Sverd i Fjell

The monument Sverd i Fjell (Swords in Rock) wasn't too far from where we were staying. Over the course of several days I ended up at this park about three times, since in addition to the monument, there was a beach and a very nice jogging path along the coast. And, because it was just plain cool to see three massive Viking Swords rising out of the ground.

"The Swords in Rock monument in Hafrsfjord, Stavanger marks the Viking battle of Hafrsfjord when Norway was united into one kingdom. The Battle of Hafrsfjord is considered to be the most important battle that contributed to the gathering of West Norway and Norway into one country. Back then, Norway was run by several kings, and the battle was between the victorious King Harald Fairhair and other kings. The three bronze swords stand 10 metres (33 ft) tall and are planted into the rock of a small hill next to the fjord. The swords symbolize peace, unity and freedom. The hilts of the Viking swords are taken from swords found in different parts of the country. The monument is made by Fritz Røed, and was unveiled by King Olav in 1983. The dating of the battle to 872 is approximate."

The entire family stopped by a few times to see it, but we had to come back on a different day once we figured out the best time for some pictures. For most of the day the sun location and angle this time of year didn't make for good pictures. When we did have a chance for a good picture, we all lined up in front of one of the swords, not paying attention to the seagull that had also decided to take a rest at the top of one. Sure enough, Julia got pooped on right on the head, which makes for a pretty good family memory.

The jogging path was a pretty standard path that followed the coastline until it go to a rocky point where the path would either need to end, or a sweeping bridge over the water needed to be built. The Norwegians choose to build a walkway bridge, and it is pretty cool.

Gamle Stavanger

It took us a good day or two to get our bearings and get settled in Stavanger after a long day of travel (basically 24 hours). The transportation plan included having a rental car while we were there to explore the area, then drive up to Bergen to meet the rest of the family and pick them up at the airport before turning the rental car in. It took me only a few tries and annoying of the locals to figure out how to use the endless two lane roundabouts and when to use your turn signal...

Our first adventure to Gamle (Old) Stavanger was relatively close to where we were staying. As I write these posts of our trip, I think it would be a good idea to include some additional factual information from other sources so we can remember more as we look back and read these posts.

"The protected historical area consists largely of restored wooden buildings which were built in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century. Gamle Stavanger has grown such that it now covers more than 250 buildings most of which are small, white wooden cottages. The area also includes the Norwegian Canning Museum which displays a typical factory from the 1920s. In the old days, it was quite common to bring your house if you moved from one place to another. This is the case for several of the houses in Old Stavanger. The houses were logged in timber, making it fairly easy to dismantle and bring along when moving."

We parked on the other side of downtown, which was intentional, so we could make the short walk over and see other things, like the pond and church along the way. The wooden buildings and cobblestone streets were very quaint, and it was fun to see that most of the houses were currently lived in and many owners had placed flowers outside their doors. There wasn't much to do there other than to walk through the neighborhood and sightsee, except to enjoy the experience and pretend that you were walking through the small town a few hundred years ago.

At some point the girls went shopping and Jonathan and I decided to take a tour of the Norwegian Canning Museum. I'm really glad that we decided to do that, as it was quite interesting and very well done. The museum is actually an old cannery building itself, and it walked you through the process step by step (including the tools and machines) used to can small fish. The old factory still had several brick ovens and racks they used to cook the fish prior to canning. On our tour we met a family (from Michigan, I recall), who was taking the tour because they believed that one of their grandparents in the past had actually worked there.

The other two pictures are of other areas downtown, but not enough to warrant their own post. The Valberg Tower was built around 1850 and served as a watchtower for both security purposes as well as to alert people in town when there was a fire. The colorful photo is of Fargegaten, which is another set of wooden buildings that have been painted different colors. This was mainly a tourist destination full of restaurants and close to shopping downtown. We went there frequently since it had a nice little coffeehouse with WiFi.

Our Trip to Norway

Well, I (we) finally made it to Norway. At the end of last year around Christmas we started talking about the possibility of the entire family making a trip over to see the country and some family heritage sites. Planning out the trip for several people was an undertaking, but we pulled it off and the entire trip went very well except for only a few minor travel issues.

We decided to head over there (to Stavanger) about a week before everyone else and Grandpa and Grandma decided to stay a week after everyone else and take a cruise back to the UK. All in all, it was about three weeks total of traveling and being in Norway for us. I wasn't sure when we would be able to return, and if you're making the long and expensive trip over, it only made sense to stay as long as we possible could.

Our overnight flights from Denver to London, and then London to Stavanger went well. We had a  several hour layover in London, so that wasn't ideal, and it put us into the small Stavanger airport very late at night. So late (near midnight) that everything was closed, including the rental car desk. Imagine landing in a new country and no one being there and the automatic rental car machine not working.

I was thinking we were going to have to sleep in the airport, but eventually we got in touch with someone on the phone and got our rental car keys. Then I had to figure out how to get into the actual rental car parking garage that was under construction. It involved hopping over a few gates and fences and hoping that I wasn't going to be arrested after being in Norway for only a few hours.

In the end we got everything sorted and made it to our Air BnB in Stavanger. Very early in the morning. The host, Emre, was fantastic and actually came outside to meet us from the basement where he was staying at something like 2 a.m. when we arrived. I can't imagine trying to figure this out prior to having Google Maps on my phone. In the end, we eventually made it to our very nice Air Bnb where we would be staying for the next several days.

Jonathan's 14th Birthday

Happy Birthday Jonathan!  Pictures below from his Hogwarts themed party decorations and the entire family's visit to Casa Bonita to celebrate!

Weekend at the Cabin

Weekend in Durango

Jonathan and I had a great weekend down in Durango together. His soccer team had scheduled The Durango Shootout as the final tournament of the season. Although it was a whirlwind 42 hours in town, we managed to cram in a lot of good things.

On the topic of soccer, Jonathan's team didn't do so well, but he almost scored a great goal from near midfield. The goalie had come out of his box and the clearance when right to him. His shot bounced and rolled towards the open goal and it hit the post!  At least he got a souvenir sweatshirt and sit in the hot tub.

Our hotel was located right next to the historic Durango & Silverton Railroad. On the first night we were there the train came in, so we were able to walk down and look at the train, station, etc. It was a pretty cool experience to see an old steam engine in action.

I had brought my bike too because I wanted to do a little more riding in the area. I got up very early one morning and had an amazing ride around the Animas Valley. Such a pretty place. All of the pictures below of the landscape is from my two rides.

We also got to see some really pretty things along the drive, such as the area around Pagoda Springs, Treasure Falls, and Chimney Rock National Monument. It was definitely a good trip, but pretty tiring. Glad I was able to spend so much time with Jonathan too!