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Norway to spend Christmas
  • Pal Sjimpson
  • Jessica Simpson
  • Fallen Comrade
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  • Pal Sjimpson
  • Jessica Simpson
  • Fallen Comrade

Norway to spend Christmas

Un’avventura di 10 giorni di Pal Sjimpson, Jessica & Fallen Leggi altro
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    🇳🇴 Geilo, Norway
    Norway to spend Christmas
    On the slopes
    Me and Jess on chairliftThat's me sliding down the hill1Paul not looking coolThe cool dudesMorning skyMost expensive and very rubbish lunchRoo and Paul in Norway ski perfectionLeggy cool dudeLovely Geilo skiingTate fell overToo cool for skiRuby when she fell over

    Don’t drink Geilo snow

    Ieri, Norvegia ⋅ 🌙 -7 °C

    It may seem to make no sense but when you understand that the place we are staying now is pronounced ´Yaylo’ you will appreciate it for the comedic genius that it is. Or possibly you need to be as tired as I feel for it to make any sense at all. Let me back up a little. There was a very early alarm this morning as we had to get up to catch the shuttle to town so we could pick up our skis and spend the day on the slopes. It is always a bit of a hassle to get the six of kitted out, then it is always awkward to get used to walking in ski boots but we got it all sorted and then we were set.
    The sun hadn’t even poked its head out by the time we were on our first run and there was a bit of a wind and it was cold. So we took our time to get into the swing of it again, gradually making our way a little further up the hill to the higher slopes, but as we got to the high point the wind was blowing hard and it was bitter, any exposed skin felt freezing. On the plus side, the slopes were fairly empty so we could make the most of that and we looked like a very cool family on the piste, although I was bringing the levels down slightly. We made our way along the side of the mountain, zigzagging and connecting with different runs but eventually we needed a bit of lunch so we found what we thought would be the most overpriced and poor value spot in the resort and we weren’t disappointed. But the girls managed to find many bros to be snacking on so they weren’t too bothered.
    After lunch we headed back out for more and after a few successful runs the tiredness in my mind and my legs started to kick in and on three consecutive runs I had a little tumble. Once you go it is very hard to stop or recover so I slid on a few occasions and I knew that I wasn’t going to improve so I thought that would be enough. The problem was that after getting our regular shoes back on, and picking up what we needed from the shop we still had over an hour to wait for our bus, and the temperature was dropping, from a fairly low starting point. The girls were ok with this and were their usual raucous selves, but Jess was not happy, and not for the first time today started to go downhill. On several occasions I was told that ‘this will not be happening again’ and if I say that random strangers tried to make polite conversation and she wasn’t having any of it , then you know how bad it was, that’s not like her at all. To top it all off, the bus was about 10 minutes late, just as I was having it explained to me that if this went on much longer she would ’lose the plot’ it eventually was spotted up the road. I am glad I did not have to find out what that would look like.
    We made it back to our accommodation and a nice cuppa tea and several biscuits helped to take the edge off. Then we had a bit of time in the sauna in the apartment which really warmed us up and I had a little napette to help me recover from the exertions before whipping up a tasty dinner. We get to do it all again tomorrow, without such an early start and hopefully without the long wait.    Leggi altro

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  • Norway to spend Christmas
    Walking to the station
    A pond in BergenBergen stationThat's the last train out of BergenMy jumper shrunk after ChristmasOur compartmentTate up highMy least graceful childRevisionThe viewJust hanging aroundAnother viewAn ice lakeOne last view

    The Tortured Poets Compartment

    26 dicembre, Norvegia ⋅ 🌙 2 °C

    This morning I woke up feeling vaguely human which was nice for a change. But there was no real time to enjoy the feeling as it was moving day, time to say goodbye to Bergen and head off to the snow. We got packed up with no problem at all, if anything we had too much time on our hands. The time came and we set off from our apartment for the 20 minute or so walk to the train station, it was a lovely fresh, sunny morning so just right for a stroll and we made it with plenty of time to spare. We decided to get a snack and walked into the shop to be greeted by the smell of bacon cooking, I think there might be a law that says some needs to be on the go at all times. We just picked up a mix of sweet pastries to get us on our way and soon enough it was time to board our train, destination Geilo.
    We had a compartment to ourselves which was nice, and it was actually one that converted into sleeping if required, there were two bunks up high which Allegra and Olivia climbed up to and this meant that it all felt very spacious. The train ride started slowly scenery wise, just zipping alongside some fjords in the early afternoon sunshine, we mostly just lazily enjoyed the view, although not Lily and Ruby to be fair as they were busy revising and making the most of this time. As the trip progressed the view got more and more spectacular and more and more snow covered and by the last part of it there were frozen lakes in the mountains, ice skaters and wind skaters making the most of the conditions as we passed. We arrived at Geilo at 3 and just had time to pick up a couple of things for our dinner before catching the shuttle bus to our accommodation. It took the scenic route, although to be fair every route was fairly scenic, so it took a while, but we made as darkness was falling. Then we were set for our evening’s entertainment, three episodes of Stranger Things had dropped today and we were not going to miss out on them. We were interrupted at one stage by the fire alarm going off, the people upstairs had been cooking a bit overzealously apparently. That was sorted out fairly quickly and we could resume our binge watching, only dinner preparation was a further interruption. The three episodes were most enjoyable, we are now set up nicely for the final instalment on New Years Day. For now though it is time for bed, we have an early start in the morning and a day of skiing to look forward to.    Leggi altro

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  • Norway to spend Christmas
    Christmas pastries
    Big D poseAllegra poseFunicularBergen panoramaBack in BergenRuby pose (aka the best ever and my favourite daughter)I once had two girls...Isn't it good, Norwegian woodThe narrowest alley in BergenI couldn't squat any lower1Crossing with pride1Posing with prideJess decorated a Christmas shrubFood prep and revisionWinner, winner, Christmas dinnerApple pocketsWith ice cream

    FUNicular

    25 dicembre, Norvegia ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    Normally on Christmas Day we have an early start for presents, around 6.30 or so. Today it was 9.45 before the girls came and woke us up, it was the previously unheard of Christmas lie-in. We needed to get some pastries for our breakfast as a first order of business so we popped out to the closest Godt Brod and picked up a selection of Norway’s finest. It was a different start to the day from what we are used to and I have to admit, I did miss the way we would all sit around in our bed as the girls opened presents from their stockings. But filling up on a range of pastries certainly helped cheer us up.
    The day was ours to do as we pleased and although there was not much to choose from given it was Christmas Day and Bergen is a fairly sleepy town, we did see that there was funicular in town and the only word in my vernacular to describe this discovery is spectacular. Our decision practically made itself so we headed off! It was a fairly short ride up a fairly steep hill and when we got to the top there was an amazing view of Bergen with a completely different perspective from up high. We had a bit of a wander round in the fresh air and took some photos but after a while it was time to head back down. There was no need for us to rush, we only had our meal to prepare so we leisurely made our way back home where with a team effort we whipped up a truly delicious meal, given the limited selection at the supermarket and the shortage of equipment we had to work with. One thing that was the same as pretty much every other Christmas, we had way more food than we needed so we were all too full and needed to spend some time vegging out in front of the television, with the Jonas Bros Christmas movie the perfect level of intelligence for us all. After some tv chilling time there was more food to be had, with some apple pastries with ice cream that Lily and Allegra whipped up, they were really good. All in all it was a very lazy day. Merry Christmas everyone.    Leggi altro

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  • Norway to spend Christmas
    The Christmas cactus
    1Chocolate orangesThe ghost town in questionBaby DadUNO with the favourite children Allegra and Lily

    Bergenning to look a bit like Christmas

    24 dicembre, Norvegia ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    Actually that’s not really true, it is very much unlike Christmas. It took us quite a while to get moving this morning but that’s ok because we didn’t have anything of great importance to worry about today. The girls were quite hopeful of some Christmas chocolate so it was lucky that some had been left for them underneath the traditional Christmas cactus, they were very happy. All that we had to worry about was food as supermarkets were closing in the early afternoon so we needed to make sure we had everything we needed to get us through tomorrow. We were all going to go but Ruby decided her time would be better spent revising as she has a lot to do so we went off without her.
    It is a very strange town, quite like a ghost town, there just doesn’t seem to be anyone outside at all. We had a bit of a wander, we have now seen most of the town I think, and most of the shops were shut and there was a distinct lack of people getting last minute stuff done. We managed to get our last minute stuff done though, so we were happy. It was home for lunch and an afternoon munching on ‘Not as good quality as they used to be’ Street chocolate and resting on the sofa for me and Jess, dancing for the twins and more revising for Lily and Ruby. It was quite a different Christmas experience because we just didn’t need to do anything, lucky really as it took all the energy I had to get myself off for my afternoon nap.
    We managed to finish off Emily in Paris and then work our way through an odd geography quiz that Ruby found for us and Lily whipped up a Nor-Tex-Mex fusion meal for our Christmas Eve dinner, it was very tasty. A few games of cards followed to wrap up a fairly chilled out day, with more of the same predicted for tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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  • Norway to spend Christmas
    Early start
    And we're offWaiting for a trainGirls working on the plane1We were being trolledNot sure what the question mark is for1Tram Tim Tam1

    I’m Ron Bergen-dy?

    23 dicembre, Norvegia ⋅ ☁️ 1 °C

    Today we made it to Norway, finally. We are here for 10 days, in a few different places and won’t be leaving until 2026. But I am getting ahead of myself and I probably need to take a step or two back, to the Bergenning.
    A few months ago we decided that we wanted to do something different for Christmas, to spend it somewhere new. We settled on Norway because we are hoping to see some snow and do some skiing, plus we have been here in summer and loved it so why not try it in winter. Aah the best laid plans of September. One thing we couldn’t have predicted at the time was illness, and unfortunately for the best part of the past week Jess and I have been knocked out with flu, with mine being a particularly severe case of the ‘man’ variant. We kept thinking/hoping we might be improving and although we have a little it seems that any time we have expended any energy at all it just knocks us out. This meant packing and organising didn’t go smoothly but we did manage to get ourselves to Paris a couple of days ago, at which point we basically collapsed in a heap. The girls mostly managed to carry on, despite Lily, Ruby and Olivia each suffering from varying levels of illness as well.
    That all brought us to 5.30 this morning when we were rudely awoken, me by an alarm and everyone else by me. It was an early flight and there was nothing for it but to just get on with things and get on the way to the airport. The airport was navigated fairly easily, and before we knew it we were airborne and enjoying a very smooth flight thanks to our female skipper. On arrival in Bergen there was the most amazing smell of bacon wafting through the airport making us realise we were hungry, so a quick Tram Tim Tam was both alliterative, affirming and axactly what the doctor ordered. It felt good to be back in Norway, which is just a visually appealing country. We even felt like we were starting to feel a bit better. We got to our accommodation and it seems quite nice, although we have to make up our own beds which seems to be a Norwegian thing and is slightly annoying. We had to head out to get some food, we managed to find a bakery and had some tasty sandwiches, after finding a bank where we could get a loan to be able to afford to eat out, it is a notoriously expensive country. Then a bit of a stroll to work off the food and a book shop with an English section to amuse the girls. A supermarket to pick up some food for dinner was all that was left within our energy levels, plus it was almost 3 and the daylight was running out. A fairly relaxing rest of the day, with some K-pop, Emily in Paris and intermittent napping, in no particular order. With the last ounces of energy remaining I whipped up a very tasty pasta, made our bed, wrote this blog and snacked on a few pre-Christmas cookies. Bed is not far off, we can have a lie in tomorrow.    Leggi altro

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    Inizio del viaggio
    23 dicembre 2025