The Norwegian Opera House

I found the Viking helmet I was looking for

At the Storting

With our host, Bjorn Hernaes, former member of parliament.

Bill looks regal with the lions outside the Storting

Yesterday: The Storting (Parliament)

Granli Planteskole

This is the view of the Norwegian countryside from Granli Planteskole, the spruce tree nursery owned by Finn Gjems, president of the Vinger Rotary Club and one of our hosts (this is the view from the guesthouse where Cara and Sara are staying this week).  I can't begin to convey the magical beauty of this place, even in the picture.  The sun is just trying to break out in this photo.  Taken about 3:30 p.m. local time today.

Bill's new friend

In Magnor we also encountered one of the great figures of Norwegian folklore, a troll.  Bill's the one on the right (just kidding, Bill!).

Grenseland

Today our hosts took us to the borderlands (grenseland) between Norway and Sweden.  We started with a visit to Ronning Treski, where Olf Ronning makes traditional wooden skis by hand. He is one of only two wooden ski (treski) makers left in Norway, but continues to ship more than 300 pairs of skis per year around the world, including for the grandchildren of Spanish king Juan Carlos.  We then visited the peace monument at Morokulien marking the Swedish-Norwegian commitment to brotherhood and cooperation (as opposed to their past of conflict), and then went across the border into Sweden for lunch and shopping. Finally, we visited the Magnor Glassworks where craftsmen make beautiful glass products by hand.  In the picture, you see Cara peering into the kiln where the craftsmen make molten glass for their products (yes, we finally have pictures!).

Kongsvinger: First Full Day

Unfortunately, I'm having camera problems and have no pictures to post as of yet.  Maybe my teammates can send me some pictures to post.  I will get the camera problems straightened out tomorrow; for now, an update on our first full day.

This morning we met with the mayor of Kongsvinger, then toured Kongsvinger Fortress, a 17th-century fort around which the city of Kongsvinger eventually grew up.  The fortress commander, currently the only soldier actually stationed there, gave us a presentation on Norway's small but active military, and the former commander gave us a tour with the spectacular view of the city and the Glomma River (Norway's longest) below.  In the afternoon, we toured Bergene Holm timber company.  Forestry is a major industry for this region of Norway.  Later, we walked into the woods and met loggers who were using massive John Dear machinery to do the delicate work of thinning out the forest to promote good tree health.  I had the great pleasure of operating the timber crane, picking up and moving large bundles of logs.  There are pictures of this somewhere, which we'll get posted when we can.  Finally, we ended the day at a spruce tree nursery that produces 2 million trees a year for reforestation.  Tonight, we made our first presentation, to Vinger Rotary Club.  Our hosts were most gracious and welcomed us with open arms.

We are tired from our activities, but deeply grateful to the generosity our hosts have shown us.  The trip is promising to be wonderful.

Arrival

I will post some pictures here shortly, but I just wanted to update saying that we arrived safely in Oslo today around noon local time after three long, but uneventful plane flights with little sleep. The most exciting thing that happened was when I forgot to take off my belt before going through the metal detector at the Amsterdam airport. Let's just say the Dutch could teach the American TSA a thing or two about doing a pat down. I felt like the security official and I should share a cigarette when he was finished with me...but alas, I posed no threat and we moved on.

Norway is a gorgeous winter wonderland at the moment. We were greeted by three kind and hospitable Rotarians from the Vinger and Kongsvinger clubs and had lunch at a roadside restaurant before enjoying a beautiful drive through the countryside to Kongsvinger where we met our host families. Tonight, we rest and spend time getting to know our new families, and tomorrow we will visit Kongsvinger fortress, a local forestry operation, and attend a Rotary meeting in the evening. More stories and pics to come...