Oslo, Norway

This past weekend My parents and I went to Oslo. It is about 3 hrs away from here by train, but only a 45 min plane ride. And the price difference is only about $20, so we took the fastest route. We landed in town at 6ish and then had to figure out the train station. I am not sure how to explain this, but reading in another language is tough and then trying to get where you want to, almost impossible. Then it is impossible when your Dad is telling you no, not that way and your Mom is looking at you like are you sure, or is he right. For the record, I am always right.
We finally got where we could buy tickets from a kiosk, and we bought one, then tried to buy two more, but you can not immediately repeat the same transaction with the same card. It does not like that. Well we got two more tickets, but they were going to a different station than my mom's ticket was going too. We figured that it maybe didn't matter. So we got on and they announced that the train would stop at the Central Station only. So it did not matter, we had to get off at the first and only stop. We then took a taxi the rest of the way.
We stayed at Hotel Bonehiem, also known as a Best Western. It was a really nice place and was very convenient to the town center. That night we went to the Aker Bryger, meaning the dock area. We had a very nice Italian/Norwegian dinner. Then we walked home and went to bed around midnight.
We woke up early to eat breakfast and catch a city tour. We took a great 5hr tour. Normally I think long tours drag on, but this one flew by so fast. We saw so much. First we drove around town looking at the historic buildings like the old fort, Parliament, the palace and the National Theater. Then we drove out to a sculpture park. Some famous artist, I can't remember his name, Vigeland, I think. Made a wager with the city, that they would pay for a new studio and he would give the city all the molds of his sculptures so they could place them all in a park. It was really beautiful. There are more than 100 sculptures and they are all life size. After that we went to the Viking Ship museum. There they have on exhibit 2 ships they have found buried. The vikings who were important had their ships buried with them so they could use them in the afterlife. They way they sealed the tombs helped the boats and artifacts preserve very well. It was really amazing to know how old all that stuff is and that it has lasted. After that we went to the Con Tiki museum. This was a crazy guy who sailed a reed boat across the ocean more than once. I had never heard of him, but he did this to prove that civilizations have been sailing and moving around for centuries. And he is probably right. It was neat to see a boat made out of plants that had sailed 51 days on the ocean. The last museum we went to was one called Ferm, I think. It was a museum dedicated to a Norwegian who went to the North Pole, he was the first explorer. They also had his boat. It was cool to climb on the boat and look to see how they lived and worked. It smelled really bad, like mothballs, yuck. The last stop on the tour was to the new Opera house. They are very proud of it, and I think they want it to be like the Sydney Opera House. It is located on the water and has been modeled after an iceberg. It is really white, but it is pretty. You can climb all over it and walk on the roof. It has a wonderful view of the city and the harbor. It was really steep climbing up to the top, but worth the view.
The tour dropped us off 12 blocks from the hotel. It was a long walk back to the hotel. When we got there we all took a 2 hr nap. Then out to celebrate for my birthday. We had a nice dinner out on a roof top over looking the Parliament square. Then we walked home and began packing to leave.
My parents had a 8am train out of town and I had a 12:50pm flight. I slept in and ate a late breakfast and caught the train to the Airport and then sat and people watched for an hour. And before I knew it I was landing in Kristiansand. It was good to feel like I was coming home. Kirk picked me up from the airport and drove me back into town. We hung out for a little bit and then he went to the train station to pick up one of his friends.
Over all I had a great weekend and a great birthday. Can't complain when you are in a beautiful country with your family and meeting new friends.