BEAUTIFUL BERGEN!!, MAY 2008

As you can see, we were lucky with our weather in Bergen. While Portland has 36" of rain annually, and Clatskanie has 57", Bergen has 80"! A good year supposedly has 60 days of sunshine, and we were quite happy and grateful to enjoy a few of them.

We visited composer Edvard Grieg’s home where he created many of his greatest works. It was so interesting to go through it, see his treasures, and experience its brightness and hominess.

We loved wandering and exploring, including the Fish Market, the Hanseatic Quarter ("Bryggen"—the cute little houses/shops you see in the picture of us), the hills behind those shops, the Old Quarter, the Castle, and more.

It was charming, relaxing, and a great starting point for our coastal voyage.

NORWEGIAN COASTAL VOYAGE!, All Aboard the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp!

We had such a terrific time on the Hurtigruten! The sights, the friendships, the FOOD….everything was fabulous. We were aboard for six nights traveling north and around the "top" of Norway to Kirkenes, where we disembarked near the Russian border. We hope the pictures above will give you a little bit of the feel of the trip, as we spared you from hundreds more!