After a long night's rest, we awoke to see the city of Oslo. Our first stop was the Munch museum named after the Norwegian artist, Edvard Munch. He is most famous for his painting “The Scream,” of which there is eight versions. The painting was inspired by a walk he took with two friends around sunset where he was amazed at the skyline, but his friends seemed to be indifferent. He often stored his paintings outside, so there are traces of water damage, candle wax, and even bird droppings on some of his art. He was ahead of his time in a lot of ways. Although Munch died in 1944, he would take pictures of himself in many places he went and he also had an idea for a “little remote telephone which one carries around in one’s pocket.” It's fitting that “The Scream” would eventually become an emoji 😱.
The sunrise in Oslo
Ethan in front of the Munch Museum
Munch's most famous piece, The Scream
The Son in front of The Sun
Workers Returning Home
This painting was my favorite and is called "The Murderer." It almost seems like he's coming out of the canvas and is very chilling to see in person.
The Sick Child
I didn't buy one but was tempted
We spent the afternoon enjoying the hotel pool on the 33rd floor along with its amazing view. Ethan got to use a sauna for the first time and loved pouring water on the stones to see the steam. Ethan was craving lasagna for dinner, so I found a place that had lasagna in Oslo. We went over to Prima Fila, and they were fully booked, but they were able to squeeze us in 30 minutes later. Ethan remarked that the lasagna was "almost as good as Grandma Linda's" which warmed my heart. He also felt very fancy drinking his Sprite out a wine glass. After the dinner, we walked over to the Oslo Concert Hall to see the Oslo Philharmonic play music by Swedish composer, Anders Hillborg. I figured that the most culturally appropriate music experience in Scandinavia was either metal a la Amon Amarth or a Scandinavian composer. Since it was Ethan's first concert, I opted for the later.
Ethan goes Italian
He wanted a turn with the camera
The Oslo Concert Hall
Ethan's very first concert
Take a bow
Our first stop on Saturday was the Fram Museum which gives a history of the various Arctic and Antarctica expeditions undertaken by the Fram boat. The Fram is the strongest wooden ship ever built and has the record for both sailing the furthest North and the furthest South. Unlike the Vasa, which for obvious reasons you can't board, we were able to get on the Fram and explore both the upper and lower decks of the ship. There's a 360-degree movie screen which makes you feel like the boat is rocking back and forth. I still felt the same sea legs when inside the boat, but the staff assured me that the feeling was psychological, and the boat doesn't actually move. It was really cool to see how the crew lived on these perilous voyages that took place over one hundred years ago.
The Fram was built like a tank
Unlike the Vasa, we were able to board this one
There was no explanation for this, but I assume he froze to death
All the more reason to bundle up
As previous chapters of this blog demonstrate, I very much appreciate the architecture of sites of worship including the White Temple in Thailand, the Sagrada Familia in Spain, and the Lotus Temple in India. The Gol Stave Church was our second stop of the day, and it is definitely in the same class as those other holy sites. Gol is the town where the church originally stood, and "stave" stands for pillar to indicate the building style. The church was later moved from Gol to an open-air museum in Oslo that also contains 160 buildings chronicling the last 1,000 years of Norwegian architecture. Gol Stave was originally a Catholic Church at its founding in 1205 CE, but the Protestant reformation meant that a lot of the original interior decorations were removed in the 1600s. The Black color on the exterior comes from the tar that protects the wood from the harsh elements and was applied every three years. The church is unique from others I've seen in my past travels because it merges Norse mythology with Christian symbolism. There used to be thousands of these wooden churches throughout Norway, but many were lost to time or intentionally burned down. Between 1992 and 1996, 45 stave churches were intentionally burned down by Black metal musicians or their fans. There are only 28 of these churches left in Norway today.
Our guide, Sigrid, wearing a traditional Norwegian farming dress which literally translates to "belt dress"
The church in the light
And in the dark
Ethan and I in front of the Gol Stave Church
The door threshold of the church
Inside the Gol Stave Church
The altar
The last day was spent with my friend's brother, Benji, who lives in Norway with his wife and two sons. We met up with his family at the famous Vigeland outdoor museum which is a large park with various statues. Vigeland Park is the world's largest sculpture park designed by a single artist. Gustav Vigeland designed all 212 bronze sculptures as well as the outline of the park. The statues are supposed to depict people at all stages of life, and the artist made the statues naked so that they would be timeless. The park took twenty years to complete. As a parent of three, many of these statues resonated with me.
I've only wrestled with three at once
The happy baby is my favorite
A pillar at the center of the park
I loved this one
His eldest son is seven years old, and I know that Ethan has really been missing playing with kids his age. Playing with someone his age from another country was a perfect way to end our trip and show that people from other countries are just like him. I thought it was the perfect way to spend his eighth birthday. After the park, we went back to Benji's house to play Legos, videogames, and ice cream.
When it was my turn to chase, I ran through some mud and slipped and fell and had myself covered in mud - nice to be a kid again!
Enjoying some hot chocolate and cake
Legos are a universal language
I have never been as terrified of going on a trip in my adult life as I was going on this trip. What if he got sick? What if he got hurt? What if he got lost? For two days before we left, these thoughts ran rapidly through my head, and that's despite taking antidepressants which usually address my anxiety pretty well. The trip was fantastic overall, and I was surprised by a lot of things. I knew that I needed to keep walking to a minimum since he's got smaller legs than I do, but he was incredibly resilient when walking through large areas like the Skansen Zoo. When he did get too tired, he was always amenable to a piggyback ride. While I was always happy to oblige, the clock is definitely running out for him on this benefit. After our first dinner out, I thought he wouldn't want to go out to eat again. Not only did he want to go out to dinner again, he helped me pick new places and was great about trying new foods. I was also nervous for how he might react to his first musical performance since he has a sensitivity to sound, but he took off his hearing protection rather early in the classical music concert and seemed actively engaged. I went into the trip thinking if he had some fun, it would be a big win. Now that the trip is coming to a close, I have the opposite problem in that he keeps asking when we can come back and do this again. While Evelyn and Hannah get their turns next, I still hope Grandma Linda would be proud.
If you're thinking of taking an almost-eight-year-old on a trip, I have a few suggestions below. Obviously these suggestions are highly dependent on your kid, but I hope they're helpful all the same.
1. Get a Hotel that is Centrally Located: This will save you a lot of complaining and save you a lot of money on taxis.
2. Get the Room with a View: Most of your time will be spent in the hotel whether its swimming in the pool or relaxing in the room. Pay a bit more to get a good view since you'll be enjoying it from the room.
3. Don't buy the Hotel Breakfast: I didn't get the hotel breakfast suspecting that Ethan wouldn't eat much, and I was right. It makes no sense to pay for two breakfasts if the kid wants to eat something small. There was always a local bakery within five minutes walking distance, and the pastries there were probably better than what the hotel served.
4. Packing: Pack emesis bags, liquid Tylenol, Gas-X, and any other medicines just in case. Emesis bags absolutely saved me on a flight from Iceland to Denmark with Ethan, and I used the Tylenol for him once after a day of really long walking at the Zoo and his legs hurt. It may be hard to buy these medicines in other countries.
5. Bring a Booster Seat: Some taxi drivers insisted that I didn't need it, but others insisted that I did - And this often happened in each country we went to. You can store the booster seat in the locker area of most museums, there was only one museum where I actually had to carry it around with us.
6. Limit Walking: Kids will walk enough in the museums, shops, and zoos, and their stamina is MUCH less than yours. When you can, take an Uber, taxi, Metro, or bus, don't walk to and from the destination. Save the walking for the activity itself.
7. Limit the Number of Activities: Unless you're on a day tour, limit to two activities per day with a break in between.
8. Give Piggyback Rides: When they do get tired of walking, always offer a piggyback ride. It will give their legs a much-needed rest and prevent complaining.
9. Consider Early Morning Runs: A good way to see the architecture of the city is to go for early morning runs while they are still asleep. This also gives a good lay of the land.
10. Use Time Limits: Limit museum time to one hour maximum and let them guide the tour of the museum. It's much more interesting to them if they can follow their curiosity instead of being dragged along.
11. Make them an Investor: Constantly remind them it's their trip too. If they want to stop and do something, take their guidance and do it. Ethan loved the boat ride in Copenhagen and the restaurant in Oslo, both things he picked.
12. Use the Tools Around You: I had Ethan sit on the luggage cart to push him through all of the airports and save his legs, look for tools around you to make life easier.
13. Let Them Go to the Gift Shops: Be generous and let them get at least one thing from each Museum gift shop if they've behaved. This will incentivize good behavior and make museums feel less like work.
14. Be Patient: You need to have an endless well of patience. They will be in a new place, eating new food, in different weather, and away from all of their creature comforts. Ethan had a meltdown the second day at the Vasa museum, and I didn't understand why he was upset. He finally explained that he missed home, and I said he was homesick and gave him a big hug. Hugs and listening are free.
15. And Most Important: When I read these lessons I learned to Ethan, he said that I missed the most important rule, and that's to have fun!
See you next time
This featured blog entry was written by mbeymer from the blog The Whole Story.
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