My parents will be here next week! I am really excited to see them! One of my top pieces of advice for anyone taking a sabbatical is to not buy a lot of new things before you go. This is especially true is you are going somewhere with climate that’s more extreme than what you […]

That’s right!  We had three days in Lillehammer, and you get three posts.  Consider it our gift to you (which means now you have to get us one).  More importantly, there’s a lot more to say about Lillehammer — which we loved — than just that we tried some sports. The cross country skiing World […]

Gavin and Allison Fall Down is a recurring series where we try Norwegian winter sports and recount our shortcomings for your amusement. This week: Cross Country Skiing. Previous editions: curling, ski jumping, bobsledding I’ll go ahead and say this up front: cross country skiing is way more fun than alpine skiing. Cross country skiing is what Norwegians just […]

Gavin and Allison Fall Down is a recurring series where we try Norwegian winter sports and recount our shortcomings for your amusement. This edition: Bobsled Previous editions: curling, ski jumping Among the most simplistic of the world’s sports are the sliding sports.  We’re up here, the finish line is down there, and we each have a sled.  The […]

This summer I spent a couple of days at the Tautra Mariokloster, a monastery on an island in the Trondheimsfjord. It was peaceful, quiet, and serene, and I loved it. I made the decision to return at least once a season during our time here. My trip in August coincided with the peak of the very […]