Mom and Dad's Trip!

Mom and Dad were able to take a three week vacation and come to Norway for a visit. We packed a lot into those three weeks and had a great time!

Mom and Dad arrived on June 23rd. We spent the next few days exploring Trondheim, dodging the rainstorms and letting Mom and Dad recover from their jetlag.

Mom sitting in the gunners chair in the antiaircraft gun on Munkholmen.

A couple of days later we hopped on a plane and headed for Germany. Our first stop was in Munich! We spent the evening exploring a bit of the city and drinking beer!

Beer? Yes please!

The next day we went to the Royal Residence in Munich. We visited the treasury to see the royal jewels and wandered around the residence. It was gigantic but very interesting. We even found a painting of one of the princesses who looked like Mom!

Pretty shiny things.

The Royal Residence felt like a giant maze!

After the Residence, we braved the rain, grabbed the rental car and headed off to Austria. We drove through the Bavarian Alps and ended up in a cute town called Höfen.

Walking in Höfen, Austria

The next day we headed back over the border to visit the Königsschlösser (King's Castles) near Füssen. We toured both castles and met people from all over the world, even Oregon!

Hohenschwangau Castle

Mom and Dad celebrated their anniversary at the castles!

In front of Neuschwanstein Castle

"Crazy Ludwig's Castle"

The next day we headed north to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is a medieval city complete with city walls. Our hotel was very close to the wall. We enjoyed wandering around the city and visited several museums, including a crime and punishment museum. That evening we took the Night Watchman tour of the city and walked along the wall.

Such a pretty little town!

The view from the wall

The cathedral in Rothenburg

Our next stop was in Cologne. After quite an ordeal finding the hotel (there was a lot of road construction and the German GPS lady kept trying to send us into walls and dead end streets) we headed out to the chocolate factory and to explore the city. The chocolate was delicious and the cathedral was impressive!  We spent our last evening in Germany drinking some tasty Kolsh beer (a regional specialty) and eating really good food at a local brewery.

Chocolate fountain, yum!!

The Kölner Dom

Statues along the cathedral

The next day we flew to Copenhagen. We had just over 24 hours to explore the city. We decided that the best idea to start was to take a canal tour. The tour was great and we were able to see a good amount of the city. Afterward we had dinner along the canal and explored a bit more of the city. The next morning was beautiful so we decided to head to the fortress in the middle of the city. We also went to visit the Little Mermaid and found the sand sculptures we had seen on the boat tour!

Dad enjoying the canal tour

Along the main canal

Reflections in the water around the fortress

Windmills and cannons, what more do you need?

Mom and Dad enjoying our day in Copenhagen

Obligatory photo of the Little Mermaid

Sand sculptures! They were so cool!

After that we grabbed our luggage and went to catch the shuttle bus to our ferry to Oslo. We waited at the bus stop for a long time and were worried that we wouldn't make it to the boat in time! Finally the bus arrived and we crowded on along with everyone else waiting at the stop. That evening was spent relaxing on deck reading and drinking sparkling rose. We tried to stay up to see the sunset but we didn't quite make it (since sunset was after midnight that night!).

On deck looking back at Copenhagen

Sparkling wine in tiny paper cups

This was as close to sunset as we got!

We woke up the next morning as we were headed into Oslo. The fjord is really pretty on the approach to Oslo and it is a lot of fun to stand on deck and watch the scenery go by.

After getting checked in to our hotel we decided to go visit the Edvard Munch museum. He is best know for "The Scream" but he had many impressive pieces of art. After that we were able to visit the botanical gardens and wander around the city a bit before it started raining.

I love water lily ponds!

Statues and gardens in downtown Oslo

The next day we took the train from Oslo to Bergen. The ride was so beautiful and is highly recommended to everyone! It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful train trips in Norway.

A stop along the Oslo/Bergen route

We arrived in Bergen that afternoon and set out to visit the city. I was excited to ride the funicular to get a view of the city. Bergen is much bigger than I realized. We enjoyed the view of the city and even found trolls to visit with. We headed down the hill just as it started raining. We grabbed some dinner at the fish market and then got soaked exploring more of the city later that night.

The view from the funicular as the rain started.

Mom found a troll to hug!

Lots of dried fish and caviar in the fish market

The next day we woke up and walked to the aquarium. We watched the sea lion show, visited the fish in the tanks and found out they had baby penguins! They were so adorable!

The historic buildings along the warf

Pretty pink starfish

Baby Penguins!!!

Later that afternoon we headed out to the airport and got on our plane to Tromsø. We had a layover in Trondheim where we met up with Daniel! We decided that we wanted to see the midnight sun that night so we wandered around the city until after midnight.

Everyone's first time seeing the midnight sun!

We spent the next few days wandering around the city and following the advice of our friends Håvard and Anne Lise who used to live in Tromsø. Thanks to them we had lots of good food and saw lots of great things!

I think you have a bird on your head!

The Arctic Church

On Sunday we decided to ride the cable car up the hill and were rewarded with an amazing view of the city.

The view from the top of the hill

It was a bit windy up there!

We spent the last few days of the trip in Trondheim. We were able to visit Sverresborg (the Trøndelag Folk Museum), Nidaros Cathedral, the Bishops Residence and Kristiansten fort. Dad even got the opportunity to go fishing thanks to our friend Anders! It was a great way to spend the last few days of their trip. I enjoyed showing them around town and they enjoyed seeing more of the city. We even had some nice weather!

Living roofs at Sverresborg

The view from the old castle in Sverresborg

Fishing on the river

Anders trying his hand at fly fishing

I finally went inside the cathedral!

The original stone pieces in the Bishops Residence were really interesting.

You can go inside the fort now! The view of town from the top floor.

We had a great vacation together. I am so glad that they were able to make the trip and that we were able to spend so much time together!

Thanks Mom and Dad! I love you!!