Scandinavian Adventure Part II: Do you know the way to Norway?

Not an actual Norwegian

            When last we left our thrilling narrative my family and I had arrived in Norway. If you recall this was a big plus after being in Iceland, which isn’t very icy (in July anyway). Walking around the Oslo airport it was very obvious we were in a different country, because the signs were in at least 3, if not 4, different languages. One thing we were certain of, there was construction going on. Turns out that in every country summer is construction season, and Norway was using it to overhaul their train station. So instead of taking a train the whole way we also had to go by bus.

Peacock Fountain...IN NORWAY!

            Once we got off our plain/train/bus/Pegasus we were at Johannsgate. Which is not pronounced like door kind of gate (by the way), but it means street so, there you go. My sister Kari was our guide because she had been to Norway before and spoke some of the language. Somehow we all decided that since Kari had been to Norway before, she knew everything about every town and would be able to intrinsically lead us wherever we needed to go. Leading the pack of rouge Americans Kari brought us to our very Norwegian hotel, the Best Western. Toting our luggage behind us we travelled up hill and down, past old stone buildings, Game Stop, and the occasional store with a very Norwegian name that sounded funny when you said it aloud. Being the very vocal clan that we are, we voiced our displeasure at being forced to walk such a long way. Which in hindsight wasn’t too far, but we had been travelling for a good 24 hours at this point and our luggage was heavy.

            We reached the hotel and made use of the elevator, which was really tiny. I am assuming it is so small because Europeans prefer to take the stairs, which is why they can get away with wearing such skinny jeans…because they are skinny, and European. At any rate we opened the door to our hotel room and I was astounded at how high the ceilings were, and how big the window was, and how efficient the bathroom looked. The shower was AMAZING! It sat in the corner with a glass door that opened inward, and it didn’t have its own shower floor, it was just the regular floor, but inside the shower. The toilet had two buttons you could push to flush, one for a large amount of water, and one for a small amount of water. Oh, and you had to go up two small steps to get into the bathroom, which made it cooler for some reason. Even though we were all tired, it was mid-morning and time to hit the town.

A dress made entirely of Freia  wrappers!

            Right next to our hotel was a convenience store called Deli de Luca. Armed with Norwegian kroner and an American appetite we stormed the aisles. Kari was pointing out the candy and food she had previously enjoyed, as we tried to decipher some of the Norwegian. After finally selecting some sandwiches, sparkling juice, and Norwegian chocolate we sat down to enjoy the spread. Biting into my sandwich I swear I heard an angelic chorus. The fresh baked bread caressed my senses as the meat and cheese followed in a tasty duet. Taking a sip of my juice I was surprised by how tart it was, and it was the most pleasant surprise. The lack of sugar was a real treat, but the best treat was the Norwegian candy. Freia is the best brand of candy in the whole world. The world of pure imagination would’ve been so much better if it had happened in, Charlie and the Freia Factory.

Capturing the art

            After the most amazing foreign lunch I had ever had (my first trip out of the country, so it was my only foreign lunch thus far), we set out for a place called Vigeland’s park. The entire park is comprised of statues made by one man, and since it was Europe they were all naked statues. Don’t let that worry you, some of them were really funny, others were thoughtful, and some were just…interesting. Kari and I posed in front of a statue and mimicked what it was doing. Then we made our way up to the huge tower of naked people. My dad and sisters stayed there while my mom and I journeyed to the “Circle of Life”. Sadly, Simba wasn’t there, but it was still very cool. After climbing more steps than Rocky, my mom and I made our way back to the entrance where we assumed we would find the rest of the family. We didn’t find them there, and after walking and searching and cursing the lack of cell phones we somehow found each other. It wasn’t so much a joyous reunion as it was tired Americans feeling out of their element, and then getting mad at each other for not being where we were supposed to be.

Tower...OF LIFE!

            Once we finished at the park of naked statues, it was time to head on over to the pier. From the pier we could see mountains, which was super awesome because I live in Moorhead, where the highest point is a very puny man-made hill. Trees completely covered the mountains in a massive clump of green. Ships bobbed in the harbor, flying Norwegian flags from their masts. Kari pointed out that there was a WWII fortress that we could visit. After more complaints about the extreme uphill climb, we got to see an amazing view of the harbor in Oslo. Once we had our fill we traveled back to Johannsgate where we saw the parliament building, as well as the King and Queen’s palace. We went back to Deli de Luca and had gelato (yes, I realize that is an Italian ice cream) to celebrate our first day in Norway.

COMING SOON! Scandinavian Adventure Part III: Norway, Origin of “Uphill both Ways”

Scandinavian Adventure Part 1: Adios America

There's a colonial woman on the wing!

     Sitting in the airport I nervously tapped my feet on the floor. The plane was boarding and I knew that soon we would be careening through the air at a pace so fast it would make race-cars look like baby-carriages. Soon our row was called, and my family and I began the slow shuffle onto the airplane. Walking down the hallway to the airplane I clutched the handle of my suitcase with a death grip. The stewardess greeted us and handed everyone a bottle of water. Glancing from side to side I spotted my row and was quickly pushed into the window seat. Taking off my backpack I slid it under the seat in front of me and waited to be projected from one side of the Atlantic, to the other.

BOOM!Entertainment

     I have been on an airplane before, but that was in 2003 and it was only from Minnesota to Florida. Most of my traveling has been done by car, so I don't really feel comfortable when I'm being lifted up into the air and I can't even see who is flying the plane. Trust issues aside, I knew that I could make it through the plane ride, assuming I had enough things to entertain me. In preparation for this trip I went to Barnes and Noble. Being the English Literature major I am, I knew books would be my ticket to sheer entertainment. I was holding a book in my hand about "Pride and Prejudice" from Mr. Darcy's point of view, when my boyfriend decided to point out a book about Queen Victoria marrying Dracula. It was in the same section as a book I had read called "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer". I had positively adored that book and found it to be hilarious and slightly historical. He handed me the book and soon Mr. Darcy was back on the shelf. That day I purchased "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "Dracula Anno", a travel journal, and a book of cryptograms. I was ready for my flight.

Yeah!Tiny Tower!

     The night before we were scheduled to leave I carefully stocked my backpack with everything I would need. My iPod was essential, as I needed to be able to check on my Tiny Tower. Tiny Tower is a wonderful game where you build a tower and fill it with businesses and apartment buildings and use that money to building more levels and get a higher tower. My roommate Chris got me hooked on it, so I blame him for all the time spent checking my Tiny Tower. Into my backpack I placed a reasonable amount of reading material, as the airline had specified. Carefully tucking "Water for Elephants" into my bag I imagined finishing the book and finally being able to say how much better it was than the movie. One of my true pleasures in life is saying that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. The one exception is "Gone with the Wind" because that movie made the book come to life. Don't even get me started on what a disappointment the movie "Ella Enchanted" was. Now that I was fully prepared to be entertained, the only thing left was to get to the airport.

Best Song:He Vas my Boyfriend

     In order to make it to the airport I had to drive 3 hours to my sisters house. This car ride was spent singing at the top of my lungs and enjoying whatever alone time I had left. You see, it was going to be 10 straight days with my family. An occurrence that hasn't happened since that 2003 plane ride. Belting "Young Frankenstein" I began to let myself get excited about going to Scandinavia. Maybe we weren't going to die in a plane crash somewhere in the Atlantic. Maybe, just maybe, we would make it there safely and actually get to see another country. Soon I found myself parked in my sister's driveway being greeted by my niece and nephew, who so desperately wanted to show me their new trampoline. An hour later, after all the carry-ons had been weighed and each goodbye so tearfully said, we loaded up the car and headed to the airport.

Weird Lullaby Pillows

     Airport security wasn't as bad as I had expected, and soon we were seated in Minneapolis International Airport's Humphrey terminal. We decided to eat at a restaurant located there, and so began our family vacation. After my mom took at least 8 pictures, it was time to wait to board the plane. Once we were inside the plane we decided to see what Iceland Air had to offer. Turns out you get your own touch screen television and can pick what you want to watch. This would've been great, except my touch screen wouldn't work. Thankfully I had the window seat so I was entertained by Earth instead of television. Since our flight was overnight, we were given a pillow and a blanket. The pillow had an Icelandic lullaby written on it, which was kind of sweet, but also weird. It talked about little kids wandering to where the lambs play. Do you really want to sing a lullaby to a child about running to the hills where lambs play? I assume this would be right after you tell them the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". Lullabies aside, I did survive takeoff and soon caught my first sight of Canada.

So long America!

     The plane ride was a good 5 and a half hours, and I didn't sleep for more than a half an hour. It was too much fun to look out the window and see the moon shining down on the ocean. What was really cool was seeing the moon out one side, and the sun on the other side. We were flying far enough north that we reached the part of the world where the sun doesn't really set in July. It was so amazing to actually see the midnight sun I had heard so much about. Oh, and the fact that with the time difference we were traveling into the future. Soon we landed in Iceland at the Reykjavik(had to google how to spell that) airport. After a short layover we were back on Iceland Air heading to Oslo. Thankfully this time my television worked, sadly it was only a 2-3 hour flight.

Iceland's Keflavik Airport in Reykjavik.

     Before long we were flying over Norway, and the view was breathtaking. Below us we could see snow covered mountains and miles of green. This was much more interesting than Iceland, where all we could see was moss and these purple flowers. I don't think they have trees in Iceland, which makes sense since it is ICE land. All jokes on Iceland aside, Norway looked amazing from the air. As we began our descent into Oslo we could see the Norwegian countryside. I tightly clutched my armrests as the plane began to coast onto the runway. Soon we had come to a stop and the stewardess began announcing in three different languages that we had arrived in Oslo.