Norway update
Pics! (Some of these are friends-only; join and be my friend, or let me know if you want me to send you a guest pass link.)
Norway is staggeringly gorgeous. Huge cliffs abut aquamarine glacier water, giant waterfalls cascade down cliffs everywhere. Picaresque tiny villages are nestled between the mountains and fjords. The only word to describe it is idyllic.
The wedding was in this awesome church on a hill above Oslo (which is a pretty cool city, kinda generically modern/old European). Declan O’Rourke sang a song at the wedding (he’s really good and a super nice guy to boot). The reception was in a beautiful home close by, which overlooked Oslo from a big hill. The food was so good, I can’t even describe it – very unusual combinations married together beautifully (kind of like a Norwegian and Irishman who met in Austin). The wedding band was some Irish dudes called the Gits (I think, apologies if I got that wrong), with the drummer from Belle and Sebastian – they mostly did covers, with Declan stepping in a couple of times. Iain Archer finally showed up, but I can’t remember if he played (he was supposed to do the wedding song but missed his flight). I spent some time dancing around and taking pictures. There was a lunar eclipse that night, too, and a beautiful view of the city below in the waxing and waning moonlight.
Then we went to an after-party at the bride’s brother’s house, where there was a (thankfully heated) pool outside. i think i was probably second or third to strip off my suit and tie and jump in. So awesome. We swam around some, did a few synchronized cannon balls and relay races. A lead singer in a major label band stole my sock, and I didn’t want to wear his because it smelled bad. So I spent some time wandering around trying to find him and my sock, only to later realize he’d left. But on the plus side, there were hot dogs ready to eat, and a bunch of cool Irish dudes strumming the guitar and singing next to the pool – the highlight of which was Declan doing his song ‘Sarah‘ with a couple of the guys singing spontaneous harmony.
I also should mention that the city of Bergen is really nice, too. It’s the one with the rainbow and sunset in the pics. But the tiny village of Flam (and getting there by train) is the real must-see in Norway.
Oh, also, Norway is really really effing expensive.
