2009 - Electric Passport Vacation

Yes, we traveled in 2009. We were fortunate to spend time in Bermuda, California, Florida, Maryland, Mexico, Nevada (Vegas to see Donny & Marie of course), Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC & of course, the cultural capital of Snohomish County (Hwy 99 in Lynnwood) during '09. We just took a break from blogging. Everyone needs a break, right?

Double-click on the pic below to view a few random '09 travel pics with The Chicken from our East Coast USA & Bermuda trip. Just to explain, whenever someone on my work team travels they have to bring Mr. Chicken along & take pics of various landmarks with him in it. It's sort of a Flat Stanley thing. Enjoy!



Stay tuned - We're heading back to South America for about a month in 2010. There will be too many opportunities to NOT blog about that trip!

There's Always a Weather Issue...

Ok, when we travel we tend to run into some sort of weather-related issue.

At Heathrow we were waiting to board our plane. The Business Class folks were asked to board but then there was a long wait & no one else was called. Then, the Business Class passengers all walked off of the plane.

We were only told that there was some sort of mechanical issue with the plane & that our flight would be delayed.

A few hours later (did we mention that Heathrow does not seem to have air conditioning) we were able to board the plane. The pilot made an announcement to explain the reason for the delay saying that the plane had been hit by lightning as it came into Heathrow during the previous flight.

Go figure!

Stavanger

Welcome to the Petroleum Captial of Norway!

Stavanger was the most "modern" of the cities we visited due to the discovery of oil in the 1960's. It is not old enough of a city to have burned down several times, but the locals are hoping this will be their year. Otherwise, the city was quite Ballard-like with the exception of older people who cannot see over a steering wheel driving real slowly. Oh... wait... All those people were on our ship.

Anyway, Stavanger also used to be the "Sardine Capital of the World." Yes, we truly do only visit the best places...

Oh, and it was designated as the "European Capital of Culture" for 2008. We knew we were in a special place when we saw the 7-Eleven right next to the McDonald's in the center of town where the fake Gucci sunglasses were being sold.

Ah... and this high honor is shared with Liverpool.

Bergen

Bergen is the town you think of when you imagine a picturesque Norwegian village.



After a short excursion up a funicular to an amazing view point, we bummed around town and walked through the open air market.

A quick note about the weather... Bergen is known and celebrated for its constant rainfall (Seattle could be an honorary, sister city). We have really lucked out with how nice it has been. Thanks to whoever arranged that for us.

Hellesylt & Geiranger

We dare you to try to pronounce either town names correctly!

Both towns are tiny & are located deep inside a Fjord. When we arrived in Hellesylt the captain gave an announcement saying that the town folks were always worried about the cliff faces falling off into the fjord causing a tsunami which would then destroy the town. Right after that he said, "So, if you want to go ashore & into town..."

Both towns had huge waterfalls literally flowing through the center of them.

Geiranger was one of our favorite ports during this cruise.

Bikers Beware!

In Trondheim, the pigeons have gotten very nasty indeed. They swoop down on unsuspecting bicyclists and force them down to the ground. They then descend in a feeding frenzy like nothing you have ever seen. Beware!

Trondhiem, Norway

Trondhiem, like every other city we have visited in Norway has burned down to the ground several times. Eventually, it gets rebuilt with largely non-flammable materials like stone and marble. However, some areas that managed to escape the more recent fires are still made of timber (for now).

Trondhiem, unlike every other city we have visited, was closed. It was a Sunday and pretty much nothing was open. Thank heaven for 7-11 (yes, they are here) and a few small souvenir shops attached to Nidaros Cathedral. Otherwise, we would have been walking around a very empty town.