Wednesday, July 27 (Stavanger to Grimstad, Norway)

Slept in til 8:45, showered, breakfast, packed, looked at Anna's wedding pictures online, checked out, walked to town, bought a memory card, made it to the bus station, on to sunny Grimstad!

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The weather is between 20-25 degrees C.  Bridges high above fjord after fjord give way to arched tunnels directly into the mountains.  We arrived at the bus station in Grimstad and stopped at the McDonalds to eat our leftovers.  The current meal special of a burger with fried onions, fries, and a drink cost 99 Kr.  $20.00.  Maybe their government tries to discourage them from eating it??

Saab nostalgia.

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We started walking toward town, guessing where the water might be, and hoping we'd find the tourist office without a map.  We did!  Yay.  Vestre Grom 16 led us down a short country lane and into a neighborhood of small but detailed houses.  16 was a red 1.5 story house with the door open, shoes, spilling out of the entryway, and voices coming from upstairs.  We knocked on the door and called out to Karianna's mother-in-law, Anna.  She came down with her husband Lars, her brother Oyvinde, and his two daughters Caroline and Matilde.  

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We set up our tent in Anna's other brother's yard (they are renting the garage and guesthouse from the people who bought their house as they build a new one a hundred yards away, whewww).  We had hardly started before his wife was trying to shoo us away, speaking in Norwegian to us.  Anna came to explain that we weren't strangers camping on their property.

Fireweed and wild roses are everywhere!

Tuesday, July 26 (Stavanger, Norway)

Our journey to Lysefjord included a short walk up to the bus stop, which took us to the ferry in Stavanger, which took us to the harbor in Tau, and where we jumped on a bus to Preikestolen Park.  The hike reminded me of the portages into Tuscarora or Lake of the Sky, and except for the sheer elevation (640 m), was full of Minnesota familiarities.  The trail was packed, Paul and I bounded up like bunnies to each resting point and beyond, promising to slow down and take it all in on the way down.

Views from the way up.

Plentiful hikers with sticks.

The first view of Pulpit Rock

We reached the rock in about 1.5 hours and had our lunch a little too close to the edge, in my opinion.  I found it absolutely tortuous to watch others hanging their feet or their cameras or their shoulders over the edge.  The rock really did look like a pulpit preaching down the Lysefjord.  Paul saw the ferry in the water waaaaaaay far below and took a picture over the edge (I didn't look).  The return trek took one hour, and we waited with a crossword at the bus station before jumping on the earlier bus of another company.

Over the edge

Paul's look.

Marie's look.

On the way down.

We bought dinner ingredients, 2 Aass beers, and made it back for a happy hour in our room.  An $8 sauna and shower from the pool down the lake trail was kind of worth it.  :)  We made eggs and potatoes in the small hostel kitchen.  Norwegians must not use garlic often, ours wasn't fresh.  Viktor, a student-employee of the hostel, came to chat with us.  Turns out he was an exchange student in Iowa City.  He was so nice and snuck butter, salt, and pepper out of the staff kitchen.  Lots of Nuts later (I briefly caught up) and then bedtime.

Monday, July 25 (Bergen to Stavanger, Norway)

Made it to the pier to board the Flagrutten, and found the last pair of window seats.  Are now cruising the rather flat west coastline past rocky formations and scrubby trees, accented sometimes by a bright brick red house.  Cloudy, getting brighter on the way to Stavanger.
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Paul napped, I explored the windy deck, and then both of us went up for the sunniest part.  Rocky coasts are now covered with bright green grassy fields.
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12:00 noon- moment of silence for the Oslo victims.  The boat turned off its engine and we sat rocking in the water for a full minute.
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12:10- arriving in Stavanger with its oil rigs, drills and countless white houses.  We walked the tight cobblestone streets (pedestrians only) to the tourist information office, where we got directions to our hostel and information on our hike tomorrow.  We found cheap Thai food near the harbor and ate pepper beef and chicken fried rice outside while watching people.  Paul also calls feeding time for me "killing the monster."  The leftover food mixed with extra rice was enough for dinner for only 180 Nkr.  We started toward Mosvangen Vandrerhjem hostel, which is on a lake that resembles Calhoun.  The students who attend a nearby Bible college cook and run the place in the summers.  It was a long walk even if we did get a little turned around.  We played Nuts while waiting for our 4:00 check-in and settled in our small room and headed back into town.  We found ourselves in a large crowd of 75,000 in the city center for the memorial Parade of Flowers.

People were carrying their offerings: a potted orchid, a dozen roses, a single Gerbera daisy, hand-picked garden flowers, gladiolas.  We waited a half hour or so for a Norwegian ceremony in which the tragedy was honored-- First Aid responders and some of the students/parents on the island led a processional around the city.  We didn't join the parade, but sat near the harbor for our dinner and walked through Gamle (Old) Stavanger.  Cobblestone walkways pass between rows of late 18th-century white-washed wooden houses with beautiful window boxes and flowering gardens.

Searching for beer in a liquor or grocery store was fruitless: everywhere had closed early and all of Stavanger was sitting in restaurants or in the square with a snack and enjoying each other's company.  We bit the bullet (it had to be done at some point) and chose a pleasant cafe.  Our beer cost 14 dollars.  Each.  Besides a drunk guy almost falling on our table, it was a very pleasant evening.  We walked back and continued the Nuts war.  Preikestolen tomorrow!

Sunday, July 24 (Bergen, Norway)

Another early morning.  The Tveiten family is leaving for Stavanger to visit their new granddaughter.  She is 5 days old and still without a name!  We left our host gift and a card with the message that their English is 'very good.'  Else had asked us to put in writing that comment we made the night before.

Got into Bergen and walked to Nordnes, the point opposite Bryggen.  There were lovely rows of sycamores dripping from the rain and beautiful homes on the harbor.  We played with my camera settings to capture the view of the ocean and suburbs beyond.  We bought apples, crackers, chocolate, and brown Norwegian cheese at the Bunnpris grocery store for 50 Nkr (ten bucks), then made our way to Troldhaugen.  Edvard Grieg lived and worked there for much of his adult life and where now is a great museum.  The walk after riding the Metro took about 20 minutes, and it was HOT.  We made it in time to look through the exhibit a bit and then attended a lunchtime concert of Grieg's piano music.
-Norwegian nationalist, much loved and sought after during his lifetime.
-Had a lucky stuffed troll and a little metal frog that he kept for good luck.  He said goodnight to them both every night.
-His baton looked like a magic wand.
-He was tiny, and married his equally tiny first cousin.

The exhibit was very good; I bought two postcards, ice cream, and we sat in the cafe while we figured out our finances and plans moving forward.  We walked back in the light rain, checked into our hostel, and played Nuts.  The Bergen hostel has a neat vibe- lots of young travelers from all over (Sweden, Russia, France, South America), young families, and a spirit of sharing.  People were watching TV, making food, spread out on the work tables with maps, and exchanging tips.  We checked into Beds #1 and #2, a little white bunk-bed in the company of twenty others in the large economy dorm.  We were given linens- a pillowcase, top sheet, and duvet covers.

Amund made dinner for us at his place, and after considering a traditional Norwegian meal, klub (potato dumplings with cheese sauce) he settled for lasagna, bread, salad, and beer.  We stayed for 3 or so hours and talked all about the bombing/shooting, Norwegian politics, and life in America.  When you are made to explain certain systems and technicalities of American living it is easier to see the oddities (especially the two party system, TV ads for politicians).  Norwegians are happy, for the most part, with their system, paying high taxes in exchange for healthcare, comfortable retirement, education, student living stipends, and high minimum wage for public service jobs.

The experience of walking into a hostel room of 50 beds, which may or may not have sleeping people in them, is quite strange.  There are some lights that stay on on the edges of the room and all the bedding is stark white.  The morning is a more negative feeling, especially if you are the inexperienced hostilians who need to leave by 7:00 am.

Saturday, July 23 (Bergen, Norway)

I'm sure you've heard about the attacks in Norway.  We are staying with Audun's aunt and uncle and cousin in Fana, outside of Bergen.  The bomb went off in Oslo almost right after we got on the train out of the airport, and I am amazed that we didn't get stopped somewhere along our journey.  We had no idea anything had happened, actually, until Silje picked us up at the train station.  We took buses around the city center, which was closed for some other construction reasons, and then made it on our train to Bergen.  She had been sure we wouldn't have gotten out of Oslo. 

There is constant news coverage on TV and the Norwegian king, who is really respected, just gave a statement to his people.  They are so sad and cant believe what happened, especially the young people who were tricked into approaching this guy disguised as a British police officer.  We had porridge on the porch tonight with our hosts and they told us what they know and what they learned on the news today.  Yesterday they thought maybe 17 kids had been killed.  Now it is more than 90, and he pursued them at close range while the police were more than busy with the explosion in Oslo.  Like we know, Norway is the country to stay away from violence and not to think extremist thoughts.  Its been so interesting to be here and to have conversations with people about what has happened.  For a while they thought it was a group of people, perhaps Al Queda, who organized the attacks (planning them for maybe 8 years since we got involved in agriculture and started stockpiling powerful fertilizers to create his bomb(s).

We are in Bergen and spent a lovely slow day exploring Bryggen, Bergen Castle, the Fish Market, and hiking Ulrikken, one of the seven mountains surrounding the city.  Our practice with Norwegian (Paul with much more experience than me) has been thwarted a little bit in Bergen, because they pronounce everything very differently.  Tomorrow we pack up and drop off our stuff at the Bergen YMCA, where we stay tomorrow night.  We are hoping to go to Edvard Grieg's house and hear a concert around lunchtime, and then visit the tourist office for some information about our Monday morning ferry.  There is a funicular, too, that will give us a similar view as our hike today.  Amand, Audun's cousin, was our tour guide. 

We are safe and away from Oslo for now, but we are wondering what the city will be like when we visit next week.  It is sad here.

Friday, July 22 (Oslo to Bergen, Norway)

We landed at 12:40 and spent a while waiting for my luggage.  There wasn't much English spoken at the airport, but we found our way to pick up train tickets and asked someone to help us find the correct platform.  Oslo Center was closed to thorough-traffic, so we boarded a train, two buses, and a final train to take us to Bergen, starting at 3:15.  These train trips were a breeze compared to my last experiences through the Czech Republic and Hungary.  Paul and I make a good travel team.  A man who was sitting in our assigned seats on the final train became quite the companion as we headed west.  Otto commented on the scenery, taught some English words, and explained the types of trees.  We passed gorgeous mountainside, forest, fjord, and lake, every glance a postcard.  Otto surprised us with some Pepsi and a Norwegian KitKat bar.  Rolling into Bergen at 10:30, it was still light out, the puffy clouds illuminated in the purple and orange light.

Silje, Audun's cousin, picked us up and told us there had been a terrorist attack in downtown Oslo that afternoon.  A second attack on an island off the coast of Norway happened later that day.  The Norwegian national news was spilling when we reached Else and Asborn's house in Fana, just outside Bergen.  Adorable, bright, cheery, and with a beautiful Norwegian dinner waiting for us, smør brød (butter bread).  Bread, cheese, meats, cucumber, eggs, tomato, jam, curried salad, coffee, tea, and juice.  During dinner we talked of the attacks and made plans for tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 6

Yesterday I had the morning off so I went to yoga, got a mighty big cappuccino, and then bought some Oregon cherries from the Farmers Market.  It is finally heating up to the temperatures the Old Guard seem to remember.

Paul and I had a glorious dinner last night at the Davis hotel.  I did not remember to take pictures of our delicious food- Paella Risotto, fresh salads, and BLT sliders.  We basically planned our time in Bergen.  Anna has been connecting us with her friends and future relatives in Oslo, Bergen, and Grimstad to help us keep our trip under budget (which is, let's face it, just as cheap as possible).

Our itinerary is as follows:

July 21- flight to Oslo through Minneapolis
July 22-25- Bergen
July 25 Stavanger (Pulpit Rock)
July 26-28 Grimstad
July 28-31 Oslo
July 31-August 3- Oslo to Trondheim roadtrip and camping in
August 3-6 Trondheim (August 6- Anna and Audun's Trondheim blessing ceremony)
August 7-11 Hepso cabin
August 11- flight back to Minneapolis through Iceland

There is definitely some room (especially around the trip to Trondheim) for some flexibility, so I've been researching Stavanger or around the Hardangerfjord to see if we can squeeze out another day there, as well as the surrounds of Oslo and Lillehammer.  I'm thinking there will be an extra day to have an adventure (fjord kayaking, anyone?).  I'm also partial to the relatively cheap options to rent a motorboat for a half day and hang out in the most beautiful scenery around!

Most of our departures will take place on the morning of the final day listed, taking advantage of the extensive bus and train schedules.  I've been trying to purchase some minipris (which is simply a word for advanced tickets) online, but unbelievably, the entire summer of rides from Lavprisekspressen (www.lavprisekspressen.no) seems to be sold out.  Anna tells me that Nor-Way Bussekspress (www.nor-way.no) guarantees a bus, and if not they will send another, so there doesn't seem to be much worry in waiting, even until we get there.  I'm using the Lonely Planet guidebook for this trip, and I'm finally used to the layout (I'm a Fodor's girl, but there are no exclusively Norwegian guidebooks, only "Essential Scandinavia").

On the Bergen expedition short-list of ideas:
Kayak Fjord Expeditions out of VOSS: either tours or rentals
Husmannsplassen or Brekkedalen hikes out of STALHEIM
Fruit farms and beautiful hikes out of OYSTESE or ULVIK
Hardanger Fjord and Nature Center, fjord mini-cruises in EIDFJORD

I just know that small villages and cities are going to be my cup of tea, and thus far our itinerary is full of larger cities and cosmopolitan areas.  The next step is renting a car.  Paul and I are rather excited that we'll see three more paydays before our trip (and one to replenish us while we are in Norway).

Today was rehearsal for Matthew Halls' St. Cecilia program: Purcell, Handel, and Britten.  I'm curious to learn more about Britten's piece, as the ode was written for him by W.H. Auden (not only for him, but potentially about him, too).

My audition is tomorrow at 2:30 pm for Kathy and Peter.  Let's hope I'm in good voice.  The cum sancto spiritu needs to be at =110!

Monday, July 4

Butte to Butte- success!  Tim, Christine, Paul and I took a 6:30 shuttle to the startline and got lined up for the race that begins with a mile hill, a mile down, and then four straight.  It was clear I had recently run a half marathon, but it was a great experience and one that we think should become a tradition.  I finished with 8:46 splits.

Steelhead- for dinner and appetizers, we went to Steelhead Brewery.  We were literally offered special brownies from a guy walking down the busy street.  He came right up to our table and made the pitch.  We thought it might be funny to buy the entire batch and swap them with the brownies on the dessert table in the dining hall.

Sneakers- Robert Redford movie.  David and Dara Scholz introduced us to the greatness.

Fireworks- the Eugene Em's baseball stadium had quite the show, and we were able to watch their show along with the Springfield and Eugene fireworks; for a little while they were all at the same time!

Saturday, July 2

I am registered for the Auqafina Butte to Butte 10K run!  The first mile is uphill, the second mile is downhill, and the last 4 are flat.  It sounds pretty great.  The first runner in several categories to make it up the first hill gets the title of King or Queen of the Hill.  So far Christine Howlett, Nathan Leaf, Tim Westerhaus and Paul are also going to register.  I bet more from the choir would be a part of it too.

It will be July 4th at 8:00 am.  We could be done and back before a 10 am rehearsal, don't you think?

Today we have a Cecilian odes rehearsal with Kathy and Peter, then a substantial afternoon off before Jeanne D'Arc's performance.  Last night we were made to stay through 10pm while we waited for the freaking curtain call to be choreographed and practiced.  Paul and I walked back and grabbed ice cream at the 7-11 (Seben Auf) and crashed.

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The performance of Jeanne D'Arc was tonight- pretty full house, somewhat better cues and conducting, and a powerful response from the audience.

Friday, July 1

Today we went to the King Estate Winery in the mountains of Eugene.  The nearly off afternoon afforded us enough time to have a nice lunch.  The Scholz's drove us with Tim through the beautiful country edges of Eugene and up into some of the nearby buttes and hills.  There were new colorful batches of calves in the hilly fields, pretty houses tucked away, and the most beautiful weather we've had yet.

We drove up through rows of very young grapes with many hawks flying overhead (employed to be natural pest killers).  Lavender and cypress trees started appearing as we edged up the drive, and it was like driving into a French country club.  Paul and I started a $5.00 wine tasting and had their famous Pinot Gris, a Riesling, Rose, two Pinot Noirs, and a rich Syrah.  We walked around outside a bit before having a wonderful lunch with wonderful and new friends.

We stayed as long as we could before racing back to get me to my 3:30 call time for Cantata 149 (the hunting cantata) written for St. Michael's Feast Day- Sept. 29.  St. Michael Cantatas seem to be the theme this summer.

Before that I went to a Bikram Yoga class, which I thought I was familiar with until we started.  OY!!!!!

I went with my soprano friend Jane from Australia who has been to Bikram classes all over the world and they are always the same 26 poses in the same order with the same pieces of rest and dialogue.  She told me that it costs some $15,000 to get certified to teach this type of yoga.  You have to check into this San Deigo hotel for about 2 months and learn from the franchise in a certain way.  I'd say brand name yoga is kind of an oxymoron.

-carpeted studio (SICK)

-known as the original hot yoga

-totally scripted class; the teacher stood on a mirrored box and said things like "Push more, push further, push hard, push now" (push replaced with kick, lock, go, etc) "put your total head on your completely knee," and "Complete relax."  The ESL syntax of  the yoga class was kind of distracting and I wasn't sure if the teacher had trouble putting a sentence together or not.

-The teacher would call out to you by name what you needed to fix or do better; non of this loving flow yoga crap, apparently.  Jane and I got called out quite a bit.  Jane was in a class where a student threw a water bottle at a teacher (who responded, "I know, right?"

-To fit in you have to wear Speedo-like shorts, and a sports bra.

It was completely different than any yoga class I've ever been to, but I also felt much better afterward than any, too- in Jane's words "I feel like I could eat the whole world for breakfast" (cute accent not included).  It was $20.00 for an unlimited 10-day pass, which was very worth it.  I think I'll be back- while I'm in Eugene at least.

Wednesday, June 29

The morning started late with a little breakfast and some time sitting at Starbucks.

We got on the very random topic of teaching cursive writing to elementary students.  My opinion: the more penmanship (writing or printing) the better, because the computer has made fine motor skills (like gripping and directing a freaking pencil) to go out the window.  I have fourth graders who write like they are 2 years old.  Na' kidding.

Today we read Matthew Halls' Cecilia program: Handel, Britten, and Purcell odes to St. Cecilia.  I have sung the Britten before and finally it felt like I could lead with confidence on the a cappella style and vowel shapes.  Yay!  I am always curious to figure out a conductor's seating philosophy.  Kathy switches up our seats just about every rehearsal and changes her mind often about how she can find the right sound.

I walked all over God's green earth today.  I needed to return the Minnesota Beatle Project of VEGA productions grant and get it coordinated with my school, so that took me to the OBF office which has a permanent headquarters on the U of O campus.  Dave Goudy set me up with a computer, printer, and scanner so I could get the grant finished up.  It is of course due tomorrow.  It was so interesting to listen to the requests of special musicians, midnight runs to the airport, and the types of projects the office needed to work on: hotel rooms, daily pay, sick soloists, wine lists, sponsorships, etc.  I sent off the grant for a few final touches from my secretary and am hoping that my school will be the recipients of as many of these as $3500.00 can buy.

   

Tuesday, June 28

It is rainy and a bit chilly today.

We got coffee on the way to rehearsal at the Hult Center and had our first go around with Marin Alsop, the conductor for Jeanne D'Arc this weekend.  I think it really will be a fantastic performance; I like the score the more we sing it.  There are elements of circus/carnival music, French folk song, Gregorian chant, and American jazz, not to mention all the French impressionism/chromaticism.  The hardest part is the Prologue (described as a big mud pile).  I am curious to hear from our Jeanne.  In the recording I have she doesn't seem to sing much at all- only passionately dramatic text (understandable).  We were wondering last night if the composer of "Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella" is an ironic coincidence or a cruel joke.

Honegger was a huge movie score composer, and so much of the opera (it's actually called an oratorio) has that "cinematic" quality.

Off for rehearsal with the wise one!  I might get off for a run along the Willamette this afternoon; I have from 3:00-7:30 off today.  First afternoon off in a long time!

Projects: 

talk to David and Dara about an afternoon at the coast

movie night

Bach boutique- CHECK

cheese balls

late birthday drinks/dinner

write grant- CHECK

I am FOR SURE getting one of these beautiful machines when the updates come out in August.

Monday, June 27

We just ran up a mountain!  A butte!

On to my 3:15 rehearsal and 4:30 performance of Bach's Cantata 19.

Then, a 7:30-10:00 rehearsal of Jeanne d'Arc.

ABCs of the Bach Festival and Eugene, OR

A is for Allergies
B is for Bicycles, Bobblehead, Butte to Butte
C is for Cheese Balls
D is for David and Dara
E is for Eating
F is for Fourth of July
G
H is for "Heurtibeuse"
I is for Ivy
J is for "Jeanne"
K is for Kathy Romey
L
M is for Microbrews
N
O
P is for Peters and Pauls
Q
R is for Running, Rose Garden
S is for Starbucks, Seben Auf
T is for Trains, 10Ks
U
V is for Venezuelans
W is for Willamette River
X
Y is for Yoga
Z

Sunday, June 26

Today is our final dress rehearsal and performance of the Brahms Requiem, which is unique because it doesn't use the traditional Latin texts (Dies Irae, Lux Aeterna, etc.).  Brahms uses unique texts from around the Bible, more rare because it is not for the dead but for the consolation of the living.  The text is about comforting the mourner rather than about the passage of the dead.  We have an awesome soprano who sings the solo in the 5th movement- written after the death of his mother.  The soloist repeats "I will see you again."

Warming up before rehearsal

Paul in front of Beall Hall, Music Building

To greet us yesterday in our 3 hour rehearsal, Mr. Rilling greeted us in Spanish and told us that we would begin with the 4th movement.  Our visiting choir from Caracas, Venezuela had to help us find the correct page.  We chuckled because we understood what it must have been like to sit through a rehearsal in a language where you can only pick up the Italian terms.  Rilling can run rehearsal in several languages, and included bilingually throughout the rehearsal.

Rilling uses the timpani as a distinct and individual instrument, not something that stays in the background as a beat keeper.  He uses it to its limits in the second movement, "all flesh is as grass."

After rehearsal we walked through the Saturday farmers market.  Jewelry, ceramics, woods, local artists, and produce.  We saw some hilarious croquet sets guaranteed to bring out the "inner Neanderthal."  The mallets were very rustic pieces of mossy, crooked, and knobby logs.

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Before each movement today Mr. Rilling went through the significance of each movement.  Did you know...
1.  Rilling disagrees with the musicologists who call Brahms a man without the church.  The harp closes the 1st and 7th movements in a upward swell, signifying the resurrection.
2.  The baritone soloist in the 3rd movement represents a minister, and the choir the congregation.
3.  Death seems to shadow each movement threateningly except for the 4th- "How lovely is Thy dwelling place" (Psalm 84)
4.  The text of the 6th movement (Hebrews 13, 14) is the same as the final movement of Handel's Messiah
5.  Monteverdi's Orfeo uses three trombones as the gate keepers of the otherworld.  Brahms uses the same instrumentation as the text speaks of the "place we cannot know about."

My score is now full of little hearts.

...

Update: Emerald City
Yesterday Paul and I went running to the Eugene Rose Garden and along the Willamette River, lined by some of the biggest trees I've ever seen!  They look like white pine needles until you get close enough to see they are more cedarlike.

The allergies are exactly as they promise- terrible.  I raided the Safeway store the other day to purchase Allegra (better than Zyrtec I think), Visine-A, and nose spray.  Used all together I feel relief, but when the meds run out I am itching and sneezing furiously.

Eugene is loud- college town, lots of traffic, almost constant train noise from the tracks not far from here, and the construction from downstairs- jackhammering, pounding, saws, and trucks moving all over.  It begins around 6 am, when the light also pours in.  It's pretty hard to oversleep here.  I feel like I am in "The Girl from 14G" when I was awakened by vocalizing at 7:00 am the other morning.  Hopefully a running routine will settle in- right now there is an uncomfortable rhythm of constant eating; our days are wake up, eat, sing, eat, sing, eat, sing, drink and eat, sleep, repeat.  We get free board at the cafeteria and many of us groan when we realize that "it's time to eat again..."

Paul's pouf

The concert this afternoon was absolutely mind-blowing.  Movement 2 in particular- "all flesh is as grass" was overwhelming with the sheer sound and emotion.  Mr. Rilling is wonderful during performance, and cares for each entrance and each section.

Some photos of the Patron Dinner tonight: