Påskeferie (Easter break)

Wow, what an exciting April already, and so much more to come!

Last Thursday, I decided to take a little adventure (with a little encouragement from my mom!) and visit a Norwegian friend in Haugesund. Haugesund is located between Bergen and Stavanger on the West Coast of Norway. I'm sure glad I went; I got to experience a Norwegian Easter, great Norwegian food, a beautiful city/ocean and be exposed to tons of Norwegian!

Here is a panorama I took of the city (with the ocean in the background)--click on the picture to see a bigger version!

I stayed at my Norwegian friend's (his name is Øyvind--go ahead, try to pronounce it!) parents' house on the coast in Haugesund. 

The interesting thing about this area is that during WW2, the German's set up a lot of mines off the coast and a lot of bunkers within this rocky coastline. We went to check some of them out.

I thought these were REALLY creepy!

Lastly on our coastal walk, we visited this viking memorial. This mound was supposedly created upon a Viking King who brought all the other Viking Kings from different areas together and created peace throughout the different groups of Vikings. 

Some old Norwegian

"Here was Harald Haarfagre Hauclagt 933" The Viking for which the monument was built for.

"To the memory of Harald Haarfagre"-- gathered the Kings, 1000 years after a certain battle. (something to that effect--old Norwegian)

Staying on the Viking topic, we also visited this "island" that was rebuilt to look like it had during a viking settlement.

Also, there is a very famous church called St. Olav's Church, that has a rock slowly starting to fall onto it...

Okay, now something we randomly stumbled onto in the area...

The Statue of Liberty! Apparently, all the copper that the French used to make the Statue of Liberty for the US was mined in this area, melted down, and sent to France.

Where the copper was melted down.

More German bunkers! The second one is a picture from inside..looking out at what the German's could see..

Here are some pictures from around Haugesund.

The last picture is of a statue of Marilyn Monroe. Apparently she traveled to Haugesund a lot. Who knew?!

Lastly, some pictures of another coastal area around Haugesund.

The last one is a memorial for a boat (a ferry, actually) that sunk 10 years ago.

One last picture that I think is great...Øyvind's mom gave me an Easter egg full of candy! I was pretty excited... :)

That's my trip! Spent a lot of time speaking Norwegian with my friend's family and friends, which was really good for me (Since most of my friends here in Kristiansand speak English, and no Norwegian)! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

This month is full of exciting trips, Sarah giving birth and visiting friends! Check back soon for updates!! :)