Lillehammer, Norway

Lillehammer, home of the 94' winter olympics. There was a sign entering town from back then(missed photo opp.) and other reminders it was there including the ski jump paths up the hill from town. There was a cool metal cutout sort of sign from the games as well(see pics). This is a quaint town on the northern end of the largest lake in norway(lake mjosa), it is cool to visit because most of the shops and tourist stores are all on one street so you can find a place to park and hit it all in one shot. This is also a college town as we found out, later in the day we ran into some students studying here for a few months that came from Minnesota. Had a chance to talk to kari and a couple of her friends and found they were also taking 10 days to see St. Petersburg and Moscow as well as other places in Norway(oslo for sure), and learned they now have a "commoner" for a governor in minnesota & not a famous wrestler or anything :) It catches your ear easy to here "american english" when walking past people(when used to hearing norwegian), i think most americans are on some beach or someplace perhaps warmer than -10 degrees :) i heard american english and saw columbia ski jackets and had to say hi.

It is roughly just over a 2 hour drive to get to Lillehammer from Oslo and it is quite a scenic drive along the way(from where i am staying it is a shorter drive and most of it is along lake mjosa), we drove just as many miles pretty much as we saw houses. i am exaggerating, but the area we traveled is more like being in rural montana or eastern Washington. Then you have the denser places like Oslo and such but the country only has like 5 Million people and in most places is not all crammed in like most of western washington(seattle area), and our sprawling metopolitan areas stateside.

I bought some souveniers for my family and friends, and by now i am still not liking the prices(mostly due to poor exchange rate) but i am getting used to the prices.

  some of the items are a suprise and i have family and friends reading this so can't tell all yet, but i did get something for my niece(niese in norwegain - pronounced in English nee-essay(well close to that) i got her a cute little pink shirt for $20 US that has an animated picture of a moose and moose and norga written below that(norge = norway). t-shirts run about 20-40 US(most 30-40) and more for specialty spots like the hard rock cafe. Also got a thimble that says norge for my aunt who collects them and also is 1/2 norwegian like my mother. when i get back and i give out the gifts i will share more of what i bought :)

I am also going to Germany on this trip but the Norway part is more important and that is where i want to get most souvenirs form since that is where part of my heritage comes from.

We also bought some new snow boots for my friend Liz, which came in handy for the even colder evening ahead at the winter park. I looked for a ski jacket but could not find anything i liked or that fit that would not set me back $400 so i am waiting. I did buy a norwegian scarf for myself but most went on others as it seemed easier to part with that $ as most things i saw i wanted i can get back home cheaper and only want a few souvenirs for myself. (i have purchased a scarf now and a norge knit hat as well, along with items that i received as gifts from others as i have been here.

Finally before leaving Lillehammer we stopped by McDonalds for a quick bite, i think i will save most of that for the review, but i can say it was the smallest restaurant bathroom i have ever seen i think, and the place was just packed.

In norway they have a law where they have to provide two seperate prices at fast food/carry out rest. one price for sitting down, and one price(cheaper) if you take your food to go...  strange concept to me but hey... something to do perhaps with tax's and it should be cheaper if don't use part of the facilities and also less mess to clean up for rest. i guess?

next we drove to the Winter park, and then on for good fun with Liz's parents, both events i plan to write about so pay attention :)