Norway Part 2: Saturday



Morning ice cream!

Saturday: a tour of Western Norway! We started the day leaving Sissel and Ragnar's house in Drammen really early that morning and started heading west to Laerdal. We made a few stops on the way for some ice cream and coffee (at 10:30AM... oh it was so good!), and of course we had to stop for pictures. There was also the Stave Church, beautiful scenery, and even snow!! After lunch in Hemsedal and the Stave Church, we arrived in Laerdal for a three hour tour of the Sognefjord and Naeroyfjordden. It was awesome! Every time we turned around we wanted a picture. Unfortunately they just don't do the scenery justice! The ferry was great because we were one of three cars on it- we pretty much had the deck to ourselves :)


An awesome waterfall we saw from the road

It started getting colder the higher we got, and this area was
REALLY cold! This house has grass on the roof- an old tradition
in Norway. I guess it helped with insulation during the winter.

Yes, that is snow! In June!

After getting back to a lower altitude it cleared up and we
were able to enjoy the Borgund Stave Church. They had just
tarred it, so that's why it looks black. It's made entirely of
 wood and it's incredible!



Where we caught the ferry in Laerdal

The ferry opens at the end to let the cars on board... I've
never seen anything like that before!

We started out thinking this was the most amazing view!
Oh, were we in for an awesome trip...

At the one and only stop on our tour, Kaupanger

Me and Sissel

The awesome tour guides!

Just inside the ridge on the far left, there is a portion that looks
like a hand coming down the mountain towards the water...
We decided that's the troll that lives in the mountain. If we
weren't on our best behavior, he was going to get us!!  ;)
And yes, those are glaciers on top.

We were picture taking fools...

In the Naeroyfjorden

A bunch of sea kayakers

After dinner in Flam, we stopped at this brewery/restaurant.
It was viking inspired, and completely awesome!!

There was even a fireplace with benches
that had furs to keep you warm!

After Flam, we headed once again into the tundra...

Again... it was freakin' cold!!

See- the car says 0 degrees celcius!! (32 degrees F)

The last thing I remember before falling asleep in the car

That night we finally arrived at the cabin around 12:30AM. I was exhausted from an awesome day! So I pretty much crashed as soon as we arrived. The rest of the crew stayed up and enjoyed the midnight sun of Norway. What an incredible day with incredible views!

On the final installment, you'll get to see our day at the Cabin, and Monday in Drammen. Stay tuned...

Norway! The home land...

Josh and I found some great flights from Milan directly to Norway, and we had to take advantage of the opportunity to see where my family comes from! I've been dying to get to Norway for that reason, and also to visit Sissel and Ragnar. I believe we determined that I am Sissels second cousin, once removed. So that would make her dog (Mia) my third cousin :)

We flew up on Thursday evening and stayed through Tuesday morning. Sissel and Ragnar were great hosts and tour guides- they showed us all of the highlights in one weekend! We were able to visit Oslo, Hemsedal, Borgund Stave Church, Laerdal, the Naeroyfjorden, Flam, Sissel and Ragnar's cabin in the mountains, Drammen, and we also saw the Lier Valley where my namesake, my great grandmother Maren Granheim, was born. Sissel even brought us to the place where her family farm was. It was a pretty amazing trip! I surprised myself when I didn't want to leave! It felt like home in Norway and I wish we could have stayed longer. But like all good things, it had to come to an end. The country is so beautiful with it's ever changing landscapes- the east side is more hilly, and the west side has the taller mountains. It's just amazing!

Josh took a TON of pictures on the trip, so I'll try to tell the story through pictures. It may take another blog or two... here we go!!


Friday: We explored Oslo and visited the Viking Ship Museum, the Royal Palace, the National Gallery and just meandered around town. The National Gallery was pretty amazing- they had some really amazing nature artwork, and also had a large collection of Edvard Munch's paintings, including The Scream. We became fans of his work after viewing the collection. His art is really interesting! A little dark... but thought provoking.

The "Queens" ship- this one was used by a queen, and she
was even buried in it. The woodwork on the ends was amazing!

View of the Queens Ship from above

Another ship that wasn't preserved very well. It was in rough
shape, but this was also a burial place.

These items were found on one of the ships. The metal stakes on
the wall were used to hold up tents on the deck of the ship.



A cart on display- it was found in the Queen's Ship to aid
her in the afterlife. The mindset of the Vikings reminds me
of the Ancient Egyptians.



Details on the cart. The woodwork was incredible!

The hull of another ship. This one was much bigger than the
others! You can see a picture on the wall of what it may
have looked like when in use.



The entrance to the museum. We lucked out with amazing weather
that day!!



The Royal Palace

Taking a short break. You can see the main road through
Oslo below.

Cantine Aperte part 2

Good morning! This was outside of our B&B that Sunday
morning.

On the Sunday of our weekend in Tuscany we toured the open cellars on the south side of Tuscany. We were near the border of Umbria and visited Montalcino (a very hilly medieval town), Uccelliera winery, Felsinà, Poggio Antico and a place where we didn’t buy the wine. Each place gives a tour and explains the fermentation process, samples their wine and usually has snacks. Since I wanted to go to Siena and Josh did that for me on Saturday, it was my turn to let him try some wine and be his driver. I have to admit, it wasn’t as fun just watching someone drinking wine L

Josh was up to see the sunrise

We also visited Montalcino and spent some time walking around the city. This was definitely a tough day for me! After all of the walking on Saturday in Siena and Pienza, I was pretty tired. When we arrived in Montalcino we parked at the wrong spot and had to walk all the way up the hill to the town. We later found a parking lot at the top of the hill near the city center… Next time. Unfortunately, after we got up to the town (after much huffing, puffing and taking breaks to let my heart rate return to normal on the long staircase), we realized that the entire town was made of really steep hills. It was rough! My poor body didn’t like that at all and started to reject the idea of movement. We had to stop for lunch so I didn’t pass out (literally). It’s so frustrating that the things I had no problem with before are suddenly the most difficult tasks! Honestly, I can’t wait until Bambino comes so I can get back into the shape I was in before!

A church we found after we got up the hill into Montalcino

a steep hill we had to go down after we got
into Montalcino...

Had to get this one for Josh's Mom- she loves Charlie Brown!

In the city center of Montalcino

Inside the fortress at Montalcino

Uccelliera gave us the best tour of the weekend. She took us into the cellars and showed us the special barriques they have, and even let Josh taste the wine straight from the barrel. He was able to taste how the wine is at different stages of the aging process, and then even tried a mixture of two barrels. By far it was the best tour we’ve ever been on. Unfortunately, I had to watch- but it was fun to hear the explanations of everything. They also sell olive oil, so we were able to taste that.

Uccelliera means "bird house" in Italian. This used to be the birdhouse.

The special barriques

A huge monastery we found on the way to Uccelliera

Felsinà is another fun winery to go to. We took a tour of their cellar last year when Josh’s mom and Mike came to visit us, so this year we only did the tasting (again, I watched). Although, I was able to try the olive oil (which is amazing!). They have a huge key to get into the cellar and this time we got a picture of it so you can see how HUGE it is!!



The HUGE key! It's about the size of Bambino

the first pour

After a long day of wine tasting, it was time for me to drive back to Milan. I was so happy to be home! We didn’t get home until after midnight that night and I completely crashed. This was a rough weekend for a pregnant woman with all of the walking; thankfully Cantine Aperte only happens once a year! If you’re not pregnant, it’s great though. And I should add that even though I couldn't partake in the fun, we met some really fun people and got to see some beautiful sights. Not to mention Josh really enjoyed himself- so it was a good day :)

the grapes were just starting to bud

Cantine Aperte

Every year there is a weekend in Italy called Cantine Aperte (Open Cellars), and it’s usually on the Sunday over Memorial weekend in Tuscany. We found ourselves back in Florence on Memorial weekend for the third time since 2006 as a result of the timing. Instead of staying in Florence the whole weekend, we decided to tour around Tuscany and see some new cities including Pienza, Montalcino, and we went back to see Siena for the second time.

My favorite- the mezzaluna pasta (half moon pasta stuffed with
ricotta and topped with pears and truffle)

The amazing Limoncino

After driving down on Friday afternoon, we went back to Cinque di Vino for dinner. We visited this restaurant with Josh’s mom and Mike when they visited last fall and it’s in a small town called San Casciano. It was worth going back! The food is so good and everything they use is local, fresh food. And of course, Josh couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have more of their amazing limoncino!! That same night there was a small food festival in the park outside of our restaurant. They had a lot of wine, meats, and even Sicilian Canolo! Of course we had to try them and it was pretty good. It doesn’t live up to the Canolo we’ve found at our pasticceria here in Milan, but it was still good J

Siena

an interesting fountain we saw on the walk into the center
of Siena from the parking lot

The old wooden doors on the Town Hall- it even had a doorbell...
I thought that was strange.

Outside the town hall- they have these hooks (to me they look like
places that were used to tie up horses)

The Town Hall

On Saturday, we drove straight to Siena in the morning. Siena is an amazing city! It’s small, but a lot of walking for a pregnant woman! It was good exercise. Every building seems to be 700 years old, and it’s similar to Venice in the fact that the buildings are a little run down. But this just adds to the charm of the city. We found a parking lot closer to the city center than on our previous trip- that was nice for me! And we toured the Town Hall Museum which was an amazing example of the Tuscan Gothic style, and medieval life. After that we grabbed some pizza and explored the city a little bit. After a little rain passed, it turned out to be a beautiful day! So, we did what the locals do- we sat in Piazza del Campo and enjoyed the sun for a while before heading to our B&B for the night.



View from the back side of the Town Hall

An interesting window display...



I love lamp!

Enjoying the sun

Our B&B was right outside of Pienza- another beautiful city! The B&B was great and I really want to go back. Our room was huge- it had a bedroom, bathroom, living room/dining room and a kitchen. They even had a really nice pool outside. I hope to go back this summer when it’s a little warmer so we can swim. After checking in, we headed into Pienza just in time to see all of the little shops closing. Unfortunately, in small towns in Italy everything closes before 7PM on a Saturday. On the bright side, we were able to catch an amazing sunset overlooking the Tuscan hills! Josh was able to get some nice pictures.

Pienza

Watching the sunset in Pienza

Since our room had a kitchen, we decided to hit up the local grocery store and cook dinner that night. It was a nice romantic dinner at the B&B with my hubby. After a long and tiring day that was a great idea.

 

The next day we toured some wineries for Cantine Aperte in addition to Montalcino. I’ll post more about that in a bit since this one is getting long and we have a lot of pictures… Stay tuned.

the view from our B&B

25 weeks baby!

Well, this week is #25 in the adventure of bringing Bambino into this world! The past two weeks have been busier than normal since we have traveled a lot, in addition to working, and that is making time go so fast! Two weekends ago we took a road trip down to Tuscany for Cantine Aperte (a weekend where participating wineries open on Sunday for tastings), and this past weekend we flew up to see Sissel and Ragnar for a long weekend in Norway. Today I'm exhausted! But it was worth it! More to come on those trips...

23 weeks, 6 days, near Uccelliera Winery, Tuscany

Bambino has been moving up a storm lately! I got a kick last night that actually kind of hurt... It makes me a little nervous because I still have 15 weeks to go and Bambino will only get stronger! What's fun is that everyday Josh wants to feel Bambino move in there. He gets so excited by the movements! The other night he felt the strong kicks and couldn't believe it! He even makes sound effects, "Boom!!" It's so cute:) He's going to make such a great dad!

24 weeks, 6 days, on the Naeroyfjorden, Norway

 Our time in Norway was a lot of fun, but not so great for my back. We spent a lot of time in the car driving and my back wasn't too excited about that. I'm starting to think I may have a pinched nerve in the middle of the back because it always hurts in the same spot- it never changes. That will be a question to ask when I go into the doctor next week. At least I'm still able to function though! And if it gets really bad, usually just one tylenol makes a world of difference. My hips have been feeling better too. As long as I sleep on a softer matress with a pillow between my legs, I'm fine.

25 weeks, Drammen, Norway

I may also be entering what they call the "nesting" stage... I keep looking at our guest room thinking "can I move this to make room for a crib? If I do... how can we re-arrange that...?" I'm constantly wondering how we can get the room ready for Bambino, and I'm excited about organizing it! Me... exciting about organizing... This is a new experience! Usually that's such a chore to me.

Since we had ice cream up at Sissel's house this past weekend, all I can think of is ice cream! I think it's safe to say that this pregnancy has given me an ice cream addiction. That craving is back! It doesn't help that summer is the time for ice cream, and it keeps me cool. Unfortunately we don't have any in the house right now, otherwise I'd be eating it as I type this blog. It's probably a good thing though, I don't need to eat ice cream all the time :)

Stay tuned for more about Cantine Aperte and Norway!