My Dad

That's him on the left and his twin, Gunnar on the right. It would have been his birthday last Thursday. He's been on my mind.

Bark Bark

The trees on the castle grounds are magnique and old! Nature always amazes.

The Bowling Princess... that's me.

Hey, I was bowling today with Patrick - they have cheap games at lunchtime. They had us in a lane next to these two ladies who owned their own shoes and had fancy wrist contraptions and hankies to wipe their ball with and their own shiny bowling balls in leather cases...

Anyway, I totally kicked their asses score-wise...

They must have noticed because during my third game, they came over and recruited me for their women's league. Patrick and I were cracking up.

Then I bowled four strikes in a row. Tee hee, snicker.

Wordless Wednesday #7

Norway

...SATURDAY

Party Norwegian-style

On Saturday night, a big party was held to celebrate the wedding of Tone and Peter. Everyone brought their best dishes and their dancing shoes. We all sat together and ate the delicious food, enjoyed the company of those around us. Friends and family stood and gave toasts to the happy couple. Afterwards there was cake and dancing...

Did I mention that Peter was an Englishman? He's lived in Norway now for 20 or 30 years or something - his people were at the wedding so there was a mix of both Norwegian and English speakers at all the wedding festivities.

This was nice for us - we could understand most of the goings on.

Peter's mother Thelma took a liking to Patrick the minute she laid eyes on him. She is a saucy Englishwoman with a nutty sense of humor. She had us in stitches both days. The highlight for me was her cheek-pinching and ooohing and aaahing over Patrick... trying to embarrass him. Anway, one of her ploys was to get a dance with Patrick who actually took her up on it. I laughed so hard, my cheeks hurt.

Norway

...SATURDAY

Visiting Drøbak

Saturday, we had most of the day to goof off before the big wedding party at 5:30. Our original plan was to head into Oslo and visit some tourist sites but we changed our mind and decided to stay close to home and kick around in Drøbak... I'm so glad we did!

First we visited the cannons that shot down the first Nazi ship to head into Oslo fjord during World War II. The success of this mission enabled the royal family and important government officials to escape to London before the Nazis occupied Norway. The cannons are on a hilltop overlooking the fjørd. We took in the stunning views... so beautiful.

Afterwards, we walked down into the town and visited the waterfront, watched a cruise ship go by, had an ice cream cone. We walked along the waterfront to the port. Irena and I headed out onto the docks to buy some fresh shrimp.

We sat down on the rock bulkhead that out on the fjørd, ate shrimp and feed the gulls the shrimp heads. We yacked, enjoyed the sunshine and all the bustling activity of the waterfront on a Saturday.

After a quick walk through the Drøbak aquarium, we headed home to get ready for the wedding party.

Norway

...FRIDAY
The Wedding

We got dressed in a mad scramble and headed to Ski for the wedding of my cousin Tone to her fiance Peter. Here we are decked out in our frippery...

Tone is the oldest daughter of my dad's twin brother Gunnar. Gunnar and my father both had three children of almost the same ages... unfortunately we lived half a world away from each other.

We still got together occasionally. My family visited Norway in 1976 and Tone and I hit it off in fine fashion. She came to the U.S. to visit us for the summer of 1981 (I was 15, she was 17) and I went to Norway (as I've mentioned) in 1982. We were close friends and cousins. When we tearfully hugged each other goodbye that summer in 1982, I had no idea that it would 27 years before I would see her again.

On Friday, Tone married her sweetheart Peter in the old Ski church that dates back 1000 years.

Tone and her sister Bente after the ceremony.

me and Ingunn

After the wedding, the family gathered across the street for a nice dinner and get together. It was so wonderful to see these people again... I can't even express what a special day it was for me (and I wasn't the one getting married!)

Bente and Tom, Tone's siblings and my cousinsThe food was fabulous!

Camilla and Fredrik.

Ingunn speaking at the dinner

After the party, Camilla, Bente, my family and several of Tone's children visited my Uncle Gunnar's grave. He was buried there at the church graveyard. We left flowers and paid our respects.

Norway

...FRIDAY

Laying things to rest

I had butterflies in my belly, was both excited and nervous to see the rest of my family on Friday afternoon at the wedding. That morning, I think that all the anticipation and pent-up emotion led to a little breakdown and a really ugly cry in front of Camilla when her mother came up in conversation.

I think there was also a lot going on for me as far as closure goes. My dad's twin brother died last year a few days before my own father died. A few years earlier, Camilla's parents sadly passed away (2000, 2003) and I hadn't really put all that into perspective... and into reality. This trip, everything really gelled for me and I think in addition to the great joy I was feeling at seeing everyone again, there was a lot of unfinished grief too.

Camilla suggested the perfect elixer... a trip to the cemetery for some healing time. Visiting the graves of loved ones is an important and oft ritual for Norwegians. My father would often visit his ancestor's resting places when he returned to Norway.

We all packed in the car and drove into downtown Drøbak. We parked and walked to buy some flowers and then walked back to the cemetery...

My spirit was revived and we all went up the street for a coffee and enjoyed the beautiful morning and had some laughs. We rushed home to dress for the wedding afterwards.

Norway

...THURSDAY

Coming Back

Drøbak, Norway

Wow. Where to start? We took so many great pictures and did so much I don't want to overwhelm you so I'll post about each day separately...

Traveling to Norway was in stages beginning with a 2+ hour drive to Weeze, Germany the night before our flight. On Thursday, we flew out of Weeze Airport in the morning and arrived about an 1.5 hour later in Sandefjord, Norway.

The contrast visually between Norway and Belgium was startling. Flying into Norway, you can see deep blue sea from almost every vantage point bordered by lush green forests everywhere. Throw in the little dots of red farm houses everywhere and more blue sky and you have a primary color kaleidescope. It looked so much like Poulsbo, Washington that we all felt instantly at home. Belgium is beautiful but is mostly a palette of brick and green... just different I guess.

We got through the airport super quick and hopped on our Torpespressen to Oslo (another 1.5 hours of bus ride). As a side note... the bus ride to Oslo cost more than the flight from Germany!

We arrived in downtown Oslo at 1:30pm at the Central Bus Station. It was pouring rain and we couldn't find my cousin Camilla even after circling the entire building inside and out. To add to the stress my cell phone wasn't working and Thom had really, really low blood sugar so he was IRRITATED in all caps. We stopped and bought 3 sandwiches and 3 drinks for $40 and then wandered around looking for my cousin.

I caught her out of the corner of my eye at the info desk trying to track me down. I was so happy to see her!

Some history: Camilla is the only child of my father's younger sister. She would visit us often in the states with her parents. She is like a little sister to us. In 1991-92, right after my mother died, Camilla really helped Thom and I out by staying with us and taking care of Erik while we got settled in Poulsbo. Here's a picture of us in 1982 (when I visited Norway last) and one from this trip:

The first thing that Camilla said to me when I saw her was that I looked like her mother, Anne Sophie. I heard it over and over again as I met my other relatives. It made me miss her terribly and reminded me that I am as equally Norwegian as I am American.
Here's a picture of Anne Sophie at around the same age as I am now... you be the judge.

Anne Sophie

Camilla and her husband Fredrik drove us to Drøbak where we settled in and met her children... Irena, Benedicte and Mikal.

After a nice dinner, we walked down the hill into Drøbak and sat by the water and enjoyed a beer. It's Midsommer in Norway now, so it stays light all night. Keeping track of the time was a little wacky.

Fredrik and Camilla