Changes in Latitudes

First:: If you are curious, see my updated previous post. Marius got a picture of the tiny clip used for the commercial.  [Gorgeous sky] That time of year has come around again, and of course we are at the cabin in Synnfjell for some mountain life. Grandma was with us this time, but Katrine (Marius' sister) is in southeast Asia for a class trip/mini vacation. I've only gone skiing twice this week because my half-marathon in Bergen is on Saturday the 26th, and I want to make sure I'm in running form. Every day Rigmor and Tron ask Grandma (87 years old and previously broken hip) if she would like to go skiing with us. I'm glad to say that she hasn't put on the skis. Marius and I drove up on Monday evening - and I did the driving! I need to get the feel back for driving a manual. I'm included on Marius' car insurance now that I am 25. Tuesday we went on the usual loop called "Seterrunden" - or "summer farm loop". A seter is a farm ...

[GoPro skiing pictures] After we returned from Portugal, Marius and I drove up to Synnfjell where the Engebrethsen's have their "ski lodge" -- they call it a cabin, but it is clearly so large it should be called a lodge. Tron, Rigmor and Katrine were already there, as well as the Easter sunshine. We quickly ate some lunch and headed out for a little ski trip. We gave the GoPro Hero3 some tests in snow conditions. It was great! So far very happy with our new camera. [Working in the lodge] Every morning I woke up before 8 and worked on my thesis until the family got up about an hour and half later, then we had breakfast, and I joined them for skiing two other times. The second ski trip was up a mountain called Spåtind. It was just uphill, and then a relaxing trip down that took a tiny fraction of the time it took to climb up the mountain, but still a fun trip. At the end of the ski trips we always look forward to coffee and chocolate and/or cookies on the po...

[Farm country] From Lagos we drove north via Beja and Evora after some reading online. We spent maybe an hour or two tops in each town on our way up to Lisbon. The road north was the same as the way south, but we went off at Beja to swing over to Evora. Central Portugal is mainly farmland, and vineyards, cattle, and fig trees made up the majority of the agriculture. [See the groups of retirees in Beja] We stopped in Beja for our daily pastry and coffee and walked around the town to get some pictures and stretch the legs. The streets were cool, and there were of groups of old men standing in circles having discussions with wild hand gestures. In Beja, old Portuguese culture was still hanging around, because it was obvious that the men and the women did separate things during the day. The next city was an impromptu detour because we saw the castle sitting at the top of the hill. This town was called Portel. We drove up the narrow streets to the castle and took some pict...

For my Christmas present, Marius bought us a trip to Portugal and my place in the Lisboa Meia Maratona (Lisbon Half-Marathon). We left on the 25th from Oslo, bright and early, with a layover in Brussels. When we landed in Lisbon it was a comfortable 16 degrees C (61 F = a normal Norwegian summer day), and the locals were saying "This weather, it's terrible!"  [Sines - a little south of Lisbon] We rented a Fiat pretty cheap and drove south for Lagos, in the Algarve region of southern coastal Portugal. We aimed for the scenic coastal road, but we got a little confused due to the lack of road signs and decided to just take the easy way down since there was no light to see the view anyways. The Portuguese drive at an insane speed compared to the Norwegian speed limits. The speed limit driving on the highway in Portugal was 120 kph (75 mph)...very fast when the speed limit on the biggest main road we usually drive on in Bergen is comparable to a snail at 70 kph (44 mph...

 [Not as much sun here as in Tylldalen, but the sun came out when we went skiing]  [Walking with Grandma today down the ski track to a spot to set up a fire]  [Uno is showing me some tricks since he saw I had treats]  [Nice evening walk with Uno]  [Big Easter moon - we got lost on the walk home]  [Best day at Synnfjell]  [Katrine is trying some tricks down the long hill] [Dinner with a fire - made the cabin sooo incredibly hot!]

Photos from our day trip to the town of Røros - formerly a copper mining town for 300 years that went bankrupt in 1977. Now the town mainly relies on tourism.  [The buildings along this river previously had waterwheels for processing smelt. Historically, there were only two main streets through the town, and are still the main streets today]  [Beautiful church built with the town in the 1700s - the landmark of Røros]  [Standing on top of the slag - cold and windy]

 [Marius and the Tynset Troll]  [Skiing to "the Hole" with Tronfjell behind us - Marius' father (Tron) was named after this mountain]  [Nice tracks around the valley]  [Beautiful weather for skiing while we were in Tylldalen]  [No lunch in "the Hole" today - my bum was happy that I wouldn't be falling this day]  [The poster lunch for Norwegian skiing trips - oranges, Kvikk Lunsj (like kit-kat), and hot toddy] [The trails started to get rotten and exposed the bare ground]

Synnfjell lacked a bit of snow, but we managed to have two nice ski trips and a walk into the woods to build a fire and cook some hot dogs with Grandma this time. I didn't fall once the last two trips since they were on groomed trails - not "off pist" as Marius says (pist = trail in Norwegian...but maybe it could also translate to pissed - as in a pissed off Justine from falling). I missed coloring eggs this year, but when we got to the cabin at Synnfjell, Rigmor had hid big hollow eggs full of candy in our beds and we had so much chocolate the whole time we were there. I'm pretty sure I have gained 2kgs over this vacation, but I had a great time. It was nice to spend Easter with family. We played a card game called "bondebridge" almost every night and the last night I set the new record! Marius was not too happy about that, but all in good fun. We also sat down and planned Mom and Dad's visit in August, and it's coming along nicely! We are VERY ex...

Norwegians don't go to warm tropical places for the Easter holiday, no, they instead search for more snow! Last Friday I flew to Oslo and Marius drove us north to his grandmother's house in Tylldalen (near Tynset). We skiied all but one day, when we took the opportunity to drive more north to Røros (a World Herritage site). The skiing conditions were great on the groomed tracks, but that's not enough fun for the Engebrethsen family. We went off-road up over a mountain and then down into a gully where we made hot dogs over the fire. Was a really cozy experience apart from all the bruises on my butt as a result from not much downhill training in flat Michigan. I got a little grumpy, but who wouldn't ;) Once we got down to "the hole" (as they called it), and I had some warm food I was happy.  Everyday we have been overeating for sure! Grandma Oddny (Engebrethsen) made delicious cakes, jam, and dinners! I swear we eat 5 times a day here. One night we drove...