Norway

Norway was on our list of places we wanted to go before we left Europe. I had heard the the fjords were beautiful and I was also hoping to see the Northern Lights.

Unfortunately November really isn't the time to see the Lights and the fjords were too far away for us to visit in the weekend that we had. We decided we would have just as much fun renting a car and exploring the countryside. We thought we should skip Oslo - after awhile all European cities start to look alike!

It turns out that Norway pretty much shuts down in the winter. Everything seemed to be closed and there were not many people out and about. But there was plenty of snow!! We asked several of the locals things we should do in the area and they all just looked at us strangely saying "Its winter!"

Even though everything was closed Norway still was beautiful.

view from our hotel

traditional Norwegian church

Lucerne for Halloween

On Halloween this year we headed to Lucerne, Switzerland to cheer on our friends Ali, Emily and Jamal as they ran a half-marathon. I was supposed to run with them but Mike came home and he's not a big runner so I lost my motivation.

The weekend was beautiful. Nice and cool - perfect running weather. I was a little jealous as I watched my friends run by but then I remembered how hard running is :-)

We got to Lucerne the day before the race and spent some time sight seeing. We even took a boat ride on the lake.

mmmmm cheese

that's Luna and I by the river

Merry Christmas!

Mike and I enjoyed a very quiet Christmas this year. It was nice in one way - not having to get out all the Christmas decorations, set up a tree, etc. But some of the Christmas magic is all of that stuff, so we lost a little of that this year.

Our Christmas tree was a house plant

But even though we didn't have all the 'stuff' we still managed to have a very nice Christmas.

It was definitely a white Christmas

Mike and Luna enjoy Christmas morning

That didn't last long...

Mike waits for his dinner

sunset Christmas Day

Update

Ok, ok, ok - I know its been forever. Sorry :-(

I promise to document the last few months soon but for now here's whats going on this weekend.

Christmas break started early on Thursday with a early release from school and no school on Friday because of the snow. It hasn't stopped snowing since Thursday! We have to have like 8 inches of snow. A record for our time living here. I think Germany is sending us off with a bang. We may not be seeing any snow for the next few years!

Saturday we headed to some Christmas markets with Emily and Jamal. We drove northwest to Aachen and Monschau.