American in Norway

Sigh... I am still having a hard time getting back in to "REAL LIFE"   Venice was perfect in every way...  Spending much needed time with one of my BEST FRIENDS from the US...   I think I am still glowing..   feeling blessed..     Please bare with the picture filled posts to come...  Looked all over for these "Rice Balls" deep fried & filled with cheese.  - doesn't matter that I was walking over 10 km a day.. with all of the food and drink.. I may have broke even.     I have no idea who this lady is... but the abslolute JOY on her face was priceless...       I am a big PEOPLE watcher... I love seeing the joy.. and guessing their story.. I also see the people who are not so happy.. (It is never too late to change your story..)   I love seeing the happy couples taking the trip of a lifetime.. but also see the couples who sit across from each other ...

First stop.. The Liassidi Palace. I had two days in Venice before my friend arrived & I needed to find somewhere to stay.. My first trip to Venice I was 19 & backpacking with my sister & our friends.  I'm sure we stayed at a hostel and were eating from the grocery stores.  I don't remember much from that trip other than a dissapointing trip to a glass factory.  I have one picture from that trip.. For the record, I'll kill my kids if I send them on a trip like this and they come home with one picture! My second trip to Venice was while working on a cruiseship. We, of course stayed on the ship, and when we finally got off work & had time to go a shore, my husband thought Venice was old,dirty & way over priced.  So much for romance in Venice.  THIS time.. I would do Venice the way I wanted.. I would stop counting every dollar & treat myself.  Damn it! I deserve this.. I decided to go for the suite life. I bo...

I woke up this morning thinking this will be the last time in my lifetime... we get the day.month.year.. all of the same... Wish I would have done something special on all of them... ya, but I didn't. today- I just decided to remember what we did... Woke up to yet another FREEZING morning here in Norwegian... got my babies off to school... and hubby unpacked from our weekend in Germany.. & repacked for a business trip to Florence, ITALY.. I LOVE ITALY...and it has been a while.. (wouldn't it be nice if we could travel with each other on business? - sigh.) There was a lovely 9:15 sunrise... so I decided to to go down to our dock & take a few shots. I worked... and worried about all of the things I haven't done in preperation for Christmas.. Picked up my baby girl early from school.. so we could have a little time together before her school's Christmas Show... NAGGED my teenage son.. about studying for his test tomorrow......

So, as I already mentioned ROME was fabulous... just what we needed. The sun... the sites, the food.. the GELATO... (despite walking about 50 miles in 4 days..i didn't lose a single pound thanks to the COCONUT GELATO...) Having said Rome was fabulous... the old Travel agent in me... thought I would compile list of the good & the not so good... ( I can't say BAD... it was ROME after all..) One of the benefits to living in one of the worlds most EXPENSIVE countries (Norway) anytime you travel out of the country, you can count on getting a good deal.... it is always cheaper to go out & eat & drink & shop... hotels....looks like Rome is the exception... I have to say I did very NO planning for this trip. (Normally I am a FREAK when it comes to planning... I think it is FUN... to learn everything about the place I am going... & have everything planned out... with backup plans.... have I told you I used to be a KICK BUTT travel agent?) But, ...