Great Minds Gift Exhange

Good morning,

I took a set of three mug rugs (also can be used as wash cloths, dish cloths, spa cloths...) that I had crocheted to Norway for each of my two sisters-in-law.

One of my sisters-in-law knitted two wash cloths for me and included a bar of "Lady's Favorite" hand made soap.

My other sister-in-law gave me a lovely dish cloth that she had knitted. 

Do great minds think alike, or what!

:),
Lois

Lunch in the Sun by the Water

Good mornnig,

The weather in Norway continued to be gorgeous.  We stopped at a marina restaurant to have lunch by the water.

There seemed to be as many boats out of the water as there were in the water.

The salmon salad lunch was fresh and delicious.

Ah, yes Pepsi Max.

We certainly did not go hungry while in Norway!

All the best,
Lois

First Full Day in Norway

Good morning,

The first full day in Norway we drove out to the cemetery where My Honey's parents are buried. 

The image above was taken on the corner just outside our hotel in Toensberg, Norway.  The Tannlege is a dental office.

As we drove out of town we saw one of the new postal delivery vehicles now in service.  We stopped and talked with the mail man who said these have been in service for just a few years now.

Lush Norwegian farm land. 

On the way to the cemetery we stopped at the flower/plant store.  This store is much larger than it was in 2002 when we last stopped to buy flowers here. 

After purchasing flowers to place at the graves, we were back on the road.  We had fabulous weather while we were in Norway.  The small "kommunes" (communities) along the way had lovely homes in bright colors.  The blue sign on the right lists the cost to use this road.  In Norway each car has a "reader" on the top center of the windshield.  As you drive on the roads, you are taxed.  You'll get the bill at the end of the month.

 The red granite wall at the right of the image is granite mined in this area.

 This is a typical home in this area.  Almost every family along the coastline of Norway owns a boat.  :)  There were also much larger homes.

 My husband's Mom died in February.  While she was alive, he called her every week.  We were at sea and couldn't get a relief person for him in time to get to Norway for the funeral so we are making the trip to visit family now.  Sadly, this is not unusual in a country where so many people work at sea.  It was quite nice to be here now, because we were able to spend a great deal of relaxed time with family talking about the good times with Mom and Dad.

 My sister-in-law, Hanne, visits and cares for the flowers at the grave.  Families have a small area in front of the stone to plant or leave flowers. Lovely. 

 This cemetery is so very pretty.  Serenity and the lovely aroma of flowers. 

More of our Norway trip tomorrow.

All the best,
 Lois

The Weaving of a Viking Ship Sail

Good morning,

This loom is in the lobby of our hotel on the dockside in Toensberg, Norway.  A Viking ship is being built by hand by volunteers.  This loom is being used to weave the sail for the ship.  

The sign tells us this is where the sail is being woven for the ship outside the hotel.  Please don't touch!

There is so much more of our Norway trip to come.  I hope you are enjoying our trip with us. 

All the best,
Lois

On the Dockside - Toensberg, Norway

Good morning,

Today's images are of the area just outside our hotel.  This is the plaza outside our hotel at the dockside in Toensberg, Norway.

A group of volunteers has built replica Viking ships from information garnered from historical documents and remains of ships that have been found.

That green hotel is where we lived for the week.  Location, location, location!

 Across the fjord from our hotel is a very old company that makes the lines that tie up the ships.  If you have sailed at sea, your ship probably used these lines.

 This is another view of our hotel from the bridge that spans the fjord...

 ...and this is the view when I turned around and took a picture of the dock and restaurants on the other side of the bridge.

 Looking up, we could see Slottsfjellet Tower marking the old castle and fort.  We visited (climbed up to!) the tower later in the week.  Pictures to come.  :)

 Later in the week we saw a group of people taking a tour and providing the rowing power on one of the Viking ships.  Pictures of that to come, too. :)

 One of the Toensberg newspapers is located in this building.  On the front left of the building is one of the restaurants where we ate this week.  As a matter of fact, I believe we ate at almost every one of the dockside restaurants at least once.

So much more of Norway to come!  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

All the best,
Lois

Norwegian Buttercup

Good morning,

This pretty buttercup was growing next to wood cut to hand-construct Viking ships on the dockside in Toensberg, Norway.  More posts about the Viking ships to come. 

Those blossoms caught my eye because we have the same growing in our garden in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. 

Our buttercups bloomed about five weeks earlier than these in Norway.

Beautiful in the morning sun!

Enjoy,
Lois

Viking Ship Building in Toensberg, Norway

Good morning,

I laughed when I downloaded and looked at this picture.  At the bottom of the image you see shadows of both Kjell and me with cameras to our faces as we were taking pictures of the Viking ship being built beside our hotel in Toensberg, Norway.  That green building in the back left is our hotel.

The historians working on this project are doing a fabulous job.  I'll have additional posts about this later when I sort through the many pictures I took over several days.

Wood is being soaked here so that it can be bent into the shapes needed to build the Viking ship.

Huge trees have been brought in for the building.  One of them is more than 400 years old.

This is a fascinating project.  More images to come!

Enjoy,
Lois

Dinner on the Dock Side - Toensberg, Norway

Good morning,

This is the restaurant in the hotel where we stayed in Toensberg, Norway.

Of course, we sat outside to enjoy the summer sun and we had a view of Vestfjord.

There are quite a few other restaurants here, too, and we were to sample almost every one of them in the coming week.

Tonight, though, we had fish soup...

...followed by steak and veggies.  Wow!

After dinner, we took a stroll down to the water and past various works of art along the walkway.

More tomorrow!

Enjoy,
Lois

Toensberg Hotel

Good morning,

We arrived at our hotel in our rental car and unloaded our own luggage in front of the hotel.  We chose this hotel because of the location right on the water in downtown Toensberg.

Hotels are very different in Scandinavia than they are in the USA.  This is a Quality Inn franchise, but is much more elegant (except for the room) than what we think of as a Quality Inn at home.  This hotel was built in 2007.

I'm showing you the bathroom first.  Keep in mind that we paid almost twice as much as we would at a Hampton Inn in the USA.  This shower (no tub) is hanging on the wall next to the toilet.  There is a plexiglass door that is pulled out to separate the shower between the shower and toilet.  Water drains through the center of the floor.  You can't see it here, but the roll of toilet paper is on the wall on the right side of the picture.   It is so close to the toilet seat that you cannot sit down without your leg hitting the metal toilet roll cover no matter how slim you are.

It's hard to see in the image above, but the plexiglass door is open up against the side of the toilet.

 On the opposite side of the bathroom is the wash basin with very limited space for your toiletries.  You see towels on the wall, but don't expect to find a wash cloth.  They aren't provided here.

 The room itself is very small, especially considering the price we paid.  This is a queen size bed.  There is no top sheet.  You receive two comforters covered with a sheet-like material.  There was only one extra bed pillow on the shelving.  We surely could have asked for another, but we were roughing it.  ;)  Lighting was extremely low and not strong enough to read.

On the positive side, the room and bathroom were very clean.  Of course, we brought converter plugs to charge our phones and computers.

And, now for the real winner!  There is no air conditioning in this hotel in Southern Norway.  It was an extremely hot day that we arrived.  There is no exhaust fan in the room, but we could open the window.  Yes, it was hot!  The weather cooled off after the first day of our week-long stay.

We looked at each other, laughed, and decided we were roughing it.  We agreed, "We'll get used to it."

And, we did.  ;)

Tomorrow I'll show you the restaurant at the hotel.  It is much nicer than the room.  

Lois

Happy Fathers Day and Drive to Toensberg, Norway

Good morning,

Happy Father's Day!  My Honey says this trip to Norway is his Father's Day gift. It's my Mother's Day gift, too.  We were at sea on Mother's Day so decided we would celebrate both days when we got home.

This post is another in a series of our trip to Norway.

The drive from the airport in Torp to Toensberg where my husband grew up is through beautiful farm land.

We are 113 km (about 60 miles) South of Oslo at the mouth of Oslo Fjord.

Ah!  A sign for Toensberg!

It was less than 20 minutes to drive from the airport to downtown Toensberg.

More tomorrow!

:),
Lois