Thanks for reading.

A short while later we were home.

It was a fantastic holiday. We're still talking about it, with each other and all of you. It was a real holiday, not an adventure like the one which started this blog or a journey of research and discovery like the last. We had fun and we saw new things, met great people, had a lot of fun. In case it wasn't obvious, we ate well.

Rather than bore you with stories of reading a book in the ocean breeze, I'm just going to drop a bunch of our photos from Maui, and say thanks.

Thanks to everyone who's been reading; it may not seem like much but when I log in and see that people are staying in touch with what's been written it gives me a little boost to write another entry. So thanks, all of you, for coming with us. I hope you had fun.

We went for a walk in the morning

Cocktails instead of lunch/dinner

Until next time, take care.

Do you like pineapple?

Woke up in New York and a mere 20 hours later we were in Maui.

Pretty much this the whole way around

We stayed on the island's north coast. A shuttle from the airport took an hour and we arrived bleary eyed and dazed, not at all ready for the stream of information the woman at the counter had prepared for us. Maps, guides, local attractions, resort rules, beaches...

"Hey, do you guys like pineapple?"

A little surprised we answered we did. We did like pineapple.

"I have a pineapple for you, wait here."

We had it for breakfast and it was incredible. We bought another later that day.

Avocado burger at the Gazebo

In fact for us, Maui was the perfect end to our trip. We walked to the market and stocked up on fruit and vegetables to eat on our porch and did very little except walk on the beach and drink cocktails in the evening.

Beaches like this

Yeah we were sad to leave New York but we were so so happy to have temperatures above freezing for a couple of days. We could look out across the beach from our room; in fact we could see all the way to the next island. In the morning we walked in the shade of the mountains and in the evening we watched the sun set over the ocean.

It was hard to fault the views

The island's volcanic origins meant the coastline was bay after sheltered bay, the sandy beaches protected by long rocky outcrops. The beaches were different to the ones we know at home; no slogging it for five minutes across the sand to reach the water. Out of the hotel and into the water in thirty seconds.

Milk costs a lot. That's the price of living in paradise.

For a place that neither of us had wanted to visit before the trip, Hawaii has become a place neither of us can wait to visit again. But next time we would want to see more of everything and probably achieve more than sitting in our hotel room and reading.

Sunset at Maui

Not that there was anything wrong with that.

I'm Bergen

Every few hours I would wake as the engines roared to life to pull us out from a pier. The ferry kept operating all through the night. Combined with the white night (the sun sets at night in the north, but it never really gets dark) it made for a strange sleep. I found it reassuring after a while; I never woke up wondering where I was.

I rose at what I thought was breakfast time but turned out to be not-quite-breakfast time and went to take some photos. I had to be careful not to stray too far. With an average passenger age around 86 I suspected there would be a rush for breakfast as soon as it opened.

Everyone wanted a photo of this little house

It was too windy to stay outside all day, and long stretches of bare coast provided few photo opportunities, but I felt bad sitting inside and reading (though I am reading Justin Cronin's The Passage and it is fantastic). In the end I tried to find a seat close to a window and the bow where I could check for upcoming photo opportunities.

There were many

As we approached Bergen the scenery changed. The hills and mountains became greener, the houses which had been built on strips between the slopes and the sea were built further up.

Still lots of cool islands

Entering the city from the water gives an appreciation for its layout I never got again, once I was wandering around it. Bergen is spread all about the fjord, anywhere there is land to build on.

But still very green, in summer

It was late when we got in. I had to wait for the next day to get a good view of the city from above.

Three fortresses, two farms and a burrito

"The island is first mentioned in 997, when the king, Olav Tryggvason, rowed out here, with two heads."
That got my attention.
"The head of the local king, his worst enemy, and the king's slave. They were put on stakes, facing Trondheim, so that all would know who ruled."
I had travelled to Munkholmen because it promised a fine view of the city from the water. I had not expected that the history of the place would be so interesting.

Also, it looked badass

Not many people had come out on the tour; a lot of local families had come to have picnics on the shore. But it was fascinating; from viking executions to Catholic power base, a fortress for repelling Swedes and a German flak emplacement.

Star shaped battlements for fighting with swords, round walls for guns. Things you learn.

The boat ride out, the tour and the ride back took most of the morning, so I had lunch at the Dromadar Kaffebar (best coffee in Norway!) for some lunch. There was a path uphill from there, and something strange on the map, so I wandered up to have a look.

Pretty good view from up there

It was a second fortress, recently opened to tourists. A strange experience; no ticket needed to enter, no information inside. Just a bunch of people having picnics.

Just... in a fortress

Norwegians, it seems, love picnics in fortresses. Considering the fortresses have all the best views, I can't fault them on that.

Back in town, I hopped on the number 8 bus out to the folk museum, an outdoor establishment founded by a rich Swiss couple. They have relocated historical buildings from all over Trondelag and have a traditional town, two farms and two churches set up around a high hill that was once a strategic fortress.

A typical post-reformation church with a modern era Norwegian man

One of the farms (the 'rich' farm) featured a house which was used only for wedding celebrations. I would liken this extravagance to a modern family in a landlocked country owning a boat; they don't use it very often, but that's not the point.

Inside was some amazing traditional Norwegian decoration, against a not-so-Norwegian white background (the artist was Dutch)

There was a fire a few years ago and they had to restore it.

But the best thing I learned there was the origin of the Scandinavian/Baltic cry of 'Skål!' when drinking.  It literally means 'Bowl!'

This is a Skål

At weddings the guests would all bring baskets of food. One of the women in the household would have to keep track of who brought what and make sure nobody was served their own food (a major insult). The man of the house was responsible for providing the beer, which he brought up from the cellar in large jugs and poured into a bowl or Skål which had cups floating in the beer. When a guest wanted another cup, he would call for the bowl.

There were also buildings and such

The museum's tavern came well recommended (online) and I stopped in for dinner. I had a reindeer burrito, with a kind of potato pancake instead of a tortilla. It was... pretty good.

That morning, out at Munkholmen, the tour guide had given me a nice tip.

"The statue of Olav Tryggvason, in the middle of town, has next to him a small lump. It is the head of Haakon Jarl. Most people miss it."

I know I had.

Can you see it?

Some things I saw while running in Trondheim

The river Nidelva

The Nidaros Cathedral across the river

I followed the river, as there are paths most of the way along both sides

Munkholmen; where I'm going now