BHRA is very lucky to have Basset Friends all over the world!  One of our very good friends is Tina Herbert from Norway.  We have become acquainted with Tina through a Basset Forum Group that one of our Trustees belongs to.  Tina donated a lovely basset hound cross stitched picture that she cross stitched herself for our Bash.  Diane and her Steve, her husband, recently returned from a trip to Norway where they got to meet Tina and her Bassets!  Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?  Here are a few pictures from their trip and Dianne's account of their visit.  Enjoy!

Tina & Dianne

"We met Tina and Harold in Flaam. Got acquainted, and took the scenic route through Aurland Valley. It takes about 3 hours, it is a winding road, with beautiful scenery. The roads are rather narrow at times and we would have to wait and or back up for oncoming traffic.  We drove through the Aurland Valley which is a very scenic, historic trading route. It reminds you of Alaska and the Rocky Mountains, and is sometimes called Norway's Grand Canyon. We visited the site of a Stave Church which has Viking features on the outside. We also went through the world's longest tunnel, 16 miles, which was a shortcut back to the ship. We had a late lunch there and really enjoyed the conversation. There are only 50 bassets in Norway, and Tina has 4 of them. At one of the stops a person came up and asked in a heavy accent what kind of dogs she had, and she told them in English, and his wife in Norwegian said they were the ugliest dogs she had ever seen! Tina thought it was funny, I said she should have answered back in Norwegian that she didn't think so. "

"The picture of the three of us standing is of Laerdal, a village center with 161 wooden houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. It had some antique shops, stores and restaurants in it. It was neat to see the houses with  small barns behind them. "

Tina, Harold & Dianne

"We had a really nice time visiting, sometimes you get tired of sightseeing and it was nice to just visit. We stopped on the side of the road and bought fresh cherries and raspberries, you just leave your money, honor system. Steve is still talking about the fresh fruit. I emailed Tina the other day, and she said she hadn't seen the sun since we were there on the 25th, and the temperature had dropped below 50 at night. I would go back to Norway, especially right now!

Dianne"