December 15
I just realized that today is the last free day (other than the day before I leave) that I will have here in Oslo. Lotte and I are leaving to Stavanger tomorrow and my time here in Norway is quickly drawing to a close. Because it was my last free day, I decided to go to all of the museums that I was planning on going to over on the peninsula. My first stop was the Norwegian Folk Museum. It was mostly outdoors and so it was pretty cold and I feel like it would have been a lot more interactive and busy if I had gone when it was warmer or during their Christmas days, but there I got to see all of the different types of Norwegian village buildings, Sami history, and a Stave Church! :D It was very interesting and cool to see how they lived and learn more about their history and culture. My next stop was the Viking Ship Museum. They had three different Viking ships on display and the craftsmanship and detail were amazing! They are so simple and I can't believe how far they journeyed in these boats! Some even went to America! The next, and my favorite museum, was the Kon-tiki museum. It captured Thor Heyerdahl's journey in proving that it was possible that early humans made contact by sailing way earlier than that was theorized. He was also the first researcher to really study Easter Island. Everything was so fascinating and I spent a lot of time there, but my last stop was the Fram museum. This showcased polar expeditions by Norwegians to both the North and South poles and I could even walk around the Fram ship that they built the museum around. I had a full day of museums, but it was really nice and I am glad I got to fit in all of the ones I wanted to before I left!
December 16
Off to Stavanger with Lotte! This morning started off CRAZY! We missed our buss and then had to run to catch the metro and make it to the train station in time. This would have been difficult within itself, but we had the added challenge of Lotte's injured foot. She had missed a couple of steps the day before and landed on her foot wrong, so it was really hurting her and swelling. I felt so bad, but we literally ran and hobbled to make our train by 5 minutes... We were definitely awake after that! We had an 8 hour train ride and the views were amazing with all of the snow and lakes and fjords through the window. Once we arrived in Stavanger, we stopped at the tourist information center to get recommendations, stopped at the pharmacy for Lotte, and then got lost but eventually found our hostel and checked in. Our hostel is actually connected to the Hospital and is mainly for patients and family to stay in.... this should be interesting... lol
December 17
Our 1st full day in Stavanger! This is definitely more of a hotel than a hostel and breakfast was amazing, although it was a bit weird eating right next to mothers with their newborns in beds right next to them and the other patients... Our room is really nice though and I am very pleased so far! After walking into town, we walked around some of the shopping streets for a little bit and then decided to go in and check out the Petroleum Museum. I thought it would be really boring, but we ended up spending more than 4 hours in the little building because it was so interesting! Oil is such a big part of Norway's economy and it was cool to see everything that goes into the industry. My favorite parts would have to be the rope escape chute and the exhibit about the oil rig divers. After spending a lot of time there, we checked out the neat playground next-door that is made out of miscellaneous boating materials and then grabbed a quick lunch and walked along the shops a bit more. We did a little grocery shopping to last us the rest of the trip and once it got dark out, caught the bus back to the hospital/hostel. It gets dark really early here now and everything closes early anyways, so we got back a bit early and just hung out and Lotte watched TV while I read. I can't believe that it has been almost 5 months without TV!? Even when she had it on, most of it was in Norwegian and I couldn't understand it, so it was more like background noise. It is going to be weird coming back to American TV! I feel really bad that Lotte hurt her foot right before we came. It must be really tough for her to walk around all day and it looks pretty painful. I know that she was really excited to come to Stavanger and that she really likes this city, so I wish she was feeling better. :( We also considered hiking up to Preikestolen and Pulpit Rock while we were there, but it is probably a good thing that she hurt her foot because winter is the off season for that dangerous hike and we probably would have ended up getting lost or sliding off the cliffs with all of the ice or something :)
December 18
Our last day in Stavanger :( We woke up and had breakfast and then checked out. The hospital/hostel was a bit... different, but it was very clean and nice, so I would recommend it to anyone! :) We took the buss into town, stuffed our backpacks into lockers at the train station, and then set off to waste 6 hours before our train back to Oslo. We walked through the pretty Old Stavanger and Lotte was interested in going to the Canning Museum (I was like... really?) until she realized that the lady and the information desk had said "Canning", not "Candy". Lol we had a good laugh at that one. :) We spent the rest of our time wandering around the harbor, the shopping area, and the back streets of Stavanger until it was sadly time to go. I am really glad that we decided to come here and that I was able to squeeze in one final trip before heading home. I am also gad that I got to come here with Lotte and I feel like we got to know each other a lot better. :) Once we arrived home at Sogn, we headed over to join the last few hours of Fabian's Christmas Kitchen party and caught up with our other friends as they told us about their trip to Tromsø.
December 19
Today is our Sogn Buddy group Brunch/Secret Santa! We all brought together everything left in our cupboards and had a final meal together before Eva and I helped Frieda take her luggage to the buss station. It was really sad to say good-bye and it still hasn't hit me yet. It feels like she is just going on a weekend trip or something and will be back in a couple of days. She will just have to come visit me in the States and we can plan a road trip! :) After saying goodbye, I headed over to the Opera House to go and see the Nutcracker! I have always wanted to see it, but in Cleveland they put it on too early to really ask for it for Christmas and I am usually away at school or diving the one weekend they do put it on. So when I saw the tickets here, I decided to go! I was in the second level from the top and because I got a student ticket, there were no chairs and I had to stand the whole time, but it was ok! The dancers were amazing and I loved the costumes, effects, and scenery! It was amazing and I am so glad I got the chance to see it while I was here! After returning home, I opened my Secret Santa gift and Franzi had gotten me a little picture book that documents all of our time here and a Norway Rubber Duck?!? I love it! Thank you so much. :D As it got later into the night, I started to pack and helped Lotte with some last minute packing for herself. It doesn't feel like I am going to be home in less than two days and I am both excited and sad to go.
I just realized that today is the last free day (other than the day before I leave) that I will have here in Oslo. Lotte and I are leaving to Stavanger tomorrow and my time here in Norway is quickly drawing to a close. Because it was my last free day, I decided to go to all of the museums that I was planning on going to over on the peninsula. My first stop was the Norwegian Folk Museum. It was mostly outdoors and so it was pretty cold and I feel like it would have been a lot more interactive and busy if I had gone when it was warmer or during their Christmas days, but there I got to see all of the different types of Norwegian village buildings, Sami history, and a Stave Church! :D It was very interesting and cool to see how they lived and learn more about their history and culture. My next stop was the Viking Ship Museum. They had three different Viking ships on display and the craftsmanship and detail were amazing! They are so simple and I can't believe how far they journeyed in these boats! Some even went to America! The next, and my favorite museum, was the Kon-tiki museum. It captured Thor Heyerdahl's journey in proving that it was possible that early humans made contact by sailing way earlier than that was theorized. He was also the first researcher to really study Easter Island. Everything was so fascinating and I spent a lot of time there, but my last stop was the Fram museum. This showcased polar expeditions by Norwegians to both the North and South poles and I could even walk around the Fram ship that they built the museum around. I had a full day of museums, but it was really nice and I am glad I got to fit in all of the ones I wanted to before I left!
December 16
Off to Stavanger with Lotte! This morning started off CRAZY! We missed our buss and then had to run to catch the metro and make it to the train station in time. This would have been difficult within itself, but we had the added challenge of Lotte's injured foot. She had missed a couple of steps the day before and landed on her foot wrong, so it was really hurting her and swelling. I felt so bad, but we literally ran and hobbled to make our train by 5 minutes... We were definitely awake after that! We had an 8 hour train ride and the views were amazing with all of the snow and lakes and fjords through the window. Once we arrived in Stavanger, we stopped at the tourist information center to get recommendations, stopped at the pharmacy for Lotte, and then got lost but eventually found our hostel and checked in. Our hostel is actually connected to the Hospital and is mainly for patients and family to stay in.... this should be interesting... lol
December 17
Our 1st full day in Stavanger! This is definitely more of a hotel than a hostel and breakfast was amazing, although it was a bit weird eating right next to mothers with their newborns in beds right next to them and the other patients... Our room is really nice though and I am very pleased so far! After walking into town, we walked around some of the shopping streets for a little bit and then decided to go in and check out the Petroleum Museum. I thought it would be really boring, but we ended up spending more than 4 hours in the little building because it was so interesting! Oil is such a big part of Norway's economy and it was cool to see everything that goes into the industry. My favorite parts would have to be the rope escape chute and the exhibit about the oil rig divers. After spending a lot of time there, we checked out the neat playground next-door that is made out of miscellaneous boating materials and then grabbed a quick lunch and walked along the shops a bit more. We did a little grocery shopping to last us the rest of the trip and once it got dark out, caught the bus back to the hospital/hostel. It gets dark really early here now and everything closes early anyways, so we got back a bit early and just hung out and Lotte watched TV while I read. I can't believe that it has been almost 5 months without TV!? Even when she had it on, most of it was in Norwegian and I couldn't understand it, so it was more like background noise. It is going to be weird coming back to American TV! I feel really bad that Lotte hurt her foot right before we came. It must be really tough for her to walk around all day and it looks pretty painful. I know that she was really excited to come to Stavanger and that she really likes this city, so I wish she was feeling better. :( We also considered hiking up to Preikestolen and Pulpit Rock while we were there, but it is probably a good thing that she hurt her foot because winter is the off season for that dangerous hike and we probably would have ended up getting lost or sliding off the cliffs with all of the ice or something :)
December 18
Our last day in Stavanger :( We woke up and had breakfast and then checked out. The hospital/hostel was a bit... different, but it was very clean and nice, so I would recommend it to anyone! :) We took the buss into town, stuffed our backpacks into lockers at the train station, and then set off to waste 6 hours before our train back to Oslo. We walked through the pretty Old Stavanger and Lotte was interested in going to the Canning Museum (I was like... really?) until she realized that the lady and the information desk had said "Canning", not "Candy". Lol we had a good laugh at that one. :) We spent the rest of our time wandering around the harbor, the shopping area, and the back streets of Stavanger until it was sadly time to go. I am really glad that we decided to come here and that I was able to squeeze in one final trip before heading home. I am also gad that I got to come here with Lotte and I feel like we got to know each other a lot better. :) Once we arrived home at Sogn, we headed over to join the last few hours of Fabian's Christmas Kitchen party and caught up with our other friends as they told us about their trip to Tromsø.
December 19
Today is our Sogn Buddy group Brunch/Secret Santa! We all brought together everything left in our cupboards and had a final meal together before Eva and I helped Frieda take her luggage to the buss station. It was really sad to say good-bye and it still hasn't hit me yet. It feels like she is just going on a weekend trip or something and will be back in a couple of days. She will just have to come visit me in the States and we can plan a road trip! :) After saying goodbye, I headed over to the Opera House to go and see the Nutcracker! I have always wanted to see it, but in Cleveland they put it on too early to really ask for it for Christmas and I am usually away at school or diving the one weekend they do put it on. So when I saw the tickets here, I decided to go! I was in the second level from the top and because I got a student ticket, there were no chairs and I had to stand the whole time, but it was ok! The dancers were amazing and I loved the costumes, effects, and scenery! It was amazing and I am so glad I got the chance to see it while I was here! After returning home, I opened my Secret Santa gift and Franzi had gotten me a little picture book that documents all of our time here and a Norway Rubber Duck?!? I love it! Thank you so much. :D As it got later into the night, I started to pack and helped Lotte with some last minute packing for herself. It doesn't feel like I am going to be home in less than two days and I am both excited and sad to go.