Paisano European Tour 2010 - Day 17

Day 17 is September 23

Today we had a very early start. I was up a bit before the alarm.at 415 am.  Unfortunately, I started the day with a massive headache & joint pain.  However, from there on, the day was another Great one for the Paisano European Tour.

I can't say it enough, I'm So proud of Marc and Jana, too.  They've got the greatest relationship with their folks and that's Outstanding!  I'm really looking forward to having that kind of relationship one day, in the meantime, Danke to Marc for being one of my kids.  ;)

Marc and Frank were good enough to take Momma and I to the Hamburg airport and make sure we were all ready to go and checked in.  Again, Danke!  Everyone in the Wilkens family made us feel Extremely Welcome.  Remember, you ALL are Always welcome in our homes and we look forward to seeing you all again, soon.

Our flights today took us from Hamburg to Copenhagen and then to Trondheim.  We were lucky in that we had uneventful flights.  Yahoo!  As we arrived into Copenhagen I had to take a quick little trip to the restroom.  Since I peed there, that's counts for another country on my list, right??  The Copenhagen airport is surprisingly a very quite.  I guess I'm so used to LOUD American airports, I was rather surprised.  As we took a brief break between flights and grabbed a caffe, we also acquired more "new" money.  This time, we've got Danish krone.  I Love traveling, seeing new things, experiencing new places and collecting new money as well. ;)

I have to admit that as much as I love traveling and that I have Absolutely LOVED being in Germany for the past week, I am Beat...I feel pretty worn out.  I've been coughing, had major aches and a massive headache today, but...we made it to Trondheim in one piece and found ourselves in a Very quiet airport.  It was a bit odd as even the folks in the the lounge were very quiet.

Momma & I are now on to our 3rd or perhaps 4th country during this trip.  4th, only if you count Denmark because I used the restroom there.  ;()  So, when do YOU count a country???  Morten was good enough to pick us up.  I can't thank our European family enough, Everyone has been SO generous. Takk Morten!!!

After we left the airport, our first stop was Kristiansten Fort. The view from up here is really amazing.  Check out this link for some cool history. http://www.gonorway.no/norway/counties/sor-trondelag/trondheim/76360d31fcd1f60/vr/kristiansten. 
We spent some time looking around and even got to take a special tour with the grade school kids.  That was cool too.  The vantage point up there for pictures was amazing. 


Of course, that would also mean that the folks who built the fort, WAY back when, had the same idea. 

After taking in the sights from the Fort, we next went to the beautiful church in the heart of Trondheim.  That was impressive, to say the least.  One of the most interesting things was the artwork on the church.  I found it quite interesting when Morten gave us the run down of how, way back when, the leader of Norway was converted to Christianity.  He went around the country and asked if the people were Christians.  When they said no, well, guess what, they lost their heads.  If they said yes, then, Ta-Da, they kept their heads.  At any rate, there's a spot on the church that depicts a church "elder" with a bag full of heads.  Interesting, huh?

Morten was nice enough to take us around the city to view the sights and then we stopped at one of my Always favorite places.  We hit the Harley shop.  Yay!  I scored a t-shirt and it's got all the stuff that we just saw.  Very cool & it was just like Morten knew what to show us.  ;)

Our drive from Trondhiem was absolutely amazing, especially the further north we went.  At this point, I realize that I So need a bike out here!  The ride out to our new "home" for the next week was great.  After we got home, we finally got to meet Line, Maja & Kristen.  That was Great!  We got a chance to hang out  while Morten & Line were cooking dinner for us.  What a Great way to get settled in.  Just before dinner was ready, Hans and Ronja got here.  Just like when I saw Marc at the airport, I realized just how much I missed my boys.  LOTS! 

Tonight, we got a chance to go to a "grand opening" for the multi use building and community center in Linnsvik where Line is in charge of several key areas of the municipality.  This was Very nice surprise.  The program was really nice.  They had bands, music, singing, dancing & story telling.  I know Momma and I both enjoyed it very much, even the "stuff" we didn't understand.  Thank you Line for helping the Americans out.  ;)  So, Line was the MC, Kristin as a back up singer and Ronja was also part of the program as a member of a team.  Very cool AND the Raustein's were well represented.   

After show, we went back home and had a nice little meal and some great conversation.  Hans & Ronja spent the night here at home and Momma and I give up and head up for bed. I was out like a light and was hoping for a good night's sleep so that I could try to get over being sick.  Welcome to Norway!