Norway Cruise Experience & Diamond Jubilee!

The Norwegian anniversary excursion was a blast!

We flew into Oslo on Saturday evening and were able to walk our luggage over the Radisson hotel across the street. We were glad for that because it was almost 11PM (and yet strangely... still pretty light out!). Earlier that day, a few minutes before we were picked up to go to the airport we discovered that there was a strike going on in Norway and our ship would not be leaving from Oslo anymore, but instead Gothenburg, Sweden.

Contrary to what you may think: Oslo is not near the Oslo airport. You take the train to get there!

Fortunately, we knew that all we had to do was get to the correct pier and busses would be taking us down to the new port. This is easier said than done! There were far more piers in Oslo than we expected. We had to catch a cab to take us to the correct one--2 km away! Let me tell you, if you ever plan on going to Norway, plan to spend quite a bit of money, especially if you want a cab. 2 km ended up costing us 269 NOK, which is about $45! Fortunately, the rest of the cruise included every other expense so we hardly spent any money at all! (A few post cards and a Christmas ornament memory excluded, of course.)

The bus ride down to Gothenburg wasn't so bad because we were just too excited to be put off by the excursion. I have become an official amateur in Bejeweled thanks to the iPad and the 3.5 hour journey.

Once we arrived to the Plan-B port, which looked a lot like a shipyard, we joined a queue and became official cruisers! We had a ton of fun exploring the ship and watching everyone slowly join the group; I was told there were about 1900 guests.

Shuffleboard is cool.

The Queue

The name of our ship

Day 2 : Gothenburg! The day after we got to the ship we got to roam around the great Swedish city of Gothenburg. We loved it! The people are so friendly and everyone speaks English! This came in handy because the only Swedish words I know are Ogren Vän = friend (Nonnie taught me that one!)

We went shopping and bought a dress!

Charming old town

Gustav Adolf

The Volvo plant right next to our Ship's pier!

 Back on the ship... we were occasionally surprised with adorable towel animals on the bed. How did they find my RayBans?

Formal night was on the day at sea between Gothenburg and Bergen, Norway. We met some friends on the cruise and they helped make the trip even more enjoyable! It's always nice to have good conversation with great food!

We all look super sharp!

We both won a Spa Raffle! I got a foot and ankle massage. :)

Ice cream was in no short supply on the ship. I frequently partook!! 

Bryggen : Wharf of Bergen. UNESCO World Heritage site

Final stop on the tour: Geiranger, Norway.

We got up early so we could watch the ship navigate through the fjord. It was amazing! There are so many waterfalls and occasionally we could see a lonely cabin on the side of the mountains. That's my kind of living! :)

brrr

A cup of coffee and brilliant scenery!

Our favorite photo. This was taken on a hike up to the Storsetter Waterfall

LONG HIKE UP! 

We made it! The foot and ankle massage will come in handy tonight!

 The end of the hike offered many rewards including homemade waffles, jam, cream and coffee, spectacular views and a visit to the local kids (goats)!

The Vision of the Seas in Geirangerfjorden!

The cruise was an incredibly romantic vacation, perfect for our anniversary celebration!

When we returned back to England on Saturday we stayed with a friend and went to London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Flotilla! It was spectacular to see all the beautiful sights of London with all the Union Jack buntings and row boats on the Thames.

We love all the patriotism!

Excited in the rainy weather!!!

Definitely got pretty cold after a while!!!

All worth it to see the queen and her royal family!!!

1 Year Anniversary!

The bags are packed, my nails are painted, the AGA is off, and we are ready to go to Norway for our 6-night cruise of the Fjords! This cruise is our "holiday" to celebrate our 1-year anniversary on 28 May. We are so excited and have no idea what to expect. Neither of us have ever been to any Scandinavian country before. It doesn't help that it's been a balmy 78ºF the past 4 days in England... we hardly know what to expect out of the weather anymore! Despite my inner economist screaming "pack light!" I have resigned to Bryant's liberal way of packing a suitcase with gowns, sweaters, shorts, light clothes, and heavy clothes just to make sure we aren't miserable. One thing I will ask--pray that we don't get seasick! :)

Just imagine the ship's horn!! WOOOOOOWOOOOOO

If you're curious about our ship's itinerary, click here. We are flying to Oslo airport this evening and tomorrow morning we take a train to the docks in downtown Oslo.

A photo of Norway I found online... Next time we'll have our own! :)

We are amazed that we are celebrating the one year mark of our marriage already. One year ago I was praying that God would make 28 May a sunny day and was packing my suitcase for Antigua! I was also frantically putting together reception decorations with my friends and anticipating my family's arrival into MSP airport for the wedding. It is so much fun to think back on how we first met and the timeline that led us to where we are now. We would have never expected to be here, and we love it. I guess I don't mind not knowing what to expect because so far, we've been pretty pleased with the end result. We don't mind figuring it out as we go.

Happy 1-year anniversary, my sweet.

Wedding Photos!

The moment we have been waiting for had arrived on Tuesday night: Our wedding photos were posted!! Since then I have been dying to sit down and look through all 3,501 of them. I actually still have yet to get through them all, but I am close and I managed to put together a few collages of some of our favorites:

I couldn't be any more in love with how the day turned out. The flowers, the whole look, the photo booth (UnBooth)  and my adorable bridesmaids were just a few parts of what made it so great!

The butterfly combs were lent to me by my mother, and the necklace was my MorMor's string of pearls.

The Boys. I am so glad our photographer captured the boutonnieres. I love fiddlehead ferns! Each yellow tie was different and custom-made by a shop I found on Etsy.

It may be strange, but my favorite photo of all 3,501 is the bottom right of this set. I love to look at that face he makes when I go in for a smootch. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man to kiss for the rest of my life!

If you want to see more of our favorites, we have created an album on our wedding photo Flickr site. We added a bunch today and I have more tweaking to do yet, but until then, enjoy the creme de la creme!

Acknowledgements:
Photography - Clewell Photography
Location - Minnetonka Orchards
Ceremony/Reception Flowers - Armstrong Design
Bouquets/Boutonnieres - My pal, Kate. :)
Custom Neckties - Tux and Tulle
Gown/Dresses/Tuxes- The Wedding Shoppe, Inc.

Welcome to the blogosphere.

Meet us: Bryant and Hannah, a couple of transplanted Minnesotans, one from Iowa and one from Wisconsin. We fell in love, got married, and to this day neither of us are positive what it is we really want out of life. 

Because of our recent marriage, we have a pretty exciting and packed life so far this year! We made a couple of job changes, moved to a historic apartment in the city, planned the wedding of our dreams in May and we are building our life together as a married couple. If all this wasn't enough craziness, we are moving to England in September! We were offered an opportunity near High Wycombe, UK for a three-year period and on the eve of Prince William and Kate's wedding we decided to take the plunge (fitting)!

Even though we haven't nailed down our life goals and we aren't driven by grand dreams, we love each other and we look forward to making the most of every day as it comes.

We're joining the blog bandwagon because we know that this is the trip of a lifetime and we want to log our process of getting there and share our travel experiences. If you're a friend, family member or just a blog surfer curious about our life transition from Minnesota to London, we hope you enjoy what you read and perhaps you'll be inspired to do a little traveling yourself!