Climbing Mountains

(I've neglected my blog. I simply didn't get around to Foodie Friday, but hopefully I'll be more organized for it next week. For now though, let's catch up.)

The highest mountain in Bergen is called Ulriken. Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains - which explains the concentration of frequent clouds and rain, but the highest is Ulriken at 643 meters above sea level.

There are gorgeous panoramic views from the top, and a cable car to take you back and forth to the restaurant. 

I desperately wanted to take the cable car, but we decided to hike up and then ride down. This hike was CAKE compared to the one I've previously posted about. 

Our destination was the funny looking tower on top (which glows interesting colors on clear nights in Bergen). 

We walked from our apartment up to the beginning of the trail, and then officially started the hike. It didn't take long to enjoy the first of many beautiful views on our way up. 

As is famous for hiking trails in Norway, we climbed up A LOT of rocks that only got bigger the higher we went: 

The hike was difficult, but the end was always in sight, and in comparison to the monster hike we went on upon arriving in Norway, this seemed easy. 

Some parts were so steep that there were handrails provided which eased the strain on your knees. 

Hand rails and beautiful views.

Towards the top, you could see the cable cars going (which, on a clear day, you can actually see from our apartment, spurring my interest in wanting to visit this mountain in the first place). 

Almost there!

We made it!

The weather turned out to be perfect hiking weather, and the sun even came out when we were at the top of the mountain. 

We found a place to sit down and have our snack that we packed with us, and bought a cup of coffee at the restaurant.

There was a definite chill in the air, so we were only able to sit outside long enough to eat and snap a few pictures. 

Rocking my Norwegian wool top! :)

And of course I had my darling hubby to take one too....

When we were sitting outside, I saw this lonely coffee cup on the table with gorgeous Bergen views behind and thought that is so Norway: hiking, pretty views, and coffee.

Sooo Norway

And of course, the Norsk flag: 

We bought a cup of coffee and shared a chocolate bar inside before taking the cable car down to the bottom. 

Our cable car's shadow. 

It was a great hike, and a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon: together and enjoying ourselves in the beautiful city that we live in. :)

Foodie Friday - Shrimp!

Goodness, Friday comes fast!

I nearly considering 86-ing the feature this week in favor of a post about finally getting our shipment and how wonderful it was to open everything. But Foodie Friday won, so you'll just have to wait a day or two for the other post (perhaps the more exciting post too...).

A trip into the center of Bergen is always fun. The famous fish market (Fisktorget) and Mathallen (food hall) down by the Bryggen is always crowded - full tourists and locals. We went down there on a nice afternoon, and spent time looking at everything. We came home with some Reindeer sausage, which is yummy, and loads of shrimp.

I've only had the shrimp experience like this once before, and that was when I was living in Stavanger (I should say staying, I wouldn't call what it was living). Never have I experienced this in the states, but that just might be the way I grew up and I've never known any different. In any case, I'll explain.

You buy the shrimp, bring it home and put it in a big bowl.

Get an extra bowl for the heads, tails, and shells.

Haul out the white bread (apparently it must be white, "legend has it" - aka, according to Stian), butter, and mayo.

So what you do is pick up a shrimp, rip off it's head, rip off it's tail, spread it's legs and pull of the rest of the shell to get to that delicious meat we're so familiar with inside. You can also suck out the caviar inside the ones with eggs. I found that repulsive. And then I tried it. And then I confirmed it was repulsive. 

About to be decapitated. Poor thing.

The remains. Unwanted heads and tails.

After you've gotten the meat out, take a piece of bread, spread some mayo or butter on it, and pile on those shrimp that you've worked ever so hard for. 

Needless to say, you work hard for a meal like this. You have to wash your hands about 3 times before the stink is gone and you might find random shrimp legs on your table the next day, but there is one good thing to say: it was delicious. 

Next week I'll share about something I made in my new pots and pans with my new cooking utensils and spices, and ate off of my new plates. Recipes welcome!

Things I Miss About California

I'm not homesick. Not yet at least, but every few days I think hmm, I would really love _____. And most of the time it's a California-something.

This morning I woke up and while making a cup of tea I thought hmm, I would really love some sourdough bread from Trader Joe's - toasted with melted butter on top. My old Saturday morning habit: take a cup of tea and some toast back to bed and watch something (usually Law and Order: SVU) on Netflix.

While "Tex-Mex" is mega popular here, it doesn't compare to Mexican food in California - something I definitely took for granted while living there. When I'm on Facebook and spot somebody's profile that I met while living in San Diego, I think hmm, I could really go for some food from Trujillo's right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but were the fries covered in guac, sour cream, beef/chicken, and everything delish called the California fries? I can't remember, but they were good. Yum.

I think I need a good guac recipe for when we have taco night. Anybody have any good ones to share?

When I head to work in the morning after putting on my rain coat and shoving my feet into my wellies, I glance at my sunglasses sitting on the table on my way out and think it's been awhile since I wore those. They've been stuck to my face the last few years.

And finally, every so often, I think hmm, I would really love to drive. Drive up to Target....just for an hour - long enough to see what's in the entire store only to buy a pack of gum. I miss that store.

Oh, yeah. One more thing.

I've told you how I have to go outside in all weather with the kids at work. I've already grown weary of changing 27 three and four year old's in and out of their rain gear twice a day, but by the time we all get out, the fresh air is reward enough. This past week, after it poured like I've never seen it pour, the clouds parted and behind those big, ugly, dark gray puffs in the sky was...the sun. A warm sun. I took off my jacket and let it warm me up all over. I closed my eyes and all I thought was mmm. That's really nice.