Norway trip part 3

Sorry this has taken so long to post this.  Between trying to get moved into our apartment, getting Eli started at school, and Swedish for Immigrants classes, we haven't had any extra time.  (Eli is "schooling-in", meaning I have to spend each morning with him at the school to get him used to being there.  Next week, I'll leave him, but only for the morning.  SFI classes are 3 grueling hours each class.)

Anyway, the 3rd stop on our Norway vacation was Voss.  It is a city on a lake in a valley, famous for being a center of outdoor adventure sports (parasailing, skydiving, skiing, and hosts an annual extreme games competition).

In the morning, we took a cable car up a mountain for some hiking.  It was an overcast morning, but the cable car took us well above the clouds.   We hiked around part of the mountain then all the way down the town on ski and hiking/mtb trails.  It took a few hours, but it was a nice hike.  After Voss, we took a train back to Oslo, got a few hours sleep, then back on a plane to Stockholm.

These pictures are out of order, but you get the idea.

Panoramic view from the top of our hike. 

View from our hostel in the morning.  Our room overlooked the lake. 

Kevin and Eli, near the beginning of our hike. 

Comfortable in the backpack carrier

Hostel room.  Like the first, there were 8 beds, but we didn't share it with others. 

Norway Trip Part 2 - Flåm: Fjord, Hiking, and Brewery

The train out of Oslo ran west to our connection with the Flåm railway, the steepest standard-gauge railway in the world.  The train wound down to the fjord past many scenic waterfalls, which Eli loved.  

One stop on the Flam railway.
Although the  woman dancing was a cheezy display,  she gives a sense of scale  here. 

Looking back on Flam and the Fjord

From our hotel. 

First stop in Flam - and last stop the next day - was the Ægir brewery. 

We did a couple hikes out of Flam.  Our hike the first day led us to this 1667 church, where a caretaker was nice enough to let us in when it was supposed to be closed.  

  

The next morning, we headed up to this waterfall with Eli on Kevin's back. 

Waterfall from the town...

...and town from the waterfall. 

One of many random sheep along the trail. 

Some well-deserved refreshments after a good climb

Finally, We left Flåm on a boat through the fjords to the next town. 

Norway Trip 1st stop - Oslo

Oslo was the first stop on our trip. However, it was basically a stopover between our afternoon flight and next morning's train, so we didn't have time there to do anything other than walk a few areas in the evening.

Eli in our Hostel.  Although there were eight beds, it was a private room; just us. 

We arrived a week after the bombing. Walking around, we came upon not just the site of the bombing, but broken windows and impromptu memorials much further from the site than expected. The memorials were somber - wilted roses and burned-down candles (many probably a week old).  As we left Oslo the next day, we also drove past the island were the shootings occurred.  (Due to construction, buses replaced trains for the first leg out of Oslo).  While we couldn't see onto the island, there were memorials on the side of the road overlooking it.

New apartment

Here are some pics of our 4th apartment in as many months.  We'll be here for 6 months to a year, hopefully til we get into visiting researcher housing. 

Sleeping toddler included

Our bld on the right, nature to the left

View from our patio

Edit, July 27:
Here's a map.  You'll see that it's actually pretty far from the city, but it's a fast bus trip with only a few stops from our neighborhood to the heart of Stockholm.  You'll also notice a lot of green and blue between our place and the city; that bus trip is really scenic, and there is a lot of wilderness to bike and explore.  In fact, our location is at the beginning of the archipelago.  Although I came here wanting to live in the city, it will be really nice to be in such a quiet area surrounded by nature for a few months.  (Visiting researcher housing will be in the middle of the city, so we'll get plenty more of that).

View Larger Map

Stadshuset

Sunday, we loaded Eli up into the backpack carrier and headed up to Stadshuset - Stockholm City Hall - for a couple tours.  We toured the city hall and climbed this 106m tower.

Eli enjoyed his free ride up the stairs:

 Views from the top:

Gamla Stan

Gardens outside Statshuset 

North, towards the center city

Statshuset was impressive.  It's used as both a working city hall and a reception area with 300 event/yr, including the Nobel reception.  

The Blue Room, where the Nobel reception is held

Staircase Anne will descend when she wins her Nobel prize

The Gold Room.  It was all too exciting for Eli

Mosaic in the gold room

Eli refreshed after a nice nap

Junibacken

Took Eli to a place called Junibacken.  Junibacken's theme is the stories of Astrid Lindgrin, a Swede who wrote Pipi Longstocking and other kids stories.  It features a "story train" that had Eli so mesmerized I had to take a few videos.  The train was actually a car suspended on a scissor lift so it could 'fly' through the scenery. 

They also had some play areas (above), and since it was way past Eli's nap time, he went a little crazy.  But then we made up for lost time...

Finally, the trip home

couple random pics

Eli's ready to hit the clubs

You don't see playscapes like this in the US