Europe part four

 Our last stop on our European trip was Paris. We arrived by train about 5:30.  Troy conquered the public transportation and figured out what tickets we needed for buses and Metro and found where to buy them.  Then we took the Metro to our hotel.  It was so busy and crowded in the station and on the trains.  Plus we were hauling luggage, so I was glad to get back up to the street.  The walk to our hotel was just a few minutes.  We stayed in the St. Germain region of Paris, which is where cafes began...and there were certainly a lot of food places near us!

Our hotel room was actually two rooms that can be connected if you leave our doors open and just close one outer door.  So we had two rooms, two bathrooms and a hallway between.  The hotel was built in the 1600's!  It was pretty nice and even had air conditioning!

While I washed a bunch of clothes in the sink, Troy scouted out some dinner places.  We settled on one, and although we were all a little grumpy picking food and trying to read the menu, dinner was great!  I had a Croque Monsieur, Troy had pasta, Timothy had a crepe and Teresa had a hamburger and fries. Interestingly, in Europe when Timothy ordered a pop, he was often given a can and a glass with ice and sometimes with a slice of orange or lemon in the glass!

We made a brief stop at our room and then walked to our evening boat crusie.  It started at 9:45.  Troy thought seeing Paris by night as it got dark would be fun, and it sure was! We cruised on the Seine and saw a lot of sights like the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.  There was narration in French and English describing all that we saw.

Notre Dame

Our first full day in Paris started out a little rougher, but got better as the day went on.  We first made our way to Musee De L'Orangerie.  It was a smaller art museum know for its Water Lilly paintings by Monet.  We made our way through the musuem--the kids and I a little quicker than Troy.  Our plan after this was to see Place de La Concorde and walk the Champs-Elysees.  It had rained while we were in the musuem and had cooled off.  Concorde place was closed because of the Olympics and it was a bit of a walk to the shops on the street.  We were all a little chilled and hoped the mist would go away.  

Water Lillies

Walking in the cold and misty weather.

Thankfully we found some tourist shops and it began to warm up.  Teresa bought a few things and we browsed in a few stores.  Timothy wanted to check out the McDonald's.  He got some cheesy fries and we also got macarons from McCafe! Yum!

We continued browsing and walking all the way down to the Arc de Triomphe.  There was an Olympic store there where I picked out a shirt.  The kids were amused by another stray cat!  We made our way back to the other end of the avenue stopping for a bite of lunch. I got my Orangina!  Teresa's sandwich was a victim of the European trend of lots of butter on sandwiches!  We made our way back to the hotel, where Troy's bag had arrived!!!, and rested before our St. Chapelle tour.

Arc de Triomphe

Orangina

We had tickets to tour St. Chapelle at 5:15.  The king built this amazing church mainly to store his relics.  It is known for its beautiful stained glass windows.  We stopped by Notre Dame, but you can't tour that yet becuase of rebuilding from the 2018 fire.  Then it was onto dinner.  We chose a pizza place near our hotel.  Timothy and shared pizza and Troy and Teresa got pasta.

St. Chapelle stained glass

Notre Dame

Dinner at Pepone's

Our second day in Paris started with some acai bowls across the street.  We had to wait for the shop to open at 10 am.  Then we walked to see the outside of the Louvre on our way to Montemarte.  It took some time getting there as we found out you can't take a bus and switch to metro on one ticket, but we made it.  We walked the narrow streets and browsed in shops winding our way up to the Basillica du Sacre Couer.  There is a great view from the Basillica, but it was very crowded on the steps.  The line to enter was long, so we did not linger long.  Instead, we found a little cafe so Teresa could have a hot chocolate in Paris! Timothy had a banana split.

Outside the Louvre

The steps of the basillica overlooking Paris.

Cafe stop!

We made our way back to the hotel.  Timothy stayed there and the rest of us walked to the Brandy Melville store.  We stopped for a croissant on the way.  It was delcious! We rested in the room after that until we headed out to our Eiffel Tower evening.  Troy had booked us dinner at 7pm on a boat just below the tower and we had tickets to go up the tower at 10pm.  The dinner was at a fancier restaurant.  Troy and I shared a three course vegetarian meal.  It was pretty good--the mouse at the end was wonderful!  Teresa had Tempura shrimp and fries.  Timothy had a kids plate of chicken that was not a favorite.  The service was laid back as there was ample time given between each course. We did not finish up until 9pm.  It was a lovely experience!

We wnet up the Eiffel Tower starting at 10pm.  It was getting darker and we first saw the lights twinkle waiting in line.  The elevator lines were not too long.  We chose to go to the very top first. It was very highg up!  I was nervous taking pictures close to the edge!  But it was very pretty.  Soon we went down to the next level that was not as crowded. We took some pictures and enjoyed the sights. Troy wanted to see the lights twinkle.  While waiting for that, Timothy did some shopping in the gift shop.  He got a keychain and an ornament.  We were all getting a bit tired, so we made our way down and headed to the hotel.

The one picture Timothy let me take of him in our 2.5 weeks!

Our last full day in Paris we ended up booking a Macaron tour of our hotel neighborhood and another boast cruise in the afternoon.  For breakfast we got some crepes and brought them back to the room.  This was great, except for when my whipped cream fell of my crepe onto my shoe as we walked!  I was sad!  But it was still a good breakfast.

We had a short walk to meet our tour guide for the Macaron tour.  We were a little worried when we did not see anyone around.  But within 15 minutes our guide showed up and we were off--we were the only ones on the tour.  We stopped at three shops and we each got to pick out macaron flavors.  We also got a history of the St. Germaine neighborhood.  It has not been redone, so the streets are narrow and their are still many cobblestones.  It was also the area where the fisrt cafes started, so there are lots of food places. At the end of the tour we went to a park to taste and rate the macarons.  My favorite was my almond one.

My macarons...blueberry, almond, and salted caramel

After the tour, we had a short stop in our room before heading to our boat cruise.  We had to take the metor to the launch site and it ended near our hotel.  This cruise took us along a canal and we had to go through some locks and a long tunnel.  That was neat.  The commentary was once again interesting as we saw many sights.

After the boat cruise we did a little shopping.  Teresa found some jewelry for friends, a poster, postcards and a little eiffel tower.  Timothy bought a little effiel tower in a glass pyrramid.  We stopped briefly in our hotel and then set out for dinner.  We ate at the pizza place again..Pepone's.  We actually had to wait until 6 when they opened.  After dinner we found an Olympics shirt for Timothy.  He got some gelato and Tersa and I had brownies.  Then we settled in for some Danny Gonzalez as we relaxed and packed up.

Before checking out on our last morning, we promised the kids crepes.  Of course the crepe place was not open, so we found a bakery instead.  By 9 am we were packed up and headed to the train station.  We took the train to the airport.  We checked bags, made it it through security and settled into wait when we learned our flight was delayed and gate changed.  We headed back out and through security again to our new gate.  The plane was delayed 3 hours and a little more as once we were on the plane, there was a thunderstorm that had to pass.  Eventually we were off and arrived in Chicago.  It was 8:30pm by the time we got to our car.  Troy drove us safely home through rain and detours and fatigue.  This was an amazing trip which we will never forget!

Europe Part 3

 We arrived in Amsterdam late in the evening.  There were not any customs to go through, so we made our way to the baggage claim.  My bag came pretty quick, but Troy's did not show up with it.  We waited and waited until it became clear that Troy's bag was not coming.  We talked to the people in charge of missing bags.  They led us to believe it would show up at our hotel the next day.  It did not, but Troy was a trooper and he made do.  Nothing a trip to TK Maxx couldn't fix.

Once again our hotel was very nice, and very close to the Johan Cruyff Stadium where the concert would be.  The hotel had a good breakfast too, with waffle machines & and yummy toppings, fresh bread, eggs, meat and cheese.  And there was coffee machines that put fancy foam on top--and it had hot cocoa for me too!  Our first morning was very rainy, so we hung out in the hotel room.  We had a bike tour scheduled at 1:30 so we hoped the weather would clear.

We set from the hotel and took the train into town and trams to the bike shop.  It was still lightly misting at this time, so we put on ponchoes from the bike shop and got set up with bikes.  There were about 8 people in our group.  Our leader gave some instructions and we set out.  Once at our first stop, however, one gal did not show up.  She had bumped a car and the owner was very angry.  Our tour leader had to go back and help her.  That delayed us some and we missed some stops on the tour, but it was still fun.  And it stopped raining so we ditched the ponchoes.  We the Anne Frank house, different neighborhoods, museums, restaurant areas.  The guide was informative and interesting.

After our tour, we had a little snack break.  Troy found a waffle shop that unknown to us at the time was also a coffeeshop (Marijuan available).  We were the only ones there and I think they only had edibles.  It was a funny moment when we realized it! We did some shopping on our way to our canal boat cruise.

Captain Jack's boat cruise was one of the highlights of our trip. The captain was very personable and he had interesting stories and commentary.  The cruise was an hour and a half and we had snacks--stroopwaffles, along with cheese, crackers and drinks. We learned funny things about window and stair taxes, hooks that hoist furniture into the steep homes, and Teslas falling into the river! After the cruise we hunted for dinner food, but wound up in a grocery store again.  Dining was sometimes a stressor.

Our second full day was the concert day.  Teresa and I began our morning in the merch line.  It onaly took us an hour to get merch--mainly because we went early and were in the very front of the line.  She picked out a hoodie--xs, but it was still huge!

Waiting in the merch line

We had tickets for the Van Gogh museum at 12:45.  We got in a little early and got hooked up with our headsets.  I liked the sunflowers and the almond blossom paintings.  We toured the highlights of the museum, with Troy enjoying it the most.  He and I bought a couple souvenirs in the gifts shop.

We finished up wtih enough time to grab lunch before heading to the hotel. We walked to a Dutch pancake house that was in a former carousel.  It had a fun atmosphere and the pancakes were delicious!  Troy and Teresa got sweet ones and I had ham and mushroom.  Timothy got a burger and fries.

After lunch it was rest time before we headed to the concert around 4:30. Teresa got into our red dresses and we charged up our phones.  The walk to the stadium was 5 minutes and it only took about 15 minutes to get in go through security.  We found our seats, and then went out for food and drinks and bracelet trading.  We were in and out of our seats a bit and before we knew it Paramour was starting.

Trading bracelets

And fianlly it was time for Taylor Swift!  Teresa loved every moment!  It was an amazing concert and I am glad we had the chance to attend.  Timothy tolerated it and Troy and I had fun.  I am only posting a couple of pictures, to show a tiny glimpse of the experience.  I am thankful we had seats and were not in the standing only area.  We did stand most of the time, but could sit as needed.

After the concert we wer very thankful for the short walk to the room!  It was a late night, but I was up early the next morning.  I decided to get Teresa some smaller merch.  I hoped for a smaller sweatshirt, but they only had youth sizes in shirts, so that is what she got.  I was waiting about an hour again and was first in line.  I made some bracelet trades too.  

We packed up and checked out of the hotel.  We had a train at 2pm in the afternoon.  We went into Amsterdam central and walked to a shop to store our luggage.  Then we walked to the science center and up the slanted roof for views of the city.  On our way back to the station it started raining.  We grabbed lunch from a super market and then sat the kids down in the station.  Troy and I walked to retrieve our luggage.  Thankfully the misting stopped as we walked with our bags.  We took the Eurostar to Paris.

Climbing the roof.

Playing with water wheels

Lunch on the Eurostar

Europe Part 2

 Country number two was Norway.  We were in Nord Odal and Oslo. Our flight was on time and we made our way to the car rental place.  Our data was still out at this point, but thankfully the car had a navigation system to get us to Eva's house.  The kids revisted a lot of there old none data apps on the hour drive to Nord Odal.  Troy was soon tired of the fancy new car that beeped every time he went above the speed limit!

We spent a lot of time chatting with Eva and eventaully went out to see the Troftgruben mine and church.  The kids were both very patient and good during this whole time.  They were pleased to learn later that Eva had wifi and the were reconnected for a bit!

The sign for the mine and the actually mine.

Eva and Jan put out quite the spread for dinner.  There was meat and cheese, a few salads, lefse with salmon, eggs, bread, crackers, and rommegrot (a traditional sour cream dish).  Both kids were brave and tried a few things.  Troy and I thought it was all delicious.  It was nice chatting with Eva and Jan about differences between our two countries.

Delicious dinner spread

Day Two in Norway was our day trip to Rollag. (And happily our data was back!)  This is where Troy's mother's side is from.  We got a later start after visiting with Eva a bit.  It was a three hour drive.  We stopped for something to eat at a conveneince store and tried to charge the car.  It was complicated and we held off until the way home.  We finally arrived and got a tour of the Stave church Troy's ancestor attended.  He was thrilled!  He had hoped to see a farm where she came from too, but there was no way to find that.  

The church Troy's great grandmother attended.

Then we headed back to Eva's.  We did stop to charge the car.  It took 20 minutes which gave us time for snacks!  We also discovered the google translate app at this point which was very helpful! We were all tired and hungry when we arrived at 7:30.  We ended up getting some frozen pizza to cook at Eva's.  We ended the day with cookies and Danny Gonzalez.

Charging the car and snack time while we waited.

The third day in Norway was traveling to Oslo.  We had to return the car, and then catch a train to Oslo.  Our hotel was right next to the station.  It was a beautiful hotel and our room was nice with a huge bed!  Sadly, the second bed was just a pullout couch.  Troy and I adapted!  We were soon off to join a walking tour of Oslo.  We learned all kinds of historical things about the city and some fo the buildings.  We saw saunas in the harbor, the Munch museum, the palace, really old buildings, and the opera house.

A beautiful hotel room and lobby!

Old buildings in the middle of Oslo

Suanas and the opera house in the background.

It was Timothy's baptism day, so he helped pick dinner.  We ate at Bastard Burger.  Sort of like Smash Burger.  It was good food and we got free tattoos that we all put on!  Troy tried to find some ice cream for dessert, but google was not helpful.  We stumbled on a Churro/ ice cream place that was perfect!

Our first full day in Oslo was a trip to the amusement park--Tusenfryd.  We were up for breakfast by 8:30.  The breakfast here was amazing.  They had a huge buffet that pretty much had any food you could want.  I loved the grainy breads.  Troy liked the fish and cheese. Teresa liked the yogurt and granola. And Timothy liked the pancakes.

We took a bus to the amusement park and got there just as it opened.  Timothy and Troy kicked things off with a coaster together.  Then Teresa joined Timothy on another coaster.  It was not a huge park, so we made our way from ride to ride.  Troy, Timothy and Teresa went on most of them.  I just carried the backpack and people watched!  I got some ice cream there that had the crunchy sprinkles I remember from Bergen.

We finished up at the amusement park and made it back to Oslo for dinner.  We at at Pepe's Pizza.  We all enjoyed the food--great pizza and "nachips". We ended up eating there our last evening too! We did some shopping on the way back to the hotel.  I got a hat, Teresa got postcards and Timothy got socks.

Our second day in Oslo started at the Reptile museum.  It was small but we all enjoyed seeing the animals.  We did some shopping after that.  Troy got his sweater and Teresa found an ornament.  The afternoon was a trip to the Vigeland Sculpture park and the swimming pool.  Truthfully, the pool was the bigger hit.  Troy, Timothy and Teresa all got in the pool.  Troy and Timothy were the brave ones and slowly conquered the diving boards.  There were boards at 3, 5, 7 and 10 meters!  It was the platform boards like at the Olympics.  They were very brave!  We ate dinner at Pepe's again.  Troy, Teresa and I ended the night walking around and atop the Opera House.

We had to check out of our hotel at 10.  We left our bags in storage and set out for the Folk Museum.  We took a boat there.  Troy and I had been here years ago, but it did not seem quite as interesting this time.  There were lots of interesting older homes, and a stave church.  I think the kids will likely remember the cat we saw playing with and eating a mouse!

We did a little more shopping in Oslo, and then took the train to the airport.  We looked at duty free items a bit and then found some food for dinner.  We found our gate and waited for our 7 pm flight to Amsterdam.