Blue Doors

For this Too Good to Miss Tuesday I must address a universal truth . . . blue doors are beautiful. The evidence: substantial number of instances found throughout Europe.

With shades ranging from chicken egg blue (yes they exist--my sister has a chicken that lays blue eggs) to "almost green" turquoise I love them all. Included are a few "un-door" examples too significant to leave out.

"Sky on a snowy day blue" with a "dash of retro vibe aqua"

Clockwise from top left: Riomaggiore Italy, Bratislava Slovakia, Paris France x2, Verona Italy, Paris France

"Solemn-enough" grey/blue fit for nobility and a monastery

Clockwise from top left: Modena Italy, Prague Czech Republic (x2), Inveraray Scotland. Center: Prage Czech Republic

"You know you want to know more" electric blue  juxtaposed with "sophisticated sky" blues

Clockwise from top left: Bologna Italy, Amsterdam Netherlands, Zurich Switzerland, Amsterdam Netherlands. Center: Paris, France

The unorthodox mix . . . of course the Gelato University sign is blue, and the 2 black doors in Amsterdam are made even more stunning by the neighboring blue paint. Those sky blue/grey door and window frames in Zurich are the portals to a cozy home decor shop. I dream of wallpapering a nook with their library/book wall covering just as they did.

Turquoise that's all I'm gonna say

Clockwise from top left: Ghent Belgium, Inveraray Scotland, Dozza Italy, Gothenburg Sweden, Verona Italy, Edinburgh Scotland

And below, the pic of that romanticly lit door caught in a drizzly haze was the last blue door I captured on my last night in Europe.

Ardently Indigo

Clockwise from left: Bergen Norway, London (Notting Hill) England, Paris France

A Ferbusle

Sorry you don't get to hear about Copenhagen quite yet. This is a special post for the boys, I'm thinking specifically about my 5 nephews.

In the past 3 weeks I've been on 3 airplanes, 3 buses and 9 trains not counting the metros. One nephew thought it was the coolest thing when he heard we were taking the chunnel, the train under the English Channel to France.

Now let me tell you about, something I call, the Ferbusle. A Ferbusle is a ferry with a bus inside with people inside (you know, like a turducken). My bus from Bergen to Stavanger took 2 ferry rides. On one we stayed in the bus, on the other we exited and went to the top deck of the ferry. These boats are huge. I counted 13 big rigs and 3 buses getting off one of these ferries.

Now let me tell you about the Fertrainy. When your train, yes I said "your TRAIN" goes on a ferry. I don't know why I didn't question this earlier. I mean really there is no land mass connecting Denmark to Germany the direction we went. I just saw the timetable in my train book and planned it.

So for all the little boys (and big boys too) here are some pics of the Ferbusle and Fertrainy.


Ferbusle
Their are a couple big rigs behind that one you see clearly on the right.

That's my bus on a ferry on the ocean.

Fertrainy
The rigging as we approach the ferry

That white wall with the letters AND on the side, that's the ferry. I'm taking the picture from inside the train as the train boards the boat.

The view from my train window once we are inside the ferry. Notice it says deck 3.

My view as I exit the train to go up on deck. Train is on the left with the big red stripe.

Watching the big rig go by as we exit the ferry.

My little train all covered in snow after arriving in Hamburg Germany.

Stavanger

Sunday I mentioned that all my plans had completely changed for the week and here is why.

My new friend in church on Sunday helped me find an old friend.

15 years ago we were missionaries in the state of Washington. Yep, black-name-tag wearing, door knocking, happy smiling missionaries.

Before my big trip I made calls, I searched emails, Facebook, online, with no success. I left for Norway hoping but not expecting that I might still find her. Well somehow the stars aligned and someone knew her and her new last name and helped me find her. So instead of hopping on a plane to Stockholm on Monday I stayed in Bergen one more day and took a 5 hour bus ride to Stavanger (by the way the most beautiful bus ride ever!) tuesday morning to see...

I had such a wonderful time catching up, reminiscing, spending time with her wonderful children. They are "Ticket to Ride" pros--a game I have not played in years. So gracious and endearing. Oh. And we enjoyed some yummy Norwegian food too: home baked hearty bread and all the accompaniments.

Notice the brown cheese in the bottom left, it's tasty with raspberry jam, and the mackerel in tomato sauce, my favorite.

It was such a treat that I will always hold dear. Somehow this last photo is so befitting for the day. I snapped it while wandering around the little pond in central Stavanger.

Bergen on a Rainy Day

I've been blessed by some unseasonably good weather in Norway. It was warmer in Oslo than the norm. And it has been drier and warmer than typical in Bergen. The pass I came through to get to Bergen on Friday was closed Saturday due to snow. I went back to my bakery today and the girl said, "today you are experiencing typical Bergen weather," rain.

So today would have been a perfect museum day. There are several art museums in Bergen. I've been trying to get to them since arriving. But, it's Monday. Closed. So I just walked, which is fine because walking, along with art museums, is in my top 10.

I saw the gardens of the natural history museum. Museum also closed.

With all the different color houses and never a neighboring two the same color, unless they are white, do you think they have a neighborhood meeting to coordinate the variety of hues or do you think it goes more like..."hey honey, you won't believe it but Mrs Nilsen stole your idea for that robin's egg blue paint. Come take a look. Now what should we do..."

"I have just the idea, that'll show her"

Oh, what goes on behind these walls.

Here I watched the clouds and fog roll in and decided it was time to visit my little bakery Solbrod for another hot chocolate.

Church

The goal for today...find church.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormons. And this denomination has congregations all over the world. So during these adventures of mine I plan to go to church wherever it is.

Today I could tell the closest meetinghouse was 4 miles away. Which is not far if you have a car or can figure out the public transportation. But for the life of me I could not figure out if there was a light rail or bus or anything getting me out there. I tried 5 different map apps and numerous searches on line...nothing. So I walked. Past this.

And this

And this

Notice anything. The map route had me following a light rail. So why the heck could none of them calculate a public transportation route. "No routes found" whatever!

It took me an hour and 20 minutes. My hair was horrid (more on the reason for that later) but I was so thrilled to see this. I went in and threw my dress on, hung my gazillion layers on the coat rack, sat in the chapel and have never felt more at home in a room full of people speaking a different language.

Because I made it to church today I'm probably not going to Stockholm tomorrow...I will keep you posted.

Also while at church I made a new friend. He was my tour guide for the afternoon:

Here was the view during linner. I don't know that i will ever tire of this scenery.

And here was something served with dinner. My new "Norwegian" friend had never seen it either. I will try just about anything once, but this was almost too much for me to even look at. Yes, I tried it and I didn't like it: boiled fish eggs. The venison and cod were delicious!

Last but not least this is the view from Floyen or the top of the Floybanen tram. Stunning.

And yessiree I'm still alive.

Penny Loafers

Did you know the penny loafer originated in Norway? Or as it's called here the Aurland shoe. I still remember my first pair...a deep burgundy high shine number. I loved those shoes. At the Bryggen museum in Bergen you can try on a pair of Aurland shoes or wood clogs to find your match. Oh and I did.

My train got into Bergen after dark last night. Thank goodness my hostel (which I'm loving by the way) was only 2 minutes away. So when I woke up to this--the view from my window--I knew I would love Bergen.

I see a habit taking a lovely shape: a pastry or baked goody with hot chocolate in the morning. This pastry is a Solski Brodet or sunshine bread. Gosh I hope I spelled that right. It is missing the Norwegian characters. It was soft, a little doughy in the middle with a good helping of custard in the center. The cream on that hot chocolate was the real deal, tasted extra dairy-y.

Then I just wandered enjoying the scenery: the old wood buildings on the wharf (a UNESCO world heritage site), the windy steep streets going up the mountain, the colors of the buildings, the old Norwegians or Vikings keeping watch. Not so much the bitter wind though. And then I must admit I came back and watched a movie on iTunes. Just keeping it all in balance.

The Fjords

I'm sitting in an almost empty train this morning and a boy with brown curls and amber eyes about 7 years old sits down with his dad a couple seats ahead. A moment later this boy approaches and asks me something in Norwegian. The only word I understand is wifi. So I reply with "I'm sorry" and he immediately asks in perfect English "is there wifi on this train?" His dad apologizes "I'm sorry I thought you were a local". So I think it's fun to be thought of as a local, but I am so jealous that this boy, so young, has the knowledge of at least 2 languages...but that is for another conversation. Back to why I'm sitting on the train this morning. I'm taking the Norway in a Nutshell Tour. A little shout-out to my friend Brett for recommending it!

It started with a 5 hour train ride west to Myrdal.

Ok, don't you just love the name on that sandwich? It's just ham and cheese. I think I will call ham skinke from now on.

Then we boarded a classic train to Flom. You start at a crazy number of meters above sea level and descend through valleys, beside frozen waterfalls and perched homes to 2 meters above sea level within an hour.

Here you wait an hour in the freezing cold dragging your roller bag around with you and talk to another traveller a girl from Japan who is studying in Finland and doing a little sightseeing herself before boarding the ferry.

Here is the Flom rail museum.

And here are some shots from our 2 hour ferry ride. Each moment was more spectacular than the one before.

Yes this is the view from my seat when I'm too cold to go stand outside.

Oh but outside...braving the cold is worth it.

Now check out what's ahead of the boat

That is a layer of solid ice. When the ferry hits and goes through the ice there is a crunching sound and for a moment I had visions of the titanic and "my heart will go on" going through my head. Here's a little close up of the ice meets ferry.

After a high speed bus ride and another train, I made to Bergen. I'm sorry to say I slept through much of the scenic bus ride, I took a little motion sickness medication for the boat and it worked a little too well.

And here's proof for my mom that I'm still alive.