Norweigan Journey

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Today at 7am I boarded a plane for Washington D.C. where I had three hours of lay over and then boarded another flight bound for Paris, France. A total of eleven hours in the air. Needless to say a long day. The most amazing thing about flying across time zones is being able to watch the incredible sunset beyond the horizon, and then watch it rise again just a few hours later. As we descended into France, it was as if the plane was playing a good game of tag with the sea of clouds that surrounded us above and below. I wonder if clouds have some sort of spiritual consciousness. At moments, it seems their formations are quite intentional. And why not? They are cleansers of our atmosphere of a sort.

I met a French documentarian while in line for customs. Then I took the bus into Paris traffic. Two hours and a full bladder later, I arrive to meet my dear friend from high school, Leslie (who has just moved to Paris for work), to pass on the keys to her gorgeous apartment in the heart of the city.

I love Paris, but I miss my boyfriend terribly. I stay here for two days and then head to Norway to meet up with my father. More on that later...my internet time is running out!

After deciding not to take a nap, so as to aid in overcoming jet lag, I chose to walk all over Paris (what was I thinking?). First was the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower, same thing!). I approached from the long park that leads up to the Tower, Parc De Champ de Mars. I did not ride to the top because the lines were too long! I planned to return later that night, but uhhh, I feel asleep!! I was successful in asking a passer-by to take a picture of me in front of the Tower, so hopefully it will turn out!!! After resting underneath the Tower, where it seems the wind actually changes, I continued across the Seine, the main river in Paris. I then passed by the Musee d'Art Moderne (Museum of Modern Art), where there was, of course, some fresh graffiti, still in the process of being removed. Ahhh, the city. Then it was on to the Arc De Triomphe, to meet Leslie for lunch.

Although we ordered Chicken Tandoori Ceasar salads, they turned out to be much more, with fresh beats, coleslaw, couscous, and of course a small bed of lettuce with Ceasar dressing. I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you to Leslie for treating me to lunch.

Okay, now it was nap time. After a tzo hour siesta, the day ended with a homemade meal of fresh pasta and salad, topped with an amazing dressing, compliments of Blake Cutner's (a friend of mine and Leslie's from high school) training! And of course, the dessert....ahh the dessert. I mean, I am in France!!! 1. A pistachio, chocolate creation topped with raspberry sauce, 2. chocolate and coffee éclairs, 3. and a fresh fruit tarte! What a way to begin a good night's sleep.

I do, however, still miss my boyfriend, here in one of the most romantic cities on earth!

5/22/02
It was raining this morning, and suddenly cold. But by the time I left the
house, it had stopped, although the threat of rain persisted. I took the
metro to MontMartre. I bought only three metro trips, doing my best to save
money and get some good walking in.

At MontMartre, I visited The Church of the Sacred Heart (L'eglise de Sacre
Coeur). The churches in France are a strange mix of tourists and believers,
those that came to look, and those that came to pray, and those that came
to buy. It is an interesting vibe. After the church I walked around the square frequented by
many painters and portrait artists. I was approached twice about having my portrait drawn, but I refused because I did
not have the funds. The second person, however, Christine Moz, decided she
wanted to draw me to practice with her new pencil and to warm up (she was
just starting for the day). So I sat for her, and received a free portrait
in return, not a bad deal. The drawing is gorgeous, not quite me!

Next on the agenda was Notre Dame, but first I had to find a bathroom. I remembered seeing the signs right near the church, so I returned there. For those of you that don't know, France has one of the most advanced versions of public bathrooms. They are similar to the outdoor "port-a-potty's" that you see at carnivals and such, but they are more high tech. First of all they cost money, around 25 cents. Then, after you leave, the toilet locks itself and shoots extremely powerful sprays all inside, washing down not only the toilet, but the walls and floor. Unfortunately they do not keep themselves as clean as one would think. There are just some things that will not go down, if you know what I mean! So, anyway, I found these pay toilets. But to my extreme disappointment, I found that some people who did not understand the sign that said what type of coins the machine accepted, had stuck a 1€ (1 Euro) into the slot, and of course it was jammed. That's okay I thought, there's another one...with the same coin stuck in the same slot. So, finally I found a bathroom in a cafe, which again, was a paying one. Thank God I had a little money on me!

THEN I was bound for Notre Dame. Notre Dame has the same odd energy as the other churches in France, both a place of history and beauty, in addition to a place to pray and attend service. It's funny because if you visit the front of Notre Dame, the tourists are buzzing, snapping photos and standing in line to visit the towers, but if you walk around to the park behind Notre Dame, where some of the architecture is, in some ways, more spectacular than the front, there are only a few tourists. Regardless, I was pleased to have discovered the back of the church. After spending some contemplation time there, I decided to venture home.

By this time I had used all three of my metro trips (I had lunch with
Leslie again), so I decided to take the long walk home...confident in my
map reading skills. (After all, I had just sent two lost nuns on there way-completely in French, mind you-towards there desired destination!) Well, needless to say I was a bit too confident. I traced the same area about twice, using different streets of course! When
I finally got on the right track, I had already been walking for an hour.
Sooooo, two hours later, I reached the apartment.

Happy to be home and warm, I made a sandwich and ate my nutella crepe I had purchased on the way home. (Note: Do not ever think you can microwave a crepe and have it taste remotely the same! Well, I must learn from my mistakes!) Then a quick call to my significant other, and I was knocked out, fast asleep...for about four hours. When I woke up at 1am, I thought, oh, I'll just go back to sleep - but couldn't. So, what does one do? Get on the phone to the states of course. It was only the afternoon to them. I finally got off the phone about 4am, and eventually fell asleep to a French movie...only to awake two hours later to get ready to catch my plane to Norway!

5/23/02

So I'm up at 6am to shower and clean Leslie's apartment before leaving. I'm on my way by 8am, unsure of whether or not I had plotted the correct buses to get to the airport. I ended up being okay and getting to the airport in plenty of time. So, I'm waiting for my plane and we begin boarding. Then a couple of African-American looking folk walked up to the gate and sat down. Of course I looked at them, they looked American, and they were Black!! One of them had dred locks and looked an AWFUL lot like Wyclef. Another one had some head phones on and looked nice enough. Then, the Wyclef look-a-like put his hand to his face, making his incredibly large diamond ring visible to me. So, I asked the headphone guy if that was Wyclef, and to my surprise, it was!!!!!!!! So I asked the headphone guy if it would be cool if I said hi. He said yes. Soooo, I shook Wyclef Jean's hand and introduced myself. Told him I appreciated his work, told him I'd buy the new album, and then I boarded my plane. I quietly went to my seat where I was struck with a feeling of a missed opportunity. "I should have given him a card, or at least told him to visit my website, or AT LEAST told him I was an actress and a poet. I SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING!!!" So this whole time I'm brooding on could'a would'a should'a, knowing that if I decided to now, I still had time to go do something. But instead, I sat in my seat. And I sat, and I sat, and I sat. Then the flight attendants made the announcement that they were done boarding. So, I grabbed a card, wrote a short note and my website on it and ran to the front of the plane before they shut the door. I politely asked the lady who worked at the gate desk to give it to the Black man with dred locks and big diamonds. She said she would if she could find him. So, in the end, at least I tried, right!?! Oh, lack of courage will get me every time!

So, after a short flight to Olso, Norway (about 2 hours) where I sat next to a climate scientist, I was pleased to discover that most everyone here speaks enough English to help out us non-Norweigan speaking folks. I easily found the train I was to take to meet my father, boarded and enjoyed the surprisingly smooth ride of the Flygot (the train into Oslo). I exited at the National Theatre station, which was bubbling with people of all kinds, and to my surprise, some people of color!!! In Norway!!! I always knew we were everywhere!

So now begins the wait for my father and my brother. I knew I was gonna wait, I have waited for my father my whole life. Why would I expect it to be any different now? Well, it wasn't. About forty-five minutes after I arrived, my father, my brother, and I found each other and were on our way towards the boat. (I didn't know we were getting on a boat!)

It was a short ferry ride to my father's friend's house, Jan Horn. He lives in Nessadden amongst beautiful trees and such. It feels like being out camping in the forest. He has a beautiful home in which we each have our own room! How spoiled are we! I dropped my bags and we were off to Jan's girlfriend's house where she was making us dinner. Talk about the royal treatment.

Kirsten, Jan's girlfriend, also living in a gorgeous home surrounded my trees, singing birds, and roaming cats, cooked an incredible meal of boiled potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, and of course reindeer! "What?" I said, "I'm eating Rudolf!?" She then assured me that this wasn't Rudolf, but it was indeed reindeer. Oh dear. Well, it was good. She also made a fantastic sauce, which apparently I did not eat enough of! And for dessert, ice cream that almost resembled mint flavor, but not quite.

Then Jan and Kirsten truly went out of their way to find a friend with internet, so I could email my daily journal to my boyfriend who is helping me with the posting. So a special thank you to them, to my boyfriend, to my brother for understanding everything I go through with my father, and of course, to my father, without whom this trip would not have been possible.

And for those of you that don't know, my father is a painter and is having a big exhibition in Kristiansand, Norway, opening June 1st, thus the trip here in the first place. If you're interested in his work, you can see a little bit on his website, www.arthurmonroe.8m.com.

Tomorrow it's off to Stockholm, Sweden for a couple of days!

5/24/02

We, me, my brother, and my father, woke up early this morning to have breakfast with my father's friends Jan Horne and Kirsten before trying to catch the possibly last boat into Oslo. There was the threat of a strike which could have meant that the boats would stop running. So, we had to pack for our short trip to Stockholm, Sweden, eat a quick breakfast (which was very nice, even though it was quick - two minute eggs, toast, pastries, orange juice, and tea), and rush off to catch the bus to the boat to get into Oslo. Once there, where did we go? "The internet cafe, of course" I demanded. After about an hour at The Studenten (just across from the National Theatre), we were met by the granddaughter of my father's former patron, Dr. Wennesland. Her name is Kristin, but she much prefers Kiki. (By the way, the exhibition is of the Wennesland Collection...get the connection?) Kiki took us to lunch at a nice cafe, with not too unusual food. The tea, however, came in a real teaspoon (real tea in a spoon that held it, and had little holes so it could steep. I know, I didn't explain that very well.) I ordered green tea, nothing exciting....but of course, why am I the only one, that while swirling the tea spoon, knocks the little lever on the spoon open and all the tea in the spoon swims into my cup! Argh! Oh well, it was a little bitter, but I lived with it. I was too embarrassed to ask for another one, I mean it was my fault!

Next, I was off to the tourist office to get maps and stamps and such. Don't let anyone ever say "You don't need a map." Having a map makes you independent. And of course, after my father proclaimed I didn't need one, he ended up using mine later that day. But of course, I'm always wrong, right?

After the tourist office, I went to meet my father at the U.S. Embassy. I wasn't allowed to bring cameras inside. In fact, they wouldn't even let me take a picture of the woman guard outside with an oozie in her arms. I thought of defying them, since I was kind enough to even ask, but then I thought twice, especially because I was with my father...blah blah blah. The embassy folks were nice, and preparing for a party to send off someone who was leaving. Not too much to speak of, they didn't let me in on any secrets unfortunately!

So, next we were to buy our train tickets to Sweden, hopefully catching a train that night and arriving in the morning. But not only was there not a night train, the morning train...the ONLY train that day...was sold out. Ugh! So, we decided to take the bus so as to remain relatively on schedule.

After that little drama, we went to have wonderful dinner with my father's friends Segurd and Gerd Hennum, both Norwegian writers. There house was wonderful, comfortable and classy with many Vigeland (a Norwegian artist) prints. They were extremely friendly and kind. Then, came dinner. (Note: At lunch, we had had a whole discussion on the fact that I don't like much seafood, especially crustaceans.....) The plate arrived to the center of the table...full of lobster and shrimp. And that was all! Oh no. I felt bad saying I couldn't eat, but I was gonna be sick if I did. Well, my dear brother, who also happens to be a chef, went in the kitchen and whipped up a quick plate of cheese, Swiss and mozzarella, tomatoes, and some other goodies, which left me quite satisfied. And, plus, I had to leave room for the ice cream. A Norwegian favorite I'm discovering! All in all a great evening.

Back in Oslo, Kiki made plans for us to go to the bar. I was already tired, but I thought I should experience the night life! It was a cool, hip, little underground spot with different kinds of performance art on different nights. This night, it was a dj who not only seemed to be mixing live, but also seemed to have several sampling machines and drum machines at his disposal. So it was as if he were making live beats. Interesting for a moment. But then, I really had to go.

We spent the night at Kiki's in Oslo. I slept on the most comfortable couch! And had a great relaxing shower.

5/25/02

So, we're off on the bus at 9am. An eight hour ride lies ahead. I stake out my two seats, which I refused to give up along the way, and luckily, I made it all the way to Sweden like that. We arrived in Stockholm at 5pm and I realized yesterday was my mother's birthday. So I immediately got some cash and called her...first things first! Then we called my father's friend and inspiration, Harvey. He's a painter and the first person to really encourage my father to be a painter. Elizabeth, a nice Swedish girl (gorgeous, by the way) that my brother had met (how quick is he!) helped us to the correct subway and we were off.

We joined Harvey on his way to another of his protégé's birthday party, Michel (I'm not sure how to spell it.) The party was complete with traditional Norwegian hamhock, bread, and dessert, a mix between flan and cheesecake, that you ate with jam for the sweetness. Then the music broke out. Of course we were in house filled with musicians and artists! One woman sang the hell out of Billy Holliday's and Stevie Wonder's songs. And the others sang and played along quite well. The tables were moved, and the dancing commenced. Although, to me, they were always slightly off beat (the dancers), they seemed to be enjoying themselves and getting along very well.

I had a long discussion with one woman, Pierre, about the AIDS epidemic in Africa and India, not the happiest of subjects, but I soon figured out she was recruiting me, as a writer and an artist, to help get the word out, and share information. So, I respected her views and her extremely detailed information. She was very kind, and very concerned for the health of the world.

At last, we were in a taxi on our way home. The taxi had one of those positioning TV things, where the map appeared on his screen. Very cool.

A short ride home to Harvey's and my brother and I were off to Harvey's friends house where we are sleeping, to give my father and Harvey time to reminisce.

Tomorrow, I am off to the Stockholm Tourist Office (for maps and stamps), and of course, to find an internet cafe!

5/27/02

Today I went my own way and visited the Vasa Museet, or Vasa Museum and then Skansen. Vasa is this huge ship made in 1628, that sank shortly after she took off on her maiden voyage. She was built with two rows of cannons, and not enough weight in the keel, so when the wind caught her sails, she capsized and took on water through the cannon holes and sunk. She was at the bottom of the sea for 333 years. The interesting part is all the deterioration problems they are finding with the sulfur that has surfaced in the wood. An interesting story to say the least.

Next was a short walk to Skansen. But on my way, I heard this singing. At first I thought it was gospel. But when I got closer I realized it wasn't, and I recognized the tune, but not the words. So, after a minute of listening closely, I realized they were rehearsing for their upcoming production of the play Godspell. And of course, the words are in Swedish! It sounded cool. I really wanted to go into the theatre and watch rehearsal, but all the doors were closed and had Swedish signs on them that I thought might be forbidding me to enter, so I continued on.

I arrived at Skansen and had a pleasant 1 hour stroll through this early 19th century Sweden. It is complete with original houses, farms, and school houses from the period. They have animals on the farms, and the employees are all dressed period. Then they had a section of Scandinavian animals, including horses, bison, brown bears, and all kinds of birds I had never seen before.

After finding my way back to my father and brother. We met up for a nice dinner in a small restaurant, where we all ordered the salmon! I guess we do have something in common! I enjoyed it more than them I think. But I was just happy to have so many vegetables!

Did I ever mention that the sun doesn't go down out here (Norway as well) until around 11pm? It's incredible. They only have a few hours of darkness, because it seems like the sun begins to rise again between 1am and 2am. So, it is dusk for a long time.

Well, with a full stomach, and a good sightseeing day behind me, I will finish packing for our trip back to Norway tomorrow. Talk to you then.

5/28/02

Although the day is not quite over, I am taking advantage of having found an internet cafe open here in Oslo. This morning, in Stockholm, my brother and I took a Canal Tour of the canals of Stockholm. For those of you that didn't know (and I certainly didn't) Stockholm is a series of islands, connected by over 50 bridges. I did not get to see as much of it as I would have liked, but we were there to meet Harvey and his family, and we did.

The canal tour was great, relaxing, while getting to see some of the other islands briefly. There is one island that is practically a large park. It's called Djurgarden. It is beautiful. And on the bank, all the birds seem to have their baby birds near by. The birds here in Scandinavia are so gorgeous. Some I have never seen.

After the tour we met up with my father, head to the train station and boarded, heading to Oslo, Norway. I am quite happy to be back in Oslo. The trip was smooth, took about 6 hours (compared to the 8 hour bus ride to Stockholm). We moved so fast the scenery was blurry. But the landscapes we could see were picturesque, just like the postcards. Did I tell you that on the way to Stockholm I saw a wild moose? My family doesn't believe me, but I did. Anyway, I did not see any moose (what is the plural of moose?) on the way back, just green and a few houses, then more green, forests, and lakes.

I just want to say that meeting my father's dear friend Harvey was truly a blessing. He is a man rich with talent, wisdom, a loving daughter, and most of all, friends. They call his apartment the airport because so many different people from all over the world seem to congregate there. English is the most common spoken language in his apartment, and of course all the scrabble games are played in English as well...(did you know 'ta' was British for 'thank you'?) He passes on his wisdom of art as well, serving as teacher to those that wish to learn. Thank you Harvey for having us in your home.

Well, I'm off for a goodnight's sleep and then another train in the morning, south, toward Kristiansand...

5/29/02

Well, we're not leaving until tomorrow. So that means that today we got to hang out in Oslo and take in some sights here. I woke up late, to a wonderful breakfast of eggs, potatoes and toast, thanks to my chef brother Alistair. The guys were all dressed and on their way out, I on the other hand, still had to shower. So I stayed behind, took my time, relaxed, did a load of laundry, and then made the mad dash to catch the bus to catch the ferry to arrive in Oslo from Nessoddtangen.

Of course it wasn't until I was on the ferry that I realized I had left my camera and my phone card behind. Oh well, a purchase of another phone card (I use them up quickly by calling my mommy, my boyfriend, and my bank!), and a throw away camera. The post office was my first stop, postcard stamps for all! Then I met up with my brother, my father, and our friend Kikki, the granddaughter of Dr. Wennesland (I think I mentioned this relationship a couple of days ago...he's the one with the art collection, later donated to the schools in Kristiansand.).

Thank you Kikki for borrowing your mother's car today! They had already been to the Viking Ship Museum, which I will have to catch next week. Now together, we headed out to the Vigeland Park. Vigeland is a Norwegian artist, a sculptor and print maker (from carving wood, then printing onto paper). He, in 1921, made a deal with city to beautify it with his sculptures and they would pay for the cost of his living. He worked on this park 22 years. It has incredible sculptures, both of rock and bronze, all of people. A huge monolith is the center attraction (although it's toward the end of the park, or rather, the other side), carved out of solid rock. It took 14 years for that one piece alone (three people working on it at a time.) Anyway, it was a sight. Plus the park is huge, maybe at least half the size of Central Park in New York, and very relaxing and serene. I was happy to have time to stroll!

Then I went shopping for gifts....and ended up here, at the internet cafe. We are to have a homemade dinner of salmon and potatoes tonight. Fish and potatoes are quite popular here! Well, tomorrow (for sure) we head down to Kristiansand by train. They say Kristiansand is like the beach resort of Norway. I can't wait!

5/30/02

Today we took the four and a half hour train into Kristiansand, the southern part of Norway. It was raining when we arrived, but not too bad. It's a little warmer here. The train was nice, but long. We are staying in the student housing for the college here, Agder College. so, Ali and I have a room with separate bedrooms and common kitchen and bathroom, and my father has his own nice room with kitchen and all. It's very comfortable! The only problem I've been having of late is getting my CD player batteries to charge. I have all the right converters, they worked in France, but I can't seem to get them to work here! Ugh. So I must use the real batteries, that I have to buy! Oh well. Tonight we had dinner with Kikki and Jan in their home in Kristiansand (we had take out Chinese, or as they say 'take away') Their house is gorgeous, set on a cliff overlooking the water. Incredible....Well, more tomorrow...press conference for the exhibition.

5/31/02

Today we had the press conference for the exhibition, but their is a newspaper strike, so only the television people showed up. Just our luck to have a strike! All in all it went well. The show looks great. My father has 6 pieces in the show, none of which I've ever seen before. Most of them were painted before I was born. Also, in Jan's house were two pieces of my father's that I had never seen. His work has changed so much over the years, it's interesting to see the progression. (I'll be posting pictures from the exhibit on his website when I get home.)

We met many people, all having to do with the show, the museum, or the collection itself. The museum bought us lunch in the museum cafe, which was great.

Then I was off for a bit of shopping (I found a skirt...maybe for the Jewel concert....you'll hear about this later if you haven't already heard...). Then we met up with Paul from the college who has been largely responsible for the collection over the last 20 or 30 years. He took us to his hometown, Lillesand (Little Sand) for a boat ride around the gorgeous archipelego, and then dinner at a beautiful local restaurant...again, overlooking the water. After we were full, it was a bus ride home and on to meet Kikki's aunt.

Here in this house, again, more work of my father's I had never seen. We met the whole family (names coming later!). Then the young folk, Kikki, Pia (Kikki's cousin...incredible dancer with Carte Blanche, Kikki's brother and his friend Hal, my brother, and I) were off to a bar. We had a great night out (I drank water as usual). We found a spot with a little bit of dancing and okay music. We left about 3am to catch a cab home, and for the first time here in Norway.....I saw the moon. I hadn't seen it up until this point because of the weather and the fact that it only gets dark for about 2 hours. So, a great ending to a good day.

Tomorrow, we're off to visit Kikki's family cabin- their summer house.

6/1/02

Today was the opening of the show. But first, we (the kids...) all went to the summer house of Kiki's family. It is about 20 minutes south west of Kristiansand. Then you have to take a boat out to the cabin on a little island in a series of little islands. It was great. The weather was incredible! We had a grand lunch of prawns (I didn't eat those), salad, bread, cheese, and some other goodies. The water was clear, the sun was shining, and we were just enjoying every moment. The exciting thing was when Kiki's brother, Anders, attempted to jump on the already slightly broken diving board. Needless to say, now, it is really broken. The cabin is gorgeous and comfy, built right into the side of a small rock mountain. All too soon it was time to leave and head out to the house to change for the opening.

The opening was great. It was packed. Musicians and a Norwegian actress performed to open the show and then everyone went up to see the exhibition. It was quite a successful opening.

A few hours with all the new people, then the young ones were off to the club. The music was better, although not quite what I like. We had fun, and left when the sun was coming up (3:30am). I saw the Norwegian moon again, setting over the water.

6/2/02

In Norway, the driving rules are very strict. Basically, you can't drink even one beer and drive. If you are caught they put you in jail. Soooo, last night, after the bar, I, of course, was the only sober one. And we had three cars in town. Needless to say, I became the driver. I enjoy driving, so I didn't mind...But that also meant that this morning, I had to do some additional driving because all the cars were in various places. Basically, if you want to drink, you take a cab home and are faced with retrieving your car in the morning.

This morning, Kikki's brother, Anders, and his friend Hal HAD to see the football (soccer) match between England and Sweden. So I drove them in town, Kikki drove a car home, and they, after the match, drove their car and the third car to come get me and take me to the Wennesland house...where we had a fantastic lunch. Lunch consisted of scrambled eggs, potato salad (warm), salmon, bread, and salad. And of course, for dessert....ice cream! The sun was shining, and in fact, I think I got a little tan.

After lunch, my father got a twinge of something that put him in great pain. We were quite concerned. But, as it turns out, he's okay. (Thank goodness one of his friends in Kristiansand is a doctor...Dr. Thor Myre...thank you!)

So, after waiting for the okay from the doctor, Alistair, Kikki, and I took a relaxing walk down to the marina, visited her cousin Finn, and went to eat some nice Mexican food for dinner.

We all went home to pack for our train ride to Oslo tomorrow morning.

6/3/02

This morning, my brother, Kikki, and I caught the train back into Oslo, a four hour and forty-five minute ride. The sun was shining when we arrived. We grabbed a taxi and headed to Kikki's house to drop off our big bags. After a quick refreshing face wash, I immediately requested shoe shopping, the one thing I hadn't had time for the entire trip. (For those of you that know me, and others getting to know me...I have a thing for shoes, which is why I try not to walk into shoe stores because I always spend money I don't have!) So, my brother, surprisingly, decided he wanted to tag along. We hit a number of shoe stores, but unfortunately, nothing moved me. My brother and Kikki eventually separated from my manic shoe obsession to hit a few music stores (my brother, the creator of the North Beach Jazz Festival!). I took my 'alone' time to walk around and window shop.

When we all met up, an hour later, Kikki had talked to Hal (Kikki's brother's friend) who was having a low budget dinner in the sun at the Vigeland Park. So we met them there. I, however, being forewarned that 'low budget dinner' meant prawns (again sea food!), I made a special trip to test out Norweigan Burger King. I know, I know...I couldn't help myself, it was time for a Whopper. By the way, the fries were much better than the US Burger King fries!

We, along with some of Hal's friends, enjoyed the next couple of hours of sun, until the trees cast a shadow over the entire park. I headed back to Jan Horne's place in Nessodden (to sleep and pack the rest of my stuff.) and Ali and Kikki headed back to her place. It was decided that because our flight on Wednesday leaves at 7am, we should spend our last night with Kikki in Oslo, so this was my last chance to spend the night in my own room! I had the whole place to myself in fact, because my father was still in Kritiansand.

So, I arrived, packed, read, and slept.

6/4/02

This morning, I brought the remainder of my bags into Oslo, and was met by Kikki's cousin Pia...in a car! Yeah! Bags were in the trunk, and we were off to the museums I hadn't seen yet. First stop, Kon Tiki Museet (Museum).

In sixth grade I remember reading the book Kon Tiki, but I hadn't realized the guy was Norwegian! How cool was it to go to the museum and see the real thing! It was a small museum, but lots of information, and a short portion of the documentary done on the Kon Tiki voyage on the raft. For those that don't know, This Norwegian explorer, whose name escapes me at the moment, set out on a balsa raft with 5 (I think) other men in the 1940's. The intent was to prove that sea travel could have been possible between South America and Polynesia, perhaps explaining some of their similar customs. They (after 101 days) did make it to Polynesia. What I didn't know about, was the other voyages that he later made in other reed ships, proving that long before 'modern science' had thought possible, diverse cultures could have had contact with each other. Okay, I found his name, it was Thor Heyerdahl. And in fact he just recently (last year I believe) died. His work is incredible.

Next we went to the Viking Museet. It was even smaller than the Kon Tiki, but had really cool remnants of the Viking boats from the late 1800's.

And last, but not least, was Norwegian Folk Museet. This museum was much like Skansen in Stockholm, an outdoor replication of 'old Norway.' We saw some great school houses, farms, and churches of the period. And of course...the candy store, where I picked up some traditional Norwegian hard candy, yuu-um.

Then it was back to Nessodden to have dinner with Kirsten and Jan to thank them for their generosity. The lines of communication between my brother and are were quite tangled, so he didn't make it back out there with me, and then my father was extremely behind in arriving from Kristiansand. So, for a moment, I thought it was only going to be me having dinner with them (which I felt was not right, since they had been so kind this entire trip!). But, in the end, my father arrived just in time, Jan and Kirsten decided to take the ferry into Oslo, and my brother came to meet us all at the restaurant near the ferry. So, all's well that ends well.

After dinner (yup, I had salmon again!), I headed back to Kikki's to say goodbye to Pia and Kikki's brother. I ended up having to go to Ander's (Kikki's bro) to say goodbye to him and Hal, because it was late, and well, they had to work early the next day. Luckily I caught them before they were in a deep sleep (they were in bed!), said my goodbyes to them and Jens (Kikki's other brother, that I just met today!) and headed off with Pia (in the car...yeah) back to Pia's friends apartment. (It was too crowded at Kikki's for all of us!)

Forty-five minutes to write 12 postcards (I had already bought stamps, so I HAD to write them!), and an hour of sleep, then it was time to meet the rest of the crew (my dad, brother, Michael Bowen, and Michael's brother Steve) at Kikki's and catch the cab to the airport.

6/5/02

An hour ride to the airport and we made it in plenty of time. A small breakfast was next.

At 7am, we boarded the plane for a two and a half hour flight into Paris.

We arrived in Paris at 9:30am. Now, the plan had been to spend one day here and leave Thursday (at least that's what our tickets said.) I asked the man at baggage claim if was possible to check our bags early so we didn't have to carry them into the city, and he said "Yes, just go to the United ticked counter." So we did, although it was not an easy task.

After finally arriving there, around 11am, United informed us that it was impossible to check bags a day before the flight. Something I had believed to be true, but hoped wasn't. So, after realizing that there was no way to keep bags at the airport or train station, we decided to rent a hotel room, leave the bags, and return to the airport tonight, leaving plenty of time to get to the airport in the morning. This, we did.

Once in Paris (now about 2pm), we searched for, and found, Gertrude Stein's old apartment. Then, to get out of the rain, we ducked into a small cafe with decent lunch. Leslie came to meet us for a moment so I could give her her apartment keys. But she had to rush off to another meeting in Spain (I think), so then it was just the three of us again.

We went to the Surrealist exhibit at George Pompidou, had a bout of shopping, then went in search of my friend Justine and her visiting sister. We connected with them only for a moment, on the Champs Elysee. And she, too, had to rush off to get home. So my brother, my dad, and I headed out to Montparnasse where we had dinner in a small restaurant where the owner's dog run free (inside) in search of delicious leftovers....okay, many of which she found at our table!

We all then boarded the train airport bound, but I got off to go visit my friend Fabien (for an hour or so, so I thought). Little did I know, or had I planned, that the metro stops at 1am (I thought it was 3am, shit!) So, my hour trip, quickly turned into a four hour visit (I did take an hour nap), waiting for the metro to start again at 5am. Well, one hour nap turned into two hours, so I was out the door bye 6am. Quickly finding my way to the metro entrance (and rather impressed with myself!) I ran up to the window to buy my ticket. "The metro's not working," the man behind the glass told me. Great! So I followed the crowd to the bus stop, requested that the driver help me (which he did!), and found my way, by hook and crook, to the airport hotel.

6/6/02

Since I was up, I took the first shower, did some stretching, made sure all my stuff was packed, then woke up the snoring monsters (aka dad and brother). We were on the bus by 10am and in line at security forever. When we finally got to the ticket counter, our plane, due to weather conditions, had been delayed 2 hours. Ugh. So we ate, we shopped (duty free of course!), we waited, and finally we boarded the plane (although not together since the plane was too full for us to sit together...oh and I got randomly searched, attitude and all.)

A ten and a half hour direct flight into San Francisco (don't do it if you don't have to!), then another hour in the SF airport for me, and an hour and a half flight into Los Angeles. The good news is, I made it through customs with ease, and that I made it back home, alive, and relatively happy.

The best part of all was seeing the face of my boyfriend, whose gaze I had missed for too long.

END NOTE:

Thank you to all who ventured on this trip with me. I hope my daily activities didn't bore you. All in all, the trip was great, incredible country and extremely kind people. Stay tuned for my future adventures in.....who knows?