God Påske (Happy Easter) from Norway! We have had a wonderful holiday break filled with little travel adventures and sunshine. My parents are visiting from Wisconsin and Maarit has very much enjoyed showing them her new home.
The day before Grandma and Grandpa arrived it was sunny and relatively warm. We played at the beach by the Three Swords and Maarit was happy to shed her shoes and socks for the first time this season!
The first part of our trip was a journey up to Røldal to see the mountains and stay at the ISS hytte. This photo is from the E39 ferry.
Even though it was cold and windy, Maarit had fun playing "jump on your shadow" on the deck of the boat.
Maarit and Grandma playing on the boat.
Then we drove up through the tunnels and twisty roads. We stopped to visit the Rosemaling shop along the way. I thought this was a fun picture with the huge oil platform in the background.
Grandma and Grandpa playing in the snow at Røldal.
Maarit got going pretty fast on her little bum sleds.
Choosing the biggest and tastiest icicle was a very important activity during our stay.
We were able to visit the stave church in Røldal proper. It was built between 1200 and 1250 and helped amass a great deal of wealth for the town during the middle ages.
A sunny mountain picture of our little family.
And with Grandma and Grandpa.
We visited Langfossen which is the 5th largest waterfall in Norway.
The scenery driving back to Stavanger was quite beautiful.
We visited the Three Swords monument with Grandma and Grandpa on a clear evening and were able to capture the moon rise and the sunset.
Later during the week we attempted to hike Preikestolen. It was sunny and nice on one side of the mountain and freezing cold and icy on the other!
Maarit ready to start the hike!
But eventually she got a bit tired. I was proud because this time I could pack her up the waterfall!
We stopped for lunch just as we entered the icy and freezing part of the hike. At times after this the whole trail was an ice sheet, so we did not end up going too much further than this first view of the fjord.
The next day we visited Trollskogen with Grandma and Grandpa. We made a campfire, had a great hot dog roasting and picnic then played on the ropes. Grandpa is now thinking of making his own Trollskogen at the Rush River when they move!
Grandpa and Maarit exploring along the fjord.
Maarit remembered the dead bird she found with Theo. She brought Grandpa to see the wings and poke it with a shovel.
Later we had a great dinner at the Byrkjedal Candle Factory and visited Gloppedelskura.
Along the roads we could see the new lambs of the season. Surely little lambs are signs of Spring!
Maarit and Grandma and Grandpa and I took a Lysefjord cruise on Friday.
We saw the Troll Heart rock. The story we were told is that a troll fell in love with a beautiful human girl, but he could never tell her of his love because coming out into the day light would turn him to stone. He loved her from afar for many years and finally when he could stand it no longer he decided to come out into the daylight to tell her. The sunlight turned him to stone, but the love he held in his heart was so strong it can still be seen today.
Grandma and Grandpa and Maarit enjoying the scenery.
The boat hands collected water from a waterfall along the fjord and gave Maarit a glass of waterfall water. She was quite excited.
We have had a relaxing and sleepy Easter day after all this exploring. It will be hard to get back into the routine of school since we have been sleeping in and taking our time touring around. Grandma and Grandpa will travel to Oslo and Bergen and then return to Stavanger before heading home to Wisconsin. We will have many more pictures of our adventures soon I am sure.
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