Oslo!

First, sorry for being so delinquent in our postings. Life is fun. Sometimes we forget our obligations! :)

We got back from Oslo, Norway on Thursday night. What a fine city it is. It's extremely clean, the people are very friendly and for the most part speak flawless English, and it never seems crowded.  It's quite expensive, especially food, but still well worth it.

Troy was there for a conference, but we all still managed to squeeze in a visit to the Viking ship museum on the edge of the city. Here they have 3 Viking ships that were used as burial vessels. They were recovered in excellent condition with most of the burial accoutrements (minus the valuables, which were looted hundreds of years ago). The ships were rebuilt, and give you an appreciation for the ingenuity of these folks who sailed thousands of miles over open ocean to North America without instruments. Very impressive.

Dana and Allie went to the International Children's Art Museum and saw lots of pieces from kids everywhere. At the end they give the kids a chance to draw their own works, albeit on an etch-a-sketch kind of thing. Maybe someday Allie will send them one of her masterpieces. 

The rest of our leisure time was spent wandering the streets and shops, and of course eating.  Because of the latitude the sun set at about 3:30, meaning most of Troy's visit was spent in the dark or in a building.  Still, we are already planning a Scandanavian cruise for summer of 2010 where we can revisit Oslo, but also see Denmark, Sweden and hopefully Finland.