Viking Raid

Zach loved our visit to the Viking Ship Museum this morning. The museum houses three large ships and many artifacts.

After learning lots about the vikings, we picniced outside and then rode the bus over to the Farmer's Market festival to pillage samples. We also treated ourselves to an enormous crepe filled with fresh apple butter---yum!

The Viking Museum inspired this rendition of "Row Your Boat"

Zach showing no respect for the "do not touch" sign at the Museum

Meeting a Crab at the Festival

A glimpse of the Royal Palace

Lucky Day

What are the odds that we'd just happen upon a Thomas the Tank Engine cartoon in English this morning on TV? Well, lucky Zach, we sure did!

After savoring all 30 minutes of that, Zach did some more catching up with his toys, especially the trains. Before we knew it, it was time catch the train to meet Daddy for lunch near the National Theater.

And what are the odds that on our way from the station we'd just happen upon "Norwegian Food in the Streets," the year's largest outdoor farmer's market event?

We went from booth to booth collecting samples and noting new varieties of cheese, bread, and jam while listening to live music. We also got to drink the best (and possibly only) fresh apple juice I've ever had---so good! We plan to go again in the morning when Kelly can join us, this time Kroner in hand.

Reunited and it Feels So Good

Our 41 boxes arrived today, so Zach was busy getting reaquainted with his toys all afternoon!

Busy Busy Busy

Zach's First T-Bane (Subway) Ride

Zach found some interesting ways to keep himself occupied today as we did some paperwork to process our Visas:

After dinner tonight, chef Zachary and I had our first go at baking in metric. The brownies were delicious!

A Day at the Park

While Daddy slaved away at work, Zachy and I enjoyed a day at Frognerparken, a park and playground near our apartment.

We also got our Visa photos taken. It is done photo-booth style, so it was a little challenging to get Zach to sit still!

Videos: Silly Zach

Zach and Kelly killing time while waiting for the Tram:

Zach singing in the lobby of Daddy's office building (he called the top of the stairs his "stage"):

The Proof is in the Nine-dollar Pudding

We had heard that things here were expensive, but we were struck with a serious case of sticker shock the first time we visited our local grocery market.

A single chicken breast (pictured) is nearly 80NOK (about $16 US)! And a can of Campbell's soup is about 24NOK (about $4.75 US). A four-pack of individual servings of pudding is 45NOK---$9 US!

A liter of milk (pictured), which is about a 1/4 of a gallon, is over 18NOK (more than $3.25 US).

There are also a few things that are nearly impossible to find here, like American cheese, Dr. Pepper, and Mountain Dew (poor Kelly!).

Grocery shopping here is also very different than at home. Since most people walk to their local markets instead of driving (there is a small market about every 3 blocks), you go nearly every day and usually only get what you need for meals for that day.

It is not just the groceries that are expensive either. A meal at a casual restaurant is usually around $40, sodas at a restaurant are around $8 (and no free refills), and a large takeout pizza is around $45. Even a value meal at McDonald's will cost you about $16-$20!

Finding a Church

Even though most people in Norway speak English, it is a challenge to find a worship service in English here. We were able to find a couple of churches to try out today---one very traditional and one very contemporary.

This morning we went to American Lutheran Church. Though it is called American and Lutheran, it is actually comprised of a lot of nationalities and different denominations. Of course the draw for us was that they speak English at their services. It was such a nice change to walk through the doors and be greeted in English and talk freely to people without first apologizing for not knowing Norwegian.

They are a small congregation and the building is nothing fancy, but the people were very friendly and they even have Sunday School for Zach in English. The service was super traditional and sort of "high churchy" including lots of liturgy, which is not our usual style but still enjoyable. We plan to go again next Sunday.

This evening we braved the cold and drizzly rain to try out a super-contemporary congregation downtown called Jesus Church (click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeGP46Ipydw to see a video). The church building is actually the upstairs ballroom of an expensive restaurant that is closed on Sundays. It looked kind of like a night club set up for a concert actually, but there were tons of young families with toddlers running around and strollers parked in back so we felt comfortable.

Unfortunately we didn't figure out until about halfway through the Norwegian service that about a third of the congregation was wearing headphones allowing them to hear an English translator! It was kind of interesting though to sing along to the same praise choruses we know, but in another language. We've decided to give it another try next week, this time with the aid of the headphones.

A Day of Firsts

We got off to a late start this morning; apparently we all had some catching up to do on our sleep because we didn't wake up until nearly 10:30 a.m. (even Zach!). It was wonderful!

Then I tried cooking my first Norwegian meal---meaning of course that I cooked it in Norway, not that it was pickled herring or something. Grilled cheese and soup sounds like it should be easy to put together, but try doing it using a digital induction stove for the first time (manuals in Norwegian, of course). It was quite an accomplishment! I haven't yet tried to use the oven, but I'll need to figure out how to convert temperatures to celsius first.

After lunch we took our first train ride into the city to buy our transportation passes and do some sightseeing. We also tried out the city trams to check out Aker Brygge, a nice shopping area near the harbor with a boardwalk. Zach is in heaven!

Getting on the Train

Riding by Esso (Exxon)

At Aker Brygge

Sailboats in the Harbor

Running on the Boardwalk

Zach and Daddy Swordfighting in a Toy Store

Our New Backyard

We moved into our new apartment today and it is fantastic! It is about 1200 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We are especially lucky to have our own garage parking spot and large storage space downstairs. There are heaters in every room, and the bathrooms even have heated floors.

The building is situated at the northernmost edge of the Bygdøy peninsula, so we have some awesome views of the harbor, forests, and even a beach (though we won't likely take advantage of that for many months since it is already in the 50s here!).

Our Building - We're on the Top Floor

The Living Room

The Kitchen

The Dining Room

The Balcony

Southern View from the Balcony

Eastern View from the Balcony

Western View from the Balcony

The Longest Day

So what kind of decisions should you expect to make when you arrive sleep deprived in a new city and can't read or speak the local language...um, pretty bad ones! Yesterday was a little rough on us; here's some math to keep the stories short:

14 pieces of luggage + a shuttle bus that is supposed to take us "to" our hotel but really drops us off a cold, rainy, cartless, very long and stair-filled block away should probably equal a short (but very expensive) cab ride. Instead, in our infinite sleep-deprived wisdom, we decided that Zach and I would stand guard over our luggage mountain in a pretty undesirable area outside the bus terminal as Kelly made multiple soggy trips to and from the hotel concierge. We can laugh about it now, but trust me it was not at all funny at the time!

Dinner out + credit card + not knowing you have to tell them in advance to put the tip on the card too = polite but obviously annoyed server getting a generous but relatively useless tip in American currency because we have zero Kroner.

Little Zach + no bed rails = plop in the middle of the night! Poor thing.

So after a good night's sleep our patience, optimism and good judgement have been restored and we're headed out to see our new apartment and rid ourselves of this obscene amount of luggage. And this time we're taking a taxi no matter what it costs!

We made it!

After a very tedious journey, we are tired but thankful to have finally arrived. Some pictures from our trip:

The Big Plane

Crazy Seats that Make Into Beds

Buckling Up and Getting Comfy

Bedtime Story with Daddy

Sleeping Like a Baby with Bobo and Doggy

Hanging Out in the Paris Lounge

Napping on the Second Flight

Our First Glimpse of Norway

We Made It!

Goodbye Texas, Hello Norway!

Thanks to lots of help from family and friends (and some very strong movers), we're finally all packed and ready to leave later today. Zach is pumped about the plane ride...let's hope his enthusiasm can last through all 12 hours of the flight!