Scenery In Bergen

We arrived in Bergen September 26. After checking into our hotel, we went for a walk around city center.

 Next we walked around the docks.

September 27 we went back to the dock area to get more pictures.

Behind the historic old buildings in the picture above were little shops and side streets.

Then we walked around the fortress of Bergen. The grounds were beautiful, but it didn't compare to the view of the city from on top one of the walls surrounding the fortress.

The view.

The wall we sat on.

The train ride from Oslo to Bergen (7 hours) was so beautiful that we decided to day trip to some areas 'near' Bergen. September 28 we went to Voss and sat by the lake. The lake was like glass... until we started skipping rocks, which we discovered we suck at.

Next, we got on a train to Finse. The scenery was so beautiful, even from the train.

Here is a picture of the glacier, which Finse is known for.

Unfortunately we aren't the best hikers and instead of hiking around we walked for about 30 minutes, found a nice place to sit and have lunch, and enjoyed the scenery for quite a while. Here is a picture of me on the bench Andrew made for us.

The view.

We are going back to Oslo for a night, then back to the Netherlands.

Parks In Oslo

We had an unanticipated stop in Karlstad, Sweden before making it to Oslo September 22. Karlstad was a small city, but beautiful. We enjoyed our couple of hours here and spent them in a city park, and then in a Subway (because it was too cold out and because they had hot food free wifi).

September 23 we spent the day in the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Totally beautiful.

Here are our favourite statues in the park:

 Another view from the park.

The rest of the afternoon we spent in the off leash dog park area. We saw 10 dogs to 4 owners and it was great to watch all the dogs interacting. 

September 24 we went for a walk in Bygdoy Park.

It was really rainy so we didn't spend too long outside.

To get some shelter we went into the Viking Boat Museum. Andrew went walking around in the museum, but I had a seat instead. Here are some Viking ships.

Since it has been cold out and because we were staying in a beautiful apartment we had some lazy mornings. Andrew started to affectionately call me Pat in the morning, because I was curled up on the couch in my pjs with the laptop in front of me and watching TV, reminiscent of mom on a weekend morning.

So finally we made it into city center and as in all European cities there was a large pedestrian area in the middle of city center, which we walked.

It was cold out... really cold out.

 This is how I describe my outfit: Incognito, blending in with local fashion. Maybe I'm delusional.

Next we went to the opera house, a very modern building on the waterfront.

Walking on the roof.

Inside.

The opera house was so beautiful, it almost made us want to go to an opera. Almost.

  Then we went to the harbour.

We had a great time in Oslo, but are now off to Bergen for a few days.

Buildings & Beaches in Barcelona

We loved Barcelona!!! August 29, when we got in we went to see some of its famous architecture (designed by Gaudi).

Here is the Sagrada Familia, a catholic church. I really liked this church because it had a Christmas tree made out of stone in between the big 4 pillars.

From the other side.

La Pedrera.

Casa Batllo and Casa Amatller.

August 30 and 31, we spent our days on the beach. Barcelona had really great beaches and lucky for us we spent several days on them.

September 1, we went to a city park. We found the most beautiful fountain... too bad there is a greaser in the middle of the picture!

After walking through the park we laid on the beach for a couple hours.

Barcelona was a great vacation from our vacation. We enjoyed our time on the beach, but we are ready to go back to Northern Europe after a one night stay in Girona.

Madrid

We didn't originally plan on going to Spain, but because of the problems in Greece, we changed our minds.

August 25 we walked around the neighborhood surrounding our hotel. We saw kids skateboarding and biking, a soccer game and the royal palace.

August 26 we saw a temple that Egypt gifted to Spain, and was moved block by block.

Next, we went wandering around the city center. It was strange though, because the streets were empty. It must have been because of the heat... it was over 40 degrees. 

August 27 we went to Seville for a day trip. It was gorgeous! We started off wandering around in the city center. 

We escaped to a city garden for some much needed shade.

Then we went to see the bull ring (bull fighting arena).

August 27 we went to Madrid's biggest city parks. It was beautiful.

It was very difficult leaving our air conditioned room because it has been so hot. But, we are now off to Barcelona and looking forward to beach hopping.