Summer Houses and Ferries!

Well, well, well. It's been quite the week. My host family, my host mother's parents and their host student and her sister's family all went to this summer house in Ula, near Larvik in I believe it's called Vestland (West-Land)? Anyway, I got to experience many things along the way to and from the house. I tried many things for the first time. My first time on a ferry, eating chorizo by itself, eating cured lamb, having moose sausage (i've eaten moose burgers but never moose sausage), my first time in the open ocean, my first time trying Solo (a popular Norwegian soda) and trying this one soda I can't remember, and that was just on the ferries!

We took two ferries. One half hour long one that went across the middle of Oslo-fjord, and then a longer one from Sondefjorden, Norway to Strömstad, Sweden where we took a car back to Norway. Below are the photos from the second ferry :) (I didn't take any on the first because twas so very short).

They had a cool statue to honor the whalers that used to live in the area.

This is in Sondefjorden harbor.

Måke (M-oh-keh), or as we'd call it, Seagull.

Flying the colors.

The North Sea <3

Now we are entering Strömstad Harbor

Strömstad is a very beautiful town.

And now for my photos of the trip to Ula near Larvik at the cabin. We hiked around to find edible mushrooms to cook for that nights supper, we hiked to the North Sea as well as to Ulabrand, a statue commemorating the guide from back in the day who used to steer ships in the right direction so they wouldn't crash.

Boating on Iddefjorden

Twas a very nice day in Halden, Norway. So, we decided we'd take my host grandfather's boat out into the fjord and have a meal on the boat when we'd got to the edge of the fjord which connects to both Oslo-fjord and the North Sea. I really can't tell you much except that we ate hotdogs wrapped in lefse instead of hotdog buns. It's much easier to show you my journey through photographs, so, Enjoy :)

Below is the bridge that is crossing from Norway (left) to Sweden (right).

Great view from the harbor :)

I hope you enjoyed this post, and stay tuned for the next blog post. Takk!

Fredriksten Festning

So, the amazing and extremely helpful thing about Halden, Norway is that they have a fortress, right in the city. Now, I use it mostly as a landmark to get where I want to go, but it's also a great place just to clear your mind at, get a good look at the layout of the city or just walk through history. The fortress is over 300 years old and has been invaded quite a few times by Sweden (The Norwegians even killed the Swedish king outside of the fortress walls, and there is a statue commemorating that.)

It's regarded as one of the most scenic and beautiful fortresses in Europe, according to a local travel guide that I picked up today.

So, behold, Fredriksten Festning (Fredriksten Fortress).

#Selfie (This is over the cliff at Fredriksten, and you're looking at Old Town in Halden. The oldest buildings in the town.)

The water you're looking at is called Iddefjorden.

There are many different cultural events here throughout the year. They've also got a bakery, brewery and a restaurant in some of the fortress' old buildings.

Stay tuned for my next posts about things such as a boat ride on Iddefjorden, My trip to the North Sea near Larvik, and my first/second ferry rides across the ocean!