We took off early Saturday morning and headed toward a town called Egersund about an hour and a half away. They have a market there every year in December called the Julebyen. I had heard about it from several people so we figured it would be worth a look. The weather has been very cold as I mentioned and Saturday morning dawned cold with a bit of snow that fell overnight. I bravely took the wheel and off we went!
The drive was beautiful and we passed several lakes that were frozen over that now also had a layer of snow on them as well. The scenery was gorgeous - grassy fields white with the layer of snow, boulders and mountain areas with a dusting...just lovely! When we arrived in Egersund, there was snow on the ground and it was "real" snow - not the Texas, very rare, icy kind! The kids thought it was great!
We walked around the market and enjoyed the atmosphere. Many of the booths were crafts and local goods, but one of the big draws is the food and drink! Hot drinks (julebru) could be purchased from an order of monks (with or without red wine) and the monks also sang carols and entertained with traditional songs. Spencer and the kids enjoyed sausage hot dogs (polser) and I tried the traditional and very popular rice porridge (grot suppe) with butter, cinammon, and sugar - oh, my, so yummy! I got home and went to the store to buy some - I can only hope it is half as good! It was a fun day and another beautiful drive home!
On the way home, we saw a couple areas where the locals were out in force ice skating on the frozen lakes. I actually took a quick look for ice skates when I was out Friday, hoping to find the "cheap" ones, but could not find the sizes I needed for the kids. We may just go out there in tennis shoes and slide around!
Saturday night, we babysat Ella for Dan and Shelia so they could attend her group's Christmas party. Ella stayed the night with us. The good part...they are returning the favor for us next week so we can go to Spencer's office party. We ended up over there for a good part of the day today (Sunday) because Spencer and Dan were smoking lamb, pork, and chicken. The kids played and Shelia and I watched a movie. It was a relaxing day overall!
This week promises to be a busy one! I am heading off on my girls' trip to London tomorrow evening and will be gone until Wednesday night. Spencer will be on Dad duty - I am sure he will be exhausted by the time I get back! Thursday evening is Brendan's Christmas program at school and Friday is Spencer's office party. The week is going to fly by!
I am including a few pictures from Egersund and also one of the view from our apartment - basically the same shot I took in the summer when we arrived! What a difference ice and snow make!
