Up the Fjord, Down the Fjord

One of the most fun parts of the day is playing our nightly game of Up the Fjord, Down the Fjord (sometimes known as Up the River, Down the River) or Norwegian Gin (aka Chinese Gin).  Usually we play in one of our hotel rooms, all laid out in bed; if we are lucky and have a hotel with a great lobby or cozy nook, we use that.  Bottom line, lots of fun, and we usually play way too late (remember, it's the land of the Midnight Sun), especially if Gabey has had kaffe (she has acquired a taste for the hard stuff on this trip -- great).  So far, the best cozy nook has been at the Hoyflottelgrotli -- a  historic hotel high up above the tree line in ski country in Grotli that has been in the same family for 6 generations and is truly splendid.  (See Maaike's comments on the food there from earlier in the blog.)  Wow, wonderful.

Card-wise, Gabey is a thrill seeker and overbids; Maaike can't seem to get the hang of it and usually is just one bid off;  Stan plays it all very close to the vest; and I usually just wander off to sleep and/or a state of Alzheimers and screw up royally, no matter what game we're playing.

Awesome game playing ambiance in Grotli.

Gearing up for cards in Roros -- an ancient copper mining town and UNESCO World Heritage site.

And, in other non-card-playing news (aka 'here are some random photos'):

 Decorating the back of the Mercedes for the 4th of July. 

Idea for the Crystal Lake Forest Advisory Committee:  We can grow trees on our roofs, like they do in Norway.  

Trolls were everywhere -- they are especially scary in the misty fog (which enveloped us on a regular basis), high on the hills of Bergen.

Takk for alt!

C.L.  July 6, 2011