Paris part 2: Picture Post

With four full days in Paris, we were able to do a lot of exploring!  Thanks to the suggestions from friends, I was able to plan several days worth of walking and sight-seeing.  Kyle was attending his conference from Wed. evening to Friday evening but that still gave us time together to explore.  Annika and I also had a lot of time on our own, which we spent walking and walking.  Here are a few of the many sights that we enjoyed:

 Pantheon

 Inside the Pantheon by the Foucault pendulum.

 Out in front of Notre Dame.

It's so hard to capture the beautiful and magnificent interior of Notre Dame.

 Looking across the Seine river to the Eiffel Tower.

 Sorbonne University

 Sacre Couer, which sits close to the highest point in Paris at Montmartre.

 View of Paris when looking down from Sacre Couer.

 Annika and I enjoyed a our lunch with an amazing view of the city.

 Family picture in front of the Louvre.

 We couldn't figure out what these people were waiting in line to get into, so I asked someone.  Yes, it's the line to get into the Abercrobie & Fitch store.  Nothing special happening but it's the only one in France.  I still don't think it justifies this line.

 Arc de Triomphe from Champs Elyees Avenue

 Eiffel Tower

We had no idea that there would be a skating rink on the first level of the tower!

 I loved being in Paris and there is so much to do!  We didn't even scratch the surface but had a great time with what we were able to do.  I can't wait to get back there sometime and actually go into the Louvre, visit more cathedrals, see special exhibits at other museums, etc.  This is something we'll have to do when Annika is older or if Kyle and I are able to return on our own.

Paris part 1

When Kyle first mentioned that he would like to participate in a conference with other PhD students, I was excited to find out that it would be held in Paris.  We debated on whether or not we could afford an extra trip while Annika and I were in Norway and decided that it was an opportunity that we shouldn't pass up.  Kyle was invited to join a group of students from universities around Norway.  Each student submitted a paper and then they met together to discuss and critique each other's works.  There were also lectures from the professors attending.  Kyle's adviser in Bergen, Lars, was there and I finally got to meet him.  By participating, the conference paid for Kyle's hotel and meals while we were there.  We had to pay for our tickets (pretty inexpensive flying from Norway), and then my meals.  We decided to extend our trip by arriving the evening before the conference started and stayed an extra night at the end.  Luckily, the hotel was able to extend our time there and we wouldn't have to move between hotels.

We arrived in Paris the evening of January 24th.  Side note:  We had a layover in Amsterdam and it's a great airport to spend time in.  Wish we could have had longer between flights.  Kyle and I had discussed whether or not we should bring our stroller with us.  We opted to bring it because of how much walking we'd be doing around the city.  This decision was quickly challenged, as we encountered a lot of difficulty accessing train platforms and subway stations because there were no elevators or gates wide enough for our stroller.  Kyle got stuck in an automatic door at the airport while trying to get Annika through in her carseat and then the stroller separately.  Lots of frustration the evening we arrived, along with our travel coinciding with a big event in Paris and delayed trains.  There were so many people on the train into Paris that I was afraid that Annika was going to get hurt by the crush of riders.  A local woman assured me that this was not typical and that I should not let this experience influence my opinion of the city.  She was great in helping me stay calm with so many people around.  With the help of friendly people, we were able to get all of our things up the stairs from the subway.  Luckily, our hotel, which was close to the Luxembourg garden and palace, was easy to find.

Our room was originally assigned to Kyle as a single person, so it was really tiny.  There was about 2 feet of space on all sides of the bed.  Annika had to sleep between us because there was no other room.  After the first two nights, we were told that due to the fire code, there could not be more than 2 people in that room and that we needed to move.  That was fine with us, as it was tricky to get everything up the little elevator.  They moved us to a much larger room (without charging us more) on the ground floor and that made it possible for me to get the stroller out on my own.  The downside of moving to the different room is that we were on the street level and it was noisier.  The view from our 5th floor room was very nice and we could see the very top of the Pantheon, which was only a few blocks away.  The hotel did have free wifi but the only place we could get the signal was by having the computer on our bed. 

Stay tuned for more Paris posts!

 Who could have guessed that Annika would be at the Park Cafe in the Amsterdam airport before being at our favorite Park Cafe in Glacier National Park? :)

 Trying on some dutch clogs.

Kyle outside of our hotel. 

Our first room at the Hotel Senlis.

 Great view of the surrounding buildings from our 5th floor room.

 The much larger room that they moved us to.  Annika had a whole bed to herself here.

 I couldn't resist taking this cute picture of daddy/daughter tummy time :)

My Birthday Weekend

On my 31st birthday last year, I couldn't have imagined where and with whom I would be celebrating my 32nd birthday!  The weather was very nice (compared with recent rain), so we decided to take a hike up a local mountain, Fløyen.  Many people choose to ride the Floibanen to the top and then hike around on the trails but we decided to hike up ourselves.  There are lots of options for sledding and skiing trails once you reach the top.

We began hiking from the base of the mountain by the entrance to the floibanen and climbed the many flights of stairs through neighborhoods built on the hillside.

The sign above Kyle isn't very clear in this picture but states that you have the choice to go "This Way and That Way" in both Norwegian and English.

Annika got hungry about half way up and I'm pretty sure this is the best view I've had so far while nursing :)

This is looking down over part of the city center and harbor.

Can't resist posing with the snowy troll.

Happy to be celebrating my birthday with my two loves!  Being together on top of a mountain in Bergen, Norway doesn't hurt either!

Looking down into a centuries old fort that sits at the entrance to the harbor.

The hike down went quickly and we decided to wander through some of the narrow homes built along the hill.  It would be so fun to live in these buildings along cobblestone streets!  That evening we went to a local brewery called Naboen for beer and delicious potatoes.  Kyle had purchased ice cream and toppings for us to have for dessert back at home.

On Sunday, we continued my birthday celebrations by getting a babysitter for Annika for several hours in the afternoon.  We have met other Fulbright students here and a few of them live in buildings right next to ours.  One woman offered to watch Annika for us so that we could have some time to ourselves.  I think this was our first post-baby date!  We've spent some time away from her before but usually it's just been to run a few errands.  We really enjoyed being able to go to a movie and out for a glass of wine.  Of course I was frequently checking Kyle's cellphone for messages from the babysitter but everything went really smoothly.  Annika has had a few bottles given to her but usually by Kyle or another family member that she's familiar with.  We may take advantage again of our friend's willingness to spend an afternoon with Annika at least one more time before we depart for the US in February.  Overall I had a great birthday weekend!

Sagmoen Gård

We traveled by train from Trondheim to Steinkjer and were picked up at the train station by Hallbjørn.  He drove us down the icy, snowy roads about 45 minutes to their farm, Sagmoen.  They are no longer actively farming but used to have dairy cows.  I didn't get a picture of their farm and house but Kyle did.

 Here is Annika taking her first real train ride.  We've been riding a light rail in Bergen.

 She was very interested in watching out the windows.

 This is one of her favorite ways to be held, with her head next to her daddy's cheek.

 Sissel and Hallbjørn are currently building a home in the area where Sissel was raised.  They sold a family home on the opposite side of the fjord and decided to build on this side where there is already plumbing and electricity.  They have huge windows in their main living room that look out over the water.  The electricity was turned on, so we sat at a table by a big space heater to have a snack.

Sissel made coffee for us and brought along lefse that had been made by someone that Hallbjørn knows.  This type of lefse is locally called læms.

 View of the house from the outside.  The outside is done except for being painted.  They are doing the inside themselves, so that will take a bit longer, as Hallbjørn recently had hip surgery.

 This is a beautiful dessert that Sissel made for us following a traditional meal of sodd suppe.  The soup is made for celebrations and is made of potatoes, sheep meatballs, and carrots in a flavorful broth.

 Every evening after supper we sat in the living room and talked.  Sissel made all of these desserts.  I loved the checkered ones and got her recipe.  Will have to make them and share them when I get home!

 Annika slept in this wonderful rocking crib that was made by Hallbjørn's brother.  She slept so soundly and I loved that I could reach the side of the crib from the bed to rock it.  Our little traveler has slept in so many different places/types of beds on our travels.  She's done amazingly well!

Trondheim

Kyle, Annika, and I took a weekend trip north to Trondheim.  The main reason we went there was to go on to visit friends of Kyle's family.  The Koryntas hosted an exchange student when Kyle was in college.  The parents of the student, Sissel and Hallbjørn, have been to Grand Forks and we wanted to go visit them at their home.  We decided to spend an afternoon and evening in Trondheim before continuing on to the farm.  Trondheim was the first capital of Norway and is still where the crown regalia is kept.  

Annika did a great job traveling again even if she looks a bit concerned in the picture.  I have to say that I appreciated traveling with Kyle this time.  So much easier!  The Thon Hotel in Trondheim was perfectly situated downtown.

 The Nidaros Cathedral was built between 1050 and 1300 over the grave of St. Olaf.  We wanted to go inside but it had already closed for the day.

 The outside of the cathedral was amazing.  I wish we could have seen the rose window from inside.  What you can't tell from this picture is how windy and snowy it was, we were so cold!

 Naturally, we found a cafe to warm up!  mmmm Fresh pastries and kaffe.

 We continued our walk around the city and went along the river to the old city bridge, the Gamle Bybro.

 This is the view along the river in the daylight.  The neighborhood along here was very neat with apartments, little shops, and cafes.  We enjoyed the wintery weather.

We capped our evening in Trondheim with a visit to a local micro brewery to meet with a few other Fulbright researchers and sample the tasty beers.  We made it an early evening as the crowds were coming in and took Annika back to the hotel.  We could definitely have spent more time in Trondheim.

Søndagstur

Kyle introduced me to a term called søndagstur.  The term refers to doing something active outside on Sundays (or any weekend day I think).  Norwegians like to be outside and we saw tons of people running and walking when we went out last Sunday.  Lots of families pushing prams and people of all ages out for a stroll.  There is a small lake just down the road and another park close by.  In the opposite direction is a park where the Fantoft stavkirke is located.  It's a well known tourist attraction because it's a very old church in a traditional style.

This coming weekend we are going north to Trondheim, a city that I've never been to.  We'll be staying with a former foreign exchange student that stayed with Kyle's family many years ago.  I'm excited to travel to a part of the country that I've never seen!

 Kyle and Annika by the stavkirke.

 This park is across the main road from our building.

 This lake is in close walking distance and has a great walking path around it.