FRAM

Next, we walked down to the pier and took a ferry to the other side of the harbor where a number of interesting museums are located. A quick peek in the FRAM museum to see the strongest wooden boat in the world, FRAM. Built in the late 1800’s, it has sailed further north and further south than any other boat of its kind.

Back to Akershus Fortress

Our bags finally arrived by 11am on Thursday morning and by 11:30 we were on our way. Our first stop was a trip back to the Akershus Fortress. This time it was open to public, so we took a tour of the inside, admiring the chapel, the dungeons, and many grand rooms for social gatherings and government affairs. Compared to the castles we’ve seen in England and Italy, the décor in Akershus is minimal, much like the rest of the culture; no flashy jewels or overabundance of gold, just simple, unassuming beauty.

Luggage

“Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.” - Charles Dudley Warner

Thursday began with a good dose of irony. After breakfast, we waited around the hotel for two hours for the courier to deliver our luggage from the airport. While we were waiting, a family came tramping through the lobby far too early to check in to their room. As they passed by on their way to the restaurant, we heard the mother say under her breath that she couldn’t wait to get rid of their bags. “We’ll take them,” my Dad said, immediately noting the irony of our situations. I suppose a hotel room is no good without your luggage and luggage is no good without a hotel room to store it in.

The Resistance

Yesterday, we stopped at a fortress perched at the top of the Oslo fjord (Akershaus). This fortress was used to defend Norway against the German invasion in 1940. Unfortunately, the Germans were successful in their efforts and occupied Norway from 1940-1945. It's hard to imagine that this lovely building, with its breathtaking views, was once a place of such turmoil.

(Funny story...as we were walking up to the fortress we were talking about The Resistance and Jackie asked if Norway won. We all laughed. Then she scrunched up her nose and with a look of perplexion, added, 'Well, what I meant was, were they successful in...resisting?')

Downtown Oslo

Spent yesterday afternoon exploring downtown Oslo. The weather here is in the upper 50s and comfortable for lots of walking. Our first meal was at a little Greek restaurant and then we had dinner at a Thai place. No Norwegian food yet but we're heading down to the Oslo fjord tonight for dinner on the water.

Days of the week

This is a sign I found in a local bank here...thought you might like to see the Norwegian names of the days of the week. Mandag (Monday) is named after the moon, Tirsdag (Tuesday) is named after 'Tyr' the godess of love, Onsdag (Wednesday) is named after 'Odin' the god war, Torsdag (Thursday) is named after 'Thor' the god of thunder, and Fredag (Friday) is named after 'Freyya' the goddess of beauty. Not sure about Saturday or Sunday...I'll have to get back to you on that ;)

Signs

Normally before a trip abroad, I spend some time learning the basics of the language. Hello, thank you, check please, etc. French, Spanish, Italian...they're similar in so many ways, but Norwegian is next to impossible. Not only do the words not have any Latin roots that make them easily identifiable, in many cases two, three, even four words are strung together into one! As you can imagine from the pictures above, we're having a ton of fun trying to pronounce them.

The airport...

The Oslo airport looks like Ikea...hard wood floors (and ceilings) the color of warm honey and stainless steel accents.

Getting here...

Chapter 1: Have to be at Dad’s house by 11:30am. Dave’s emergency trip to the doctor’s office adds a little extra excitement to our already jammed schedule. Turns out sitting through a cold, windy, rainy graduation ceremony is NOT the way to treat a cold. Luckily, Dave is okay…no ear infection, no strep.

Chapter 2: Jackie forgot her passport. Luckily we were only at the Princeton train station when she discovered it, so Dad was able to sprint home (in the pouring rain) and grab it.

Chapter 3: Accidentally, insulted fellow traveler on the monorail to our terminal talking about Dave’s experience with the staff at the doctors’ office. The group’s conclusion: doctors’ office staff are (for the most part) unhappy and mean. Fellow traveler’s wife is a doctor. Luckily though, he claimed her staff is a nice bunch.

Chapter 4: The plane’s right filange is broken and after two hours of waiting, we have to wait an hour and a half more for the crew to fix it. At first they give us the option to de-plane but we stay on-board, having snatched a comfortable empty row. Then, they announce that they’ve changed their minds and they want everyone off. Dad jumps into action and gets all six of us rebooked on a different flight – a direct flight, better yet!

Chapter 5: Our new plane doesn’t even have a filange! That’s right. After packing up all of our stuff and lugging them on to a new flight, we learn that our new plane has some sort of mechanical problem too. What is with these planes?! We sit on the tarmac for over an hour as they drill something down below and then r’off (family slang for “we’re off”).

Chapter 6: We recount all of our memorable moments so far and decide that this is truly is going to be a great vacation!

Chapter 7: Our luggage is lost.

To travel...

“Travel is the perfect liberty to think, feel, do just as one pleases.” -William Hazlitt

In the months leading up to this trip, Dave and I were acutely aware of our need to just...wander. In every sense of the word. To clear our minds and let our thoughts journey where they may. To free ourselves of schedules and daily demands, to be spontaneous and carefree. To soul search. To reflect. To go where the wind blows us.