Notes from Norway...

I thought people would appreciate reading these. KT has been keeping us updated on her most recent travels, and it sounds like she has an exciting summer planned. Not to mention the weekend trips to Pompeii, Venice, Portugal and who all knows where else !?! that she has already been. I think she has been too busy to blog- and who can blame her?

So without further ado...


May 3rd, 2010 - 2:55 a.m. (MN time?)

I was in Italy this morning, but now I'm in......... NORWAY!!!!


Hello My Dear Family,

I am in Norway! As much as I have seen it is beautiful, but I`m still in the

airport so... I`ll be telling you more along the way. Right now I`m trying

to find a bus from the airport to Oslo and then I`ll get my train ticket

for a night train to Bergen. Write to you once I get there.

Love much, Katie



May 3rd, 2010 - 3:21 p.m. (MN time?)

Oslo, waiting, tired...‏


Hey there,

I'm surprisingly getting internet here at the train station where I am

waiting, and waiting, and waiting... for my night train to Bergen. Today

would have been super nice had it not been for my backpack and the fact

that I barely slept the night before. But, I made the best of it-I am in

Norway after all. I must say that us Norwegians in Spring Grove have

retained a certain Norwegian look about them: it may be how we walk, our

eyes, the shape of our face...I'm not quite sure but it is a little

disconcerting to be able to see a little bit of Spring Grove in a lot of

the people here. The landscape that I saw was gorgeous, kind-of like our

part of MN but better. I saw some fields getting prepared for planting and

they definitely need someone to pick rocks before they do anything else.

Well, I think I'll be heading to the train pretty quick. I hope the

bathrooms aren't too disgusting and that I can actually manage to sleep on the

way. I won't last another day of walking around if I don't. I was lucky

enough to accidentally run into a friend of Alessandro's on the train to Rome

and he let me stay at his house for a good hour or so and then another

friend came and picked me up and brought me to the airport. Too bad it was

1 in the morning and my check-in wasn't until 4:30 at the earliest. Myself

and about 20 other people can attest to the fact that sleeping on airport

floors is less than restful. But all went well and I pretty much passed out

in my seat on the airport, waking long enough to see some of the Alps (I

think, I was pretty out of it though) and then hear that we were crossing

Denmark.



May 4, 2010 - 4:22 a.m. (MN time?)

Bergen‏


Hey y'all,

As I write I am drinking a strange Ginger Beer that is actually quite good,

potent in the sense that my throat burns from ginger now, but I think it

will refresh me considerably. I've been wandering my way around Bergen

since 7 AM (it is 11 AM right now) and although I am enjoying the sights

(think of Decorah on steroids and you get Bergen) it would be a lot better

without the backpack and with a shower. I'm planning on finding my hostel

around 3, doing the shower and nap, then heading back out until I find 3

burly, red headed, blue eyed men to drink mead with. I don't think they'll

be too difficult to find as blond and red haired men are everywhere here.

As for blue eyes - I wouldn't be surprised if mine turn blue by the end of

this trip. Thankfully everyone speaks English here, otherwise I would be

screwed, absolutely. I can understand what's written to some extent (only

because the words are spelled similar enough, sometimes) but spoken, no

way. Also the money is way strange. There are holes in some of the coins,

bills of 100 and 200 krone are normal, and I don't think that there is a

coin for under 1 krone, no cents, no .99 bullshit, just straight up 299

krone or 34 krone. 1 US dollar equals about 6 Norwegian krone. My train

trip, however, was exquisite. It was chilly in Oslo, but not too much, when

I boarded the train at 11 PM. I fell asleep almost instantly, as with the

plane ride, but it was a crappy sleep and I'd wake up quite often. After

one of the longer intervals I woke up to see that it was snowing! And not

just a light dusting, real snow. As the first light of then morning crept

over the hills (this around 3:30 in the morning since we are so far North)

I could see where we actually were. I don't think it was a fjord properly,

but there was a stunningly gorgeous but brutal looking gorge on one side

and a sheer rock face on the other side of the train. The landscape

continued this way for the good part of an hour, or at least that of which

I saw in between the long tunnels. There were some houses scattered among

the streams and blue-green rivers that cut between the rocks and across

small, snow covered valleys. I saw a ski track that had been used by what

looked like many people - it was in a part that I couldn't imagine any

other form of transportation possible. I fell asleep for a good bit and

then woke again to a bigger valley with red barns and dark blue or green

houses. i tried to take pictures when the train wasn't going so fast, but

it does nothing to express the brutal beauty of Norway. Well, I've got to

figure out how to work the train system and get an electrical adapter

before I pass out.

Love much, Katie



I know we are all waiting to hear more, so keep it coming little one!

~Becky