A Norwegian Holiday

The Royal House of the Duchy of Saxe-Appeal was invited a number of months ago to attend the Confirmation of a dear friend's daughter in Oslo. This is our first holiday as a family in 10 years, so we were all looking forward to an adventure. 

We left Tuesday night from Newark, NJ and flew to Oslo, via a changeover in London's Heathrow, and arrived, somewhat exhausted, Wednesday afternoon. Our friend Ellen picked us up at the airport in a Ford Fiesta that was almost, but not quite, too small to fit everyone and our luggage. Ellen hasn't had a car for some time, since she lives in Oslo proper, so having her drive a manual transmission car and all, was an adventure in its own right. 

But with the modern conveniences of iPhone Navigation, we managed to get to our Air BnB just fine. A short trip to the local market and we had our necessities. Coffee. Oh, and some things to eat. But coffee first, and all else will sort itself out... 

Sandy did a magnificent job, as usual, in finding an excellent place to stay. We've used Air BnB in places as diverse as Montreal, Edinburgh, and even Williston, Vermont. And she always gets a winner. 

This place is no different. 

Our eat in kitchen area

View from the balcony from the living room

Quiet, off the main roads, close to the tram... just what we like. There's a park on the other side of the building on the left of the picture. 

It has been cloudy, grey, and drizzling rain since we arrived. With prospects of more cloudy, grey drizzling rain for the, well, entire time we are here. 

Meh. If I wanted sunshine, I'd have gone to Dundee, Scotland... 

After a long, long proper sleep, we got up yesterday to visit the Akershus Fortress and the museums there. More anon on that visit. This morning, after breakfast, Sandy and Morgan went off to buy things. Leaving me to do some "schoolwork", er, maybe a bit of blogging, first, then schoolwork. 

A trip to the Botanical Gardens is set for this afternoon. Looking forward to that. 

But for now... schoolwork...