Starting on Friday, in Eindhoven. My last morning in Eindhoven was really nice. I ate breakfast with the family, then they had a few errands to run so they put the two little girls on bike seats, and we all rode through town to do the errands. It felt very Dutch. We stopped at the grocery store first, then went to pick up training wheels for the older daughter. There was a playground by the last stop so the girls played there for awhile. The weather was really nice, and it was just so cool to be able to ride bikes around town to do errands. Oh, after the playground we rode our bikes past a windmill, so at least I've seen a windmill in Holland.
We went back to the house for lunch (Dutch hotdogs and some kind of pastry thing called oil balls), then Martin drove me to the airport. The flight was very easy, and landed half an hour early in Rygge. That's where the problems started.
The plan was for me to take the shuttle bus from the airport to Moss, where I would take a ferry to Horten, where Henrik would pick me up. Turns out the shuttle bus only goes to Rygge station, then you have to take a 5 minute train ride to Moss from there. Even though my plane got in early, the shuttle bus to Rygge station didn't leave for another 40 minutes. Bummer. While I was waiting, I decided to try to get some cash, which is difficult since I no longer have a debit card. I went to the only store in the airport, and they said they could give me cash back with a purchase. Great. So I picked out a book to buy, but then the cash back thing didn't work. So now I have no cash, and no book (I finished the one I bought). I figured something would work out though so I didn't worry too much.
The shuttle bus finally came, but the bus driver was holding a sign saying no trains to Moss. What? I asked him and he said the next one wasn't coming for another hour and a half, so it would be better for me to wait at the airport for the next shuttle since the train station is literally just a stop, there are no buildings around or anything. I decided it was better to move one step closer to my destination instead of sitting at the airport, so I got on the shuttle bus anyway.
Henrik called at this point, and I told him that I had to take a train to Moss, and that it would be a while. I was worried because my phone had very little money left on it, and I was worried about getting stranded with no means of communication.
I got to the train station, and found out that the ticket machine only took debit cards. Of course. And there's no ticket counter around, because it's in the middle of no where. I was just starting to consider my options when Henrik called, and said I should just take a taxi because Moss was so close. So he called one for me, and it came to pick me up. That was very lucky, because I could pay for the taxi with a credit card. Thank goodness. I probably would have ended up hitch hiking to Moss... It was just very fortunate that I had decided to get on the shuttle from the airport despite the driver's warnings, and that I hadn't bought a train ticket yet because the taxi saved like 2 hours of time. After that call my phone was pretty much out of money, so I was just hoping everything would go smoothly.
The taxi came, and the driver was very nice. He took me to the docks and told me where to go for the ferry. The ferry comes every half hour or so and I had just missed one, so I had a while to wait. Pretty soon after I got there, a man and woman arrived too. The guy started talking to me. He's Iraqi, but has been living in Norway for 8 years. I was confused about who the woman was but I think he said it was his brother's wife. But anyway, we talked until the ferry came, then he insisted on buying my ticket (it's the equivalent of only a few dollars). As weird as it sounds that he bought my ticket, it was really kind of a miracle because I didn't have any cash, and I don't know if I could have used the credit card to buy my ticket (I didn't even tell him that). So that worked out incredibly well. I didn't have enough money to recieve calls by that point, but Henrik was able to text me to say he would be waiting in Horten.
When I got to Horten, Henrik was at the dock waiting for me. We drove back to his house and ate dinner with his wife Brigitte, daughter Emma, and parents Inger and Are. I will apologize in advance for completely butchering or forgetting names of people and places; I have a terrible memory for Norwegian names... Mormor, feel free to correct me.
Dinner was fantastic. Home cooked meals are a rarity in my life abroad, and it was wonderful to have a big meal with family. After dinner I scandalized everyone by saying that I don't drink coffee, but somehow they were still able to tolerate my company.
We talked for awhile, then I headed up the road with Inger and Are to their house where I spent the night. We stayed up talking for awhile about everything from politics to Dillon, so it was a very interesting night. They have a really nice house, and it is on a hill overlooking a valley so they have an incredible view. It was a fantastic place to see the sun set (which happens around 9 this time of year).
I slept well, then had a full Norwegian breakfast the next morning. Are drove me to the bus station after that, and I got on a bus to Kristiansand.
The bus ride was about 3 and 1\2 hours long, with fantastic scenery along the southern coast. When I got to the bus station in Kristiansand I was supposed to meet Elbjorg, but we were unsure of what each other looked like so it took a few minutes for me to work up the courage to ask someone if they were Elbjorg. The first person that I asked was, and she had even worn a plaid skirt that she got in Edinburgh. I was hoping that my resemblance to my mother would help out in that situation, but oh well.
We drove to her house for lunch, picking up Chinese food along the way because we didn't have much time. We ate at her house, then got in the car and started on our way to Farsund.
Ok this is where my memory and knowledge gets very sketchy, but I'll do my best. The first stop was to see Katrine, possibly in Søgne? Gamma was there too, and we had a great visit. There was, of course, food, and great conversation. I even drank coffee so as not to offend anyone...
We stayed there about an hour, then went to the next place, which was Astre and her husband. Shoot I don't remember his name. But that was a nice visit too, and they gave me a big slab of Norwegian chocolate.
Next stop was to visit Tante Åsta, the last of Oldamor's siblings. She is in a nursing home type place, but seems to be doing very well, as Oldamor did. Åsta reminded me a lot of Oldamor, and it was great to see her. I remember I last saw her in Wisconsin at the big family gathering for Oldamor's 90th (right?).
The last stop was at a house where I can't remember the people's names (I'm so sorry). They were lovely though, and 2 of their daughters came over too. One, whose name is Kristin I believe, remembered the bubble bath incident from the last time my family was in Norway, so that should help you (if you are my parents or grandparents) to know who these relatives were. We had dinner there, and it was delicious. I even had tea, which I don't usually drink, but I think I will be drinking a lot of it here. I don't mind it so much now that I've had it a bit.
I think those were all the stops. I might be forgetting one, but I think that was everyone. From there Elbjorg and I went the rest of the way to Farsund. Along the way, she pointed out lots of places where the family used to live, like the old farms and churches and school and everything. That was really interesting, it was really cool to see, even though I couldn't keep all the people straight that she was talking about.
When we arrived in Farsund, we went to Sif, Tønnes, and Tante Sineva's house. We visited for awhile, then Elbjorg went back to the previous house to spend the night before driving back to Kristiansand. It was about 10 by then, and Sif had just returned from Bergen that day, so we went to bed. Their house is really nice too, and it has a stunning view of the fjord and mountains. I will put up pictures of all these places when I get back to Edinburgh.
This morning Sif, Tønnes, and I had another great Norwegian breakfast. Then I went up to visit with Tanta Sineva for a while, before Sif, Tønnes and I headed out for the day. We drove around lots of places- it was really great. The weather started out kind of rainy, but cleared up a bit in the afternoon.
Our first stop was a really nice beach. I wish I could put up pictures now! It just felt like 'Norway', if that makes sense. I'm not sure what the place was called, maybe Haviksanden?
A beach:
Then we went a bit more north to see some famous rock carvings. They are of boats on a big rock in a field, and are like 3000 years old I think. As in every place we stopped, the view from there was incredible. Close to that is Nordberg Fort, which is a place that the Germans used in World War II. There is a big network of bunkers and trenches and stuff on a hill, so we walked through all that (parents: are these the same bunkers we went to last time we visited?).
Rock carvings:
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