2 Days, 2 Countries, 2 City Halls

On Sunday we toured City Hall in Stockholm, Sweden (Stadshuset) and then on Monday we toured City Hall in Oslo, Norway (Radhuset). Other than the cool fact of two awesome countries in two days, I know it doesn't sound very exciting to be touring city halls. In fact I'm not sure I've ever toured one anywhere else I've traveled or lived! 

However, we know now that here in Scandinavia a city hall is a more important and elaborate building than a cathedral or palace, as in other parts of Europe. These city halls celebrate humanism and the idea of people working together. They're both impressively large, stunningly ornamental, red brick, towering buildings on their respective gorgeous waterfronts. They hold the cities' assemblies

And our most compelling reason for visiting both of these is they each have Nobel Prize props! The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every year on 10 December in the Grand Hall in Oslo - and yes, we were just standing right there in that hall! And the Nobel Prize awards banquet is held in the Grand Hall in Stockholm. More later . . . When we find out more!

Westward Through Norway

Even as I write we are traveling by train fom Oslo. The train is comfortable, quiet, smooth, and fast, and the scenery is truly amazing. Yet we know the best will come when we actually get to the Sognefjord area in a few more hours.

We are sliding by an ever changing array of green fields, hilly mountainsides, rippling streams, large clear lakes, tall pines and white bark birch. Pictures would help describe this, but the train is moving too fast for that - sorry to keep making excuses for a photo-less blog! 

Here's what I love: 

• The gracefulness of tall pine groves creating an upward pattern of parallel vertical lines, 
• white wispy clouds hanging low in the valley, 
• the occasional herd of fat white sheep on a green hillside, 
• small yellow or white tidy houses tucked into a background of rolling hills,
• red wooden barns, 
• the quietness of the train as it moves quickly along, 
• bright sunshine highlighting hilly golden fields of mown oats,
• inlets of water & harbors with sailboats tucked in, 
• flatbed cars loaded with cut trees and lumber.

Yes, Norway is all about nature. So why oh why did I feel the need to pack that dress? 

New Trip, New Template

Hello again, Everybody! I'm very excited to be leaving for Scandinavia and the UK in a few days.

I hope you'll enjoy my new blog template. I like the little photo hint of what's inside each posting. Just click anywhere on any posting (try it on this very page) and it will open up in its own window with the formatting I intended (I hope). Thanks for joining me again as I try to make sense of what I'm seeing across the seas. :)

Very briefly, here are the latest plans:

• Stockholm, Sweden for a few days,
• Oslo, Norway for a few days,
• Travel on land and sea across Norway, through fjord country to Bergen, Norway
• Copenhagen, Denmark for a few days, and then . . .
• London, England - for a week!

I'll be traveling with Diana, my good friend who adventured through Italy with me a few years ago. We've been planning this trip for several months and we love how sweetly it's coming together right now. Late summer, early fall seems like the perfect time to be heading to the Nordic part of Europe!

Vikings ho! Away we go!