Day 9 – Norway 2017. Tromsø to Oslo

Little Evan gave me a great goodbye, running from one window to the other to say “Bye bye” to Tio Vivi. He is one cute and very curious little boy, who will keep his parents on their toes for a few years to come. Greg got the task of preparing him for school, while Ceci drove me to the airport, which is less than 10 minutes away from their home. They are a great young couple, and I look forward to seeing them again soon.

The flight to Oslo was uneventful, and by 10:30 am I was leaving the airport, and at 11 am the bus dropped me off in the downtown area. A comparatively short walk brought me to my hotel, where I left my backpack to start my exploration of the city. My plan is to walk through the city today, soaking its atmosphere and vital force, and to buy an Oslo Pass for tomorrow, which I plan to devote to the visit of the Fram and Kon-Tiki museums, the Viking museum, and the Cultural History museum.

I like Oslo. It is a modern city, with lots of new glass buildings and public spaces, now and then interrupted by historic monuments of considerable gravitas (e.g., the National Library, the National Theater, or the Royal Palace). Christmas has arrived already (in fact, Christmas was already on its way a week ago in London and in Bergen, and in a modest way in Tromsø as well), and the streets were full of people doing window shopping, buying groceries for the weekend (tomorrow Sunday nothing but museums and restaurants will be open), and attending the big Christmas market near the Parliament building, or the crafts market near the Cathedral. The latter was particularly interesting, because many Sami products were being offered for sale, including reindeer wool sweaters and gloves, reindeer sausages, knives and cheese slicers with antler handles, and delicacies from northern Norway. On my way back I allowed myself to be carried by the crowd into the Christmas market, where a group of about 20 young skaters delighted the audience with their skating routines, well choreographed to happy music.

I walked and walked and finally came back home to my comfy apartment to put my feet up. I still need to go out to get some dinner, although at this point I am not highly motivated to do so.