“You’ve got your hands full.” I often hear this cliche spoken to myself or my wife as we make our way around with our twins. Many times, we literally do, carrying a child in each arm. Other times, it’s the twin stroller loaded up with bags and toys to keep us going during a day out with the boys. In either case, the speaker tends to not go beyond words and we’re left to navigate […]
There’s no where to go but down from here. Things get strange up above the arctic circle. In the summer, for weeks, the sun never sets. In the winter, it doesn’t rise. Reindeer and Santa are real here and you can meet them. The Earth ends here, dropping off into the water over precipitous cliffs that make you really appreciate how brave the Vikings were to have sailed out beyond these cliffs. Norway is long. […]
Our smartphones, tablets, TVs, and computers are pretty impressive. They’ve become integral parts of our lives and many of us cannot imagine life without them. In the ten years since the debut of the original iPhone and arguably the launch of the smartphone revolution (sorry Palm), our phones have become an extension of ourselves. Phones have come with many benefits. We are always connected now, getting updates from friends and family constantly. The world is […]
Trondheim, city of kings and home to what feels like Norway’s highest concentration of microbreweries per capita, is the perfect place to spend a day in the sun with some beer and exploring a city tied to its past. From the statue of the Viking King Olaf that watches over town to the massive Nidaros Cathedral, burial site of the ancient kings of Norway, Trondheim is a city that won’t let you forget it’s history. […]
Home to mountain views and surrounded by water, Alesund, Norway is where the mountains meet the sea in Norway’s Western Fjord region. A popular jumping off point, or stop along the way for those exploring the fjords, Alesund makes for a great rest stop in a more developed setting than most of the fjords. Here you’ll find a great hiking scene, excellent local beer, and good restaurants, all within a short walk from the water. […]
With twins, complete strangers often approach me with completely random questions. Things normally sane people would otherwise never ask me seem to just pop out of their mouths before they can think. Something about twins makes people forget their filter or to think about what they will say next before they do so. It happens often in daily life, but on vacation it seems I can’t go ten feet without being stopped for questions. On […]
I just don’t understand why the Vikings ever left. With scenery this majestic, why would anyone want to leave? Yet leave they did, across the globe to England, France, Russia, and even as far as North America. With about a million visitors a year, many from the new world, the flow has reversed. Picture Norway and the fjords of Eidfjord may come to mind. The landscape here sweeps up from the tranquil aquamarine waters of […]
On July 24th, fresh off of a fantastic vacation in Norway, we were supposed to return home on United flight 71. Little did we know that we’d only be home almost 48 hours later, including over 5 hours on planes that never moved. If it weren’t for the incredible vacation we had just had with our twins, their first time out of the country, the whole thing might have been ruined. Traveling with one-year-old twins […]
Across the street I spy the largest butcher’s shop I’ve ever seen. It looks as if it takes an entire block’s ground floor with numerous counters stacked with meat. From the ceiling hang a multitude of cured meats, legs of several land animals, and a few fowl as well. For a town connected more to the water of the fjord, it’s strange to see so much meat in Stavanger. I make a mental note to […]
I’m not one for hot takes. This is much more of a lukewarm take. Everyone seemingly has an opinion on the leaked memo a Google employee wrote and circulated within the company last week. The employee has since been fired, Google’s CEO has penned a memo to employees on it, and the former employee has filed a free speech lawsuit. Everyone seems to feel the need to argue about whether or not it is protected […]