Friday, October 23, 2009

Day 2 - Oslo, Norway


09/11/2009


Will is ready and excited to go sight-seeing.

We woke up bright and early on the second day of our trip and started with a really good breakfast in the very pretty restaurant of The Grand Hotel. I love European breakfasts! Instead of a buffet of fried foods they offer really good bread (all of the bread in this country blew my mind -- it was soooo amazing), meats and cheeses, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, lots of juices and fruit, raw vegetables, muesli and sometimes some hot meat and potatoes. Plus a million different condiments, including pickled herring (which I did not try!). Oh yeah, and the butter was really good, too! (My trainer is loving reading this! Haha!)

Just look at that table full of bread!

Our first stop of the day was up to the Akershus Fortress which was just a few minutes walk from the hotel. The fortress was so beautiful! It was built in 1299! Unfortunately there was no tour of the inside on the day we were there but just walking around outside was amazing and offered lots of opportunities for photos. It was here that we really got cobbled by the cobbled streets -- it was nearly impossible to push the stroller so Will got the monkey backpack on and had fun running around.

The Fortress

Will at the Fortress

Next up was the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. We walked all the way to the other end of Karl Johans Gate which was probably close to a mile and uphill (and luckily Will fell asleep in the stroller on the way despite the bumpy ride!) While waiting for the thing to start we talked to some cute Taiwanese girls who were visiting Oslo from Denmark where they were going to school -- they were hilarious! The actual changing of the guard was, as expected, not super thrilling but still something we had to go do.

Guys. Marching around.

A walk through a gorgeous, green, tree-filled park took us to Vigeland Sculpture Park. But this time William was awake and ready to get out of the stroller. There was a really cute wooden playground and sandbox near the entrance to the sculpture park so William and I stayed there while John, Ruth and Eric went to see the sculptures. After seeing the photos of the sculptures I was glad to not have gone in -- they are really creepy! While William played I had fun just watching the locals with their children. I noticed several differences in how the Norwegian parents interacted with their kids: first, all the parents were actually WITH their kids in the sandbox or playground, instead of watching from a bench on the side. Every parent was actively involved. There were also a lot more dads there than I've ever seen at any American playground, many even alone there with their children. Also, public breastfeeding without any huge sheets or even a blanket! Very interesting to observe the cultural differences (I love stuff like that).

Uh...what's supposed to be going on here exactly? Glad I protected my child's innocence and kept him out of the sculpture garden. :)


Ruth and Eric in the sculpture garden. That is one angry baby.


William happily plays in the sandbox with some Norwegian kids and a French girl.

Once John, Ruth and Eric were done with the sculptures we decided to hop on a bus to ride back down to our hotel area. Since all the signs at the bus stop were in Norwegian we weren't sure how it all worked. So we just got on the next bus that came. And we accidentally stole a free ride. Oops! Didn't know we were supposed to pay before getting on.

For dinner we found a really beautiful little restaurant called Cafe Skansen that had super delicious food. I wish we had taken photos of everything we ate on the trip. John and Ruth had turkey with cabbage and sweet potato puree that was incredible. My open face chicken sandwich was very good. Eric had the Arctic Char which he also enjoyed. The building itself was so adorable.

Can you find us in this photo?

I was ready to move right in. How lovely is this restaurant?

After dinner we found dessert at a fun cafe on the way back to the hotel. I had a chai latte and a little marzipan filled chocolate (had to get it cause it says 'William'!), Ruth had hot chocolate and the boys went to the bakery next door.

Cute cafe!


Good chocolate.

By this time we had to head to the airport for our first (of many) domestic flight of the trip. We picked up our bags from the hotel and then walked all the way back down Karl Johans Gate to the train station for the 20 minute train ride to the airport. It was just a short plane ride to Stavanger and a bus ride to our hotel -- The Myhregaarden. Our room was quite small but really cute with a black chandelier and gas fireplace. We had to get to bed right away because in the morning we were going to hike Preikestolen -- Pulpit Rock!

5 comments:

  1. Haha. First, I look like a Banshee in that angry baby photo. Second, I loved seeing the cultural family differences too. Third, I think we saved ourselves $20 with that little bus mistake. And fourth, I want to fly back to Oslo right now just to eat at Cafe Skansen again. Oh, yum.

    And I miss the way Norwegian milk tastes.

    I'm so glad you are writing this up!!

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  2. Oh man, I loved this blog, and I love all of Ruth's comments. :) And that picture of Ruth and Eric with angry baby is amazing!

    I love European breakfasts too. Sigh...Europe has a lot going for it. I may just move there.
    But probably not Norway, I don't think I can afford it! Thanks for letting all of us experience your trip!

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  3. The photos are amazing! Ah I love this blog. So glad you are writing it again. :) And after that description of breakfast, I am hungry again even though I just ate an hour ago.

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  4. Haha! I love that pic of you guys -- it's so hilarious.

    I miss Cafe Skansen. And the bread. And the waffles. And the drinking yogurt.

    Let's save up a million dollars and go back and buy all of those clothes that we wanted! Ready...GO!

    P.S. If I ever leave out something please let me know so I can add it!

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  5. I have never been a fan of statues, but especially angry naked men throwing babies, statues.

    LOVE these photos!

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