ha det bra, Norge :(...

So, as promised here's the last post about Norway. (Side note: I'm back in Constance, and the trip here was fine. I would have liked to have posted yesterday evening, but I had no internet - surprise!)


The Stokkelands have done some remodeling since the last time I was there.


Their house is gorgeous. And it's seriously hard to believe the view they have from it.


We went the Munch Museum, where they have "The Scream" (above) and "Madonna". Both of these paintings were stolen by very stupid thieves who nearly ruined them because they didn't know how to take care of the works. I lucked out, however, to have come during the brief stretch of time that the two pieces are back up on display before being taken down again in order to be further restored. I struggled to decide which photo from this museum to put up (I really like Munch); I ended up choosing "The Scream" simply because even if the name Edvard Munch didn't ring a bell, the image of the second most recognizable painting in the world (BNET) would.


We had a picnic in the Botanisk Hage in Oslo. (Look at Mira!)


Then we waltzed to the Viking Ship Museum ;)


This is the Oseberg Ship. It was buried in the ground around 800 CE and discovered near Tønsberg (Norway) in 1904. Imagine burying that massive thing. That was someone's funeral!


The Viking Ship Museum inspired Magnus to become a gansta.


Oslo harbor - I like the mixture of eras here: You have the fortress from around 1300 CE, some very modern looking ship (I own that one) in the foreground, and what looks like a pirate ship (but probably fishes for shrimp) to the right of that.

And, though I'm sure most of you didn't, we obviously watched the last soccer game in the EM 2008. Only one goal was scored, but it was by Spain, so unfortunately Germany's chant "So seh'n Siegler aus" doesn't end in "Deutschland!" this time.

But this does remind me of something I'd been wanting to post for a while now. Lukas Podolski plays for the German national team (although he was born in Poland). He's quite the player. For example, he scored both goals in Germany's first game - against Poland! (I think the Poles might think of him as a traitor.) Well anyway, I'm not writing about him because of his sweet Fußball skills. No, I'm writing about him because he has some amazing quotes.

Soccer is like chess, only without the dice. (Fußball ist wie Schach, nur ohne Würfel.)

There's only one possibility: victory, defeat, or draw. (Es gibt nur eine Möglichkeit: Sieg, Niederlage oder Unentschieden.)

(Spiegel article in English)

So Germany's game against Spain?

sorry, Podolski…

But seriously, thank you, Stokkelands, for the wonderful five days in Norway!

tilbake i Norge!

I'm in Norway! I got here at about 11:00 am on Thursday and am staying with my relatives, the Stokkelands. They used to live in Rochester way back in the day, so I (and the rest of my family - and Grandma) know them quite well.


They live in a town near Oslo. This is the view from their house - gorgeous, right?

Today we went into Oslo to do a bit of touring. Our first stop was the castle.

Norway elected its most recent dynasty. That's right, elected. They apparently have quite a bit of popular support, even tho the prince and princess are kind of … unique. (Princess Märtha Louise has founded an engelskole, where people learn to talk to angels as a form of medicine; and Prince Haakon married a single mother with possible drug history.)


Here's the group of us. Eline isn't in the picture, because she just got home this evening from a rock festival.


Mira, who's five and still insanely rambunctious, also likes ice cream ;)


We went to Vigeland Park, which is known for sculptor Gustav Vigeland's numerous nude statues of people expressing the gamut of emotion at various stages in life.


more Vigeland


Magnus was more mature about it than I was, I think.


It is very pretty, huh? We had brunch here (lefse!).


Then we went to the new opera house, which was coincidentally built by the same architecture firm (Snøhetta) as the library in Alexandria. It is likewise one of my favorite buildings ever.


The walls of it are covered in braille. (photo with Ingvild and Magnus)


the family :)


Magnus the Magnificent did some spectacular magic tricks with his bottle of water.


more opera house

And I'm here until Monday around 5:00 pm, so expect at least one more post about Norway!