February Travel

I apologize for the long interlude between blog entries.  The reason for the long pause is my travel schedule with frequently precludes easy access to internet.  For the last 6-7 weeks I have been traveling in Easter and Norway and Svalbard.  Don’t expect more entries until I return from the field work in mid-May. 

I spent the second half of February traveling in Eastern and Northern Norway.  My first destination on this latest trip was Oslo.  Here I met up with the other Fulbright grantees and we presented our projects at the Fulbright Institute.  It was great to get together and see all the other Fulbrighters.  Afterwards we headed up to the mountains near Lillehammer for a weekend of skiing.  The conditions were spectacular with around 2 meters of powdery snow and temperatures just below skiing.  The scenery was also amazing as all the trees were covered in a thick coating of snow.  The resort was also very nice with good accommodations and an all you can eat buffet at every meal.  At the end of the weekend it was a little sad to part as we realized that we would not see each other together before leaving Norway. 

After the ski weekend I traveled back to Oslo and met my sister.  For a few days we say the sights: the Viking ship museum, Fram museum, Kon-tiki, Holmenkollen, etc.  We also had the opportunity to visit with several of my Norwegian friends in Oslo.  Afterwards, we traveled back to Tromsø where we again saw tourist sites and also went dog sledding on Kvaløya.  After an hour of sledding and playing with the dogs we enjoyed a lunch of reindeer stew with chocolate cake for desert in a Sami tent.  Some pictures of the trip are attached below. 

I hope everyone is enjoying the arrival of spring.  Here in Tromsø in the early part of April the temperatures have started to rise above freezing regularly and the snow pack is beginning to melt.  The days are also longer and it now gets dark around 9 pm in the evening and starts to get light at 3 am.  The midnight sun will be arriving soon (the first day of no-night arrived on Svalbard the day I left). 

Posing as Nansen at the Polar Museum in Oslo.

Sled dogs are friendly. 

Alta the sled dog. 

My sister, Caitlin, and a sled dog puppy.

Me and a sled dog puppy. 

 Caitlin and I in a sami tent after the dog sledding trip.

The exterior view of the sami tent.