Friday, July 27
I drove to Bloomington, IL and flew to Detroit, where I connected with Keith and Linda for the flight to Amsterdam. It was fun to meet Linda and we had a nice visit before departure. She brought me a green marble egg that she had beautifully beaded. Flights went pretty much as scheduled. K and L let me have the aisle seat for the crossing, which was nice. Meals were better than expected for airline food. The Detroit-Amsterdam leg was about 6 ˝ hours.
Saturday, July 28
Early-morning arrival in Amsterdam and Dennis and Nellie arrived soon after. They had a direct flight, which was about nine (?) hours long. We had to go through customs there and again in Bergen, but there they didn.t even look at our passports. We were pleasantly surprised that Aud and Arne, Ingunn and family, and Trygve and Olaug all met us at the airport. We had a stop at Aud and Arne.s nice house overlooking the fjord. A beautiful site and a lovely mild, sunny day. I never expected to see such sunshine in Bergen. They had some beautiful fresh strawberries. I distributed our Myklebust t-shirts and they seemed pleased. They took us to the Clarion Admiral Hotel, but only one room was ready, so it went to K and L, who were very tired. I walked around the busy harbor. Many sailing ships were on display and the fish market was open. Finally got a room, showered and rested. After 7, D and N and I ate at the fish restaurant in the hotel . good but expensive. K and L called later, then went out by themselves and found a really great place to eat. The city is thronged with people because of the tall ships moored here.
Sunday, July 29
An amazing day. Large breakfast downstairs. I had slept quite well with an hour of wakefulness. As always, the down comforter was too warm, but too chilly without it. At 8:50 a.m., A and A plus T and O picked us up. Long drive and two ferry rides . beautiful scenery. Arne.s car overheated, but Dennis solved that by having him run the heater. On the second longer ferry, Aud had a basket with cheese sandwiches, pancakes, raspberries, juices and biscuits which we ate at a table. When the second ferry landed, we were met by Einar and Rangvald Pile, who are second cousins on the Storekre (paternal grandmother.s) side ofr the family. We drove to see Storekre and then the Rosendal church, where a young woman gave us a historyl Also a ride to the Baronry. Wonderful view, though cloudy and some rain. Then to Uskedal, where a big meal was served at 2 p.m. (Arne and Aug and Olaug had gone ahead. We all sang the doxology in English. Later the Myklebusts sang a little and Linda sang. Nellie played the electric piano. Huge amounts of food were served in one room on the second floor. Later coffee and dessert in the other big second floor room. What a lot of planning and preparation they did.
Einar let me buy his book of farm history for the area. He was very friendly and spoke English well . had worked as an engineer on cruise ships and been to the U.S. many times. Rangvald was more quiet but seemed to enjoy the day. He has a hand tremor. Then back to the ferry, which ran late. Got some heavy rain.
Then to Toril and Gerhardt.s gorgeous new house in Os. Light wood floors and paneling. Big windows. Wonderful garden. Just amazing. We had a huge meal with moulded salad, salmon, scrambled eggs, green and potato salads, seafood salad, vegetables, berries and tea. Tor-Inge willingly modeled his bunad and we saw Annveig.s as well. She and her fiancé, Sigbjorn, seem very young to get married. I gave her a white afghan. Tor-Inge.s girlfriend is Beatte, who will be studying in Australia for two years! Then we saw Annveig.s brand-new duplex, with three small bedrooms, beautiful wood paneling, floors and stairway. Their tile bathroom floor is heated! Wonderful for newlyweds or anyone. Then a long ride back to Bergen just in time for 11 p.m. fireworks in connection with the tall ships. Found Ron and Susan in their room and visited. What a fabulous day!
Monday, July 30
Had a hard time getting to sleep, but got through today on about four hours. Rain much of the day, heavy at times. Ships departed in the a.m. We had an excellent bus tour with a local guide, all on the bus except for the visit to Grieg.s home, Troldhaugen. Later Susan and I shopped a little, then met Ron for lunch at the hotel. There I had my first eagerly-awaited shrimp sandwich.
We all went our separate ways in the afternoon. I shopped some and did buy an amber necklace. Prices were high. Wrote postcards. Tried to called Aslaug Irgens, but no answer. Cars picked us up at 6 to go to A and A.s, where we had a big dinner of pork and beef, vegetables, fruit juices (as always) and cake. Very nice visit and we all wore our t-shirts and took lots of photos. Jarle took several for a good boat ride. D and N told the incident of his cutting his finger in a pub and passing out. Later another cake and more dessert! Didn.t get back to the hotel til 11:45 p.m.
Tuesday, July 31
We had an early start on the bus to Voss, where we boarded a train and then later the famous train to Flam. Beautiful scenery, waterfalls and a .huldra. singing her siren song! Got a great shrimp sandwich and cake at our lunch stop. Bought a rain hat. Got sleepy when our guide, Joy talked, but she was very interesting and informative. To the very nice Kviknes Hotel in Balestrand. But I am on what amount to two and a half floors up in the old part, no elevator. Steps are tough. We gathered in my two-room suite (with two balconies) overlooking the fjord before dinner for beer and wine. There was a huge dinner buffet. A German bunker here overlooks the fjord. We walked to a little art shop after dinner.
Wednesday, August 1
Off by bus in the rain at 8:30 and later a quick ferry ride heading north. There was a lengthy stop at noon where there was a good weaving/souvenir/cafeteria place. My third and least generous shrimp sandwich. Bought a few items. On to the Briksdal Glacier area, but rain continued and I wasn.t dressed warmly enough for a 30-minute wait up top, so stayed below. The others rode in open carriages drawn by fjord horses (this is a breed) and then walked on the glacier. They enjoyed it but got cold and wet. On to the Alexandra Hotel in Loen . very nice. My room had a balcony overlooking fjord and glacier. Water very blue/green from glacier melt. Huge buffet dinner was super . there were even three kinds of caviar! Ron found a kitten on their balcony and finally got the bellhop to rescue it. After 10 p.m., Ron and Susan and I went to watch the flk dancers and then a four-piece band that played some standards.
Thursday, August 2
Nippy in the morning at Loen, but the sun came out all day. It was a tedious one, with long drives. Great scenery, but Joy talked way too much. Saw the stave church at Lam again. Dinner at a .farm. was slow and less than pleasing to me, because of the milky soup and later pudding. Also meat, potatoes and sausage and kraut. Dennis has caught Nellie.s cold and is miserable. Overnight at the Radisson in Lillehammer.
Friday, August 3
Got pancakes for breakfast for the first time. Slept til 5, worked a puzzle, then slept til 8! We had three hours downtown to shop, etc. I went to the art gallery in Lillehammer and saw a good exhibit by a man named Patterson. Waffle there for lunch. We visited the Olympics village and had a good ride on the chair life. Susan got uncomfortable and walked down. We saw two different skiers make jumps. Next to a different and very nice farm, where we had dinner in a pretty setting. A visit to farm buildings and a second dessert. About two more hours to Oslo. Very nice room at the Grand Hotel. Luggage slow, so K retrieved mine and we all walked to a pub. Very noisy, so only one drink there. Rain came down hard, so we returned to the hotel, but could not find each other in the hotel bar. Nice day.
Saturday, August 4
sunshine all day and it got warm! The bus tour from 9 to 1 p.m. was to Vigeland Park, the Viking ships and the Folk Museum after a drive around Oslo. Good local guide. I changed to lighter clothes and walked to the Central Station, where I located the airport train and bought a ticket for tomorrow. Then walked to area where resistance museum is, but never found it. Got so hot and miserable. Bought some gifts at the Tourism office and returned to hotel . finally got a shrimp sandwich there at 3:30. We gathered in K and L.s suite which they got because their first room was too noisy and the second couldn.t be reached by elevator! Beer and snacks and lots of photos. Dinner with the group was a little more formal, though i was not impressed with the main course. A short walk and a quick visit again in K and L.s room
Sunday, August 5
Up at 4 a.m. and Keith and I walked my luggage to the station, where we said goodbye. Train to the airport and all connections went fine. Back in Bloomington at 4 p.m.