Sunday in Oslo dawned earlier than we did (per usual when the sun comes up at 4:20am!), but we were ready to take it on! Steve went for a run while I continued to catch up on some sleep time, and when we got to breakfast, it was slightly less chaotic than the day before. We had some trouble finding where the church is that worships close to Oslo, so we opted for church in the room, which worked out well. I was disappointed, since I enjoy worshipping with Christians wherever I go, in whatever language (you can usually figure out the names of the books in the Bible, and if they know there are English speakers in the audience, churches usually make sure to tell us the verses in English, and even the gist of the sermon, in my experience), but it was nice to do church with just God and my husband and me. And thank goodness for recorded sermons online. =)
And now... off to find the Scream by Edvard Munch! There's one in the Munch Museum, but that was pretty far from where we were in the city, but, conveniently, there's also one in the general art museum, so we went there! We missed it the first go-around, even though it's not a large museum. It's a good thing Steve's adorable little wife is not afraid to speak to strangers! I asked one of the security guards where the Scream was located, and he pointed us right to it--we had walked past the room without noticing! It's behind a glass (or plexiglass) pane because it was stolen at one point, so that's actually kind of cool, I think. We got to see something worth stealing! And now, you can see it, too... AH!
We saw some other art as well. Lots of naked people, some fruits and veggies, landscapes, seascapes, flowers, etc. But this was the one everyone was taking pictures of. =)
Check that off the list! Now on to the Royal Residence. Steve likes to see all the royal palaces wherever we go, and I like the medieval castles. We sat out front on the pedestal of a statue for a while until the changing of the guard. It turned out to be a lovely day, being sunny, not too breezy. Their changing of the guard took a VERY long time once it got started! I'm all for ceremony and show, but it really took a while just to get things going. Here is the main part of the event:
Loads of guys (and girls!) marching in.
Briefing/debriefing.
The stare-down.
The old "switcheroo!"
And off he goes!
And by now, Whitney's getting hungry and needs to use the little princess' room. Unfortunately, we were not allowed into the palace. Onward we go!
We found a good snack spot! that's a chocolate boulle and a latte. Mmmmhmmm. This is their version of Starbucks.
And now to find some sculpture garden Steve wanted to see. Vigeland Park, it's called. It was one of the top 10 sights to see, so of course we had to drop by! It was a lovely walk there, especially walking hand in hand with my new husband! But when we arrived, we discovered it was not exactly what we'd envisioned... all the sculptures were NAKED! Or NEKKID, depending on your accent. Naked adults playing with naked kids, naked people standing around. Naked people sitting. Naked people walking... the statues were of all sorts. I know God made the human body beautiful, but Adam and Eve banished us to a life of clothing in public places... and I kind of prefer that! Anyway, we giggled about it all the way back into downtown Oslo!
We passed several embassies on the way back, which was pretty cool. It's interesting to me the way different countries spell country and city names. For instance, Prague in Czech is Praha. Where do we get off respelling their city's name? It interests me!
What's also interesting (and unbelievably irritating) is that Oslo wins Quick Whit's prize for the most convoluted and confusing streets! Even with a map, we still flirted with "lost" status throughout our time there. But we always made it back to where we needed to be!
After a quick stop to freshen up at the hotel, we set out to find a true Norwegian meal on our last night in Norway. Herring, anyone?
Bread and fancy butter
Pickled herring (in the little round dishes) with brown bread and a chip-like item
And my new favorite... RHUBARB! Streuselled and topped with homemade ice cream. Delicious!
Please join us for our last leg... Stockholm! No, we did not catch the syndrome. Yes, Whitney did channel her inner Ingrid Bergman. =)
And in the meantime, please enjoy the rest of our pictures!
And because I forgot, here is NORWAY in a Nutshell!
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