How it started... how it went

How is started was detailed in the previous message, with flight cancellations etc.

Needless to say, the D.R.A.M.A. of that trip did not end there.

To skip to the end: we did make it to Oslo, only about half a day later than otherwise so all things considered, I'll take it.

But the getting there...

Flight out of SEA to LAX, Delta. We wait. It's hot. We wait some more. It's really hot. Guy next to me, who was a travel blogger, got all pissy with the flight attendant about not being offered water. He gets his water. We're already an hour + late, and we had a tight connection to LHR to begin with. Getting concerned that we won't make the connection, and while I've had connections fail mid-travel, I've left an airport thinking I might get stranded at the next one.

Then, boom. "Flight attendants, prepare for arrival." Well crap. something is very much wrong with this flight.

Turns out... the engines won't start.

That's... kinda fucked.

It takes about an hour and a half total before we finally pull back from the gate, with engines running. By now, we've found out that the LAX to Heathrow flight is going to be megalate so we should be able to get that flight. That still leaves our LHR to Oslo flight up in the air, because the connection was tight to begin with.

Just before I have to put the phone in airplane mode we get another update: they've rebooked our LHR to Oslo leg, we should be able to make it.

But of course it wasn't going to be that easy, LOL. LAX was a long nasty transfer and we wait waited waited at the gate. Boarded. And we waited some more then... the message of doom: "Flight attendants, prepare for arrival."

This time the communications are fucked.

We get out about 2 hours late, but the Jet Stream was kind and they made up a lot of time in the air.

Nice perk of Comfort+: the plane was 3/4 empty and I was able to stretch out of the four seats in the center aisle and actually got some decent sleep.

London late afternoon. Hoof it from one terminal to another at LHR, talk to the people at SAS to make sure that our luggage is in fact following us. As we exited the transatlantic flight, there as a PA announcement to that told us to contact Virgin Airways, which a) WTF and b) we could find anyhow, so to SAS we went.

After a very cramped and uncomfy flight -toilet row- and these airlines don't even give water for free! we made to Oslo.

Puplic transportation into the city, when we made our slow way, over snow and lots and lots of ice to the hotel, where we freaking collapsed

Day 1: Oslo

Travel day was day 0, LOL.

Room was fine, a bit small and the beds were comfy.

We got up, showered and headed to breakfast.

OMG. Someday I will go back to that hotel/to Norway with my rower kids and watch them eat. I don't I've ever seen a breakfast buffet like that one before.

Breads, at least three or four kinds, and butter. Mostly nice grainy brown breads, but the one I tried had salmon in in and that pretty much soured me on the breads.

Small pancakes with three or four types of jam/compote. Croissants. Brownies and millionaire bars, both cut very small.

Smoothie bar, fruit. Three kinds of yogurt, cottage cheese, and a buttload of toppings, granola, dried fruit, nuts etc.

What I called the British section: porridge, sunny side up eggs, beans.

Bacon and chipolatas.

There was something else I forget, but hardboiled eggs and various roasted veggies.

And a table of meat, smoked fish, and cheeses, with bread and crackers, along with various Scandinavian salads. Too much mayo for me, so I didn't explore many of those.

Milk, juice, coffee, tea.

It was impressive, tbh, and we had a full meal. I didn't eat again until our late dinner.

Perry would have been in 7th Heaven. To be honest, that was a lot of the trip, missing the kids and wishing they were there, for some reason or another.

After breakfast, we headed out. Our hotel was in DT, something we usually don't do, so it was pretty much walk out and over to the Oslo Opera House. Alas. because of the snow and ice, the walk up the slope of the building was closed. We walked over to the Munch Museum, then backtracked a bit to the Akershus Fortress and explored that, enjoying the views of the town from there. Then onto Karl Johans Gate, where we checked out the Parliament building (Stortinget), and then onto checking out the Oslo Royal Palace. Then back to the hotel, we were pretty tired, and jetlag was taking its toll.

I posted some photos on Instagram. I started out posting there, but I really didn't like picking photos from thumbnails, so ended up stopping.

It was a nice day, with the biggest issue being how much of the walking had to be done on ice. I was exhausted by end of day because of how tense I am when dealing with that level of wintery conditions, but eh.

Dinner out (expensive but decent pizza) then back to the hotel to collapse.

A few photos...

The Oslo Opera House, just a gorgeous building (more photos of it from waterside in next day's post) meant to evoke a glacier, it's mostly made of Carrara marble and white granite and gleamed in the low light. The sculpture in the Oslofjord is made of glass and steel and meant to evoke an iceberg. These -at very different scales- both hit their marks and complemented each other beautifully.



The Akershus is big, with multiple buildings and walls from different eras. I like how this one shows evidence of prior archtechture!


Norwegian Parliament building and some beautifully inticate detail on the doors.


Royal Palace, which means real live royals live there, LOL. Not being a major fan of the British Monarchy, I've never been to any of their palaces, and certainly France long ago repurposed theirs. I think it's the first time I've actually seen the real live castle that real lives monarchs live in. And BTW, to my surprise, as I get older, I'm becoming more and more of a fan of constitutional monarchies, as they are done in some European countries. They seem to have produced, as a general rule, countries that are kinder to their citizens than average.

I took loads of selfies on this trip. Usually, we don't and I regret it later. I still don't have many photos of us other than selfies, but dh was in charge of the camera (remember: slippery ice, didn't want to risk the camera to a fall) and he never volunteered to take a photo of me, or have me take one of him, and it got old having to request it each time. I'll note that this happens whenever he in charge of photos and he always sighs later that we have all these photos of landscapes with none of us in them, LOL.