Happy birthday Ruben!

Lauren gave Ruben Norway for his birthday. (Bloom County cartoon).

We started the morning with a buffet breakfast at the Bristol, which wasn’t nearly as nice as the buffet at the Grand (which was grand for sure).

After breakfast we checked out, then put our bags in storage. We took the train (subway) west one station, then transferred to the “1” – a slow moving train that went up the mountain to Hollmenkollen. We left the train and climbed even further to the ski jump and ski museum. We had a great time there. It was an impressive view from the top.

We then took the 1 back down to the Majorstuen station, where we could go to the swimming park. There was a great pool for not-strong swimmers (no higher than Elias’ chest in the whole pool, an Olympic swimming pool, dive area and a slide. Elias and I swam for quite a while, then showered and changed without towels.

We took the long way back through Vigland gardens and saw the beautiful statues. The pictures just don’t do them justice. They’re very evocative.

We had lunch at the café in park, then found our way to the Oslo trams to get back to the hotel. We picked up our bags, then headed down the Karls Johan Gate, stopping at a coffee shop and McDonalds for some Is (Ice cream) for Elias. We waited there for a while, sitting and watching the people come and go out of the train station. Ruben now has an idea for an art installation called “tourists waiting for the train” which would include a bench, and a hat. People would come and sit, and others would just observe them and put money in the hat. He got this idea because this Norwegian woman just sat and watched Elias play for the longest time. Elias was “driving” with his 1 Kroner (Norwegian).

Our train ride back was uneventful, other than the 1/2 dramamine not working for Lauren. We met a geologist who had just gotten back from an excursion to the 74^th parallel in Greenland. He was taking core samples. We had a very interesting conversation with him for the 2.5 hour trip. He is a Norwegian, living in Katerineholm with his Swedish soon to be wife. It’s like he had a love hate relationship with living in Sweden and getting married to a Swede.

Ruben and Lauren went on a long walk through Karlstad after Elias went to sleep. It seems the students are back in town, and the bars were “hopping” – and the taxis were waiting.