Madrid

We arrived in madrid yesterday evening after flying out of Oslo. Naturally the first thing we did after finding our hostel was get a napolitana. We have our priorities. 

After that we walked around the city and got dinner. 

This morning we went first thing to the bullfighting ring to get tickets for tonight's bullfight. 

After that we went through our list of favorite things in Madrid, starting with the boats in Parque del Buen Retiro. 

We visited the crystal palace. 

Where we fed the ducks and turtles. There were so many turtles. You can see them lined up on the edge and covering the rock in front. 

Then we went back to the Puerta del Sol. 

And mark looked for an old Spanish coin. 

We had paella in the Plaza Mayor. 

We saw the palace. 

And walked around the palace gardens. 

We visited Goya's grave. 

He is buried in a small church where e had painted the ceiling. 

I'd say he did a good job. 

Then we visited the Prado. Once again no photos allowed = crooked blurry photos. 

Las Meninas:

Third if May:

The Drowning Dog (I still remember when I first saw this painting here 6 years ago I fell in love with it. It is one of Goya's black paintings):

After the Prado it was bullfight time! 

We were in the cheaper "sol" or sunny seats. Can you tell?

Luckily the sun went behind the arena about halfway through. 

It just so happened that the festival of San Isidro is going on right now so there is a bullfight every night. The arena was pretty packed and the crowd was loving it. 

There were three matadors the last one was clearly the crowd favorite. He looked like he was dancing with the bill. Quite amazing. 

Not a bad way to end our month in Spain!

Norway: Fjords

For my birthday, Mark gave me a trip to see the Fjords in Norway. Not the little Fjords by Oslo, but the big ones in western Norway near Flam. So at 5:30 am we headed off to the train station where we started the first leg of our journey. 

The train ride had some stunning views. 

That suddenly gave way to a frozen wasteland! 

Snow in late May? This is not the summer fjord tour we had pictured. 

What we hadn't realized is we had been climbing dramatically in elevation to get to Myrdal, where we caught a different train to Flam.  

Once aboard the Flam railway, we descended dramatically, leaving the snow behind.

We made one stop along the way at this gorgeous waterfall. 

When we reached Flam we boarded a boat for a cruise through the Fjords. 

Don't mind my pants tucked into my socks. It was cold!

The fjords were seriously amazing. The photos definitely fall short. The cliffs towered over the water, mostly covered in green, though some were more rocky. Norway is beautiful. 

After the boat we took a bus to Voss. 

And we weren't queasy at all despite these crazy hairpin turns. 

I made a new friend in Voss. These trolls are everywhere. You better believe I will be bringing a much smaller one home with me. 

Voss was really pretty. A bigger city then Flam, but still tucked away in the Fjords. 

We touched the ice cold water. 

We boarded our train back to Olso, traveling through that same winter wonderland that had me worried before.

And arrived back in Oslo sometime after 11:00 pm. Quite the day of traveling, but definitely worth it to see those amazing fjords!