Well, Oslo will forever be the place my computer died and I spent a fulll 48 hours trying to get a new one. We leave Oslo and Norway overall by bus today (3 hours) and then train (2.5 hours) to land in Stockholm this evening. TGIF even has meaning here. Its raining today so happily we got the better days in town. Perhaps colored by the computer and my work challenges at present, but perhaps bigger picture because Oslo just wasnt anything unique, we are ready to go. Oslo is like a less interesting Boston as Scarlett describes it. The highlights were definitely the Nobel Peace Center featuring the history of the prize and all its recipients and some interesting stats on the freedom of the press. You may be surprised (or not) by the rankings. The seaport area is lovely but nothing all that new. The Modern Art museum has a great perch on the edge of the harbor.
Scarlett and I enjoyed the fancy shopping street while we waited for my new computer to be loaded. We continue to marvel at how crazy expensive Norway is. There is a theme around mystical trolls here and we found a few post cards that we enjoyed sending to Scarlett's siblings. The jist is that Daddy is starring excitedly up this giant and lovely beanstalk excited for this grand adventure. Scarlett and I are scurrying to keep up loaded down with packs (of our own loading) out of view behind him, a bit less entranced but still willing to climb. A few other images to explain, one being Scarlett giggling which Kelley and I are both loving to hear and is on repeat, this time because I pointed out to her a woman wearing a long knit stocking as a legitimate hat behind us on the pier. A picture of a massive Franklin D Roosevelt statute overlooking the Pier. The other was the teddy bear room sign which, if you gave up cleaning your room for a night, they donate --wait for it--1 euro to unicef for personnel costs. That is worth 0.98 cents US right now. And sadly, with the way the showers work there, the whole bathroom takes a bath with you, so towels get soaked to ensure no one slips and falls after anyone rinses off even quickly. Therefore, while this option is always an easy 'yes', the scope of the donation did not outweigh a clean room most nights and we know this also takes away work from the service staff.
Also featured is Scarlett in front of the Hotel Christiania Theater which we did greatly enjoy. The Norwegians offer free breakfast as a country wide 'thing'. My waistline will benefit from moving on to Sweden today!
Comments