A Song of Food and Ice

When we arrived in Harstad, we were picked up by Geir, who took us out to lunch at the Four Roses Café.  Upstairs from the Café is the Four Roses Restaurant, which is one of the top restaurants in all of Norway.  Halvdan later told us that the building for the restaurant originally stood on Grasholmen (the island where Nolan’s great grandfather grew up).  After lunch and a bit of walking around the center of Harstad (there was a big festival going on, so lots of things going on), Geir took us to meet his mother in law and cousin to Nolan’s Oldemor: Aase.  Most of the family calls her Mor Aase because Geir’s daughter is also named Aase.  We learned that Mor Aase’s stipulation for Geir marrying her daughter Bente was that they name a daughter Aase.  While in Harstad we spent a lot of time with Geir and Kirsti, another relative to Nolan.  We went on two beautiful hikes with them, the first up to the top of the mountain behind Geir’s house w...

Harstad. Wow. Where to even begin. This has been maybe my [M] favorite leg of the trip so far. It has been the epitome of traveling in a way that gives an inside taste of local culture, traditional experiences, etc. We stayed with Aase, Nikolay, and their kids Tilde and Teo for most of our time up north.  Their family was such a pleasure to spend time with.  Aase and Nikolay are incredible parents, and it shows. From day 1 I [M] fell in love with their kids.  Tilde is 7 and Teo is 4. They play together so well. Teo clearly admires Tilde, and Tilde is a wonderful big sister. Tilde loves dancing – and is really good at it! She danced for us to her favorite song, and it was like a real choreographed show. Teo was quite shy when we first arrived at the house, but he warmed up quickly, and soon enough I [M] was picking him up, swinging him around, and tickling. Neither of the kids speak English. But they know a few words and phrases, and they were eager to use them and le...

Between Bergen and flying to Harstad, we had one evening back in Oslo. We stayed with Norvald’s younger brother, Per Ivar, and his family. The first thing we did on our way back from the airport was stop by their stables! They have two horses that Per Ivar and his daughter Silje train for trotting races. One is named Restless Miss Sophie and the other is named Memphis Tennessee. To Monisha’s delight, Memphis took quite a liking to her according to Per Ivar and Silje. She actually got to hop on his back and go for a short ride. Silje forgot that he gets a little spooked by noises; they usually use horse earplugs and earmuffs when they ride him. When Monisha got on, his ears were bare. So as soon as she walked him out, he was a little jumpy. Silje and Per Ivar were impressed that Monisha actually stayed on; they said many would have fallen. Monisha’s only ridden a horse on a saddle once when she was little. So it was scary, but still totally delightful.   Back at the hou...

And off to Bergen we go! When we got to the airport, Bjorg’s brother Bjarne Martin picked us up and gave us a nice little driving tour of the city.  It’s amazing how much history he knows about the city (and as we learned later, everything else). After the driving tour, he dropped us off near the Fløibanen cable car. We arrived shortly after a cruise ship had docked in Bergen, so the line was crazy long. Luckily, there was a path nearby that led to the top of the line. Instead of waiting, we walked up to the top. It was a wonderful hike. One thing that keeps amazing us is how green everything is. The trees, bushes, small waterfalls, river, and lookouts along the way were beautiful. We also came across a couple of playgrounds, which were really awesome. Beside them were rows of children's embroidery on little squares. And of the course the view from the very top didn’t disappoint.   On the way back down we stopped and added a cairn to the surprisingly plentiful c...