Norway Vacation Diary (Part 3)

Saturday December 18, 1999:

I had chosen to fly Northwest airlines again this trip. My flight left the ground at about 4:10, within the 15 minute window of "on-time" departure. I was actually on a KLM flight, an MD-11 aircraft named "Maria Callas".

The flight was a little over 10 hours to Amsterdam, and included three full-length feature films. Again we arrived at our destination about 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

Sunday December 19:

I arrived at the Amsterdam airport at 11:35 AM. The Amsterdam airport is a great airport. The entire airport is very neat and clean, and the signs and directions are plentiful and very good. There are "people mover" walkways everywhere, and plenty of room at the gates. There were no people smoking anywhere that I saw, and they have the free little carts for carrying your luggage all over the place (as opposed to the $1.50 they charge at US airports).

There were only two notable issues. They changed the gate of my flight rather abruptly without any warning, and with very little notification. Of course it was changed to the gate at the farthest end of the "arm" of the airport that I was at. The other oddity was that there was a woman cleaning the men's room, while it was still in use. I guess they really do view things differently in some European countries.

There are a few very nice shops in the Amsterdam airport, especially the large "duty-free" stores. You can buy just about anything there.

The flight to Oslo was uneventful. It was under 2 hours and passed quickly. I followed the normal routine, getting off the plane, and following the crowds through the steps. Immigration was a simple passport checkpoint. I grabbed my bags when they came off of the baggage carousel, and I proceeded through Customs. This time there was actually a guard with a dog that sniffed the people as they walked past.

This time I had allowed for enough time between flights, and I went to the "Transit Check-in" desk to have my bags checked back in for the final flight to Trondheim. I was the second or third in line. By the time I checked my bags in, the line behind me had grown and extended out into the middle of the airport. I even had a little bit of time to wander the airport for a few minutes. When I finally went to the gate, it was the last one at the very farthest end of the terminal (do you detect a trend here?).

The flight to Trondheim was less than an hour, and we landed without incident. It was snowing lightly at Trondheim, but the runways were clear.

My friend Tove and her daughter Kine and Kine's friend Hilde met me near the arrival area in the new part of the Trondheim terminal. Again the formalities of retrieving my bags lasted only a short while.

It was evening time, so it was completely dark on the way into town. The snow was light, and the roads were pretty clear so we made it into town in a short period of time.

Monday December 20:

Then we went back through the mall. We ran into a friend of Tove's named Irene. We stopped at a pizza parlor in the basement of the mall for coffee and a muffin with Irene. I got a chance to try out some of my simple Norwegian phrases.

We did not have time for any shopping since we had to stop at the post office to pick up a package, and we had to return home by a certain time.

It snowed a few inches a couple of times during the day, adding to the nearly two feet that was already on the ground.

It is important to realize that during this time of year, there is only about three hours of daylight in Trondheim. The sun rises about 10:30AM, and it is fully down by 2:30PM.

After dinner we sat around talking with the neighbors Tor and Ellen. Morten also came over to visit for a while.

Tuesday December 21:

I spent a little bit of time in the morning shoveling snow from the area in front of the front door.

We drove out to Granåsen (the ski-jumping hill) to get a Christmas tree for Mormor (Grandma). We ended up buying a small "Furu" (Pine) tree for 119 NK (Norwegian Kroner). They slide these trees into a "sock" of recycled plastic to protect and preserve the trees.

We brought the tree downtown to Mormor's apartment to deliver it to her. She looked quite shocked when she opened the front door only to see me standing there holding a tree.

Mormor does not speak much English, so it was difficult to communicate. At one point when I was took my jacket off, and I was setting it onto a chair, she reached out towards me. I thought that she was taking the jacket from me, so I handed it to her. Everyone got a big laugh out of that because she had been extending her hand to shake mine. I was very embarrassed, and that story was repeated several times before I left.

Leaving the downtown area we were faced with a big bright full moon rising above the city skyline at a stunning 3:30PM.

We went up to the local video rental store and picked up a couple of movies for later. Just outside the video store we looked for a Christmas tree, but they were too expensive (300 NK) so we passed.

We were momentarily distracted by some commotion down the hill. A car had run into a snow bank after a minor car crash. Since that incident occurred right outside the Fire Station, the firemen drove a fire truck out, and used it to drag the car out of the snow bank. I can't imagine that happening here. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera with me at the time.

We went to Heimdal to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I was amazed to learn that chopsticks are extra at restaurants in Norway. The food was good, the service was okay, but the prices were a little high. A dinner of three common dishes and three sodas cost 390 NK, almost $50.

After dinner we stopped by to visit Marit for a while before we went home to watch the videos.

Ellen stopped by to drop of a jar of homemade pickled herring (sursyld?).

Wednesday December 22:

On Wednesday morning, Tor and Ellen were picked up by a taxi to take them to the airport for a visit to Stavanger.

We went to a consumer electronics store called GH/Elektra to pick up a caller ID as a Christmas present for Asbjørn.

After that we went over to the mall City Syd and had lunch at Egon's and shopped for a little while. (Spise lunsj og kjøpte)

The full moon rose again into a cloudless sky at 3:37PM.

We looked around again for a Christmas tree for us, but there were only a few trees left at Granåsen, and none at the local convenience store.

We did the major shopping for the big Christmas meals at a couple of supermarkets. We also drove to Heimdal to buy some whale meat at the fish market.

There were some skiers jumping at Granåsen, off of both of the jumps. We stopped for a little while and I took some pictures, but I ran out of film quickly.

That afternoon Morten and Marius and Tonje and Alexander came by to visit. Tove was beginning to worry about getting a tree, so Morten and I went out in the "Suburban Assault Vehicle" to find a tree.

We found a man selling Danish trees at 400 NK in Heimdal. Morten tried to talk the man down to 300 NK, but the man would not budge. Morten drove downtown and on one of the main streets of the downtown areas (Munkegata) we found some people still selling trees. We searched for a while until we found an acceptable one for 250 NK.

On the way back to Flatåsen, Morten forgot that he was not driving one of his taxis, so he was driving along in the lanes reserved for taxis and busses. We made great time, but he was risking a ticket and a heavy fine.

For dinner we had Hval (whale). Tove claimed that it was not as good as the previous time, but I still thought that it was a very good meal.

Late that evening, Tove and Kine began making the Christmas Windows, running red tape into squares, covered by clear plastic wrap, and then sprayed with white flocking. The upstairs windows were sprayed with images and "God Jul" for the passing cars to see.

I spent some time shoveling snow from the back patio at about 1:00AM. That certainly attracted some attention from the few people still awake.

Thursday December 23:

Early in the morning, I cut the tree and put it into the tree stand and brought it into the house. Kine and Tove decorated the tree while I shoveled more snow from the patio area.

In the afternoon, we went up to "Utsikt", one of the beautiful spots that overlooks the entire city. Of course, now the night was cloudy, so the moon was not longer available. I took a series of 30 second exposures of the city, the Cathedral and Kristiansten Festning (Fort).

We stopped by Mormor's again to drop of some Christmas presents from various people.

For dinner, we had big Salmon steaks that were fabulous. They were served with sour cream and with potatoes. It was a great meal.

Friday December 24: Christmas Eve (Juleaften)

It had warmed up a bit, with temperatures hovering around 2 or 3 degrees C.

We had salmon and cheese sandwiches for breakfast.

A little after noon we went downtown to go to the Christmas Eve services at the Domkirken (Cathedral) at Nidaros. The cathedral is a magnificent massive stone church with intricate carvings, stained-glass windows and appointments throughout. There was standing room only as they packed a couple thousand people into the church.

On the way back to the car, I stopped to take a couple pictures of the main square in the dark, even though it was only 3:00 PM.

While we were gone a Nisse had visited the house and left a package for Kine under the tree. It was a Sony Discman CD player.

Back at home we had a huge meal at exactly 5:00PM. All of Norway has their Christmas Eve dinner at exactly 5:00PM. We had Ribbe, meatcakes, sausage, potatoes, cranberries and gravy.

All of Norway opens their Christmas presents at exactly 6:00PM, so we hurried through the dishes and prepared for the mayhem. Kine was very happy with all of her presents, especially the Furby from Morten and Merethe. For those that are not familiar, a Furby is a small furry animal that talks back to you, and responds to scratching, rubbing and cuddling. Kine also spent some time playing her new Barbie Riding Club game on the computer.

We heard a rumbling sound as the snow packed on the roof slid off in one huge chunk and covered the entire patio area with 2 to 3 feet of packed snow. The same area that I had spent several hours shoveling was now buried again.

Saturday December 25: Christmas Day (Juledag)

Christmas was a restful day in Norway, with nothing open, so no reason to leave the house.

We did drive up to Marit's for dinner at 5:00PM. She served a very delicious pork roast meal.

Sunday December 26:

This is referred to as "the second Christmas Day" and there is often some jockeying for position as far as who spends which days with which families.

My sinuses had been getting progressively worse the past few days, so I slept in on Sunday. The temperatures were hovering around 3 degrees C, and it was a little bit overcast.

At 5:00PM we had dinner at Tove's with all of the girls. There was Tove and Kine, Linn and Tonje (plus Alexander) and Marit and Mormor, and me. We had Roast beef, au gratin potatoes, vegetables, garlic bread, gravy and cranberries. It was very very good.

Monday December 27:

There was a light dusting of snow overnight. I walked down to Bjørndalsbrua (the bridge) to try to get some pictures. I trudged through about a kilometer of knee-deep snow. It was just a little too late, so I took a couple quick pictures and went back to the house. On the return walk, I took the long way through numerous back streets, but I avoided the deep snow. It was pretty slippery in places.

In the evening we de-iced the car, and drove to Mormor's for coffee and cake. Oh, and that was some really great cake ! Morten and Merethe and Marius were there in addition to Tove and Kine and I.

Afterwards we went to the bus station to pick up Tor and Ellen on their return from the trip to Stavanger. We invited them over for dinner, even though it was just leftovers plus some of Ellen's homemade bread.

We had not seen the cat Baltus for a couple days, but when Tor let him in, he dashed upstairs and hid in the bathroom. I checked him a little later, because that seemed odd. When I found him under the bathtub, he had a nasty wound on the side of his face. It was bloody and very swollen. Of course, Kine freaked out.

Tove called the Vet and he suggested that there was not a lot that was needed right then, and that it would be okay to bring the cat in to see the vet in the morning. We fed him, and locked him in the hallway downstairs to keep him inside.

It was a tough night, spent nursing the injured cat, and calming Kine.

Tuesday December 28:

After having his wounds drained several times, and cleaned up and fed, the cat looked much better. The wounds appeared to be a set of small holes as if the cat had been bitten in a fight. We decided that the cost of the vet was not necessary, and that the cat would be okay. We applied some antibiotic ointment, and went on our way.

We went to the mall City Syd. Hilde came along with Kine to help her pick out some clothes to buy with her Christmas Gift Certificates. Morten and Marius met us at the mall, and we chatted for a little while in the coffee shop.

That evening we went over to Tor and Ellen's house to have another Norwegian dinner. Ellen cooked up a lamb and potatoes and gravy. Ellen is a very good cook, and the food was delicious.

Afterwards, their friends Hilde and Per-Arne came over, and we sat around talking, telling stories and laughing for hours. It was very difficult to understand what they were talking about since they did not speak much English.

The cat was doing well, and was in fact getting quite spoiled by everyone.

We had to be to the airport by 9:00 AM, so we called it an early night.

Wednesday December 29:

We left for the Trondheim Airport at Værnes, at 8:15 AM. Since it was still the Christmas Holiday, the traffic was light. We found a parking space right out front again. I checked my bags in, and got boarding passes for my next few flights, and then in about 5 minutes, they began boarding the plane. There was no security check at all. In fact the x-ray machine was roped off with no one there to run it.

There are no assigned seats on the Braathens flights, so in typical Scandinavian fashion, there was gentle pushing and shoving to get onto the plane first and get the aisle seats.

The flight left on schedule, and it was a simple flight, less than an hour long. By the time we landed in Oslo it was white and cheery with the sun shining.

The flight arrived in Oslo on schedule. I am amused at the fact that there was no security check at all in Trondheim, but they make up for it with multiple checks at the airport in Oslo. They x-ray your bags and make you walk through a metal detector when you get off of the airplane. Then they check you and your bags again before you can enter the International portion of the airport.

There are very nice shops at the Oslo airport, and the airport is neat and clean. The people movers idle at a slow speed until someone gets onto them, and then they speed up.

They did not list the gate for my flight until less than 40 minutes before the scheduled departure. There was no pre-boarding, no people with young children going first.

I was a little concerned because I had booked my flights through Northwest (Flight NW 8544), but it was actually going to be a KLM flight (KLM 1144), and my Braathens boarding pass issued in Trondheim listed an Alitalia flight (AZ 3121). The Man at the check in desk at the gate was not at all concerned and assured me that all was okay.

The flight left Oslo on time, and arrived early in Amsterdam. Amsterdam was wet and gray.

The KLM flight left Amsterdam about 30 minute slate, but we were able to make up the time across the North Atlantic. There were a couple of movies during the 8 hour and 50 minute flight.

When I arrived at Minneapolis, I was required to go through Immigration and Customs. There was not much of a wait at Immigration, and the man with a heavy New York accent processed me through in no time. I got my bags from the baggage carousel after a brief wait, and then I passed through the minimal check at Customs. Then I was able to recheck my bags through to San Jose.

The Northwest flight from Minneapolis to San Jose was the worst of the entire trip. The plane left the gate on schedule, but we spent at least a half an hour waiting in line to take off. When we finally got airborne, we were about 40 minutes late. Even though the flight was over 4 hours, there was no meal, no snack, nothing. Even the European flights of less than and hour had snacks.

The flight arrived a couple minutes early into San Jose, at the old terminal. That meant that we had to go down a ramp outdoors, and walk across the tarmac to the terminal. Dennis was at the door waiting for me.

The crowds at baggage claim were ugly. There were five airliners waiting outside, with only two of three baggage carousels running. That meant that there were 5 plane's worth of people standing around waiting for their bags. It was over an hour before my bags finally came through.

Once we had the bags, the drive home was quick and painless, but I had been traveling for over 24 hours, so I was ready to go straight to bed.