Our first day in Oslo

When we landed, we walked through the little airport that looked like it had been constructed and furnished by the designers at IKEA. It was so cute! Glass and silver metal and light wood...quite a change from the giant airport that is Newark International!

Since our bags didn't come out at the baggage claim, we took our taxi through the countryside to our hotel in downtown Oslo. The scenery was grassy and hilly. The sky was a bit cloudy but it brightened up this afternoon and we were actually hot! Although I wish I had my clothes and everything else I brought with me, it did bring some relief that I didn't have to carry my bag through the airport!

Our hotel is right in the middle of town, on a street with an outdoor market, and just a few blocks from Karlhans Gate which is full of shops from high-end retail stores and H&M to leather goods and fruitstands! We walked over to Norway's Resistance Museum (aka Norges Hjemmefrontmuseum) and the Akershus fortress which was originally a midieval castle and then later used as a fortress in the resistance against the Nazis in WWII. We checked things out over by the Oslo Fjord, which is more like a bay with sailboats and docks. Lots of cool sights to see! Today we're going to go back down there and check out the inside of the castle and catch a ferry to the other side of the fjord to see some museums.

It's truly gorgeous here. The city streets are clean, the landscape is beautiful, the buildings have an interesting architecture, and the people are very friendly. Our family has traveled quite a bit, and we all agree that the faces just seem warmer here, conversations are more intimate. On top of which, we all agree that we feel a bit at home here--as silly as it may sound, having people around who have similar physical features, like the blonde hair and fair skin, makes you feel like you fit in!