Notes from Today

Today I learned that it not enough to merely attend the breakfast buffet. One must be sure to arrive there before everyone else as well. Failure to do so will result in one being deprived of the good parts. By good parts, I mean bacon. My need for bacon has resulted in me waking up at 6:30 a.m. every morning, an ungodly hour no matter which time zone you're in.

In the afternoon, I visited the Royal Palace and the Grand Hotel today and spent more time than was necessary in both. For the Royal Palace, the reason was that I wanted to get my money's worth as I had purchased the full tour tickets. For the Grand Hotel, the reason was that I needed to satisfy my curiousity that it was indeed too grand for me.

I was too tired to walk to any of my other planned excursions such as the Vasamuseet, the world's largest Ikea, or the Nobel Prize Museum. My chest and throat feels like a mouse went scurrying about in them and left tiny scratches with its paws.

Today I learned that Stockholm is actually composed of islands connected by bridges. Today, I also found Old Town which is a lot like Little Five Points in Atlanta, only blonder.

I am rapidly becoming addicted to European chocolate. Chocolate covered candied orange peel may well be the new crack and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible.

I also get lost everytime I go outside. This doesn't bother me much as I don't really have an agenda and I often have interesting experiences along the way (like explaining to the Swedish Parliament security guards how exactly I found my way into their building).

Tomorrow I leave for Russia and will be there for the next two weeks. I think I can I call my brief time in Scandinavia (one week already?) a success.

Oh, and today for dinner I had buttered salmon with potatoes for 135 kr. I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

Fjord

Who knew the cheapest meal I'd have so far would be on the ferry? Granted, it was only a waffle and coffee, but it cost only 40 kr which is baragin basement around here.

Tomorrow, I have a very long train ride to Stockholm (about 14 hours) so I need to pack snacks accordingly, even if that means pilfering from the breakfast table again. The morning spread here is nice. Bergen is a fishing village so there are a lots of shrimp and salmon and various fish dishes on the table in addition to bacon, eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, and bread.

The fjords are beautiful. There's not much else I can think to say about them though.

Bergen

Right now, I'm on the 6:35 a.m. train to Bergen.

I'm still quite jet-lagged. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't fall back to sleep. Wanting to give myself enough time to get to the train, I checked out my hotel at 5:30 a.m. and asked the desk clerk if there were any cafes open. He laughed and said, "This is Norway." It felt a bit like he was saying, "Silly rabbit, 24 hour conveniences are for Americans." Fortunately, they had some bread, meat, cheese, and fruit laid out so I ate my fill before walking to the train station. I also took a slice of bread and honey with me for later and only felt slightly guilty as I did so. I pretend like I'm playing Oliver Twist, "Please sir, may I have some more?"

Oh, and my throat is hoarse.

A full day

Today I saw Munch's Scream, Viking Ships from the first millenium, the U.S. Embassy, City Hall (where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded), the Harbor, and the Royal Palace. Considering that I spent the first half of the day lost, I'm quite pleased with all I saw.

Several of my bus driver's today were Iraqi Kurds, and, upon finding out I was American, offered their opinions of the war. They ranged from "Bush is a courageous hero who saved my people," to "War is evil, and new wars do not fix old wars." They also wanted to know what I think of Obama.

Though I may regret it later, right now I'm quite glad I booked hotels ahead of time. After a day of adventurously illiterate wandering, the last thing I feel like doing is figuring out where I'm going to sleep at night.

Oh, something else I noticed today...Oslo doesn't have stop signs. Not a single one.

Tiny Victories

Today's small triumph--finding the rail station.

It was even colder when I woke up this morning. Getting a hat and scarf is definitely a priority; I'd hate to catch cold.

I forgot to change any of my money into Kroner before I left Heathrow, and I paid for that error this morning. Turns out businesses are required by law to be closed on Sundays here. So I went without breakfast (slept too late to get the hotel's breakfast--which will not happen again) and set off to find Grand Central.

After wandering in the wrong direction three times, I finally found it. Now I'm sitting in a local kebab place, eating something that vaguely resembles a beef pita sandwich with corn and onions.

The train to Bergen is 7 hours long and leaves at 6:30 a.m.

I also bought an Olso rail pass so after finishing my sandwich, I think Í'm going to ride the bus for the rest of the day.

Where Nobody Knows My Name

First night in Europe and I'm in Oslo, Norway. I've just paid for the most expensive cab ride in the history of cab rides-895 Kr. You're going to have to do the conversion yourself as I'm much too embarrassed to post the USD equivalent here. It just proves (for any remaining unbelievers) how much the dollar sucks right now. Ah well, I won't complain.

The good news is that my hotel is in city square by lots of restaurants and shops and the like. I settled on eating at Applebee's-esque chain named Egon as I promised myself that my first meal here (or any meal, if I can help it) would not be at a TGIFriday's or McDonald's.

For dinner, I ordered a corn, red onion, and butter baked potato and a blueberry crepe and a coke. Tired as I was on the plane, I'm not even a little sleepy now, so I imagine I'll go back to my room and stitch a bit.

Soooo...first impressions--wow, everyone's tall here. Second impression--wow, it's cold. I'm really wishing I brought the hat and scarf Karen knit for me now.

Tomorrow, I'm going to sightsee a bit and figure out how to get to Bergen.