Norway trip

After Christmas in Freiburg, we took a trip to Norway, for a taste of cross-country skiing and lefse. It was an exciting trip, if not quite as cold as we wished for. The documentation was created with a single-use camera, regular cameras can't be used there, obviously because of the reindeer.

Harbour in Oslo.

New Year's Eve by the city hall (trust me).

The Vigelandspark (I)

The Vigelandspark (II)

Ski-jumping in Lillehammer (this is a great mid-air shot).

Lillehammer's shopping district. Still bustling before the 2pm end.

Central cemetery in Oslo. You can see the grave of Ibsen, or someone else. What you don't see is the layer of ice under that soft snow, which, when you land on it, isn't nearly as soft as it seems.

Waiting for bus at Nordseter village.

Things exposed to air tend to freeze. I really don't know about those vikings and their beards.

Our first tour.

The Flåm Line, connecting Myrdal with the Sognefjord.

More cc-skiing.

Still more...

On a ferry in the Sognefjord.

This was our cottage at Nordseter. It was marvellous, but difficult to photograph.

Our ferry approaching.

Lake scene in Voss.

Budapest

Highlights from a quick trip to Budapest. Now that I officially have my UK residence card I can leave and enter the country without any hassle. Let the travels begin!

Jesse, Michelle, Joey, Kim, Melinda and Ryan on the banks of the Danube

Holocaust memorial

Chain bridge over the Danube - connecting "Buda" to "Pest"

Hungarian goulash was served in red metal pots

Hortobágyi palacsinta pancake filled with chicken and
served with a sour cream and paprika sauce.

St Istvan's Basilica

Hungarian sausage stands

The Great Market Hall- where you can find hundreds of different Hungarian sausages and paprika for sale

Hungarian street food- stuffed cabbage with paprika sauerkraut

Eating "langos"

Langos on display at the Great Market Hall

Heroes Square on our way to the Turkish baths

Budapest has the second oldest underground metro in the world (after London's Underground)

On the Metro. I found it striking that the handles were made of leather.

Matthias Church on Castle Hill

View from Castle Hill

Funny looking communist-era cars (this one is a Lada)

Pretty colors on Castle Hill

View of Parliament from Castle Hill

Battle scars on Castle Hill at the site where the Nazis
had their last stand against the Soviets

More Sailing and Family Visits

After sailing our boat in Scotland, we've since joined the Cam Sailing Club on the River Cam about five miles from our house. It's a small friendly club that is very low key. We store our boat there and have sailed a few times during the "leisure sails" where the more experienced members offer help and advice to newbies like us. Eventually we hope to get good enough to take part in the races that they hold weekly during spring and summer.

Uncle Dave, Aunt Patti and cousin Mark visited us in Cambridge during their UK/Holland/Germany tour. We celebrated Richard's birthday while they were here on a morning punting cruise complete with birthday mimosas.

Birthday cake at Patisserie Valerie

Birthday mimosas

A few weeks later, Richard's sister Sophie visited from Frankfurt.