Delightful Visit from Edna Dugan
On my 5th trip to the airport in Stavanger, Edna finally arrived last Monday – 24 hours later than expected. The weather was Ithacating, but after my emergency trip to the dentist for a fractured tooth (eating gorp) we walked around downtown with Marijke, my Dutch friend and prospective tour guide, who showed us the sights. Tuesday and Wednesday continued rainy/overcast so we walked toVaulen, around Godalen and met Larry at IRIS. Roselyne and Jean Claude came for a glass of wine on Tuesday and we, along with Jenny and Bahram Fathi, went to their house Wednesday evening. Wednesday, Edna and I lunched and toured with Ellen and her sister who once sang and worked with Up With People! The typical Stavanger weather prevented us from doing strenuous, rocky hikes, but we walked lots and Edna met many of our friends. Thursday we went to Bergen and stayed at the historic Solstrand Hotel in a gorgeous setting (reminding me of Lake Louise and Hokkaido) a half-hour south of Bergen. The weather was clearing and we went for a lovely walk along the fjord and swam in the indoor pool, enjoyed a good dinner and even danced a little. We met the owner of the hotel whose late husband studied at Cornell’s Hotel School. Friday we struggled to find where Larry was to go in Bergen, gave up and connected with Willy via cellphone calls. Edna and I walked around Bergen and took the cable car up 300m., enjoyed lunch overlooking the city, walked down and connected with Larry and Willy. Edna departed early Saturday morning and we drove back via Avaldsnes, once the capital of Viking Norway, and still quite rural and Skudneshavn, a lovely sailing coastal town with picturesque homes. Stavanger has enjoyed wonderful sunny weather and blue skies for 5 days in a row!