After a quick jaunt in Barcelona, I flew out of the city and headed towards Bergen, Norway where I spent Christmas with a friend and her family as well as my mom (yay!).
As it was Christmas time, I partook in some of the family's traditions, including their Christmas Eve dinner of lamb and potatoes, as well as opening presents. During the day, we spent a lot of time relaxing and watching tv. One show that they watch every year is a version of Cinderella, originally in a foreign language (Eastern European) that is dubbed over by one guy into Norwegian. Yes, he dubs all narration, guys and girls, and it was definitely unique to watch.
Mom arrived Christmas Day, and it was another good day for relaxing and enjoying each other's company, while eating too much of course. Mom brought me an incredible new camera, that also had some great messages recorded from family back home. It was a day where I missed everyone, but was very thankful to get some mommy time! Later that night, we had dessert... my friend's mom had baked 7 different types of cookies and made homemade gingerbread ice cream.
December 26th: we finally got out for some sightseeing. While I spent a little time in Bergen before, it was my mom's first time. We walked through town, visiting Bryggen (the old wharf during the days of the Hanseatic Trading League) and going up Mount Floyen to get a view over the city. As it's winter, there is really only a couple hours of daylight (and cloudy daylight at that) each day, so it was a new experience for me to see Norway like that. Also, if you're curious, there was no snow for me this year. Bergen is known for its rain, and rain it did. After our walk around town, we joined my friend's dad for an incredible meal, with shrimp as the centerpiece. At first I wasn't quite sure about the shrimp (they still had a head!), but quickly figured out how to take the head off. They were mighty tasty!
Mom and I did some touristy sightseeing and museums the next day. We started at the museum explaining all about Bryggen, explored the shops, saw the fish market (I'll pass on the lutefisk, thanks), and warmed up with tea. We were then fortunate enough to join my friend's family for yet another delicious dinner... deer that her grandpa had shot while hunting.
The highlight for December 28th was the largest gingerbread city in the world! Every year, Bergen's inhabitants submit hundreds of gingerbread houses, buildings, men, etc. Many are submitted by kindergartens and schools, but anyone may contribute. It was really cool!
The trip went entirely too fast, and mom and my last full day together was a day at the museums. The maritime museum went through the Norway's history of sailing and other maritime activities (duh!). They had a replica of the Oseberg viking ship, which was cool to remember after seeing the real one in Oslo years ago. They also had an special exhibit on the Norwegian-American line that traveled between the two countries.
Overall, I loved spending Christmas in Norway. It was great to see some Norwegian traditions (that until yet I'd only heard of or that were completely new to me). It was great seeing a friendly face that I haven't seen in a couple years. And it was even better to see my momma during the holidays.
Happy holiday to everyone and wishing you all the best for 2014!
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