Trollveggen - Troll Wall and Base Jumping

Andre and Irma took us to an amazing hill called "Trollveggen" or "Troll Wall" in the Romsdalen Valley that is a huge cliff where base jumping occurs. It has been posted as illegal but folks still do it. A Norwegian died doing it last week when he couldn't find his parachute cord on a borrowed suit. So sad. Several years ago there was a huge land slide here and it registered on the richter scale in Finland. This land slide ruined a couple of great rock climbing paths.

Stave Church

Stave churches are a beautiful thing in Norway. They date back to the Viking age. We had the best teenage tour guide and it was his first ever tour to give.

Cousins and views from Molde, Norway

The views from Molde, Norway are out of this world. Absolutely breathtaking. There are tiny islands everywhere you look and 222 mountain peeks you can see on a clear day. Wish we would have had the clear day when we were up at the look out. We did end up getting to see the mountain peeks from down by the waters edge.

Lillehammer and Molde

We stopped for great Chinese food in the town of Lillehammer where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held. Unfortunately we ran out of time to tour the ski areas and olympic museum. We wanted to make sure we would make the last ferry to Molde and still had 4 hours to drive. We made the ferry in plenty of time and were thrilled with the majestic views along the way.

While in the town of Molde we came across a memorial to all the people that lost their lives last week in Oslo and on the island. It was a solemn moment.

Hollmenkollen Ski Jump / Freidheim Health Center

We visited a huge ski jump just outside of Oslo and toured the great museum about the history of skiing.

While visiting Freidheim Health Center, we received a fantastic tour from our friend Erik Somme and saw a great way to go camping with a small car.

Last day in Oslo

Our last day in Oslo was spent walking around in the pouring rain seeing some wonderful sites. We enjoyed and fabulous toy store, the Nobel Peace Museum, Resistance Museum, Military Museum and the Opera House. Then we headed out of town to stay two nights at the European Bible School. The Bible school was having their inspiration week so it was a treat getting to see several friends we knew.

Our brand new camera has now jammed so we will try to get it repaired. We are going to be using the camera we gave the boys to use. More pictures will be coming later, but I must hit the sack. It's 10:45pm and still very light outside. It's weird to be going to bed when you have to close the curtains to keep the light out. What a new adventure.

Sites around Oslo

We spent the afternoon enjoying the sites around Oslo. The open air folk museum was a real treat. Especially getting to eat the yummy hot, sweet bread (Lefse) right off the fire.

Lefse

3 cups riced potatoes
6 Tablespoons margarine
2 Tablespoons cream
1 Tablespoon sugar
1-1/2 cups flour

Boil potatoes in salted water. Rice them and measure 3 cups.
Add margarine, cream and sugar while the potatoes are still hot, Mix well
Let stand overnight
Add flour when ready to bake
Bake on LEFSE iron at 500 degrees
When brown spots show, turn and bake on other side. Makes 1 dozen.


We also enjoyed several museums including the Viking Ships, Kon Tiki, Flam, and the Maritime Museum. We then took a ferry ride back to the city center and made our way over to the area where many different ethnic groups have settled. We learned from our guide book that you could find cheaper food in this area and that getting take out saves a huge dinning tax on the meal. We enjoyed a take-out Indian meal back at our hotel. What a fun day in the hot sunshine.

Arrival in Oslo

What beauty approaching the city of Oslo. As we were getting off the cruise ship we noticed a farm tractor/travel trailer combination getting ready to load for the trip back to Germany. What a kick! Who pulls their travel trailer with their farm tractor? Loved it!

We had made reservations for a children's suite at the Thon Hotel Terminus. I had no idea what it included. The kids had their own counter to check-in and each received a back-pack full of fun activities. Each morning from 9-10 there was a children's treasure hunt throughout the hotel. What a treat to have a playroom off of our hotel room where all the families could play air hockey and games. The kids were in heaven. A wonderful, healthy buffet breakfast was included in the room fee. We enjoyed everything tremendously. It was a shame we only booked it for one night, but we left the city just one hour before the bomb went off. Our hotel was only five blocks away from the bombed area. What a blessing we were out of the city by that time.

If you go to the link I provided on CNN and find a photo with the city of Oslo skyline, our hotel was a bright yellow and red one in the forefront.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/07/world/hires.oslo.blast/index.html?hpt=hp_t1