More Oslo.

These are just some pictures I took that I didn't put in any of my other posts but I felt like sharing them anyway. 

This clock is on one of the main streets in Oslo. Freia is a big chocolate brand in Norway and it's good chocolate too. I think I brought back around twelve bars of chocolate.

Small farmers market.

View of the port in Oslo.

People dancing to music in Oslo one evening.

Borøya and Arendal.

For a couple of days we stayed at the house of my second cousin and her family on the island, Borøya. They have a cabin where we slept, ate and played cards. Otherwise we were outside enjoying the view of the water.

We have been lucky with the weather our whole trip but when we arrived here, it never got hot enough to take a swim. You know it's warm enough when you cant see the jellyfish near the surface of the water.

The picture above and most of the pictures below were taken from the water when we drove to Arendal, a town about two hours south of Borøya.

This is the town of Arendal. You can drive here by car or by boat. Some kids drive small rubber boats, other people arrive in their yachts and hope they can find a spot big enough to secure it to the docks while they walk around the charming town.

There are plenty of restaurants along the harbor. We went to one next to a fish store and I ordered the best fish and chips I've ever had.

Later that day we drove to the cultural center. There was a small cafe and an art gallery. The gallery featured a different local artist every week. 

This is the door to the cafe, which was rather small.

Trolls Trolls Trolls.

Trolls are found everywhere in Norway–as statues in front of camp grounds or stores or small souvenirs. Trolls are the official mascot of Norway.

They were first discovered when 'nordmenn' (translated to Men of the North) settled in Norway and found that these creatures possess supernatural powers.

Some are giant, some are small. They are all notably ugly, have long crooked noses and long bushy tails. These creatures only come out after sundown and before sunrise because the sun will cause them to crack, turn into stone or burst. It's said that a good relationship with the trolls can be rewarding, but a bad relationship can be disastrous. 

Shrimp.

Shrimp is one of the food specialties in Norway. They are so satisfying because of their saltiness. Shrimp aren't naturally salty but the shrimp mongers boil the shrimp in the salt water from the fjords. You can eat them from the bag, put them on a sandwich or in a soup. And most of the time you have to peal them yourself, first by taking the head off, then the tail, then the rest of the outer skin and legs.

 The two pictures above are actually crabbing boats. I don't remember ever eating crab but I wanted to show what these boats look like and how they are just tied to the docks and ports by the towns where people can buy directly from the boat.

The Sun.

9 PM in Oslo.

11 PM in Oslo.

The sun never really gets any rest in the summer when you're up North. And neither do the people, but I don't blame them. It's hard to fall asleep when it looks like it's 8 PM instead of 12 AM. The winter season is the complete opposite though, only a few hours of sunlight a day. And it's cold then too.

Holmenkollbakken.

Holmenkollbakken is the ski jump which can be seen from almost anywhere in Oslo that has a view. They hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics at Holmenkollbakken and some other major events. They have rebuilt the jump 19 times because it is important to upgrade the structure. The objective of this sport is to jump the furthest after taking off down a ramp. Style points also count toward your score.

We went on the ski-simulator but it definitely wasn't the the real feeling.

Viking Ships.

All the ships below were on display at the Vikingshipshuset (Viking Ship Museum). They were found in different conditions and different places. They were buried underground because they were used as burial vessels over 1,000 years ago. They were often dug up by robbers so many of the artifacts (mostly gold and precious jewels) were missing.

The Oseberg Ship.

The Tune Ship.

The Gokstad Ship.

National Folk Museum.

This museum is a collection of various old houses moved from different counties to show what Norway was like years ago.

Stave Church.

Food Storage.

It's built high to keep the mice out. Many of the barns and houses were also built this way.

On The Road.

(My Cousin, Eli) 

While we were on the road coming back from Trondheim we stopped to have lunch where there were picnic benches and a beautiful view.

Cottage in the distance.

To use up our energy before getting back in the car for the rest of the day, my cousins and I walked all the way to the water and back. This was more of a challenge than we had expected. We thought we could just walk across the rocks but there was high grass we had to walk through and the grass was filled with spiders and lizards and ants! Oh my!

We stopped again along the way to stretch our legs and get an ice-cream at a little souvenir shop.

View of the Atlantic.

Our last stop of the day was a place to sleep. The picture above is of the main cabin, where you check in, get information and grab a coffee before you head out again.

The view from our cabin.

It's very common to see cabins that have moss and other plants growing on the roof. It reminds me of solar panels, but the solar energy is taken in by the plants instead.

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The next day we continued driving. We drove up the Trollstigen road, that goes along a mountain and has a view of many waterfalls. We were driving in a Volkswagon van, which is not the best thing to be driving on slim, curvy roads, but we managed. I would have taken pictures but the fog was too heavy. These pictures were taken when we were at the top and the sun began to shine through the fog. You can see the thick fog starting to recede. 

Eli, William, Nicolas and myself.

(Cousins and Brother)

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The snow was too close to the road to not get out and throw a few snow balls.