Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!

No, it is not another post about me missing Texas. It is about the weekend trip we took to Stockholm.


Welcome to Stockholm, Sweden. Where the Swedes are known for their meatballs, reasonably priced furniture, and stunning blondes (both men and women).

Greg and I arrived on a Friday night, just in time to check into the Hilton Hotel, and grab a bite to eat.

Cheers honey. Greg is very happy because he got the first sip of his beer.







I love staying at the Hilton in Scandinavian countries because a huge breakfast is usually included in the hotel price, and boy is there a lot to choose from.

There is always a Hot Section with bacon, little sausages, white beans in a tomato sauce (pork & beans -minus the pork), hard boiled eggs (3 min & 7 min) and scrambled eggs, that somehow never taste like real eggs.
There is always the Fish Section, with lots of salmon and herring to choose from including gravlax (also known as gravlaxsås), smoked salmon, and several types of pickled herring. Yuck!

I always skip the salmon and herring section and stick to the hard boiled eggs and the beans which are really good on toast.

The Produce Section, with lots of fresh vegetables like (red bell pepper, cucumber, tomato) and lots of seasonal fresh fruit and the ever present, never to be missed, lingon berries.

There is usally a Cold Cuts Section with different types of meat and cheeses to choose from. I have used this section to make Greg and I sandwiches for a snack or lunch along our way when we are out and about.
Lots of different rye crackers and rye and whole wheat type breads with marmalades and jams. Several different type of yogurts with several types of cereals, nuts, and seeds to add to make your own muesli.

YUM!I am getting hungry just thinking about it.









After an hour or two spent at gorging ourselves at breakfast, we decided to waddle out and see Stockholm in the light.


Since our hotel was 2 minutes from Gamla Stan, the historic area of Stockholm we decided to head there first.
Gamla Stan Historic old town area of Stockholm.


The town dates back to the 13th century, and consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and archaic architecture.

Stortorget is the name of the scenic large square in the centre of Gamla Stan, which is surrounded by old merchant's houses.










The clock tower of Storkyrkan, Stockholm's cathedral.











The plaza behind the cathedral.

As well as being home to the Stockholm Cathedral, the Nobel Museum, and the Riddarholm church, Gamla Stan also boasts Kungliga Slottet, Sweden's Royal Palace, built in the 18th century after the previous palace Tre Kronor burned down. The House of Knights is on the north-western corner of Gamla Stan.






Shots of the Royal Place. No way you would ever get this close to the White House.



surrounding area





















The changing of the guard ceremony has been a daily tradition since 1523. After watching a changing of the guard I stepped in for a photo. Don't be fooled by the grimace on his face, he is trying to look tough for you. The guard was nice, could move around and even talked to me. Say Cheese!

Then onto Skansen an open air museum and zoo that sits on 75 acres. It was founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833-1901) to show the way of life in the different parts of Sweden before the industrial era.



After extensive travelling, Hazelius bought around 150 houses from all over the country and had them shipped piece by piece to the museum, where they were rebuilt to provide a unique picture of traditional Sweden.

The many exhibits include town craftsmen in traditional dress such as shoemakers and glass-blowers demonstrate their skills in period surroundings. There is also an open-air zoo containing a wide range of Scandinavian animals. Remember the bear at the beginning :-)






Oh and of course you can get things to eat, like these wonderful looking breads.



Greg suggested that we go to the Vasa Museum, to see the Vasa. The Vasa was/is a giant 64 gun ship that was built on the orders of King Gustavus Adolphus in the early 1600's.


Unfortunately, it wasn't built very well, as it collapsed and sank a few hundred meters into its maiden voyage out of Stockholm's harbor. Over 300 years later, researchers located the wreck and pulled the ship to the surface. The majority of the ship's structure was intact and it now stands in restored glory inside Stockholm's most interesting museum. The Vasa is the best-preserved 17th century ship in the world.

The people are friendly, history and culture is rich, efficient in public service and one can get to places by just using the English language. A must-see-place for everyone! Like always, I hope that everyone is doing well back home. Until next journal, have a great day!

Norway

Last year Greg took me to Bergen, Norway, where it was cold and very rainy. This year Greg took me to Oslo, Norway, where it is cold and very expensive!










Bergen, Norway








Welcome to Bergen, the "City Between the Seven Mountains"!








Bergen has been nicknamed "The City of Rain" for the plentiful rainfall it's renowned for - annual precipitation is 2250 mm (88 inches) on average, where Texas is 38.

We made friends with a bartender while waiting for our dinner to-go order. She told us it takes a special person to live in Bergen because of all the rain. She said their winter in 2006 was just terrible. That rain fell every day between October 29, 2006 and January 21, 2007, for 85 consecutive days!!!



We were not surprised by this, as it also rained every day, the whole time we were there! When we first arrived it was pouring down, so we took refuge in the Wharf Market.

You can find many great items at the wharf, like whale meat and fancy hats. I passed on the smoked whale meat but almost bought this hat that seems to go with everything. Or was I just waterlogged and thought it went with everything??

The view from the fish market was very nice.

We had a quick break from the rain and headed off to Bryggen ("the wharf" in Norwegian), the once Hanseatic commerce center, now tourist shop district. Bergen's city centre is situated between a group of mountains known collectively as de syv fjell ("the seven mountains"), Fløyen or Fløyfjellet is the most visited of the seven mountains that surround the city of Bergen, Norway.

It has a funicular system Fløibanen that transports passengers from the center of Bergen to a height of 320 metres in roughly 8 minutes. Greg and I took a ride up, to see what all the fuss was about.


















Well, it was pretty high and pretty windy as you can see.

Since Greg and I had our V8 that morning, we decided to walk down the hill. It didn't rain and it was really pretty.



Greg was loving it and had a lot of fun playing in the grass like he was a kid.



Despite the constant rain and wind, Bergen is a fabulous city. (oh, by the way Mom, you can click on these pictures and they will enlarge ;-)

The city is rich with history and character. There is so much to do and see; although we were always busy and saw a lot, there was so much more we could have done. Maybe next time the weather will be better and I can go on a fjord ship ride.

Bergen is very pretty, relaxing and a must- see for those traveling to Norway.

Now on to Oslo!

Oslo is the capital and largest city of Norway.

Oslo is also one of the most expensive cities in the world. As of 2006, it is ranked tenth according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey.

How expensive you might ask?

Well, Greg and I walked into a pizza joint that looked like a Pizza Hut and for 20 Euros we could get a personal pan-sized pizza. We almost had a heart attack and ran out of the place refusing to pay 40 Euros for a pizza lunch.


Needless to say it was a very pretty place and we had a really relaxing time. Walking around town, taking in the sites and atmosphere.

Greg found out that a ski jumping contest was taking place, Fis World Cup Nordic 2008, so we jumped on a train and headed up a real big mountain to the Holmenkollen nordic skiing arena, and its centerpiece the ski jump.



















They were touting it was a 'World Cup', but I didn't see anyone from the US or Canada there. Humph, must be like our 'World Series' in baseball, where we only invite American teams but call it the World Series HA!

Anyway, on our walk up the mountain I saw a guy wearing a funny looking outfit and there were several people dressed like him all over. Come to find out, it is called Bunad, and it is a traditional Norwegian costume, typically of rural origin.

It made me laugh so I had to take a picture of him. Wiki states, "The interest for bunads dates back to Norwegian romantic nationalism and gained increasing interest with the folk dance movement at the beginning of the 20th century".

Does that not sound funny, or what! Romantic clothes for the folk dancing movement. Well, his gams are looking pretty good so I can see why a lady may swoon looking at that outfit.

Well we finally made it to the top of the mountain and here we are at the top with the ski jump behind me. I caught a little of the excitement on some film and at the end you can hear the announcer say 'yee haw'. It almost made me think I was back home in Texas...well almost.



I tried to get a shot of a ski jumper, but he just looked like an ant way way up there.

We were a little cold and it started to rain, so we decided to leave and go find a place to fill our bellies. That is when we ran into the expensive pizza place and so Greg decided it would be a good time to eat those sandwiches I packed instead.

I didn't get too many pictures of the town because of the rain and a little because it was cute but not really as photo cute as say Bergen. Or maybe it was because I was walking around town with a sandwich in my hand? Who knows, but I didn't really capture the moment or much sites around town.

Ahh, here is a funny photo, a Slutt Salg? Salg is Sale and yep, in Norweign Slutt means Out or The End . What is even worse is in Swedish it is actually Slut, and boy that caught my eye when I was in Finland and saw "A Slut Sale". hehehe

Walking around town we always saw the Radisson hotel as our focal point in case we got lost. When we found out that it had a bar and restaurant up top with breathtaking views of Oslo and the Oslo Fjord, we figured why not.

It was a really cute bar and Greg and I relaxed with a nice glass of wine and a cheese plate. I won't tell you how much it cost but Greg didn't seem to cough or convulse too much when he got the crazy high priced bill. In fact he didn't seem to mind much at all since we had a great view with great seats.














Oslo is cute and easy to get around! Great cafe culture with cute little shops every where, but not too exciting in the evenings. Worth seeing but a weekend is probably enough.

Ice Ice Baby

Christmas Day in Finland, is a time for rest and relaxation. Books brought by Santa Claus are read and food left over from Christmas Eve is eaten. It is not until St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day), December 26, that visits are made to friends and relatives.

Greg and I decided to break tradition and go and visit his Finnsih friends Make and Anni with their two children Oli and Kaisa.They have a summer cottage not far from Kuopio where we celebrated Christmas Eve.

It is a very beautiful place that seems more isolated than Raili & Junnu's place.



As we were driving over to their place it started to rain. This gave an awesome mirrored effect to the frozen lake that was near their cottage.

Junnu and his pimp daddy outfit.


Before their dinner took place I was given a tour which included a look at a cellar, which is pretty much a place cut out of the side of a hill.

They also had a very old type of sauna called a smoke sauna.
Today most saunas are heated by electricity or wood, but this sauna is heated by the smoke. The savusauna (smoke sauna) is a special type of sauna without a chimney. Wood is burned on a particularly large stove and the smoke fills the room. When the sauna is hot enough, the fire is allowed to die and the smoke is ventilated out. The residual heat of the stove is enough for the duration of the sauna. Glad they didn't want to use it because I didn't really want to get all smokey and black.

Now back to the cottage where I found some pretty interesting decorations.

The Christmas tree was simple and plain but very pretty.

And here we have the Christmas, Moose...? hmm...

That didn't bother me as much as the stuffed squirrel and ferret that was on top of the TV.

Not sure if these were pets at one point in time or if this was some avid big game hunter's killings?? Proof of his life and death decision, Man versus Beast, and the man won against all odds.

Before the sun set it snowed and the frozen lake was covered with a light layer of snow that was really beautiful

Late into the night Anni told me to go outside to "listen to the quiet darkness". I bundled up and went outside alone ready to hear nothing but silence yet it was not quiet at all!

In fact it was rather loud and a little scary. It is hard to describe what I heard but it made goose chills go up my body.

I went running in to tell them that the night was NOT quiet and that it was making freaky noises. They started laughing and they told me that the ice must be moving and when it does it makes noises. Huh? Ice makes a noise?

Well, I went out on the Internet and found someone in Minnesota that recorded the sound of ice on a lake, and it makes a freaky noise. The exact noise I heard, this is EXACTLY what it sounded like .... so click on the item below and listen because I think it is cool.

Click here for more information about the songs
Click here to create your own MySpace Playlist

So now you know what ice moving on a lake sounds like.