3rd country added to life list-Sweden

Two Saturdays ago we went from Frederikstad in Norway to Stromstad in Sweden.  The girls were excited to add Sweden as #3 of countries they've been in.  We took a train south from Moss to Frederikstad, and then a ferry 2 hours each way to Stromstad through and around hundreds of islands that dot the south-east side of the Oslo Fjord by the border between Norway and Sweden.  We went with one of Elizabeth's colleagues and her son, and had two hours in Stromstad, so we walked around some and ate lunch out (our first meal out since leaving the U.S.)

 First train ride in Norway

 Playing Go Fish inside the ferry

 On the back deck to get some air

 Part of the game we played was deciding which of the hundreds of islands we'd like to live on

 Some small

 Sydney and Evelyn enjoyed having a peer their age

 Entering Stromstad harbor

Walking around Stromstad

 Eating at the Krog &Skoj

A famous Swedish shrimp "sandwich" suggested by Elizabeth's colleague

Some of the islands already had houses built for us!

Oslo Day Trip # 2

We went to Oslo yesterday for our second day trip.  Joshua's parents were arriving in Norway yesterday so our plan was to see some sights and then visit with them(and get the booty they graciously picked up at duty free for us) and then head back to Moss.  We took the train this time, apparently the track work was fixed in the Oslo direction, but our train there had a technical issue(a guess from the Norwegian announcement) and we were stopped on the train an extra 30 minutes.  This is odd, given Norwegian rails boast over 80 % of their trains are usually on time. Tablets to the rescue again, which the conductor commented on in Norwegian(we think) while we smiled politely.

We went to the Holmenkollen Ski Museum and Ski Jump and then to the Oslo City Hall.

 Sydney with the largest skis in the world, 11kg.

 View of Oslo from the top of the ski jump tower

 Looking down at the ski jump from above

 You can see Elizabeth and the girls as they head down the precarious stairs to the ski jump spectator seating

 Spectator seating, no partition between you and the jump itself (allows for a good photo but somewhat unnerving)

 Thousands of years of skiing history...then we'll play with trains

 Troll in the gift shop

 View at the museum entrance with ski jump in the background

And here are some pictures from the Radhus, City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.

 View of Oslo fjord from City Hall

 Juliet is pondering what it is like to stand where many Nobel Laureates have stood, or she just found a leaf in the middle of the main floor of the main hall

 One of the paintings in the main hall

 Reindeer clad doors

 Made for giants

 Portraits of the current king and queen

 Juliet and a local gift shop troll

 Juliet may be unsure of her new friend

City Hall fountain looking back at the Radhus square

Our first trip to Oslo

Last weekend we decided to take the train into Oslo from Moss.  The train was doing track maintenance so we took an alternative bus in and a taxi van back (because they didn't have car seats on the afternoon bus), all at the train price.  Our main destination for the walking tour was Vigeland Sculputure Park, but we were able to see the Opera House, Oslo Cathedral, Parliament, The National Theater, and The Royal Palace on the walk.  Oslo is laid out with a pedestrian street running straight through the city from the train station to the palace, and especially in the afternoon(on a Saturday) it was packed with people enjoying the sunny and 70 degree weather, possibly the last in the 70's of the season.

 Getting ready for sunscreen at the Opera House

 You can walk all over the different angles of the roof

 The girls thought it was a playground

 Their version of parkour

 Juliet gives some scale to the building

 3 happy peas in a pod, at least first thing in the morning, fresh off the bus ride before the hours of walking started

 There are stairs up on the sides

 Oslo Cathedral

 Cool Peacock-ish fountain near the National Theater

 Juliet wouldn't pose with her sisters

 The National Theater building

 The Royal Palace (only open for inside tours on summer break for schools)

 A Royal Palace Guard

 A picture of the picture of the Royal Family outside the palace

 Snack time in the park on the palace grounds with some friends

Vigeland Sculpture Park is a huge green space and park on the west side of the city, about a 45 min crisp walk from the train station.  It was crowded and well used on this beautiful Saturday afternoon with tourists and locals alike.  It has hundreds of sculptures throughout the park, especially concentrated along one thoroughfare that hits the main focal points.

 Mom as a jungle gym

 What parenting feels like on a more challenging day

 The monolith made of human bodies

 Our three with the three faces behind

Close-up of that same sculpture

 This was a cool circular sculpture

Close-up of the sculpture

 View of the monolith, back at downtown with the Cathedral in the background

 Nap, I don't need no stinking nap. (We're hoping not the "making of" a sith lord...although we see that in this pose, too!)

 Atlas-like fountain was another focal point

 This was their uncle Aaron's birthday so they posed for an "I love you" picture

Here a few of the many sculptures along a main bridge in the park that forms the beginning of the main thoroughfare through the park

 The literature said Vigeland gave this boy a chocolate bar and then took it away to get this reaction, it is apparently so famous that someone stole one of his hands.

Maybe what parenting feels like on a less challenging or more joyous day?

A look back at the bridge, fountain, and monolith