Our Trip to Norway Part I: Askar

As you may remember from an earlier post, Jube and I were in Norway last week. That's why I didn't post--I was out having Nordic fun! When we arrived at the airport, my uncle and favorite little cousin, Ligne, were waiting to meet us. As soon as we reached their house, I saw more of my family. My little boy cousins were jumping up and down on my little brother, and my mother was laughing with my Norwegian aunt. We were all very happy to see each other, and the kids received their full Easter eggs a day early to celebrate our arrival. They chowed down on their chocolate, Kinder eggs, and traditional Norwegian gummy men before tempting Jube outside for a snowball fight.

My little brother, whom Ligne named "Rooster" for his new mowhawk, refused to wear a coat for most of the trip. He did put on one glove as a concession to the snow on this occasion. The older kids ran around, throwing snowballs and laughing hysterically, while the smallest made snowballs and handed them to Jube, explaining things in Norwegian. Two neighborhood kids even joined in the battle, although they seemed surprised when Jube shouted things to them in English.



When we went inside, it was time to dye eggs! My mother had brought the kits from America, and the Norwegians provided watercolors, so we made masterpieces depicting eggs, bunnies, and one inspired alien. That evening we took a walk to the local branch of Oslofjord, where the kids showed us their favorite summer beaches and diving platforms. We tempted ducks with stale bread and listened to the Norwegian A-B-C song about 5 times. Then we ate dinner and headed to bed to prepare for the next day.

We woke up late on Sunday and had a huge Norwegian breakfast/lunch, consisting of sweet brown goat's cheese, caviar, roast beef, pate, salted lamb, shrimp salad, and Easter eggs (in any combination) on bread. Then we relaxed and hid the eggs for the kids to find, which they did about 5 separate times (once hidden by the Easter bunny, once by their father, and then once by each child). Afterwards we went to the Sonja Henie modern art museum, where we saw pictures by Picasso and Matisse, as well as an ultra post-modern exposition from a Norwegian artist that left most of us cold--except for the youngest cousin, who ran around the huge exposition hall and climbed on one of the smaller artworks that was exposed on the ground. That night we ate kebabs, and prepared for another day of sightseeing.