I apologize to everyone first off...this entry will not be long. We arrived safe and sound and will be spending the night in Athens in a lovely hotel called Hotel Amalia. Very close to the Plaka and the Akropolis - 2 must sees in Athens. We arrived at 6:30 am Athens time and have already been to the Akropolis. So...I'm fading fast! It is super hot here and if I don't sweat off pounds it'll be amazing. Yippee!!! And to top it off, you have to walk to the top of the mountain to view these magnificent ruins. Yes...can you say [View Full Entry]

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Sadly, I had to leave Fresvik and say goodbye to all the relatives; new found friends; green, green hills; and the fjords. Ingvar so kindly drove me to Vik to catch the bus to Voss. From there I was to take the train to Drammen and then another train to Holmestrand. It was raining in Fresvik but as we left and started to drive along the fjord, the sun came out and it was beautiful shining on the water and the fishing boats. Apparantly, September 1st brings the sardine fishing season. As it turned out, I had to switch buses in [View Full Entry]

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Gyda has corrected me - there are only 275 people in Fresvik and I do believe I am related to most. It's quite funny! Today Reidar introduced me to his parents, Kåre (pronounced Cora) and Ragnhild. Ragnild was a Høgheim...which was changed to Hoium when my Great Grandfather moved to Canada. Ragnild's Father, Peder is my Great Grandfather's brother. You should see the notes and notes and family tree I have taken. It's turned into a family 'forest' instead of just one 'tree'. Reidar's parents do not speak a word of English so that was an interesting visit. There were times [View Full Entry]

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I just can't believe how beautiful this place is. It is so peaceful and calming. Yesterday we met Olav and his wife, Øydis at the hut for breakfast. They have renovated the original hut that they family used to milk the cows and bring the sheep down from the moutains. This is what Olav and Øydis were on their way to do that day. The hut looks old and original from the outside but the section that used to be for hay storage is now a bedroom. It was like a playhouse. Very cool!!! Then we hiked all the way up [View Full Entry]

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Hello My Friends! We have finally made it to Fresvik. This is where it all started for me folks! This area is truly the heart and soul of Norway. Very Very Scenic and full of traditions. This is a place where generation after generation still live in the same house and maintain thier farms. The Bøtuns (my relatives) are farmers and grow raspberries, apples, strawberries and raise sheep. We have discovered the raspberry patch and the organic apples!!! The raspberries are huge and the apples taste like none other. Fresvik lies right on the Sognefjord nestled in a valley with mountains [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everyone....or as they say here... Hei Hei. (They say it twice very quickly) We left Bergen and made our way to a little place called Rauland in the Telemark area. We stayed in a lodge way up on the Hardanger Mountain Plateau. Please excuse my spelling but we figure you guys probably won't know the difference anyway...:) Our guide, Øivind - whom all the women have fallen in love with by now - told us that every Norwegian is born with their skiis on and a backpack. It's kind of hard on the Mother!! This countryside looks like high mountain [View Full Entry]

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We have had a couple of really early days BUT well worth our while!! Our tour guide, Ørvind, has been FANTASTIC! The knowledge that he has of Norway is incredible - I guess he should, considering he's Norwegian. We have decided that we need to bring him home with us to teach us Norwegian and other things.......hmmmmm........ We left Loen and made our way to the Stalheim Hotel - which is at the very top of a mountain on a road full of switch backs. We have an amazing bus driver, to say the least. The Hotel over looks Sugar Mountain [View Full Entry]

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Skøl Everyone!!! Wow...I LOVE Norway! It feels like home to me. We spent our first day of our tour in Lillehamer & toured the Olympic Ski Jump. We made a trip down the ski lift and watched the althetic young lads training on the hill. It was very funny to see this in the middle of summer. But the jump is covered in green plastic fringey stuff and they wet it down. They were jumping right beside us as we came down the lift. The Norwegians keep their homes and properties very neat and tidy! Very colorful. Some homes have tile [View Full Entry]

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We made it!!! We left Calgary at 1:30 pm on Thursday and arrived at 8:30am on Friday in Oslo. Air Lufthansa was great! Free Booze & roomy seats!! Very easy to make our way thru Frankfurt airport. It seems that Darlene and I have perfected the "deer in the headlights" look! We make a good team. She stands and spins and I stare wide-eyed @ monitors until some nice young man asks us if we need assistance.....works great!! We took the train from the airport to Oslo Central and then wandered the streets until we found our hotel. My new backpack [View Full Entry]

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With a little help from my friends and some red wine...I think I'm ready to go!!! [View Full Entry]

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