Oslo, day 1

We woke up to this . . .

It makes me remember what I loved about Norway last year. I managed to sleep very well and Colin had to be awakened at 8:00am! It wasn't the best sleep and around 4:00am there was major movement in the water and I could really feel the boat rocking! I do still enjoy these long ferry rides but a cruise is calling . . . one that has a supervised Kids Zone, LOL. We arrived on time at 9:30am only to be met with several hundred others who thought they needed to get off first! We found the bus stop that would take us near our hotel. It was so crowded that I gave up on buying a ticket and hoped for the best. At this point we are both very tired . . . in general and from the trip . . . it has been 45 days of togetherness. I'm not complaining though because we have had a great time. Our hotel was not ready for us so it was new plan time.

Colin saw the street trains and was becoming stubborn about riding one . . . so we got on and bought tickets. The driver took my money and then told me if I would have bought them at that machine (pointing to it) it would cost less than half . . . gee thanks! Now, I usually study public transportation for a minute or two before jumping on board . . . must get the direction of travel right . . . and today I failed miserably! I was trying to follow on the map but couldn't find where we were . . . when I realized it was too late so we just stayed on and rode it back around from the starting point and three stops more to where we needed to be! Silly me! The boy wanted the street train; he got it and then some! I don't think he will be asking to do that tomorrow.

We got of at the Radhuset (City Hall) and Aker Brygge areas. I think it is a nice area to just hang out . . . restaurants line the water and people are always out and about. I wanted to do a grand tour of Oslo but we had not eaten lunch and honestly I was tired so I knew the kiddo was beat too. I stopped by the office of the tour I wanted and asked a dozen questions. We continued to walk on for lunch at TGIFridays. I knew Colin liked their wings and I wanted . . . I needed a margarita! Now here is the kicker of the day! It was about noon time . . . the girl took my order and then came back and told me that in Norway you were not allowed to serve any type of adult beverages before 1:00pm; seriously? Man, I was one disappointed girl.

It was approaching the 1:00pm Oslo Fjord tour so we walked over and bought our tickets . . . two hours on a boat . . . what was I thinking after 16.5 hours. Apparently I wasn't and it was sort of boring but very beautiful. This is an old lighthouse . . .

These little houses have a funny story. They were built before swimming nude or in public was allowed so each house would have a small house that matched the main house. The water level used to be much higher and people would sit in their 'swim house' and chat between the walls to their neighbors; pretty funny and they are mighty cute too!
There was a group of obnoxious people from Mexico on our boat and they were drinking way too much beer and singing . . . really annoying as the girl was trying to talk and tell us information. I assume all this because after each beer they would yell (Viva Mexico) and start singing loudly.

I still think Norway has the most beautiful coastline . . . my opinion of course . . . and if I were rich I would buy me a house here for summer! Seriously, I would but it is also very expensive to just live so probably not a good choice.

Since I did not have any money of Norway, we had to walk . . . why is it when you need a cash machine you can't find one? It was a nice mild day but a little hot, and we were both at our limit. It was only 15 minutes and the hotel room was ready and waiting . . . cranked that air conditioner down as low as it would go! We headed across the street to dinner and Colin had a little accident on the way home. He was walking and looking at something and bam he ran right into the side of a concrete building. I turned around just to see him a foot from the wall and could not get his attention. At first I thought he was being silly and would stop but no. I know it hurt and he had a big huge lump on this head quickly. We had planned to go directly to the pool which helped a little. Oh the indoor pool in the basement that was not heated . . . well it was COLD and even Colin would not have any of that so we called it an early night. I am considered a VIP according to the hotel so we get free pay movies in the room . . . more on the VIP status tomorrow.