[mystictrek]

I'm back as the effects of jet lag are diminishing and as I get most of my photos and reflections on our great trip organized and uploaded and shared. I invite you to visit my travel blog > http://www.abundance.../travelblog2006

I am reading Michener's long book on his many and lengthy Spanish travels called IBERIA. It is fascinating and helps me understand why Spain has been such a mystery to me over the years.

Mary, my wife, can speak some Spanish and that sure helped. We really enjoyed tapa bar hopping in Madrid, flamenco in Sevilla, great train rides, Holy Toledo's fantastic cathedral and walls and gates and narrow streets, the amazing Prado Museum in Madrid and the fascinating treasures of the Moors' era: Granada's LaHambra & Cordoba's Mestizzo.

In Norway, I got to explore Trondheim and meet a second cousin and his family. Svein, my second cousin, is a Lutheran Minister now teaching Ethics and Mathematics at a Trondheim college. He is a train enthusiast and arranged a tour of the Trondheim Yard for me. His deck overlooks the broad and beautiful Trondheimfjord and the railroad going East toward Sweden and North toward Bodo. We had dinner on the deck as the sun began to set in the North! It set around 11pm.

Trondheim has a famous cathedral with lots of connections to Norway's millenium long Christian history. It is traditionally the fourth most important pilgrimage destination in Western Christianity.

We also visited Andalsnes and Molde and Alseund and several gorgeous fjords by train and bus and ferry. We stayed one night at Geiranger with a balcony overlooking the Geirangerfjord. We got to see a cruise ship depart. The Geirangerfjord is truly one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The bus handled the eleven switchbacks of the Eagle Way with precision both going down to the fjord and back up again. The waterfalls with lots of gushing water are everywhere.