July 19- Bus Ride To Oslo

I really don’t have much to say today. Our bus left Odda today at 11:00, and it was a seven hour bus ride to Oslo. I took several naps, listened to my audiobook (Crime and Punishment), and did a lot of thinking.

I thought a lot about home. Norway reminds me a lot of Montana, and driving through the countryside today felt like taking a road trip back home. I also thought about my Grandma Lynn quite a bit too. For those of you who don’t know, she passed away about four years ago from cancer. My grandma was full-blooded Norwegian which makes me a quarter Norwegian. I wish now that I would have talked to her more about our heritage while I had the chance, but it was something that I never really thought about as a kid. The only Norwegian tradition my family has is to eat lefse at holidays. I don’t think I’ve eaten it since my grandma got sick, but I might just have to try making it this year at Christmas.

Learning about Norway before coming here and then actually traveling across the country has been an amazing experience in more ways than one. Some people are very proud of their heritage, but I’ve never really felt that way. It’s not like I’m ashamed of it or anything like that, it’s just not something I’ve ever given much thought to. Being here has changed that though. I feel a new sense of curiosity and pride about my family history, and it has made me very excited to visit Finland as well. My Grandma Sylvia is half Finnish so I’ll be visiting another one of my “home lands” so to speak.

We arrived in Oslo around 6:00. Together, the huge group of SASers and I navigated our way through the city to get the ship. Oslo is hands down the prettiest port we’ve been to. I’m not necessarily talking about the city (although Oslo is beautiful), but as far as the actual port itself that our boat is docked at. We are literally right in the center of town, and there’s open water and city all around us. It’s just gorgeous to look at. Some of the ports we’ve been to (Portugal, Scotland, Ireland) have been industrial ports, so there’s a lot of big cargo ships and cranes and heavy machinery around. Our port in Oslo, however, is the complete opposite. I really enjoy it!

So even though I did nothing but sit on the bus today, I’m actually pretty tired. We only have one day in Oslo tomorrow before we have to be on the ship by 6:00, so I think I’ll head to bed soon to get an early start for tomorrow.