Day 7 and 8....More around Oslo

Yesterday we got up and headed to the ferry to take us to a little island that had some beaches for us to swim and relax on. We went and swam in the Oslo Fjord and just relaxed for the afternoon. It has been such a long time since I have swam in an ocean that I was really surprised when I tasted salt in the water. Mike was laughing so hard at me because I couldn't get over it. Both Mike and I also cut up our feet on all the mussels that were attached to the rocks right near the shore, it was not a sandy beach like you normally think of. Even with our bleeding feet the sun, warm water, and the experience were well worth the pain!

Then we all came back and got ready to go to the "non rehearsal-rehearsal dinner" that Anette's dad was hosting at his house. There we were able to meet some of Barrett and Anette's friends that will be at the wedding. There is such a mix of people here with friends from Norway, the US, Sweden, and Australia. It is also fun to get to know everyone before the wedding tomorrow. We stayed there for the majority of the night eating, drinking, and talking.
Today Mike and I got up and walked around the non touristy part (if there is one) of Oslo. We went back where Barrett and Anette live and walked around their neighborhood. We grabbed some lunch and then used their passes to get bikes to ride around other neighborhoods that were too long to walk to. Once we parked the bikes we then walked and looked in some shops. I wish more were open but most were closed because a lot of people in Norway are on "holiday." The shopping for both clothes and things here are so amazing. I wish we both had more money and more luggage space! We then went and relaxed in the park and relaxed. Tonight we are going to do some more chilling. We are going to go pick up Barrett and Shenen and go to the park and BBQ for dinner. Then we will probably be back early to get some sleep before the wedding tomorrow!
It has been so nice here and HOT. So much warmer than any of us planned for. There is not a lot of places that have air conditioning for just this reason, including our hotel! It is really difficult to sleep at night, not only with the time change (8 hours difference) but also with sweating all night long. Oslo also has a huge train system that runs thought the entire city and our room sits right above a major road...no fun in the morning. The last few nights we have gotten in pretty late, like 8 or 9pm back in Denver, but 4 or 5 am here! So then when the train starts running it is right after we have gone to sleep. There are many factors but the thing is that neither of us is sleeping well or a lot. Napping has also become a key to making this manageable. It might be a long week next week when we are back at work!
I also have to give a quick thank you so much to our neighbors Doug and Kylie who are watching our cats, tomatoes, and house! Kylie has been sending me the most hilarious updates on both the cats and tomatoes! They both are taking such good care of our stuff that they are making our vacation that much more relaxing. It is great to have such great neighbors and friends!

Day 6...Chillin in Oslo

Today was a very relaxing day. Mike and I got up, came over to Barrett and Anette's house and hung out. After everyone in Barrett's family got here we went to lunch at a little burger joint down the way. Then Shenen, Anette, Mike and I went and did some shopping downtown. Mike and I ended up picking up a few gifts at a very cool Indian shop. The only interesting thing is going to be getting them back to Denver :-) Tonight I am with the girls at Anette and Barrett's house. We are hanging out drinking wine and beer and eating pizza for the night. Mike and 11 other guys are out celebrating "Barrett's last night of freedom" and throwing him a bachelor party...you can all assume what they will be doing for the evening!
Tomorrow we will start it all again :-)

Day 5...Travel to Oslo Norway

We got up early this morning 6:30 London time and headed to the airport to grab our flight to Oslo. This is where the trip got interesting. We had to change out our Pounds that we had in the UK for the Kroners in Norway. We decided that we should take out 200 pounds (400 dollars) and then exchange the cash we had 50 pounds. So in all it was 500 Dollars...or 2500 Kroner. We were sitting at breakfast and figured out that we only had 500 Kroner and that there was something "not right." So we went back to the money exchange and asked about our reciept, and she realized that we were not paid for the 200 pounds and that we were just about out $400. They fixed it and we ended up making it back to our gate to catch our flight without anything lost! Whew, that is a lot of money to be out with nothing to show for it.

When we got into Oslo we were able to tell that we weren't in the UK anymore. Everything is in Norweigen and neigther of us speak it. Thankfully, our buddies here do and they are not our official translators! We are just relaxing here in Oslo, no plan just waiting for all Barrett's family and our friends to arrive.

Day 4...Maidenhead and Windsor

Today Mike and I went and explored while Larson had to spend the day at work. We got up early, got a workout in, and then headed into Windsor to take a look around.Our first stop was Windsor Castle. It is the largest inhabited Castle in the world and was amazing. It is one of the three principal residences of the British monarch and Queen Elizabeth II. In the Castle is St. George's Chapel . The chapel has been the site of many royal funerals and interments, and is presumed to be the place selected for the burial of Queen Elizabeth II upon her death. Royals interred here included: King Edward IV in 1483, King Henry VI in 1484, Queen Elizabeth Woodville in 1492, King Edward VII in 1910, Queen Alexandra in 1925, King George III, Queen Jane Seymour in 1537, King Henry VIII in 1547, King Charles I in 1649, Princess Amelia in 1810, Princess Augusta in 1813, Princess Charlotte in 1817
Queen Charlotte in 1818, Prince Edward in 1820, King George III in 1820,Princess Elizabeth in 1821, Prince Frederick in 1827, King George IV in 1830, King William IV in 1837, King George V of Hanover in 1878, King George V in 1936, Queen Mary in 1953, King George VI in 1952, Princess Margaret (ashes) in 2002, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in 2002. There is a lot of history that we have seen in London, Maidenhead, and Windsor. Both Mike and I have made the comment more than once that this is just "so old" and "what we only thought we would see on TV."
We then went to an Italian place down the street for some lunch. Following lunch we decided that we were done with the heat, lines, and people. So we headed towards the Thames River to walk around for a bit. I even got to purchase and feed the geese, ducks, and swans :-) It was just like I was at the zoo. Mike makes fun of me but usually my highlight of the day is something "simple" like that! We then headed back to Maidenhead to relax and start to pack our stuff up.

Tonight we grabbed a bite to eat at Ivory Lounge. We also enjoyed Larson's company for one last night before we see him again in the U.S.. We then came back to Larson's flat and drank, packed, and got ready for our next adventure.

Tomorrow we are off to Oslo, Norway to connect with some more friends and eventually for our friends wedding.

Day 2 and 3...In London

On Saturday morning we got up and headed to catch the train to London. Once we got to Paddington Station we ended up grabbing a cab and heading over to our hotel. We didn't know much about where we were staying, but it ended up being a pretty nice place. The London Renaissance Chancery Court was right in the middle of London and it was where they filmed the Bourne Ultimatum as well! After we checked in we started to walk and walk and walk. We were headed down towards Buckingham Palace, but before we got there we ate at Shakespeare's Head Pub. On our walk we saw, Big Ben, Weistminster Abby, Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye. We then stopped at bbar, a little bar to "refresh" and then we continued our walk. This time we headed towards Buckingham Palace and the Palace Gardens. We didn't see the changing of the guards, but we did see them at the gate. Our next walk lead us through an area called Piccadilly Circus and then we were ready for dinner which we had at Restaurant Cappuccetto. Then we were headed back to our hotel. Along the way we were stopped by a young fellow right outside of the Cuban Embassy who was telling us about the building. He then asked if we had any spare change and when we said no he politely responded, "Do you mind if I rob you and you can claim insurance?" Both of my bodyguards were like "NO" and the guy walked away...like we said what a polite attempted robbing! We walked through a bunch of cool neighborhoods and saw so many things. We got ready and then headed out to a few quite bars before calling it a night.
All in all our first night in London was simply amazing. It is crazy being in a place so old and such a part of everything you read and see.
Sunday we got up and headed over to the other side of London to see the Tower of London and the London Bridge. We were able to see the Crown Jewels, the Bloody Tower, the Ravens, and Thrones of the previous Kings and Queens. These took up our entire day and after we were finished touring and snapping pictures we hopped the train back to Larson's place for the night. We then went to dinner at the an Indian Resturaunt which is the door next to Larson's for dinner. London was great and exhausting all at the same time! Pictures will be to come...I don't have the patience to do them from Larson's Place...so I will update each blog with it's pictures when we get back in a week.

Day 1...Off to London

Yesterday we left for London. Our first flight was at 4:30 and we flew to Minneapolis. We thought we may have time to meet Mike's dad quick, but we were wrong. So we grabbed a bite to eat ourselves and headed to the gate for our flight to London. We boarded at 8:45 (Denver Time) and got ourselves situated. Neither Mike or I had ever flown overseas before so we didn't know what to expect from an 8 hour flight. It was just as unpleasant as it seems. It was hard to sleep, get comfortable, and do anything. We spent our time working out some stuff for the wedding, playing games on the airplanes TV, and we then watched a movie. All in all we each got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep...not enough! We arrived in London safe and sound at 12:30pm their time and 4:30am Denver time.
We got to our friend Larson's house and decided that we should get a bite to eat before we all napped. Mike and Larson in the end decided they didn't need one, but I did and slept hard for a few hours. We then got ready and headed into Maidenhead to go to dinner at Browns. We thought we may be able to make it out, but that thought quickly ended and we are back at Larson's to rest up for our big London adventures tomorrow.

Camping at Lake Constantine...Really???

Friday after work Mike and I headed up just past the small town of Minturn to go hiking/camping for the night. With our summer being so busy we think that this will be the only time that we are able to before next year. We got to the trail head and it was looking like the weather was not going to cooperate. We decided that we would hike as far as we could and then stop and set up camp if it did start to rain. Thankfully, it didn't rain and the skies cleared up and we just had to hike in a bit of mud. After we hiked up the four miles we reached our destination, Lake Constantine. Mike and I had done this hike last summer with some friends so we new it was going to be beautiful. Last year we hiked to Lake Constantine and then continued up to two alpine lakes above treeline called Tuhare Lakes. This year after our 2 previous hikes we determined that if we continued up we were going to hit snow and a couple frozen lakes. So we got to our campsite around 6ish. Mike quickly grabbed his fishing stuff and went to the lake to see what he could catch. I chopped down some firewood and kindling and then joined him. By the time I got out there the sun was going down and we were both getting cold, we also started to see our breath so we decided we needed to get the fire started. We went back to our campsite and Mike continued to try to find firewood, there was not a whole lot dry up there besides kindling and 1 inch sticks...not good for a campfire! So we started our battle with the fire and continued this fight all night until we gave up after 4 hours and went to bed. We couldn't get any of the big logs to start on fire and were just going through sticks and kindling all night. Mike started to cook the pasta that we had brought up for dinner and I continued to find more kindling and get our air mattresses blown up. It was dusk by now and it was getting darker and darker. Mike came up behind me as I was sitting on a log that overlooked the lake by our fire and crouched down.

We started to talk and were just talking about random stuff when he said "so let me ask you this, will you marry me?" I proceeded with "Really?" three times while he said "yes" and then he said "does this help" and showed me the ring! Then I finally new it was REALLY happening and said "yes." Then the crazy planner that I was wanted to know everything about how he had done it, who knew, and when he got the ring ect. So we talked about it for a bit before we tried calling our parents to tell them. It wasn't until after I had told my parents and we had eaten dinner that it hit me that we were really, really, engaged and that we were going to be together forever. So then I got a bit emotional as it all set in, but what a wonderful night! So special, romantic, and wonderful. I haven't been able to stop smiling and staring at my finger all weekend. I have been dreaming about getting engaged to Mike since the minute we started dating. I said on Saturday when we were hiking down the mountain, "I need to keep reminding myself that this isn't a dream!"
Besides getting engaged, my favorite thing about the weekend has been calling all of our friends and family and telling them the news. From my side everyone was expecting it because I told them to keep their fingers crossed, as I thought he might do it on one of our mountain trips. When Mike calls his favorite thing is to do the "blend" where he casually talks about weekend and then rolls in "went camping, got engaged, caught some fish." We are both really excited and can't wait to start this new journey together. Obviously all my girlfriends are super excited about another wedding and even his buddies welcomed the news and are now asking about wedding plans!

We leave for Europe on Thursday so nothing is going to be figured out until then. I think I liked "pre planning" more than I actually like "planning." Now it feels like I have to get it all figured out sooner than later. I am hoping that we can still pull off a spring wedding, but if not summer or fall is always an option.

My New....

Made you think didn't I?
Driving home from work today I called Mike as I always do to say that I was on my way home. He told me that I needed to grab the tomato food out of the garage so we could fix up the food for watering. This was not too random to me and so I said ok (which I later realized that we only feed on "Miracle Grow Sundays"). I also figured it wasn't too outlandish because I 90% of the time park in the garage anyway. I also new that we were going to be riding our bikes downtown to REI and to a pizza place we like called Protos for dinner. It wasn't until I pulled in that I realized that someone had parked a bike in the middle of our garage. I took a second look and realized that it was the cruiser that both Mike and I had been eyeing around town! What a nice surprise...now when we bike around town I will no longer be on my road (race) bike while Mike on his cruiser! I asked him if he was using this to buy some more time for the real purchase and he smiled and said "maybe!?" Bummer for me still have to wait, but a new bike will do for now :-) What a nice surprise, both Mike and I have been hard at work this week trying to get stuff in order before we leave for Europe next Thursday. So excited and nervous all at once. If anyone has any "must sees" in London, or Bergen/Oslo Norway please send them our way!

Late 4th Post and Week with My Mom

It has been busy at our house this last week. Last Tuesday my mom flew in to spend the week with Mike and I. My dad was off trying to catch us some halibut in Alaska. During the week we made dinners and just hung out. Both Mike and I had to work with our trip to Europe coming closer and closer (we leave July 24th). I also took her with me to my Nia and Zumba classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Mike calls these interpretive dance, but they are only sort of, and my mom really enjoyed them after she got the giggles out. Wednesday we also took her to a favorite bar/restaurant in Denver Forest Room Five for dinner.
Friday afternoon we took off for Vail to spend the 4th up there. We got in and unloaded and then went to dinner at a favorite Sweet Basil. We then watched the fireworks and headed home for a Jenga tournament. Saturday we got up early as ever and headed out to hike up to Booth Lake. This was my attempt #2 at getting some great pictures of Mike fly fishing. Both Mike and I were very proud of my mom and she made it all the way up to the lake (6 miles and ended at 11, 000+ feet). The real bummer is once we had this great hike and made it to the lake we realized it was still frozen, at least mostly frozen! Mike attempted to fish, but was unsuccessful-however they will be great scrapbook photos. We then hiked back down and went to shower and then headed back into Vail to the Red Lion for lunch. We were all pretty exhausted so we decided to hit the hot tub before dinner at Vendetta's. After that we all crashed as we were truly exhausted. Sunday before the rush back to Denver (the interstate gets really crazy busy) Mike got up to get some more fishing in, my mom went swimming, and I slept in :-) Once we got back to Denver we relaxed both Sunday and Monday nights and then Tuesday my mom had to fly back home again. It was great to have my mom out here for the week. Crazy how our house is a lot messier now that she left....thanks mom for keeping it tidy and us company for the week. Sorry the video of the falls is sideways...I made a mental note for filming next time....but I just wanted you to hear it.
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