Well we have just arrived back from Bergen, Norway, and it was awesome! We arrived on Thursday to cold rain and wind. The weather was a little discouraging. We found our flat and gathered some groceries for the weekend. Everything you hear about Norway being expensive is true. For example, it was about 160 Kroners for a hamburger which would be about 30 dollars. Being on a very small budget, we decided to make our own meals and pack sack lunches. I think we were pretty successful. We did buy lefse (a flat pancake type tortilla eaten with brown sugar or jam) from the store, but it was not nearly as good as Grandma Eggums homemade ones!

In the afternoon we took the light rail out of town a bit to a stave church. It was a very small, but incredibly unique church completely built by hand. The hole church was cut, carved, and fitted with manual tools. Not a nail to be seen! See Pics!

Daylight hours are kind of strange in Norway. The sun did not set until 10:30pm or 11:00pm and it rose around 4:30am. It was odd going to bed while the sun was still up.

On Friday morning we took a long bus ride out to Hardangerfjord. Being a major port we thought it would be fun to hike along the water for as far as we could. Eventually we turned back into town where we had lunch and prepared for our hike to the waterfall nearby. Sadly, we were not able to hike behind the waterfall due to construction to the path, but it was still a sight to see. We followed dirt path for a few hours that led us back into town. We were distracted by all of the sheep and their lambs on the path and in the fields next to us. We stopped to play with them for a little bit, until a sheep dog kindly told us to leave.

Onward we went to back into town. We could not believe how many waterfalls and moving water was pouring from the rock walls everywhere we went. Finally as we were entering town the sun peeked through the clouds making an awesome scene for us over the water!

On Saturday we wore our Luther gear as we celebrated the Norwegian Constitution Day! Bergen is home to the longest parade in Norway. It was so long that it was practically two parades happening at the same time as they walked in opposite directions around the town center on the same street. After the parade we made our way to the center lake where we had lunch and listened to the opening speeches and songs being played to begin the festival. Erin found that there was a law firm with the name of Eggum in town not too far, but we never found it. Google said it was unlisted and we assumed it closed up.

We made our way down to the fish market and an old set of houses near the water called Byrgen. It was fun snapping some pictures and relaxing in the sun. So many people were eating lunch and partying on their boats. We walked around the entire port and ended up in a park at the edge of a peninsula. As you know it is normally cloudy or rainy here in jolly ol' England so we were so happy to lie in the grass in the park, play cards, and soak up some rays.

Our last day in Bergen was probably our favorite. We left early in the morning to walk back into town to catch the funicular (a train car propelled up a set of tracks by a cable at the top of the mountain). We took the funicular to the top of Mount Floyen. We spent all day hiking the trails, some marked and some not. It was unbelievable how many lakes and streams were on top of the mountain. We actually hiked all but one trail while we were there. We even did part of the Vidden Trail, which connects Mount Floyen and Mount Ulriken. We hiked all the way to the top of the peak where the trail levels out and follows a plateau to the other mountain top. Here we stopped for lunch beside a lake out of the wind.

After lunch we walked down from the peak to another trail the followed a stream leading us to another lake. This path did not see a lot of sunlight, so it was like hiking through a marsh. Our shoes kept sticking and sinking in the mud. We finally decided to go up into the woods off the trail to get away from the mud. Though it was not muddy, the ground was very mossy and soft. My foot actually sunk under the moss at one point. And no more than five minutes later, Erin was climbing over a fallen tree that was wet and rotting. She went right through it, snapping the log in half. Fortunately, she was alright and I was able to move the other half of the tree to release her foot. She made it out with just a few scratches.

Up and down we followed the trails all sorts of different sights. It was such an adventure. After a day's hike we were ready for some dinner. We headed back down the mountain and went near the fish market were we devoured a huge pizza. We picked up the bus to the airport just down the road and were on our way back to Reading. We made it back just as the Blackhawks finished taking down the LA Kings in game one of the series! Go Hawks!

This week two of our best friends are coming to visit us! We will be meeting them in Ireland were we will be staying the weekend and then they will come back to Reading with us to spend some time here. We cannot wait to see them!

Tune in next time to see what wild and crazy adventures Ireland has in store for us!