Sunlight at Night and a Continuation of things I've learned

Our Summer has been bright and far warmer than I ever imagined it would be (no complaints here). I have always opted for sunny and warm over anything else. I had been warned that sometimes the summers here can be rainy and a little gloomy, but this summer has been far from that. It has been on the verge of HOT (And we know what hot is). We do not have A/C in our apartment--since our building is from the 1600's.  So we learned early on once it was getting hot that we had to leave our windows open (everyone does this it seems).  We keep them open day and night. This concept was foreign to us at first due to our Louisiana mind set and the thought of things coming in the house, but we have had no issues and it is actually quite nice. There are windows open all over the city.  It has gotten into the mid 80's and sometimes at night Kevin and I have had to pull the ice packs out. ha. The biggest adjustment has been the sun at night, although now we are back on our way to more dark. I say the Peak was in May/June. It got to the point where the sun never truly set. If I got up in the middle of the night, I could honestly never guess what time it was because I could see light shining through the windows. I was always shocked when I checked my clock and it was 2:38 in the morning or only 3:30. There was one night where Kevin and I both woke up in the middle of the night because we could hear people outside our window (open of course). We could tell they were arguing and it was loud (not common for Kongsberg). Anyway, it went on for way too long--and I was thinking oh it's probably around 8:00 from the light I saw through the window. I looked at my clock and it said...3:30!?! And that is when I though, "ohh noo, this is not acceptable." But really it looked like daylight outside. hah. There are pictures below of some different times at night from a window in our apartment. It really was truly beautiful. And we loved going for a walk when it was late and cool and still light. I will miss that when there is more darkness then light here in the winter.  It took us a while to get use to it, as I would read my book on the porch at 10 at night (but it really kind of messed with our heads/bodies for when we needed to go to bed). Some of our best light on our porch was at night. I will definitely miss that. I have been talking to people about when it stays dark longer, and they assure me it is not that bad. So I'll have an update on that when we experience it :) Until then, I'll be enjoying my sun and wearing shorts.

9:00 at night- June

10:00 Night- June

11:00 at night- June

12:00 Midnight- June

1:00 AM- at night- June

2:00- AM at night- June

9:30 at night in July

9:30 at night in June

Midnight in July

1:00 AM in July

1:15 AM in July

This a panoramic picture taken form a friend's balcony in Kongsberg.

You can see the moon and the Sun setting in the same picture :)

Continuation of things that I have learned/observed so far:

30. It is perfectly safe/acceptable to pick up berries or greens and eat them while on a trail and not wash them.
31. Sometimes the clouds seem so close you feel like you could reach up into the sky and grab them.
32.  I thought that it never got warmer than 80 degrees. However, it has gotten to be 86.
33. Sunlight at 3 in the morning is totally normal during the summer.
34. Starting June 21st Norway loses 5 min of sunlight a day.
35. I still sound American when I say, "Jeg heter Rachel."
36. You know its hot when you see two elderly women in their bras outside in less than 5 min.
37. Koozies are not common here. They have been quite the conversation starters when we bring them out. Especially our Wedding ones.
38.  It is normal to keep your windows open all day and night (due to no air conditioner). It took me a while to get use to this, but the warmer it got the easier it was. We have had no bugs/animals, not like we would have if we were in Louisiana.  I don't want to even imagine what would be in our house then. We leave ours open all the time!
39. Locking the door is not always a common. I once locked the door behind someone that came over, and they said, "Oh, you actually lock your door?" Ha. That made me feel even safer. :)
40. Not all hotels have air conditioned rooms or floors. This is still a hard concept for Kevin and I. So we now look for hotels that specifically list it.
41. Norway Strawberries are delicious--the season started in May.
42. Sometimes people bring their babies to the gym--in their carrier--set up right next to them as they lift weights.
43. Parents are required to take their kids out of daycare for three weeks straight in order to allow for proper family time. This usually occurs during the Norwegian holiday.

Quick Travel Update:
We have enjoyed the Norwegian Holiday, and our time in Kongsberg this summer. We now have many vacations coming up and a very busy time with families coming to visit. This is beyond exciting. This weekend we will be going to Brussels, Belgium. This weekend is the weekend of the Flower Carpet. This is only done once every two years on a weekend in August in the Grand Place in Brussels. I can not wait to take pictures of this! It will be a giant carpet of flowers formed in designs in the Grand Place with light shows etc. at night. We are also looking forward to the Belgium Chocolate, Beer, and Waffles... :) At the end of August, Sean (my brother) will be visiting us for a week. A couple days later, we will be delighted to have Kevin's Parents from Sept. 9th until 16th. Then we head off for Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany from the 18th to 22nd. We will be there for the first weekend of Oktoberfest and we are so excited. My Parents will then be joining us from October 1st until the 11th. With both parents we will be going on a mini-cruise trip to Copenhagen, Denmark. We will also be going to Bergen, Norway- a popular town on the west coast with my parents to see some fjords and go on the Flåm railway (since they will be here a little longer).  Going to see the Fjords was high on my Mom's to do list while in Norway. As my parents depart, I will also depart to Greece to meet up with my friend Casey Gray. She will already be in Greece for a Bear convention so I will meet her and some of her friends afterwards in Athens. We are going to try to see a couple Islands as well. We are very much enjoying our time here in Europe, but are looking forward to our visitors coming as we do miss everyone very much. Hope all is well with everyone-you are never far from our minds. Love from both Donovan's :)  Also I am going to start volunteering in Kongsberg tomorrow at the Cultural Cafe. This should be an adventure, haha.