Oslo, Opera, and Osteo-accidents

“Well, it's nice to know that the Trolls made it this far south,' Ulath said. 'I'd hate to have to go looking for them.'

'Their Gods were guiding them, Ulath,' Tynian pointed out.

'You've never talked with the Troll-Gods, I see,' Ulath laughed. 'Their sense of direction is a little vague - probably because their compass only has two directions on it.'

'Oh?'

'North and not-north. It makes finding places a little difficult.”

-  David Eddings, The Hidden City

At Myrdal we switched trains and rode on to the capital city of Oslo. Our train stopped at the old station (which has been made into a shopping mall but fronts on to a lovely square – with a large golden statue of a tiger in it). Our hotel was within walking distance so we quickly checked in and still had most of the afternoon and evening to explore.

We walked up and down some older streets of Oslo, thinking adamantly that we did not want to eat at a particular restaurant that advertised whale meat, seal meat, and reindeer meat meals. We then walked down into a park that was bordered by a fortress and a busy wharf.  And here we started to see the ubiquitous bicycles that we would continue to see more and more of as we continued on our Scandanavian journey. As Barry said, now instead of riding them we were trying to avoid them as we trespassed innocently into bike lanes and across bike traffic.

We then wandered over to the cruise ship docks, scouting out where our overnight ferry would be leaving from the next day. Just as we were returning from the port, I took a bad fall – smashing my knee and cutting my face. We slowly (due to my hobbling) made our way back to the hotel. Our strolling (after only 8 km) was done for the day.  With ice packed on my knee, numbed with pain killers and wine, and eating the sandwiches we had picked up earlier in the day, we watched the BBC (about the only station we could understand).

The next day we had reservations to see the phenomenal Opera and Ballet House, across the street from our hotel. I was in no shape to be climbing up and down stairs, or hobble along on marble floors so Barry went by himself and I stayed behind. He helped settle me in the foyer of the hotel and I made myself comfortable with a cappuccino and my notebook – quite happy with a morning of people watching. This is why I love people watching:

A man from Nairobi, approached the front desk near where I was sitting, to check out.

“Thank you for hosting me,” he said to the clerk. “I had a lovely time, you are nice people. But I am missing home. Home is where all of me is. Home is where I can wear my feet bare in the dust.”

He laughed self-deprecatingly.

“But thank you again for hosting me. Your country, Norway, is very green and fresh. But I am used to different colours. Good bye, kwaheri.”

That afternoon my knee was numb enough from rest and pain killers to venture a slow walk up the central pedestrian-only section of the area around us. We stumbled upon the National Theatre (which was a joy to find) and wished that we were closer to the Edvard Munch/Van Gogh exhibit that was on so we could see it. We found interesting statues in a park and I took pictures of people taking pictures.

Later that afternoon we walked ourselves and our luggage back over to the port (I was more than a little paranoid about falling again and stared intently at the sidewalks the entire way). Once we finally boarded and stashed our luggage into our (very small) cabin, we found our way around the ship and enjoyed the view as the ship lanquidly made its way through the islands and channels out to open sea. From the ferry we were able to see the Opera House from the other side - looking like a ship sliding into the water, much like the sculpture of the sailboat beside it. 

During the night I woke a couple of times as I was practically being rolled out of my cot by the heave and swell of the North Sea.  We had only one small porthole but I was infinitely happy for that. What with my claustrophobia and the tossing I was glad to be able to see out, even it was just to see the dark night, and the even darker water below it.

The next morning we would dock in Copenhagen, Denmark.