we're sorry, Oslo is closed

Turns out Norway observes some version of the May 1 holiday, and we awoke this morning to a city mostly closed, save a few 7-11s and some restaurants. We weren't too bothered by the shut down, it gave us a chance to wander the city in relative peace, as there were few people out as well. We saw the city hall, the palace, and walked down by the harbor. Tomorrow we'll take a boat from the harbor across to the peninsula to the Viking museum. We WERE going to do that today ... but it was closed, like everything else.

Near the harbor sits a 700-year-castle built by the Vikings. We spent some time touring that today, as the grounds were at least open to walking around. That was pretty cool.

Norway is a beautiful country. Yesterday we unknowingly flew into an airport an hour and a half from Oslo. We had to take a bus into the city, which at first was a little annoying, as we'd already had a somewhat trying travel day (I will soon publish my list of reasons NOT to fly Ryan Air ... ever). However, the bus took us through beautiful Norwegian countryside, and our irritation soon abated (soon to be found again on arriving in Oslo, where people wanted to be helpful, but weren't too informative, resulting in a 2-hour endeavor to find our hotel ... just a few minutes' walk away).

One of the towns we passed through on our drive to Oslo was Stokke, the same name my sister is soon to take on as her own when she marries. Hans and Amy, it was perhaps the most picturesque little town I've ever seen, complete with an old fashioned church and steeple sitting on a green hillside. You must come here some day and visit the land and town of your namesake.

Tomorrow we do a little more touring, and then Saturday morning we get on the train to Bergen. We're very much looking forward to seeing more of the Norwegian country. This is truly a beautiful country.

More later! (And sorry, no pictures of me with bad hair today. Maybe later.)

OH, and the knitwear here is truly amazing.