First off let me apologize for the delay in not updating our blog. Between school (me), work (both), and traveling we have had very little free time. Also, information about our “Megan’s Birthday Trip” can be found in another post.
With that being said, what has all happened here….
One weekend we drove out to Brykedal, and the candle factory. It was a beautiful drive in the mountains. To get there you cruise through some of the most breathtaking U-shaped valleys and along some amazing lakes. On the way out there the sun was trying to peak through the clouds but was struggling and on the way back there was a slight rain. Once we got there we bought tons of candles and had a traditional Norwegian meal. I had a meatball dish (I can’t remember the actually name) and Megan had a fish dish.
When we moved here we needed phones and we figured we wouldn’t be using them a whole lot. At that time we decided to get pay-as-you-go phones. The problem was they were unreliable at times. So we decided to upgrade and broke down and bought iPhones. After much research we discovered that if we buy them here unlocked we can use them even when we travel to other places (with a SIM card of course). So, needless to say, birthday presents came early this year.
Since, most of the vacation time was used on the wedding we are staying here for Christmas. While on “Megan’s Birthday Trip” we actually bought most of our gifts for each other, as it was slightly cheaper there. We still bought things here but we won’t know what until Christmas. We baked cookies that are familiar to us: pizzelles, moons or Russian teacakes, peanut butter balls, and pfeffernusse. If we where to do a “typical” Norwegian Christmas we would decorate our tree on the 23
rd, but we already bought and decorated ours from a boat that brings them into the harbor from up north. On Christmas Eve we would open all of our presents with family and eat a dinner consisting of r
ibbe, julepølser, pinnekjøtt, lutefisk, kålrabi, potatoes
, sauerkraut and more. We actually had all that at Megan’s company Christmas party (minus the lutefisk). Since my birthday is Christmas Eve instead of trying to fight for a reservation at a restaurant or try to cook some of these foods, we are celebrating my birthday a day early by going to a local restaurant where we can get such foods again. Here is a link to find out more about them
Norwegian Christmas Food
Also if you want to come visit, right now all you need is a suitcase full of real butter and you could sell it to get your ticket paid for. All joking aside, this is a problem here this year. Norwegians in general started a low carb, high fat diet just before December. Combine that with milk production decreasing in Norway, you get a butter shortage. The country has tried to import butter, but no one will unless we lower our taxes. So, we just have to deal without butter or we have to risk our lives against elderly women….
Just as a final side note, I passed my driving test as well. So we are both licensed to drive until we are 100 in Norway!
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| Canons by the lookout tower. |
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| The lookout tower. |
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| Harbor at night. |
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| The local school in Sentrum. |
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| Having fun... |
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| I want one... |
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| Drive to Byrkedal. |
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| Drive to Byrkedal. |
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| Watching guard over the farm houses next to the candle factory. |
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| One of the many beautiful lakes...wish the sun was shining... |
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| One of the lakes. |
