July 3rd – 7thVinstra, Norway

Hello everyone! We had a blast in Norway! We did end up getting stuck in Newark for the night (July 3rd). Our next flight for Norway didn’t leave until the following eve (July 4th). So we made the most out of our July 4th and spent the day in NYC. We got to go to Coney Island and watch the World Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest! Wow, it was amazing how many hotdogs the competitors scarfed down and actually it almost made some of us a little sick to our stomachs! Kudos to those who can attempt such an amazing feat. The champion ate a total of 59 hotdogs! After watching the contest, we went to the oldest pub in NYC called “Mc Sorley's.” The floors, tables and walls were worn with use and age and they only served two kinds of beer, “light” and “dark.” There were many old photos hanging in the pub, and the only renovation that they’d done was adding a ladies restroom. At one time only men had been allowed in there. Up over the bar, we saw a bunch of old wishbones hanging from a wire over the bar. The story was that there were a bunch of gents that used to go in there and hang out, until World War Two when they ended up having to go off to fight. They had all hung their own wishbones from the wire over the bar so each one would know that if their buddy’s wishbone was gone, that they had returned safely. Seeing some of the wishbones still hanging there to this day was saddening.
We went for a slice of “Joe’s Pizza” afterwards and then back to Newark we went. We caught our flight on to Norway!

We got into Norway the following morning (Saturday July 5th). It was roughly an 8 hour flight with a 7 hour later time difference. Our show was Saturday eve. We got into Oslo, we were happy that all of our gear made it! Even though we’ve been to Norway before and have done this festival before, it was exciting for us for the mere fact that we had Bree, Sarah and Eric who’d never been overseas before. So it was really neat to hang with them, watch them take many photos, buy Norwegian food etc. We are so tickled to have them with us.
We got to our venue that afternoon and already there was quite a neat crowd built up. We knew that we were in for a really good night! Sound check went well and afterwards we went to our hotel and ate a nice dinner. Just like the last time we were there, the sun never did fully go down! Showtime was later that night, but it wasn’t nighttime! It was a fun show and the crowd was really welcoming! Thank you so much for having us! We hope to see you again really soon!

We got up early the next morning and got to ride real Fjord Horses! It was the perfect morning to ride. The morning was so crisp, clear and beautiful. We took all kinds of really neat scenic photos. Riding the English saddle took a little bit of getting used to, along with riding the stirrips higherbut we all settled in fine. We got to wear the cool riding hats, we were rocking! Afterwards, we headed back to Oslo and spent the day. We were to fly out the following day (Monday).

We got back in Monday night, quite a bit later than planned due to airports, planes etc., but we made it back fine!

We really enjoyed ourselves and once again it was so cool to share the experience with Eric, Sarah and Bree. It was neat to see them having such a great time taking in the European Atmosphere for the first time.