Family Trips 2016: Mountains of May (Andrews)

Star and Russ
May 31, 2016
5 min read

So, we're back... It's been awhile. Summer was pretty crazy this year, so we're covering our adventures in installments. Russ's parents were first out of the gate.

NORWAY:

Russ: We met Ma and Pa Andrews in Norway for what has become our annual pilgrimage to celebrate Norway's national day. This time we assembled in Oslo, making a quick visit to the incredible Vigeland sculpture park and obligatory stroll up Karl Johan's gate to the National Palace.

From Oslo, we drove north to Sognefjord, stopping by Borgund stave church in order to let loose our inner viking. We stayed that night in a little town aptly named Undredal ("wonder valley"), raiding the only open restaurant before awaking the next morning to the sounds of rock slide across the fjord. Suiting up in full dry suits a la "Deadliest Catch", we took a Fjord Safari, spotting seals and porpoises in a gorgeous tour of Naeroyfjord. Once ashore again, we continued our own version of "Norway in a Nutshell", riding the Flambane up to Myrdal and back. Then it was off to the blooming orchards of Hardanger, where we stayed at Elvetunet, a "river cottage" with a waterfall running through the backyard.

We made it in to Bergen to celebrate 17. Mai in full style, complete with cannonades, parades, bunads galore, and an impromptu choir concert at Korskirken. After hearing about Norway for 15 years, I am happy to report that my folks loved it.

Star's Highlights: First prize goes to an encounter I had with a shop owner in Undredal. I was awkwardly trying to explain that I couldn't sample her world famous goat cheese because I was pregnant, and she looked me up and down, nodded sagely, and said, "For now you cannot see, but soon you will grow big, and you will be so proud." Now that I'm waddling around with an enormous battering ram belly, I try to keep the woman's perspective in mind.

Oslo's Downtown & Vigeland Statue Park

NÆRØYFJORD

Undredal

Borgund Stave Church; Flåm Fjord Safari; Bergen's Syttende Mai.

Kjosfossen on Flam Railway; Hardanger Fjord; Steinsdalfossen.

BELGIUM:

Russ: We flew back to Brussels, stopping at a purty AirBnb farmhouse and introducing the 'rents to Belgian ("don't call them French") frites. The next day we spent in Bruges, one of our very favorite places to visit. Chocolate, canals, clock tower, AND Star finally got her carriage ride around town.

Star: Our Airbnb host took customer service to a new level when we asked him for a restaurant recommendation. He told us that everything was closing, and we'd have to hurry and follow him into town. So we all piled into the car and struggled to keep up with our determined host as he flew through semi-rural Belgium, rocketing around corners and threading narrow streets to get us to the local friterie before they closed for the night.

Farm AirBnB

Bruges

More Bruges

SWITZERLAND:

Star: Switzerland is one of those places that is so pretty, it makes you feel like an idiot. I can't explain Switzerland to you. I probably shouldn't even try. It's an enormous equation of cliffs, waterfalls, cows that wear bells, flowers, snowfields, and so very many mountains, and I do not have a concise way of illustrating it's sheer not-ugly-ness. Sorry. Your best bet is to book a ticket and see for yourself. I promise, it's ENTIRELY worth it.

As far as activities go, we stayed at an AirBnb in Lauterbrunnen, ate Swiss food, rode gondolas and trains to high mountain villages, hiked, visited Trummelbach Falls (A waterfall INSIDE the mountain? What?), and took the train up to sneak a peak at Jungfrau herself. Switzerland did not disappoint.

Russ's Highlights: Switzerland is beautiful in a way like nowhere else I've been in the world... except for Norway, of course. Our blog is titled, "A Far Green Country," and this is it... green valleys leading to white mountains under a swift sunrise. Higher up and further in.

Lauterbrunnen Valley

These cows are winning.

Gimmelwald

Lauterbrunnen

Jungfrau Region

Trummelbach Falls

Why are cameras so bad at showing how cool things are in real life?

Jungfrau

GERMANY:

Star: We zigzagged in and out of Germany over the course of the trip, stitching the edges of countries together in our hunt for German Awesomeness. We started with the mandatory trip to Burg Eltz, followed by a mad dash over to Burg Hohenzollern. Turns out, Hohenzollern is a much more welcoming place when the late November wind isn't howling and the building isn't shrouded in murky twilight. Less Dracula, more Teutonic. And we got to take the tour at a self-guided pace, which was nice after the 2 hour version Dusty and I had endured. Then, after a night in Freiburg, we covered some new ground in the Black Forest Region, hiking to waterfalls and abbey ruins and miraculously escaping without ANY ticks! Several countries later, we crossed back into Germany to check off an iconic European Bucket List necessity: Neuschwanstein. Bavaria was beautiful. Neuschwanstein and her sister castle Schwangau were beautiful. Even the weather was beautiful. So, that's a big, fat, beautiful check mark on my list!

Russ's Highlights: I loved seeing my dad get so excited. He's a forester, and this was a Forest.

Burg Eltz; Bad Rippoldsau-Schapbach; Allerheiligen.

Burg Hohenzollern

Freiburg

Neuschwanstein Castle

FRANCE:

Star: France is an interesting place. They have a fondness for viscera, gastropods, and amphibian legs. The people are all thin, and yet butter seems to be the cooking cornerstone of the culinary experience (not complaining). They even have a list--a real, honest-to-goodness list--of the cutest villages in their country. In our limited time in France, we visited two of them: Colmar (colorful, whimsical, and the real life basis for Belle's town in Disney's Beauty and the Beast) and Eguisheim (tiny, ring-shaped and sporting massive stork nests atop many of the city buildings).

Russell's Highlights: Mom meets meringue. Storks on the church. And this provincial life....

Colmar

Eguisheim

Liechtenstein:

Russ: Liechtenstein is a country where men eat ivy and row boats. Or rather, it is a proud 25-minute stretch of highway just past where you are likely to get a speeding ticket from the cursed Swiss robo-guards. L-stein is also the world's only country completely surrounded by the Alps, which we descended to spend a scorching summer afternoon in its capital, Vaduz. We walked Vaduz's commercial centre, ticker-tape still fluttering from a parade held earlier that day. A quick lunch, a wistful gaze at the private castle of the Liech King, and one desperately-needed Slurpee (for Star) later, and we checked another country off the list. If I somehow found myself in a life-or-death situation where I had to choose between tiny European countries starting with the letter L... Wiedersehen, Liechtenstein.

Star's Highlights: Mmmmm, slurpee.

AUSTRIA:

Russ: Salzburg doesn't get enough play. Seriously. This gorgeous city is so squished between its imposing castle and impressive river that culture just oozes out its cobbles. Salzburg's constrained geography has left it free from the dual destructions of both war and urban sprawl, leaving a domed-and-spired burg untouched by time. A daily market winds its way through the peopled streets, encircling cathedrals and pickle statues alike. Salzburg is home to both Mozart and Julie Andrews; we enjoyed a mash-up of the two at a (get this!) marionette performance of the entire Zauberflöte. The view of the white city gleaming first under a rainbow, and later under fireworks, is one of the most magical scenes I've had in Europe.

Star's Highlights: When we went to visit Hallstatt, we rented a tiny putt-putt boat to go zoom around on the lake. And by zoom, I mean that the boat had 2 speeds: slow and still slow. When Russ's dad shouted, "Okay, here we go!" and threw the boat into the faster gear.... nothing really happened. I thought it was hilarious. Almost as hilarious as the enormous swan-shaped pedal boats. Also excellent: the bone church, where residents of Hallstatt have carefully piled the painted skulls of their progenitors, and watching enormous (non-boat) swans come in for a landing from our lakeside table at lunch.