Back from the Midnight Sun

Well actually I've been back for a week now, but for the first part I had to pay the piper and keep my two nieces along with my two rug rats. Even with PH's help, four children under ten is a bit crazy, especially when suffering from jet lag. I expected I would be able to get by with just pictures from the trip for a few days but alas my mother's computer does not appear to be compatible with any other system. My beautiful photos are on my laptop and my mother's computer refuses any sort of interaction. Since it is a a rainy day here in Maine, I hope to drag the children into town and try to find a disk to download the photos and see if that will please the giant ancient machine my mother calls a computer.

So Norway . . . it was a wonderful trip. A quick run down

• We arrived in Stavanger after a wonderful flight on Northwest/KLM. After my disastrous flight on DELTA to Maine, it was nice to be treated courteously and kindly as that certainly was not the case on DELTA. In case you haven't figured it out, I will no longer fly on DELTA as their uncaring behavior made the flight even worse than the time I was stuck in D.C. with a barely three year old and six month old and was told it would be faster to drive from D.C. to Florida than to wait for a flight (15 hours in car that I have chosen to block from my memory - shudder).
• Slightly groggy we drove to Haugesund to meet with the family that PH stayed with as an exchange student nineteen years ago. This ride included a ferry ride which is a fun way to travel - park car and exit upstairs to watch the boat cross the water. Very refreshing after having been in an airplane all night.
• We drove around Haugesund a bit as PH had not been there in nineteen years and seemed a bit stunned that it had changed - go figure! Finally with the help of some kind Norwegians and PH's language skills we arrived at the home where we would be staying.
• The family PH lived with nineteen years ago were beyond kind and hospitable. We had the bottom half of a house to stay that they were not using, dinner was arranged every night at different family member's home, the father of the family was our personal tour guide for two days, driving us and chatting away with John in Norwegian but making sure that I was included even though my language skills were abysmal. There was a night out on the town with PH's "brother" and his wife, a BBQ, a bonfire, a boat ride on the fjords, a hike to an abandoned lighthouse at 10:30 P.M. to watch the sun "set" at 11:45, gifts exchanged for our various children, a promise to make traditional sweaters and send them to us in the U.S. in exchange for some "spirits" that we had brought with us. We saw a part of Norway that very few tourist would see and "tusen takk" seemed to be an inadequate way to thank them. I can only hope that at some point they will come to the U.S. so we can return the favor. I know we will certainly visit again.
• After the three days in Haugesund, we were off to Bergen.
  
  

• We stayed outside of the city at the lovely Solstrand. We visited Bergen using the Bergen pass which allows you a days entrance into the museums, funicular, churches, and various other discounts including for parking. We also biked, hiked, swam in the fjord - well, jumped in and got out, used the wonderful pool and spa, and ate delicious meals at the Solstrand. This was a wonderful hotel for us as we prefer to be outside the city and enjoy being outdoors.
• Our last day we drove and ferried back to Stavanger and visited Stavanger and again had a lovely flight on Northwest/KLM.

Fingers crossed that pictures will be available tomorrow.