Shopping in Oslo

---

Woke this morning to it raining and cooler then usual. I went down to the main cottage and started my coffee. Andreas came in and gave me a huge hug-that was so lovely! I made Andy, Gry and Andreas grilled cheese sandwiches which seemed to be palatable and we made our days plans over breakfast.

We decided that the girls would go to Oslo and Andy would stay back and rest, or take Anna to get a new cell phone, purchase a new freezer, clean the other one out, install the new one and tend the horses hahahaha

As we (Gry, Thea and I) left the driveway of the cottage and traveled some down the road, we stumbled upon Vigdis (have to put that in there since she is now reading my blog giggles) and her well trained boarder collie who was running around with a piece of bamboo left over from the winter ploughing. Vigdis told us that the sheep got out at her place and her dog helped bring them all back in. Good herding dog! She opted not to join us in Oslo but to continue on her walk with her dog and promised to visit later in the evening.

Driving to Oslo was beautiful as I admired the mountains, lakes, meadows, forests and farm lands. Sheep farms in abundance as were horse farms. I See far fewer cow farms here then one does in Ontario. I wonder if that has anything to do with the terrain here in Norway.

Once in Oslo, we located a parking spot and headed out. The first place we walked was along the harbour. This is known as Aker Brygge. It was at one time the ship yard Aker Mekaniske Verksted. But was shut down in 1982 and rebuild to a large shopping center with restaurants such as the chain Friday's and apartments. As we walked along the harbour, I noticed a number of statues, and wonderful places to sit and enjoy the ships and sail boats of which there were hundreds. From this harbour, one can take a large cruise boat to Denmark or a ferry to the islands. Perhaps am activity for next year' visit 😉. As we walked along the pier, I also heard the clock chiming. At one of the malls along the harbour, we stopped in a jewelry store to pick up Pandora charms representing Norway. I got one for me and one for Christina. Gry grabbed herself one as well.

Leaving the harbour, we walked up Karl Johansgate street to the Royal palace where the royal family of Norway lives. Thea had never gone there so it was also something new for her. The Palace itself is actually a symbol of the Norwegian history. It was built as a home for King Carl Johan in 1849 but not completed until After he died. The Royal Palace is owned by the state. The royal family who lives there actually have no real political power in Norway, only a representative. It was pretty impressive but not at all like one would think of for a royal family. Perhaps I only draw these assumptions having visited castles of the royal family of England.

We walked down Karl Johans gate street from the Palace. This seemed to be the main shopping street in Oslo. It stretched from the Oslo train station, right up to the Palace. Parts of it were closed off with cobble stone roads. Along here one can find almost anything including various restaurants and cafés. We stopped and listened briefly to a band playing I front of one of the cafés, facing a fountain. We walked the entire street and ended up at Peppes for a late lunch.

While eating, it began to rain so our walk back up Karl Johansgate street was not as please t as it was going down. We did manage to stop I to a few places as we headed back to the car and I grabbed a few souvenirs for some special people. Gry, Thea and I laughed a great deal as they taught me some Norwegian sayings.

On our way home, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up bread and ingredients to make skolebolle.

Back home, Vegdis stopped in for some fresh Skolebolle (again, why do My clothes not fit?) and I coloured Thea's hair for the 2nd time 😉.

The kids had a relaxing evening in the living room playong on iPads, cell phones or watching tv.

---