FIRSTS!!!!

 Words to learn!!!

Yes = Ja
No = Nei
Thank you = Takk
Please = Vær så snill
Excuse me = Unnskyld meg
Hello = Hallo
Goodbye = Ha det
I do not understand = Jeg forstår ikke

1. Phrases to Understand!

1. "Bits and Bobs"
2. kicksleds (ice sleds)
3. Baltic lips (chapped lips)
4. ice sailing
5. ice swimming
6. ice yacht (ice boat driven by wind)
7. Husqvarna w spiked tires (speedway ice bike)
8. aquavit
9. ..meanwhile in Sweden...
10. sisu (?)

1. Currency to Convert!

1. NOK USD coinmill.com 5.0 0.82 10.0 1.63 20.0 3.27 50.0 8.17 100.0 16.34 200.0 32.69 500.0 81.72 1000.0 163.43 2000.0 326.87 5000.0 817.17 10,000.0 1634.34 20,000.0 3268.68 50,000.0 8171.70 100,000.0 16,343.40 200,000.0 32,686.80 500,000.0 81,717.00 1,000,000.0 163,433.99 NOK rate February 11, 2014 USD NOK coinmill.com 0.50 3.0 1.00 6.0 2.00 12.0 5.00 30.5 10.00 61.0 20.00 122.5 50.00 306.0 100.00 612.0 200.00 1223.5 500.00 3059.5 1000.00 6118.5 2000.00 12,237.5 5000.00 30,593.5 10,000.00 61,187.0 20,000.00 122,373.5 50,000.00 305,934.0 100,000.00 611,868.0 USD rate February 11, 2014 Conversions To convert from Celsius to Fahrenheit: F=(Cx9/5)+32 or F=(Cx1.8)+32  or better yet, use the chart below.

Itinerary -- One Day at a Time

ARE YOU KIDDING??

Late Jan and early Feb -- emails, conversations and decision to "YES" travel to Norway
(Dates are shown in US format mm/dd/yy)

2/3/14 -- Birger tells us about their village and details about Vikki/Inger travel before Beth/Becky join them.

2/5/14 -- Beth/Becky finalize their plans with US travel specialist Maria Nelson at AAA Tacoma (2.11.2014 still finalizing.....)

21 days.  Planes, boats, trains, busses, cars, taxis, and feet will take us to these wonderful experiences --
    6/30 -- depart Seatac for Oslo via Reykjavik, Iceland
     7/2 -- arrive Oslo and explore there for two days
    

Royal Christiania Hotel Oslo


 7/3 -- depart Oslo by train (The Bergenbannen) for a cross country ride west to Bergen

   7/4 -- explore Bergen 

                      Bergan Admiral Hotel





before we board the ship Finnmarken (on 7/5, at 8pm) for a coastline trip northward

     7/7 -- a guess as to when Vikki and Inger join us when the ship stops at Bodo.  
     7/11 -- arrive Kirkenes.  Check your map.  By now we will have crossed Arctic Circle. We will be staying two nights at the Thon Hotel right on the Fijord as we do our exploring.

 And be within shouting distance of Russia.

     









 7/12 -- Take a river boat on the King Crab Safari, picnicking near the Russian Border on the Barents Sea where we will hunt King Crab, look at Russia and swim(float) in the Sea. AND most important...eat our catch!!!

      7/12 -- depart Kirkenes after all the adventures there which Inger arranged.
    
     7/12 -- we are on the road to Karasgok and Engholm Lodge.  2 nights here 

 Engholm Lodge

     7/14 -- we have arrived at Alta, thanks to Inger's driving and navigation skills.


The travelers must here part ways.
Adventures having filled their days.

There will be tears when they depart 
Leaving memories in every heart

     7/15 -- Beth/Becky leave Alta for Stockholm via Oslo. 

 3 nights in Stockholm to see the city and museums and enjoy a nice hotel and sit al fresco at 11 pm having a vodka in the Midnight Sun.

    

                                   Blu Strand Hotel Stockholm



 7/18 -- depart Stockholm for Reykjavik to spend 4 nights.  

Reykjavik Marina Hotel

Here we will visit the Blue Lagoon, do the Golden Circle tour, take a cooking class, explore and rest.










     7/22 -- depart Reykjavik for Seattle at 5 pm and arrive in Seattle at 5:45 pm the same day.

God is Good.


     
     

The Norwegian Connection!

Location! Location! Location!

"They" say location matters in real estate purchases, and may be the only thing that matters.

We are hear to emphatically state that location location location is central to our travel story.

We are a tour, a small 4-person tour, but a tour nonetheless. And following the saga heritage of Norway, we begin with our connections, our story and our thoughts.

• Vikki is from South Dakota, USA.  In late January she was to be found visiting Beth in Phoenix.  By early February Vikki was in Florida taking a photography class with her expensive camera. Vikki claims Norwegian on her mother’s side and has relatives in Voss and probably other places.  She leads the Sons of Norway organization in Watertown, South Dakota. Becky and Inger have been friends since college. They have continued to visit and stay in close touch over the MANY years. Beth and Vikki have traveled together.

• Beth is from all over, having lived in Taiwan and Washington DC and other compass points. During northern hemisphere winters Beth is in sunny Arizona, USA.  Planes take her back and forth to Seattle for business.  As I write this, Beth is on a plane. Poor Beth cannot claim any Norwegian heritage unless her 1/2 Norwegian, second generation husband counts. However she is a recent widow. Beth and Vikki have been friends since the 70's when they both worked in DC. Beth and Becky worked together in Bellevue in the late 90's and became life long friends, "llf's". 

• Inger lives in Norway with husband Birger.  Inger and Birger are recently retired from healthcare and education professions, but are very active in community affairs, as well as with children and grandchildren.  As good Vikings, they love to travel. in February she has escaped the cold of Norway and is in the sun-filled Canary Islands. Inger will be our tour guide in July.  Inger has also been generous with her time in helping us to plan the trip. Inger, Birger and Vikki have traveled together.

• Birger, Inger's husband, is surviving the cold Norway winter in their village of Alesund. He heads for Iceland later in the Spring. He tells us about this and more in his email of early Feb.

• Becky is knitting in Lakewood and roasting a chicken for her family. She probably has some Norwegian blood. She is brave, resilient, full of adventure, and brilliant. Becky is also a recent widow. Beth and Becky have traveled together. 

Here is Birger's email

After arriving Ålesund

, Hurtigruten will stay  for abot 1 hour, before leaving for Geiranger. Geiranger is Thee Fjord of  Norway. On your way you are passing our house at approximately 10.45.   Look at port side and you`ll see the area our home are situated. Ålesund is a beautiful and special town.

In 1904 Ålesund was the fastest growing town in Norway.  10.0000 people lived in the town. All houses were wooden houses.  At middle of the night of  23. th of January, a fire broke out in the western part of the town. The wind from west that night was heavy, full storm up to hurricane! Within 16 hours (02.15 – 17.00 ) the entire town burnt down. 10.0000 people had to live their homs in a hurry that winternight. Only one person perished. 800 houses burnt down.  Even New York Time mentioned  this accident from the far avay (and small country) of Norway. 600new  houses were built the next 3 years !. The houses still are alive. 

Every year we “celebrate this fire. Out of this fire , tragic as it was, there grew up a new town built on bricks and stone.  600 houses, all of them in the same arcitectural style , Art Nuevou/  Jugend style.  Now our town has grown. Some of the houses has disappeared, new buildings have rosen, but still Ålesund have the largest amount of Art Nuevou buildings in the world . If you have time, go ashore and look at the 110 years old houses i one of the most beautiful towns in Norway.

Now just where are we really going?????????

Norway - Hurtigruten Cruise/Ferry

This is Norway......and I mean Norway from the bottom to the top.........we are going all along the left side from the bottom of the country to the the very top past the Arctic Circle..........we are taking a ferry/cruise/cargo/mail/autos ship that has cabins with private toilets for those willing to pay...otherwise you can sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag...........this is NOT normal cruising....remember the old "mail boats" that you could hop on and off...BABY this is it!!!!!

MS Finnmarken

6 Days Scandinavia & Fjords

Bergen, Geiranger, Alesund, Molde, Trondheim, Sandnessjoen, Bodo, Stokmarknes, Harstad, Tromso, Hammerfest, Honningsvag, Vardo, Kirkenes

With the two maps we at least know where we will be and our place in the larger scope of things....now for the the processes....and planning.....and research.....and reading .....and being prepared....for all our adventures. It is great to know we have a Norweigan Connection!!!!

A Girl Can't Be Without . . .

Her "Bits and Pieces"

Her "Nits and Kits" 

Her "Bits and Bobs"

Her News Tribune -- maybe our vacay pic with the paper will be IN the paper (again!)

O magazine...Oprah will publish if it is something really cool.

Her umbrella, always a small umbrella. 

Maybe a hat to keep us warmmmmmmmm. gloves, earmuffs???

Her black pants -- Beth has already packed three pair and says she is ready to depart (1/31) Hey! these pants, black socks, long johns and undershirts -- READY!!!!!!

Her gifties for the girlies -- little thingies will we take to say thank you to our two traveling pals especially big thank you to Inger for hotel reservations, driving, speaking the language, and developing our itinerary...Vikki for saying we could go with.

our maps and our research and our reading materials...and our laptops..kindles... I-phones ..cameras...100's of adapters to keep all this technology working.

. . .  to be continued, stay tuned for the rest of all the things that we keep remembering that we definitely NEED!!! 

Sunglasses, hats, scarves (the warm kind, not the fashion kind), maybe earmuffs, gloves 

Boots, warm sox, lots of warm sox for sleeping too

And her sleep mask 

Long underwear

Chapstick, lip balm, whatever you wanna call it (Baltic lips)

Eye shades, ear plugs, dramamine, deet

MEDICINE and then more "MEDICINE"

What if the weather warms??? crop pants, t-shirts, light wraps, bathing suits?

USA shirt for July 4th celebration

. . . More later

Blogger Editorial -- We will need seventeen suitcases, three steamer trunks, and the Queen Mary stewards to transport our wardrobe and comfort things across the waters.

Oh MG, we just found out that we are encouraged to make lunch from the hotel breakfasts...we need soft sided, insulated lunch boxes....ie zip lock baggies...

FOB -- Friends of Beth

Friends and Friends and Friends

FOB -- these friends of Beth are all over the world.  And the FOB have friends all over the world.  It's like a private version of LinkedIn without all the logins and passwords, all the advantages and none of the hassle.

FOB Vikki lives in South Dakota. 

 FOB Vikki has Norwegian heritage and connections.  FOV Inger lives in Norway. 

 Becky is an FOB, so if you connect all the dots then -- 

Beth knows Inger.  Becky knows Vikki and Inger.  Beth and Becky get to accompany Vikki and Inger on a Magnificent Norway Adventure.

Take care of your friends, no matter where they are.  Stay in touch with them.  Tell them they matter in your life.  Friends are your link to a life of adventure, consistency, love, and laughter.