony to the right side. Eplet bed and apple started taking guests and making juice in 2004. The building was built by the family in 1945. The other hotel in this small area has been owned and operated by the same family since 1690 (it opened in 1640), but the mystical powers of the internet brought us to this one :> .
Ella has spent many a travel day cooped up in her car seat. Because we don't have a car in Germany, this is a new and rather traumatic experience for her. But she is very glad to be out and to get to be held again now that we are here in Solvorn. Apparently she learned a new trick in those many hours though. She can get her feet to her mouth in a little less than 3 seconds. And I checked....she is completely uninterested in her feet if you take those socks off. I have to keep changing them because she soaks them.
We are so grateful to the many people who helped see us off, and especially our family. We miss you guys!
