Bye Bye Trondheim.....off to Oslo.

Today was slow moving. We woke up and bought breakfast at the supermarket...(which cost us about 200 kroner which means that it actually cost us about $40 US bucks!) Norway is the most expensive country I have ever been to, no questions asked. I thought France was expensive....yikes! 

Our stay at the Thon hotel in Trondheim was the WORST, hands down. First off, we were staying on the 7th floor, but the elevator only went up to the 6th. We had to walk our bags up and down the stairs....second, there was no air conditioning which made it so that we had to sleep with the window open. It would not have been so bad had it not been during the part of the year where the sun rarely goes down. The birds were all confused and so they would squawk in the night....YIKES! The worst had to be this morning though. There was construction going on in the hotel, precisely right below our bed. We were awoken to a loud drill sound. When Aaron called downstairs to complain, the woman merely responded, "In Norway, it is legal to start work at 8:00 AM." And when Aaron told her that we were still trying to sleep at 9:30 and that it was a hotel, she only confirmed, "yes, I know it's a hotel..." We will not be staying there again. For that same price in America, we could get 4 motel 6 rooms for 3 days and have air conditioning.....

We picked up Aaron's grandmother Freda and took a train through the Norweigan countryside for 6 1/2 hours. It made Aaron and myself a little sick, but the scenery was beautiful. I don't take enough trains. It really is a little depressing that the only mode of transportation that I take is the subway. So now we're in Oslo, which Aaron said is THE MOST expensive place ever. I believe it too....our sub par dinner was over $70 US dollars! I am starting to miss that Euro price!

I forgot to add....when we woke up this morning, I noticed a confused fly who kept flying in triangular formations. Aaron found it quite amusing and we named him Trip....I wanted to name him Pip because I like the name and Aaron wanted to name him Tri as in Triangle....so we compromised.....bye Trip!!!!

Moving day

Trondheim has been overly sunny. It is a real treat for the Norweigans, so I've heard and seen, but for Freda and sometimes Aaron, it is a little bit much. I have been soaking up this sun though, all 20 hours of it...lol. I am bronzer than a medal. Now my mom cannot make fun of me for being white. Today we took it even slower. We went to the fish market, but nothing looked too appetizing. I did buy some nice Norweigan souvenirs for my family though. We spent most of the day sitting at one specific cafe in the shade.

We walked up the hills of Norway to an abandoned Norweigan fortress, which I learned today was actually used by the Nazis to execute Jews. There was a plaque on the wall where I presume men and women were shot. Aaron said that David and his brother were shot here and I started to tear up. There were cannons still stationed at the edge of the fortress too.

We had dinner at Christina Isaksen's house. It was delicious. 

I forgot to mention that yesterday in the church, we spotted a book filled with names of all the service men who lost their lives from 1942-1945, the time when the Nazis were invading Norway. We opened it and were able to find all of the Isaksens listed. It was quite sad and moving. Just think, these men are part of Aaron's family and soon to be part of mine.

Trondheim is fab...

Norway is beautiful. The sun is so bright, kind of like California. The only big difference is that no one has air conditioning....so instead of sitting inside with your nice lemonade, you're baking inside the houses or you go outside and get sun burned. Yesterday, we met up with Aaron's cousin Juaquim. They played a mean trick on me at lunch. After eating a really nasty looking burger, they both told me it was horse meat. I had to take some medicine to get my body to not throw up. We went to the church that is the pride of Norway....it is buried over a Saint. And no buildings can be taller than this church. We also visited the crown jewels. I learned that the name Carl probably came from this region of the world as there were 3 King Carls.

We picked up Freda, Aaron's grandmother from Inger Isaksen's house. Inger is Freda's sister in law. Inger's house was filled with antiques and polished silver. There were many porcelin plates on the wall and little porcelin figurines of couples in love on the tables. It reminded me a bit of a mix between a piano teacher and my grandmother....lol. Freda was very excited to see us. Especially Aaron....it is quite strange to hear Freda speak Norweigan because I am so used to having her speak English.

Right now, Trondheim is having a huge music festival so everyone is out partying on holiday and nice. We went to Aaron's relatives house and it was the most breathtaking view. I met the original "Christina Isaksen" and she was really excited that I was going to have the same name as her. Everyone was really welcoming. When the sun was starting to set(10:00 PM) Aaron, myself, Juaquim, Ingrid(his girlfriend), and Daniel (Juaquim's older brother) went out for drinks. We were there until last call....it was still slightly light in the sky though.....at 12:30. What do the Norweigans do when it's dark all winter?

The last Dallons family

Staying with Stephan and Melinda was great. The kids were so fun to be with and it was harder to understand their French. We went to a glassblowing factory and saw where my family got its start. We wanted to buy some crystal glasses from there, but we thought we should wait. Lunch time was good as we went out for mussels. The saying is "mussels from brussels." We also had some more french fries with mayo.....yummy.

We went back to their house, watched Pinnochio in French which was funny to hear the new voices, and then we departed. Maxime was very sad to see us go. Aaron got along with him well, making electrode models and building skyscrapers with building blocks. 

We arrived in Norway at about 1:00 and the sun was still hinting out from behind the mounains. We did not go to bed until 3 and already it looked like dawn when my father goes to work in the summer. Today we are ready for tons of daylight.

Au revoir Emmy...

It was so sad today. Emmy dropped us off at Stephan's house. We had a lovely breakfast before we left though. Patricia was so sweet but we never learned the name of her soft spoken husband. That is truly embarrassing, not knowing the name of your host. He was truly a gentleman. 

Melinda and Stephan's house was very lively and loud. He has a 9 year old son named Maxime and a 4 year old girl named Elise. Both are adorable and it has been quite a treat to spend time with young French speakers. Maxime can even say a couple words in French....(Elise claimed that she could speak English...her word was "wow") Raymond Dallons came to have lunch with us. Stephan is his son. His wife, Arlette, passed away a couple days ago so it was good for him to be around family. Raymond's nephews are Jean Luc Dallons and Marc Dallons, both of whom I am friends with on facebook. Jean Luc and Marc are brothers....so confusing but very interesting if you have a map to look at. We went into town with Stephan to check out the city of Liege. It was quiet because all the stores in Europe are closed on Sundays....can you imagine if New York did this? 

It was fun to play games with Maxime and Elise. I read her some French stories and I actually understood them. I am sad that just as I am starting to remember my French and get good, I am leaving. Tomorrow, we are going to a glass blowing factory to see where my family got its start. Tomorrow night, we leave for Norway....

Au Revoir Waterloo, Salut Gosselies

Today we left Marc and Lori's house. They really were the nicest people. They will be invited to my wedding. They love to travel and I am sure that coming to wine country would be a blast for them, except Julien, who would not be allowed to drink because the age for drinking is different. We drove by Le Leo Waterloo....the Lion of Waterloo. It is a famous statue/monument that overlooks the fields of Waterloo, the famous battle where Napoleon lost. Marc dropped us off at Emmy's house....yeah! We spent the morning chatting with her parents who claim that they do not speak English, but OMG, everyone in France and Belgium lie! The ones that say that they do not speak English can totally carry on conversations like it's nothing. I am starting to get better. I can describe many things. I have been learning a lot of the Dallons family line. I may even have to make a picture family tree to show everyone back in Paso so that we all know everyone by face. We met up with Cristal Dallons, Emmy's sister. She came to Paso when I was very young and stayed with Berna. It was nice to see her again. We went out and got REAL fries....French fries should not be called "FRENCH" fries because they are in fact, a Belgian invention....oh well. But we ate them with mayonaise.....(I am going to get fat in Belgium....all they eat is mayo...lol) It was actually tasty but too filling....(I will post pictures tomorrow) We then traveled to Brussels and walked around the city. We saw the "Mannequin Piss", a famous statue known because it pisses out wine. Sometimes, he even gets to wear costumes, but that was not the case today. We had real chocolate and I am sad to say that I might never eat american chocolate again....it is THAT good. I can't bring any back because it was melting here.....

BTW, I tried a beer and I actually LIKED it.....it was a cherry  beer so it tasted much like cherry soda, but it was delicious! The color was the most beautiful red I have ever seen....

Later, we had real meat fondue....c'est tres delicious! We also had something called le tarte aux sucres, or sugar pie! It was so good. It tasted just like french toast! We went all the way to Mons after dinner and saw Stephan Bellens, Emmy's brother. He stayed with me at my house when I was about 12 years old with Matthieu Devergne, who I saw in Paris earlier this week. It has been a series of memories since coming back to Belgium.

Au Revoir Paris

Today was the last day of L'amour. We were truly sad to leave....but we have so much more to do before we return back to the states. There is so much excitement. 

We could not figure out how to use a French laundry machine. No joke. It was quite serious actually. French words do not always translate well. My french has been getting better and slowly but surely, my english grammer and pronunciation is suffering as well. If I stayed in France for a month, I am sure that I would be quite fluent in French and I would be stuttering in English. 

We took the train to Brussels and waited for my new relatives to pick us up. When I say new, I mean that one of my family had ever met them before. In fact, I knew practically nothing about them until they picked us up from the station. They could have been murderers and I would not have known. But Marc, Lori, and Julien Dallons are not murderers.....they are the sweetest family in Waterloo, Belgium. They were so hospitable and fun to chat with. Their English was superb. Julien taught Aaron and me how to dribble in field hockey and we even played a game of soccer where everytime I kick the ball to him, I must say a new French word. I learned many and of course, I forgot nearly all of them by morning. Julien is 16 years old, ad strangely, a red head....like, Ariel little mermaid red....it was insane! And Marc, who is the same age as my dad, is technically MY 3rd cousin. I also met Danilo Dallons, Lori's older son. He was quite nice as well. We tried some authentic Belgian beer and I thought of Dan Ford and how much he would like to sip the same beer that I wanted to vomit back up.....

Aaron is holding an electric fly swatter. We are going to buy one and bring it back....the flies sizzle. And the other picture is Marc Dallons' family. The red head is Julien, then his mom Lori, and Danilo in the back. Marc is sitting comfortably in the chair like the Dauphin.