Christmas in America

We spent our Christmas in Maryland and our New Year’s Eve in Virginia. It was a blast to see family and do a little tourist-ing in the area. Here are a few pictures of our jaunt back to the states:

My Mom & My Sister: Southwest (ish) England

With my mom and sister visiting for two weeks we had to get out and see more of England than just Birmingham and London. The first stop on our road trip was Salisbury Cathedral, where we got to see one of the original copies of the Magna Carta. The highlight of the day though, was Stonehenge. We went to Stonehenge when we had family visitors last year, but there’s a new visitors center and exhibits with neolithic houses. We weren’t strong enough to pull one of the blue stones. Props to you, prehistoric man!
Daughter likes to get up close and personal with history. Walk a mile in prehistoric man’s moccasins, stamp out a fire, sleep in a hut; she takes it all in stride.
In addition to the huts and the visitors center, the set up for parking and getting to the henge is also new (I’d recommend buying tickets in advance since everything is more structured now). You park at the visitors center, see the exhibits, then either walk or take a shuttle out to the actual site. We chose to ride halfway and walk the other half. This meant we got to gradually get closer to the stones and we walked past some long barrows (prehistoric burial sites). The long barrows are the grassy lumps behind Derek:

Ma Mère & Ma Sœur: A Weekend in London

For our first weekend with my mom and sister visiting we headed down to London. We started off with some classic sites: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. As we walked from Big Ben/Westminster to Buckingham we stopped in St. James’s Park for an ice cream cone and a rest.

Norway Travelogue: Bergen

Bergen has a big tourist pull (us included) in Norway. Both the old part of the city and a nearby fjord are World Heritage Sites and it is an all around lovely place. Plus, it’s the place that inspired Arendelle (not to be confused with Arendal) of Disney’s Frozen.

Norway Travelogue: Oslo

Our trip to Norway was significantly shaped by our first three days in Arendal (read about it here) where we spent time with a family from Derek’s Dad’s LDS mission. However, not wanting to waste our precious time in Norway we traveled away from new friends to see more of the country.
We got into Oslo in the afternoon and had plans to meet up with more people Derek’s dad knew so we only had a few hours on our first day. We took some time to walk up to and around the Royal Place and see a bit of the main area of town.

Norway Travelogue: I’m a Mormon (Arendal)

After we have hit so many well-beaten paths in mainland Europe over the past year (Paris, Rome, Florence, Athens, Bavaria, etc.) a trip to Norway may seem, from an outside perspective, entirely random. I wouldn’t say its tourist attractions are among the most famous in Europe, it isn’t on the Euro, it isn’t a budget destination by any means, it isn’t necessarily known for its food, and it is such a big country that it was difficult to tackle in only a week. However, we went for a much more specific reason. Derek’s dad served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Norway from 1969 to 1971 and we four (Derek’s dad and our family of three) went together. (Side: If you don’t know much about Mormons check out the two links in the last sentence, see my profile here, or check out this website or these videos). We went with Derek’s dad to see some sights and to have some family time, but we ended up loving Norway and Norwegians along the way.
We flew into Oslo and drove a few hours south to Tønsberg on our first evening. Along the drive we recorded snippets of Derek’s dad talking about life in Norway as a missionary in 1970. Tønsberg had been one of the places he served. He had stories about having to walk to a bath house (that we passed) weekly to shower (!), how his landlord would kill rats by burning them (!!!), and how welcoming and wonderful the people were. The next morning he and Derek went to visit a couple the he knew from back then. That afternoon we drove even farther south to Arendal where we were welcomed into a home of a family that Derek’s dad taught while on his mission. Initially, before stepping into their home Derek and I felt slightly apprehensive. We didn’t know the people we were about to spend the next two days with, we didn’t know much about Norwegian culture, and I was worried about bringing a busy two year old into a new home – possibly not very accustomed to toddlers. Our worry was unnecessary. We were warmly welcomed, had a big family dinner, listened to stories, and made new friends. The woman that we stayed with was in her 80s and had been confirmed (after baptism) by Derek’s dad. She had 6 children, a few of whom we met, a few grandchildren there (our age), and a great grand son that was 2 weeks younger than Daughter (instant friends!). What a great legacy!

This is downtown Arendal, taken on Sunday after church. We’re not in our typical Sunday garb because our luggage hadn’t made it to Oslo. Boo. We thankfully had enough clothes (but not socks – whoops) in our carry-ons to last until we did get our suitcase that night.
Our visit to Arendal was about the people, not the sites. This is a change to how Derek and I have traveled the past year. We sat and ate (and ate and ate! That’s Norwegian hospitality for you. Though some of our own gluttony may be to blame…), played games, and got to know each other. It was really wonderful and shaped our entire trip.

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about what members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) believe, we just had our semi-annual general conference this weekend. It’s a chance to listen to true apostles and prophets of God and we always look forward to watching. All of it is online here.

Athens

After lovely sea breezes and spending our time jumping in and out of the pool in Crete, Athens felt unbearably hot. Plus two summers in England (where 74° F is hot) has made it harder for us to adapt to 100° weather. With all that though, I was still excited to see so much history, even if we only had 48 hours in Athens.

Crete: A Vacation

Derek and I have talked about how cool it would be to go to Greece for a long time. Trouble is, it was always a fantasy conversation, not a real “where exactly do we want to go” and “what is it that we want to see” conversation. As we started really planning to go we realized how much there is to do and see in Greece! Island or mainland? Which island(s)? Which part of the mainland? Beach or city? Sightsee trip or relaxation vacation? Once we answered some of those questions we started looking at plane tickets. Upon seeing how expensive it was and how many flights it would take to get from Birmingham to Mykonos (3+ legs!) or some other islands we went back to the drawing board. I found a great price on one-way tickets into Crete (nonstop even!) and an even better price for a one-way out of Athens. Score! An island and the mainland. Vacation and some sightseeing. The biggest problem with this trip was honestly that we could have spent way more time in Greece. A good problem to have. The food was amazing, locals were really nice and welcoming to and prices weren’t extravagant. Plus family beach time. Win-win-win. While in Crete we stayed near Malia – hugely touristy, but really inexpensive and the pool led right down to the beach. Take me back! ahhhhhahaha

Paris Travelogue

Where do you go when you have a week off and are kind of sick of flying? To Paris via the Chunnel, of course! Since we’re in Birmingham and not London this meant two 2 hour trains, but it was still easier than flying. I’ve spent some time in Paris already – when I was 13 for a semester, a few months for a study abroad during college, and Derek and I spent a week or so there when I was pregnant in 2012. But it’s Paris, so it’s still worth it to go back. It was also really nice to not feel pressured to see anything specific. We saw a ton last time so while we hit a few big sites, we just did what sounded fun.We stayed in an apartment in the Marais not far from the Centre Pompidou, which I’m embarrassed to admit that I had never been to. So, after we got the keys to our apartment and dropped our bags off we went to the Pompidou. I’m actually quite glad I waited this long to see it. I was 19 when did my study abroad and I’ve learned a lot about modern art since so I don’t think I would have appreciated it as much if I had gone then. Additionally I think toddlers get more out of modern art museums than (for example) a museum focusing on renaissance art, like some of the ones we visited in Florence. There’s something really appealing to toddlers in big bold swatches of color or spattered paint or minimalist lines and circles (like Mondrian). Modern art is so visual and easier to talk about to a 1 or 2 year old than other periods of art. For example when the two of us were in the Tate Modern a few months ago she really liked the Bacchus series by J.M.W. Turner because we could talk about the red vs. white contrast and trace the circles in the air. We saw, traced in the air, labeled colors, and more at the Pompidou that day.

Europe’s German-Speaking Countries

Can you name them? There are three countries where German is the only official language and two where it is the majority language. Of those five we were just in four.
We flew into Munich, Germany (I know you knew Germany was one of the five), drove to Salzburg, Austria a few days later, then back through Germany, into Liechtenstein, and on to Switzerland.
A few things I learned or re-learned:
I may love the Rockies, but the Alps are more gorgeous than I ever expected.
It is worth it to spend some time to learn a few phrases, if only to sound less American and touristy.
Teething gel is a necessity.
My German accent is pathetic.
Deer goulash is pretty great.
I will never be able to fathom the devastation of WWII.
Sleep is another necessity.
Daughter is a travel trooper.
Zurich is crazy expensive.
I love family time.

München (Munich)