Norway, we missed you!

 After the novelties of Georgia, Armenia, Latvia and Estonia, it felt like a sort of homecoming to arrive in good old Norway. We started out on a stressful note: our Agoda booking flaked out on us at the last minute, and buying last-minute rooms in Oslo is never a pleasant (or cheap) experience. 

But soon we were relaxing by the waterfront with Tamar's brother David and his family, the 2-year olds playing happily. We joyfully reunited with Go' Morgen yogurt, binged on Firklover chocolate, and bought cardamom pastries in bulk. Then we bid farewell to Tamar's side of the family and drove/bussed down to Strandfjorden to join Jakob's side. 

Life at Strandfjorden is as changeless as ever; it was different without Jakob's mom there, but we had fun with his sister, aunt and cousins. Norwegian Codenames was a hoot, we learned a new dice game ("Tretti") whose level of fun was directly proportional to the quality of trash-talking, and a card game ("Amerikaner'n") which was a big hit, and played some hilarious games of Kubb. The girls bathed in the frigid sea every single day, just 'cause. Sophia, Tova, Zadie and Tamar ran a 5km race in Lillesand - the older girls came 4th and 5th out of 34 women, and Zadie got the biggest cheers as she cradled her heavily bandaged hand the whole way. We picked oodles of raspberries, made waffles, and walked to Grimstad where we borrowed library books, a bicycle, a basketball and a soccer ball. 

David and his family rejoined us, and we had a blast hiking, cooking and playing on the little beach. We visited our friend Nadia and her kids in Arendal, which was like a window into modern-day academic/family life in Norway...so different to our little hamlet that's largely frozen in time! Jakob's birthday brought an incredible homemade cake with fresh forest berries, and many socks. Tamar took the girls on a road trip to Lysefjorden, including an epic hike up to Preikestolen and a beach day at Sola, one of the prettiest spots in southwestern Norway.

All too soon, it was time to go again - but we left feeling more relaxed, suntanned and re-attached to our Norse roots. 

Happy Birthday Jakob!

The girls did their first 5k race - yay Sophia, Tova and Zadie!

One of many card sessions

Preikestolen girls hike

This picture is even better with the line up of picture takers

Sola beach on a foggy morning

Bjoroya

Mari's carryon luggage was a little over the weight limit

Toddler on a plane

Moving up the Baltics

 

In a funny way Tallinn felt like an extension of Riga. The two countries are similar in many ways as they are geographically very close together and share some of the same difficult history. While both Riga and Tallinn are 1/3 Russian both cities had a scandinavian feel. Tallinn felt more  Scandinavian to us but maybe that is just due to it being wealthier. Tallinn's medieval old town draws in a lot of tourists and I can see why given its intact city wall, towers, fortresses, churches and tunnels. We got to experience the medieval vibe in a restaurant made to imitate restaurants of 500 years ago. Before electricity indoor spaces were so much darker! With my parents visiting we explored town as much as possible given two children were ill and Zadie had to be taken to the clinic twice for bandage changes. Highlights included the tunnels under the city wall and the maritime museum. Tova got to swim at my parents hotel numerous times making her very happy. We did a day trip to Helsinki where we did a long meanding walk in the rain and fell in love with the library. Helsinki seem sthe type of place that tourists might label uninteristing but seems lovely to live in. I probably have more to say but suffice it to say that we were all impressed by both Estonia and Finland.

Our little elf

Russian orthodox churches are so much more lavish than lutheran ones

Old town

Zadie was appalled when I actually bought this cookie. She is of the opinion that it is way too big.

Maritime museum

Castaways

Grey on Grey in Helsinki

Aurora and I stumbled upon the pride parade

Helsinki Pride

Can't go to the home of Tove Jansson without getting Moomin pyjamas

Medieval ambiance

Tired out from a whirlwind Estonia visit

Medical tourism in Riga

Biologically I am one eighth Latvian so it was exciting that we got to visit the city my grandfather's family hailed from.  Our week in Riga was full of exploration, festivity, and clinic visits. Riga charmed all of us. It is a small beautiful city along a river. The old town is charming and ringed by a loop of parks and a canal. The new city is quiet and walkable and scattered with parks and hip shops. 

Riga felt Scandinavian to us in many ways but in other ways was its own unique blend of its history and its newer push toward Scandinavian culture. The children were still recovering from the Armenian genocide museum so I visited the museum of occupation on my own. Without kids I was actually able to read the museum signs and look at the images. World War Two was awful for much of Europe but I have to say that it was particularly bad for the countries taken over by Russians, then Germans, then Russians. Especially as when the rest of Europe was recovering from world war two they were still being subjugated to the special rules and treatments of the KGB. I did a tour of the KGB headquarters in Riga and it made me feel glad I didn't have to live under Soviet rule. After a week learning all about Latvia I can say that my grandfather's family were lucky to make it to Canada before World War Two.

Now that Latvia is independent and free they revel in their own culture. We were in town for the Ligo Summer solstice festival which is one of the most important holidays of the year. We were treated to a festive and decorated old town with markets and traditional dance and music performances. We enjoyed crown watching as each natural crown seemed to be made of more and more elaborate plants. The main part of the festivities is an all night bonfire which we decided we would have to experience at some point when we don't have a toddler. Second best though was celebrating the solstice with a long kayak of the canals and river of Riga. We all agreed we needed more time to explore Riga and Latvia so maybe one day we will return for an encore visit. 

Between all the exploring and celebration we somehow managed to fit in four medical visits in our six day stay. We are now very familiar with the Riga children's emergency room. This was possibly a new family record. Although to be fair three of the visits (one to a clinic and two to the ER were mostly due to the complexity of getting a rabies vaccine for a baby in a country that doesn't have any rabies.) Alas, the fourth visit was a true emergency and Zadie is now getting very good at doing things with one hand while her burned hand heals. She says she will never drink tea again but I am sure with time she will change her mind. 

Picture of Aurora in Riga

We were in Riga.

Jakob in old town

Tired from her training.

Really gets in the way of her Summer swim plans. Also she cant climb or do chin ups. 

Nothing like a Kvass merchant to remind you where you are.

A pretty synagogue to remind us of another dark part of Latvia world war two history

Head foliage for Ligo

Ligo

The bread was too serious for me. 

Interrogation room. Sometimes you would be interrogated for three days non stop.

KGB house cells. They kept the cells very hot and gave you little water to help break you.

Beautiful building for the national library. 

Thank you Armenia

We all had a great stay in Armenia. Jakob especially says he could happily live in Yerevan. Every once in awhile we visit a place where Jakob declares he could live in that spot - it is growing into an interesting list. Here is a list of a few things we like or found interesting.

1. Chess

Armenians have always enjoyed chess. Because of this love of chess and one particular Armenian grandmaster about a decade ago Armenia decided to make chess a required subject in school. From a young age Armenian children study chess twice a week for an hour. The hope is that teaching children chess will also teach them strategy, healthy competition, patience, and honesty. I wasn't in Armenia long enough to say if children personify all those attributes but I can say that the children of Armenia have become quite good at chess and the world can expect to see a slur of Armenian grandmasters in the future. Jakob played in a chess tournament one evening, where the tone was set by a 13-year old girl with pigtails who smashed him in 25 moves. But everyone was very nice, he won half his games, and the girl ended up winning the tournament.

2. Fruit

Armenia is a fertile country. This gift is seen in the local diet which is high in fresh produce. Fruit seems to be an integral part of Armenian life - both fresh and dried. We were fortunate to have also arrived at a particularly good season for fruit. The local produce markets were overflowing with cherries, mulberries, strawberries, apricots, nectarines, watermelon, to name a few. We liked strolling past cafes where platters filled high with fruit were laden on decadent tables. We are not talking a small bowl of cherries - these would be massive bowls overflowing with fruit making us think the quantity of fruit eaten rivals the variety. We like fruit a lot so this worked out well for us. 

3. Pulpulak (and other fountains!)

Armenia is a country that is not only blessed with an abundance of fruit but also with an abundance of fresh water.  In the early 19th century the city of Yerevan decided to highlight its liquid bounty by installing public fountains all over the city, and country. They didn't hold back. Yerevan has over 1,500 stone fountains that provide fresh mountain spring water to city residents. Often the fountains are works of art and sometimes even tributes to deceased residents. We really liked living in a place where we were always assured a clean accessible water supply no matter where we went. Armenians must be a very well hydrated population as the pulpulak seem to be in continual use. The love of fountain also extends to the decorative and the city of Yerevan is full of grand public water displays. 

4. Cafes

Yerevan is chock-full of amazing coffee. We sat in park cafes by fountains, chatting with French backpackers. We walked uphill to Altar cafe which even has its own prayer room. We checked out a half-dozen cafes across town - and constantly met the scent of freshly roasted beans from shopfronts and grocery stores.

6. Ancient history

Armenia is a very old country. It is known for being the first country in the world to adopt Christianity (3rd century). Yerevan, similarly is one of the oldest continually inhabited countries in the world. Like Georgia, Armenia has its own unique alphabet. The number of ancient manuscripts is a vast enough collection that there is a museum dedicated entirely to ancient Armenian manuscripts and books.  Armenians, a distinct ethnic group, have been continuously living in the region for 4000 years. Despite numerous regime changes and a genocide Armenia is still thriving. While Yerevan is a modern city this ancient history shines through in the form of very old churches and buildings and a very established culture.

Living like the locals

The local kids chess club is a little more serious looking than our setup

A small section of the greens in the grocery store

Pukpulak for 7 - staying hydrated the Armenian way

Next time we need more time in the countryside

Making lavash

Hills outside of Yerevan

So old it doesn't even look Armenian

This was my favourite ancient church

Cooling down the local way (sort of)

Hard to get a photo without feeling invasive but you can get the sense of how much fruit is loved

Armenian circus

Turning two in the pink city

Yerevan (Armenia) is a pretty city where the Soviet architecture is offset by the use of local pink volcanic rock giving the entire city a cheery facade. Yerevan is a very green city with parks and green corridors sprinkled liberal all around. With its green spaces, endless cafes, and wide sidewalks Yerevan is a very walkable city. As we fritter our days away in this peaceful capital we can't help but compare it to our last two weeks in Tbilisi. Tbilisi is the more loved and happening city. And it was happening, and lots of fun. Still, we all agree we prefer Yerevan life. We like the walkability and parks of the city. Tbilisi was spread out along a river and into valleys making it a clunky city to move through. Yerevan, while also partly on hills, spreads out from the central circle of town. Tbilisi was hectic and loud with cars zooming and honking all over. Yerevan, though of a similar population to Tbilisi is a quiet city with less cars on the smaller roads. We can't seem to figure out how the same population can lead to such a different number of cars and noise and geographic size. We are staying outside the main part of Yerevan up on a hill. Our walk into town is via the long beautiful cascade staircase. Having to walk the cascades every day is a perk of our stay in Yerevan. We all feel fitter and our calves are bulging. We like the views we get every day and the stroll through sculptures, fountains, and cafes as we make our way down the hill. 

Levana has turned two in Yerevan. This was an event she has looked forward to for weeks. Something about birthdays just clicked in the last few months and she was very well versed on the specialness of the occasion. We tried to make it special in the way she hoped. She is a bit of a sugar fanatic so we had crepes for breakfast and cake with ice cream for dessert. We went to the skatepark and rented scooters. It was a Sunday morning and the skatepark is located beneath a large church. Levana got to learn to scooter as the loudpeakers blared out the Sunday service. We paid a few dollars in the park so the kids could use a jumping castle. Levana was a big fan. We kept up her yearly birthday tradition (well, twice now) of going to the climbing gym. The owner of the gym pulled out a small pair of climbing shoes so Levana could climb properly. Finally, we watched part of the movie Annie. Levana, always a fan of music, was very into the film. Her favorite part of her birthday, though, was singing happy birthday and blowing out the candles. So we sang happy birthday over and over again to a cupcake with candles in it. Levi was overjoyed. And now we have a two year old. She is a child full of life and endless things to say. She really likes boats and now scooters. Olives are her favourite food. From Spain to Peru to Armenia, I wonder what sort of fun her next birthday will bring. 

Aurora took this photo in a church and I can't figure out the science of why our eerie images appears on the wall behind us upside down. What's it a reflection on? Or are we just blessed?

No lack of old churches in the first country in the world to adopt Christianity

A bakery with a nice view of lavash production

This city is full of fountains

The cascade divers

This pool was so enticing except for the fact that it was full of men in their underwear

Looking green and summery with Mount Ararat on the horizon

Her new obsession

Birthday climb

Round 1/5 of happy birthday

Perfect abandoned building for handstands

The cascade