The Yates: First loves of Norway

I thought I would write a post of some of the first things I have come to love about Norway so far. And hopefully my list will keep getting longer. The obvious first love is the amazing scenery. This is what you see as you leave the airport.

You don't have to drive too far out of city center to find sheep and cow farms. Everywhere. I especially love the sheep farms because there's usually rocks sticking out all over the field.

Most of the time we just see homes and buildings, but every now and then there is a gap in the buildings and you see the gorgeous view of the ocean and infinite mountains in the distance.

We also have a great lake literally 3 minutes away from us. We knew there was a lake nearby, but this scene was more breathtaking than I imagined.

There's a couple fun bridges as you're walking there.

And then there are trails galore around the lake. There's actually two lakes right next to each other, but it's a long distance. We did pass some horses and we walked around the trail one night. Here's a couple pictures from that trail.

I was kind of obsessed with the green rocks covered in moss. I'll have to get a close up next time we go.

And of course, my walk to the grocery store several times a week is pretty too. (There are many, many, paths that are just walking/biking baths through the neighborhoods, and this one of them) It's easy to take for granted the beauty around you. It is often cloudy and rainy, so when it's sunny you are reminded where you're at. But I need to remember to look around and be grateful for all the greenery I get to see on our walk.

Next, there are SO many little playgrounds in the neighborhoods, that are all slightly different from each other. It's perfect when we need to get out of the house. I can think of 6 I can walk to in less than 2 minutes from our apartment, and there's probably more I haven't discovered yet. I love how child/family friendly everything is here.

The fruit is sweeter than I've ever tasted before. I know this will go away soon since it's the season for it right now, but I'll take months without great fruit for just a short time with the amazing fruit. Plus, I had the strawberries in my fridge for several days without them starting to get mooshy like strawberries usually do.

I have been craving applesauce but they don't sell it here so I decided to make my own and was again shocked at how sweet the apples are. I didn't add sugar and it is so tart it tastes like I'm eating dessert.

And last, but not least, the step-less escalators! Why are these not in every mall in the US?? Is it a new invention? Does it take up too much space? Seriously it's the best thing ever not to have to find an elevator just to go upstairs. There is a newly built shopping mall near our house and the first time we went there we felt at home, ha ha. It was silly, but to just have nice stores all in one place, plus we had a fruit smoothie on our way out, totally made us feel at home.