The Adventure Begins

We're officially heading out of Oslo. We spent today cleaning our room, packing and finishing all last minute travel arrangements. We are headed to London tomorrow morning and are very excited for the 2 days we'll spend there. Tomorrow night we are going to the musical Wicked in London's theatre district and Sunday we are attending the Concert for Diana. We couldn't believe our luck that we'd be in London the nigth the princes throw this concert. http://www.concertfordiana.com/home/index.aspx My posts will be less frequent as I am not bringing my laptop on the remainder of the journey. Many of our hotels have internet though, so I will do what I can. After London, we hit Paris, Barcelona, Pamplona, Pisa, Florence, Venice, Frankfurt and then return to Oslo for one night to gather our belongings. We make a 5 day stop in Iceland and then head home. Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon!

School's Out for Summer!

Today was a glorious day because we finished finals! It is so nice to be done with classes and I am so excited for our Euro vacation to start.The Law school took us out for a very nice lunch at the Theater Cafe. It was a fabulous meal of open face sandwiches and delicious desserts. Look at the smiles on these ladies' faces. They are so excited to be done with summer school. Professor Lee Bygrave was in charge of our academic program here at the University of Oslo Law school and came to lunch with us. He is originally from Australia but married a Norwegian and has been living here for 15 years. Lee is the one on the right side of the table without the hat on.

Adam in Oslo

Once Adam recovered from jetlag, I took him around to see the sites. Here are some of the things he's seen so far in Norway.

Adam found our next car purchase.

Sjoa

This weekend we visited Sjoa, pronounced "Shua." In my last post I mentioned that Amber and I went to Sjoa for a weekend to do some rafting. The bed and breakfast type village we stayed at for the weekend was the type of place that you more than likely will only experience once in a lifetime. It was set up right by a river and was surrounded by mountains that were loaded with trees and green grass. The small village reminded me of somewhere Frodo from the Lord of the Ring movies would live, because all the doorways were small and the cabins were not very big.

The village looked like it could only house about 20 people at any one time. It was very secluded. All the meals were served in the main cabin by the two people who owned the place. Everything was very clean and every cabin had their own bathroom. It really was the neatest little place I've ever seen.

Below is Marianne, Rachel, Amber and I eating dinner. There was always fresh bread at every meal and we'd fill our plates buffet-style and then eat in the dining room.

Here is Amber and I standing in front of the cabin we stayed in and below is a picture of the inside.

On Sunday we packed our backpacks and hopped on a bus that the rafting company sent to come get us. After a very short bus ride we arrived at the rafting place. We all signed a standard waiver of liability and then suited up in wet suits and life jackets. A bus drove us a couple of miles down the road and dropped us off at the starting point of the rafting trip. Before we jumped into the rafts, the guides went over some rowing techniques and safety issues with us. The guide was being extra careful when giving us instructions because the river was the highest it had been in a long time and that meant the rapids were a little more rough than usual. Before we knew it we were on the river practicing the rafting techniques. After 15 minutes of practice we were sent loose down the river with our guide. We rafted down to the end point (The same spot we got our wet suits) and then ate lunch. After lunch we hopped back on the bus and rafted down the river again. It was by far one of the most fun things I've ever done. As you can see in the first picture below Amber knew where the lady taking pictures was located. The rest of us had our oars in the water while Amber was striking a pose. She is lucky we didn't throw her overboard!

I have arrived

Hello all. This is Adam here. I have finally arrived in Norway. My long awaited reunion with Amber took place Friday. This is my first time in Europe and for those of you that haven't been here I am just going to share a few observations I have made since arriving. 1) There is no such thing as the sun in Oslo. 2) It is cool to tuck your jeans into your socks. 3) Oslo is more racially diverse than New York City. 4) There is no such thing as a supermarket, only small grocery stores with limited food items. 5) The cheese is good. 6) "Manpris" are in style. (Capris for men). 7) It is more essential to have an umbrella than a car. 8) People are very rude. You will never hear "excuse me" or "I'm sorry." 9) Everyone is small here, and since I am 6'2" nothing is made big enough for me. I have already hit my head once in a doorway. 10) You have to pay to use the restroom at a gas station. 11) There is NO air conditioning 12) You have to pay for the bags they use to bag your groceries

All of these things have really surprised me. Maybe I was a little naive thinking Oslo would be somewhat like back home. It could not be more different. I haven't even seen a McDonalds yet! I know it might sound like I am complaining, but I am not. I am loving the trip so far. These are just a few things I noticed that totally surprised me. Oslo is a very nice city.

Amber and I jumped on a bus the day after I got here and took a 5 hour ride north to Sjoa. We stayed one night in a little bed and breakfast type place and went white water rafting on Sunday. It was quite a way start out my trip in Europe. The rafting was probably one of the most fun things I have ever done. The rafting guide in charge cracked me up and I had to take a picture with him.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I sure am. Peace out from Oslo.

Dinner a la Tim

After all of that hiking I was hungry and excited about the potluck dinner we had planned for tonight. Tim (standing in the back with the tie) offered to make a big pan of lasagna if the rest of us wanted to bring side dishes. Kara & Diane brought appetizers, Laura & Rachel brought a wonderful salad, while Erica and I brought bread. We all met over in the common area on Tim's floor to have dinner and play games. It was definitely the best meal any of us had ever had at Anker.

The Hike to Sognsvann

Today Erica and I decided to use our last free Saturday in Oslo to go hiking. This Saturday we will be on the white water rafting trip in Sjoa and the next Saturday we fly to London, so time is beginning to fly. There are extensive hiking trails on the outskirts of Norway so we hopped a train to the last stop and hit the trails. You may remember this view from the day Prof. Lockney took us up to have apple cake. Erica and I got off at Frognerseteren and got to see the gorgeous view once more before we hit the trail. We decided to hike from Frognerseteren down to the lake at Sognsvann. There are numerous trails through the forest and luckily they made it pretty dummy proof so Erica and I didn't get lost. There were signs such as these all along the way pointing you in the right direction and telling you how many kilometers to go to reach your destination. Besides the numerous signs marking the way, there are also color coordinated paint marks on trees to match the color of the route you're hiking. There were times like this one above where there was no "trail" at all and we'd just pick our way along looking for the next blue-marked tree. We hiked for about an hour and a half before we reached the lake at Sognsvann.

We found a dock to lay out in the sun on and soak our feet in the lake before making our way to the nearest train station for our ride back to Anker.

The Supreme Court of Norway

Today we had the privilege of visiting the Supreme Court of Norway. A summer school group from Hamline Law school joined us in this large meeting room to hear about the court. I was paging through a booklet we were given about the Supreme Court while a kind older gentleman was explaining how cases reach the Supreme Court in Norway. I was shocked to find the same man staring up at me from one of the pages of the booklet with this caption underneath his picture: "The present Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Tore Schei, who was appointed in August 2002." I couldn't believe the Chief Justice of Norway's Supreme Court took the time to talk with us and was so modest as to not even introduce himself as the Chief Justice.

Before allowing one of the law clerks to take us on a tour, Mr. Schei brought us all into his office to show us this grandfather clock and chair. The grandfather clockwas built in 1759 and the chair which the King uses if he ever comes to the Supreme Court, is from around 1850.

We unfortunately didn't get a chance to go into the main courtroom because of an event going on in there, but we did get a chance to see this smaller courtroom.

Future Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Today we visited the Nobel Institute. Alfred Nobel was a brilliant man born in Sweden who left the bulk of his considerable estate to fund the Nobel prizes which are awarded annually to persons whose work has made the greatest benefit to mankind. The most prestigious award is of course the Nobel Peace Prize. It is awarded each year on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death on December 10. It used to be given out in this room at the Nobel Institute, but in 1990 the event moved to the Oslo City Hall.

This is the Nobel Committee meeting room. The walls are lined with photos of previous Peace Prize winners.

Bergen

Sunday we set out to see the sights of Bergen. Bergen is Norway's 2nd largest city and like Oslo sits right on a fjord. Bergen is so beautiful and its inhabitants so proud that the phrase "I'm not from Norway, I'm from Bergen" has been coined. I totally understand where they are coming from however. Everytime someone asks our crew if we're all from North Dakota I'm quick to point out that I am from Minnesota. I've gotten made fun of for making the distinction and told that Moorhead is basically North Dakota, but I love Minnesota and will always claim it as my home.

These cute shops are right by the waterfront.

The tan building to the right is the setting of a famous Norwegian torts

case that all Law school students become intimately familiar with. Apparently a diner fell through an old trap door and Lars was excited to see the famous restaurant. Kristin, myself, Kara, Diane, Jess, Ron, Tim, Lars & Erica (taking the picture) wandered around Bergen together. I was delighted to find the prices of souvenirs to be much less in Bergen than in Oslo and us ladies had a lot of fun shopping.

We took a tram up the side of a moutain to overlook Bergen.

After a full day of sightseeing we headed back to the train station for our overnight ride home. We boarded at 11 p.m. and arrived in Oslo at about 6:15 a.m. Monday morning. Sleep on the train was intermitten at best and we only got about an hour more in our rooms before heading to class. Naps were necessary that afternoon!