Stavanger

Hei All,

We're spending a few days in Stavanger. Yesterday we went to the Petroleum Museum, and today we made the trek to the top of Preikestolen! It was quite a hike and we took about twice as long as the sign said, mostly because I was slow, but the arduous journey was well worth it. Extraordinary view.

Petroleum Museum, Stavanger.


On the way up. This was the toughest part.


View from Preikestolen


Bill at the top.



Mark and Walter, cliff dwellers.

Our visit with Helen and Aage

Cheryl, Mom and I just returned from a delightful visit with Helen and Aage Munk in Horsens, Denmark. Helen Munk and our Grandma Schultz share the same father, Christian Knudsen, who was a prominent blacksmith and dentist in Tillitse, a small town in the island of Lolland, Denmark, a rich agricultural area known for its production of sugar beats.

The visit was especially moving when Aage produced photographs of his visit with Grandpa Hansen, Herbert, Marge, Richard, Karen, Cheryl, a squiggling baby Steve, and my mom and and dad fifty years ago. He also showed us a photo of Grandma Schultz, which mom had never seen before, and a long letter from Aunt Marge. Apparently Helen Munk's mother Emilie (spelling), who is Grandma Schultz's half sister, was committed to keeping contact with her American relations and wrote to Grandma Schultz regularly. Grandpa was likewise committed to maintaining the Danish-American connection--visiting and hosting the Munks over the years.

What I found fascinating was learning more about Grandma Schultz. I didn't realize that her mother died on giving birth to her, an event which may have prompted Karen Marie and her siblings to immigrate to an area in the U.S., Iowa, not unlike Lolland. Christian Knudsen remarried and one of his subsequent children was Helen Munk's mother.

Aunt Cheryl's and Martha's pics from Norway in a Nutshell

Hi All,

Here are some pics from our travels around Norway and from our Nutshell tour, which went from Oslo to Dombås, along the Dovrebanen Railway, then to Åndalsnes and on to the German Art Nouveau city of Ålesund. Then we took a Hurtigruten cruise along the Geiranger fjord, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. After a full day in Bergen and a visit to Grieg's home, we took the Bergen Railway through Voss and stopped in Flåm before returning to Myrdal view the dramatic Flam Railway. More pics to follow!

At the cottage, Risør, where the boys fished for mackerel.


Don't forget about me.


Risør church where we heard Leif Ove Andnes. I met him after his concert and he signed a c.d. of Grieg for Walter.



Heddal Stave Church, the largest of Norway's surviving stave churches. Most of it was built around 1250 and extensively restored in 1952.








View along journey from Voss to Gudvangen.



Mom in Ålesund.


Geiranger fjord







View from Grieg's home, outside of Bergen


The boys on lip couch in the Design Museum in Bergen


Bryggen, home of the Hanseatic League


Bill with troll in park overlooking Bergen. We took a cable car to get to the top of the bluffs overlooking Bergen.


The Kjosfossen Waterfall, scene from a stop on the Flåm Railway