bergen--ålesund--oslo--amsterdam--seattle--> (part i)

we're enjoying a crisp early summer afternoon here in seattle after what has seemed an endless gogogo since we left port for bergen a little over a week ago. this weekend had been reserved for picking up troll figurines and coffee mugs bearing norway flags while we took in our last bit of atlantic sea air and nomaden cafe cappuccinos. but as is the way with consulting jobs project deadlines got shuffled and our last week in ålesund was compressed into a last day. so, apologies for the delayed delivery on promised posts--here's an all-in-one bonus post written instead with a starbucks triple espresso over ice at grandma connie's cozy kitchen barstool.

first let me say that owen is a travelling champ. he spent the first and last hour on our nine hour flight (plus hour or so in taxi) from amsterdam chewing raisins and quietly "sssshhhhzzzzzzmmmmmmm"ing with a small airplane we picked up at schipol airport (but before you go thinking that international travel with a toddler sounds breezy try a diaper change standing on top of a "changing table" in an airplane bathroom. and of course explaining six hours into the flight that no, owen, you cannot open the airplane doors and yes, we'd all like to get off the plane). he slept for a couple of hours after takeoff and his eyes shut the second we touched ground in seattle where he continued to sleep his way through passport control, the international luggage shuffle, customs check and the drive from seatac to p-town. when he awoke at grandmagrandpa's house he couldn't fit in enough play time hours with his cousins riley and macy in grandma's playroom with choochoo trains and vanilla steamers.

so i'll continue this post in tow-mater fashion (backwards for those of you who have not yet watched cars sixtyeight times). we had a day "layover" in oslo and took the flytoget downtown to visit the national gallery. this was of course, better than disneyland for owen who had been singing choochoo soul's bullet train obsessively (if i were a plane i'd be a jet plane, if i were a truck i'd be a monster truck . . . and if i were a train i'd be a bullet train!). when we arrived at the national theater square we were suprised by both the 93 degree heat and the "bondens marked" (a kind of culinary sampling of oslo with everything from reindeer jerky to rhubarb soup) along karl johans gate. we enjoyed a raspberry waffle cone and some free "pink milk" (just like lola drinks!) from the tine tent for barn (children) but passed on the trek up the hill to the president's palace in the scorching northern sun. this was on friday--michael's birthday!-- and despite the madness getting there we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon when as a special birthday gift owen fell asleep on the cobblestone stroller ride. so, we got a close and uninteruppted look at edward munch's iconic scream and madonna as well as his more tranquil bathing boys and girls on the jetty (or bryggen--which we recognized as "pier" from our hotel moniker in ålesund and the famous street in bergen). if this all sounds like you've read this before it's because you have--only it was back in march on our way into norway at the munch museet while owen napped (but no scream on display at the munch--we looked closely at the painting in the national and were pretty sure we saw signs of damage but then munch's style and poetic angst invovles heavy layers of paint and even scraping off and reapplying until the canvas itself begins to crack--the kinds of things you notice in awe at a museum and miss in glossy coffee table books). anyhow, it was a memorable last-stop in norway; my favorite quote from the expedition: "look mommy--fingerpainting!" when owen awoke in the swanky museum cafe and pointed at the marble walls (look out for video post in the same cafe with the disco-esque light cube).

wow, been rambling on quite a bit and need to go up and re-pack yet again, but this time for the final hop: the "seattle -->" part of the journey. i promise (once again) a return to do part ii: bergen--ålesund.