Tuesday July 22, 2008

We have left the U.K. and are now in Scandanavia! We had the most wonderful time in Great Britain and regret that we didn’t allow more time for Scotland. We moved on from the ales in England to the whisky in Scotland. We went on a distillery tour and sampled some excellent types of whiskies. I particularly liked the tasting table at the airport. Slainte (cheers in Gaelic). What a great idea! Even though we boarded at 8:30 a.m., I must admit to trying a couple of types. Thanks to Peter, our host, we had the most amazing time. Here we are climbing up the mountain in the background.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? Well, I will give you some hints. This location has been memorialized in song. In this song, the shore they are standing on is described as being very, very pretty, also known as the bonnie, bonnie banks. How about, taking the low road? Yep, this is Loch Lomond. In Scotland, a “Loch” is a lake. The mountain in the background is named Ben Lomond. “Ben” means “mountain”. For us, any mountain we didn’t know the name of while in Scotland, was called “Ben Corsan” in honor of Ethan’s friend.

Yesterday, we flew to Oslo. Oslo is on a beautiful fjord (Norwegian for a valley, carved out by a glacier, filled with water that leads to the ocean--maybe we don't need this word in English...). We met my aunt and cousin (see picture below in front of ancient stave church--I don't know what "stave" means yet) and have been exploring this city. Everyone speaks English—almost without an accent. It makes us realize how weak we are in languages in the U.S. We visited the place where they present the Nobel Peace Prize. Our family finds it ironic that Mr. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of TNT, is the father of the world's most prestigious peace prize. Tomorrow, we are going to the museum honoring the recipients of this worthy award. Hope all is well with you! Skor! (cheers in Norwegian)