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Lilly. A young adult.
Celebrations and speeches. A great day Here we are, 3 weeks after arriving in Bergen, enjoying our time with Chris, Hege, Lilly and Stella. So much to enjoy and celebrate, we have been extremely busy. Of course our trip over, after so much time being unable to travel, was filled with anticipation. Our arrival lived up to that anticipation when we were meet at Bergen Airport by Chris and our gorgeous granddaughters Lilly and Stella. Oh, the hysterical laughter when they both ran to us to give a huge welcoming hug. The laughter was a mix of emotion, joy and the fact that they had grown so much since we last saw them Oct 19. Lilly now towers over Diane and is my height and Stella is taller than Di as well. They have both developed so much. We spent the first evening with nonstop talk and just taking in the fact that at last we are here with our family.
The 17th of May is Norwegian Day, celebrating the signing of the Constitution in 1814. This is a huge celebration on this national holiday. It really is a magic day with parades to watch, drummer boys to watch and listen to and to just take
Norwegian Day
Our extended Norwegian family.
Lilly, Rune, Lillian, Hege, Stella, Anna Lena, Sophia, Thomas and Sebastian. in the atmosphere of this very important day for all Norwegians. The day begins early with cannons booming and Brigades of drummer boys called Buekorps marching through the streets. Loud, very very loud! The parade through Bergen is made up of many various groups. It seems that every sports group and club participate with gymnastics, martial arts, swimming, athletics, etc showcasing their skills. Then there are the groups and associations such as library, culture, education etc. Also dance groups, brass bands, pipe bands, opera singers, drama clubs etc. In fact I feel as though every interest of Norwegian life is represented here in this parade. It is regarded as a very formal day so men usually wear suits with collar and ties.Some wear their traditional outfits. But the women and girls steal the day by wearing traditional dress which just looks so stunning. What an event. It truly is magical.
One of the reasons we came over at this time was to be here to help Lilly celebrate her Konfirmanten Day. At the age of 15 all Norwegians celebrate this. It is the time in their life when they enter adult hood and thus it is a very very
Norwegian Day.
Di and I enjoying being with Lilly and Stella. important occasion. Family and friends gather to help the youngsters celebrate and the whole day is a magic event. Once again the women and girls wear Bunads, their national dress and the men wear their suits or national dress. This always creates a fantastic spectacle. Lilly was to celebrate her Konfirmanten on the Saturday so to make getting ready and for easy access to the venue we, along with all the family stayed the night at Chris's hotel. Mates rates of course. Once at the ceremony the kids are all on stage and various entertainers entertain the invited guests. Great singing, great comedian, great dancers and then all the kids received a certificate to celebrate the occasion. There are a bout 80 kids in each group and there is a large number of groups, so the whole weekend is taken up so each group has a set time to come and stay on stage for about 40 minutes. After leaving the venue we all headed to Chris and Hege's where 19 of us gathered for a meal, speeches and gift opening. What a full and brilliant day and Lilly was a beautiful and proud young adult.
We have had
Norwegian Day.
Watching the Parade with refreshments. A beautiful day. a mixture of weather as we usually do here in Bergen but Di and I have filled our days in by getting the bus to various locations. Usually shopping is involved, but I still stick to my walking every day. Every year we come I try to find new walks around the area but as we have been here so often I have done most of the local ones. I now quite often get a bus to anywhere, walk, or then either walk home or get bus back. Sometimes this may only be an hour but quite often 2 to 4 hours. I love exploring and the walks here are amazing. Always lots of bush tracks, beautiful lakes, big and small, and the sea is usually close by. Lilly and Stella are both into their soccer and we have been to watch both of them play. Very enjoyable and we just love it. Children's sport is one of my favourite things. They have a heavy schedule and with practices they are involved practically every day.
We have just spent a 3 day weekend up at Chris and Hege's apartment in Voss. No matter how often we go there I
Lillian and Di.
Enjoying refreshments. A very hot day. am always blown away by this beautiful area. They of course are up there most weekends in winter, skiing. There are still a few patches of snow up there so we enjoyed a few walks up the mountains. I find that some of these walks are starting to test me and my fitness. Chris fished one evening and I was content to walk around and watch him. He caught quite a few brown trout but they are only small which is a shame as the rivers are beautiful and they would to great if they had good sized fish in them.
We have just over two weeks to go until we leave to spend time in England so are looking forward to that, but not looking forward to saying goodbye to the family. Hopefully if there are no unforeseen circumstances we may see them at Christmas in New Zealand. Pip/Rod
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