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

Sat, June. 25 Boat trip with Hilde, Terje, Sigurd, Ingrid and friend.

Hi All,

We had a delightful Saturday afternoon on the boat of Hilde and Terje, who are the parents of Mark's friend Sigurd. We stopped for dinner on the island of Bragdøya, which hosts a summer camp for kids.

Hilde with Ingrid's friend


New performing art center in Kristiansand.


The boys on the front of the boat.

The ultimate hangout

Hi All,

In the woods near our house, Mark and I stumbled on this kid's hangout, where Walter is building a lean-to out of sticks and where Dad had to sling Mark over his shoulder to hoist him on to a swing.

The boys finished school on Tuesday. Walter finished his cross-stitch pillow and told me that he was more proud of it than he would be if he had gotten an Arsenal jersey.

This weekend the boys are in the Plussbankcup, a soccer tournament. On Saturday we're going out on Hilde and Terje's boat. Tomorrow we're visiting Sunbeam with apples in tow. A busy happpy time.









Ant mound that Walter and Dad found in Jegersberg, June 18th.


Swan with cygnets, downtown Kristiansand, June 15.

Mr. Melk/Mr. Milk

Tine Melk has apparently launched a campaign to encourage teenage girls to drink more milk. Mr. Melk, with his bare-chest, "six pack," and facial stubble reminded Bill and me of Don Johnson in Miami Vice, but maybe it's supposed to be Morten Harket of A-Ha. In any event, no cartoon cows for Norwegian milk drinkers.




Check out the Facebook Mr.Melk link to see him in his many super-jock incarnations, including ski whiz in the "Scandinavian Alps"--skiing backwards, pivoting forward, and jumping off a ridge all while holding a glass of milk.

Vest-Agder-museet Kristiansand

It was a beautiful day so we decided to meet my colleague, Irene, and her kids at the Vest-Agder Museet a half-hour walk from our apartment. This open-air museum includes about 40 buildings mostly from the period between 1650 and 1900.


Irene, who, at one time, worked as a tour guide at the Vest-Agder-Museet, with her children, Emma and Jacob


A reconstruction of city center of Kristiansand in the late 19th century. Built by pensioners. We imagined Saratoga, our pet ferret, would find this city just his scale.



Dad explaining Morse Code to Walter.



Walter and Maritime Exhibition. In 1879, Norway had the third largest shipping fleet, behind the U.S. and Britain.




A ship's crew, with cats, c. 1900.


19th nautical training equipment from a school in Kristiansand.


A shipwreck c. 1903. The entire crew perished.




The significance of shipping to the city.






Walter pensive.




Bill in front of log storehouse from Nomeland farm, Valle, c. 1600 (caption follows)




Mark and Bill and sod-roof barn from Bjørgum farm, Hylestad in Valle. Needs a goat on the roof to trim it.


Mark and I in front of "Bur" (storehouse) from Kjelleberg farm, Valle.