Day 4: All aboard!

Whoo hoo - it's Ferry Time!!

Sunrise in Trondheim.
The view from our hotel room at around 10am

Today's adventure has us leaving dry land and embarking on the main part of our trip, a 5 day/4 night passage on the Hurtigruten ferry, taking us from Trondheim all the way up into the Arctic Circle and finishing up at the port of Kirkenes - and the snow hotel!   It's also our best chance of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights - the further north you go, the better is your chance of seeing them.  We just need to keep our fingers crossed for clear, cold nights....

The ferry was not due to leave til 12pm so didnt have to get up too early this morning.  Obviously we were eager to check out what all the fuss was about for the buffet breakfast ("best breakfast in Scandinavia!" as voted by Breakfast Enthusiast magazine) and I was determined to break the fish duck.

Selected meats.  And trees.

I'd like to point out that those are potatoes.

As you tell from the pics, finally there were copious amounts of pickled, preserved and smoked feeshes on offer (a veritable picnic, Mumsie!).  I had a bit of the salmon - and it was delicious!  Well worth the wait!  The rest of brekkie was equally yummy and my ManpanionTM thoughtfully squirreled away some bread in his pants pocket, Napoleon Dynamite-style, in case of a carbohydrate shortfall emergency later on in the day.  Fully foccacia-ed up, we checked out and headed off to the ferry terminal.

Finally!  Bring on the feeeeeeesh!!

Treacle tart for breakfast??  These Norwegians sure know how
to party.....

We got a cab over to the terminal, even though it was a fairly short walk, as the pavements were a bit slushy so we didn't really fancy lugging our bags through it.  The first sight of our Hurtigruten ship, the MS Midnatsol, was impressive - you get the sense that is a ship that doesn't fuck about.  Built to withstand the Norwegian winter and, hopefully, any potential icebergs that might come our way.  Our ship's name translates into Midnight Sun - a bit ironic given we are at entirely the opposite end of the solar calendar right now, having just had the winter solstice!  If you are interested in learning more about either the ship we are on or the Hurtigruten ferry, here's the weblink: 

https://www.hurtigruten.com/

Thar she is!!  Our home for the next 4 nights!  Please
don't sink!!

Boarding was super easy (just walk up the gangway!) and the reception check-in desk was just inside on the right.  Unfortunately the boat was full so there was no chance of upgrading from our Unspecified Polar Inside Cabin, alas - but at least we tried.  Fortunately my ManpanionTM folds up into a small space, so I'm sure we'll be fine.  The lady at the desk gave us our room cards and we also opened up an account so all our on-deck purchases would be charged to it.  I know it will make it way too easy to not have any idea what we are spending but what the hell.  At least we'll just get one enormous sticker shock at the end, rather than multiple little sticker shocks throughout each day!

Intrepid ManpanionTM about to board

We were in cabin 441 on the 4th deck, just round the corner from the reception desk so it was easy to find (even for me).  We'd obviously checked out our accommodation online before the trip (hence the vain attempt to try and upgrade to something less tiny), so it was with some degree of trepidation that we slotted the card in the key and opened the door.  Here's what awaited us on the other side.....

No problem!  It was, as expected, completely tiny but it actually managed to absorb all our stuff and have a couple of storage drawers left over!  When needs must, its amazing how little space you can actually get by in.   And its fun on a boat too as everything has to be designed with that function in mind, so I always get a kick out of the little touches that are just different, like the latches that hold the cupboard doors shut so they don't swing out in rough seas (easily amused, I know).  

Each day, the itinerary is printed up so you can
see what you'll be missing as you sleep
in your cabin

We'd worked out a system so that Matt would go off and explore the ship while I unpacked, and then vice versa - this way we wouldn't be tripping over each other and getting in each other's way and getting cranky.  It worked beautifully - after his initial reconnaissance, my trusty ManpanionTM had scoped out where the bar and restaurant was, as well as the little gift shop and the main viewing decks and lounging areas.  When it was my turn, I also discovered where the gym and sauna were, as well as the laundry room and the deets behind the wine package option for dinner.  What a team!

On the envelope we'd received when we checked in were our assigned times and seating for our meals.  We'd decided to go full board, thanks to a good tip by A&K, so didn't have to worry about potentially not being able to get into the dining room because of a lack of space.  We were the second seating for both lunch and dinner (1.30pm and 8.30pm respectively) and. as we found out, sometimes that means they have run out of stuff by the time we get there.  So far there's been plenty to eat despite not having all the choices all the time, so we've not gone hungry (plus our caloric intake is far far exceeding our caloric output at the moment!).  Lunch was a buffet and was actually pretty tasty.  The ship and crew are very hot on hand hygiene, given the potential for contagious nastiness given the density of people, so as you swipe your room card to get into the dining room, a crew member pumps a dollop of hand sanitizer into your hands.  Of course, its not going to stop all the nasties, but its got to help and it was nice to see them taking health and hygiene so seriously.

Hot tub, anyone?

After lunch, we were both knackered (it really is kinda weird trying to adjust to the lack of light here, especially when jetlagged) so we decided it was post-prandial nap time.  Unfortunately, we slept through the rest of the daylight (as much as it was) so by the time we woke up, it was pitch black again outside!  We decided we should probably try and confine our napping to the 20hrs out of the day where it was dark, rather than the 4hrs of meagre sunlight - but ManpanionTM loves to nap, so we'll see how well we stick to that over the next couple of days....

Allegedly it was around 6pm (though time pretty much loses its meaning when its this dark for this long!) so we hauled our asses up to the viewing deck ("what a great view of the dark!") and I blogged for a bit, then ManpanionTM and I strummed a few songs on Baby M before dinner.

Bye bye Trondheim!

Dinner was assigned seating again (hellooooo, table 64) and we met our fresh-faced dining companions, Mark and Annisa, a young couple from DC who seemed to be doing exactly the same itinerary as we were (Oslo, train, Trondheim, Kirkenes) minus the snow hotel.  He is a forensic scientist, she works in a clinical trial lab on biomarkers, so it was nice to share a table with fellow science geeks.  Annisa revealed that she didn't eat fish, so we all commented how completely buggered she was going to be over the next few days.  Dinner was OK - the first course was some spelt with haddock, main course was duck-substitute chicken (the duck was off because it was..well, off) and dessert was some heinous disgustingness, seemingly made out of seaweed and sadness.  I did not care for it.

And, with that, we played some more cards (I won!), drank some more wine and finally headed off to our cabin around 10pm to watch a movie and clock up some more sleep time.  Alas, no Northern Lights made an appearance - but we have another 4 or so nights for them to show up, so not all is yet lost!!

Our route

Instructions for fart containment in tiny cabin,  Essential to
prevent your ManpanionTM from becoming a Stankpanion TM.

Not to be confused with safety instructions for evacuating the
vessel in an emergency.

Dinner!
Sea buckthorn.  Not to be confused with Sea Biscuit.
Though Sea Biscuit would probably have tasted better...

Random facts of the day:

Sunrise in Trondheim: 10am

Sunset wherever we were somewhere along the coast of Norway: unverified but sometime between the hours of 2pm and 4pm

Day 3: In search of Chili Bollocks....

Day 3: Oslo – Trondheim

Today's schedule has us transferring from Oslo to the port of Trondheim where our Hurtigruten Ferry adventure is due to begin and our search for the Northern Lights begins in earnest!!

Oslo Central Station.  Purveyor of fancy baguettes and trains.

So just in case you ever happen to be passing, Oslo train station is very fancy – its impeccably clean and with a myriad of shops that make me feel as if I’m back in the UK (Upper Crust, Boots, Ritazza coffee etc etc).  Of course, the prices are still eye-wateringly Norwegian but, given my maths is a bit iffy at the best of times, I’m not 100% sure of what I’m paying at any point in time anyway, so it feels as if it really doesn’t count (like calories consumed only by the light of the fridge door).

Pretty Christmas decorations in the station

Our train was scheduled to leave at 8.02am so we had to get up fairly early.  Breakfast didn't start properly til 6.30am at the hotel, but they had thoughtfully set out some bread, meats and cheese and jam for the early birds to forage on, so we made a couple of wedge thick sandwiches to chow down on to keep us going.  The bread was delicious - why can't we get bread this good back home, dammit?!  It really was a very short walk to the station, so we got there by about 7.15am, so had enough time to buy some food for the trip (huzzah for Upper Crust baguettes) before boarding the train just after 7.30am.

The train was as clean and well maintained as the station.  We had assigned seating, so didn't have to worry about fighting with the masses to get seats together.  I'd also booked us into Comfort class - so the seats were a bit roomier plus we got free coffee and tea for the whole trip!  The whole trip was scheduled to take just over 6hrs, getting us into Trondheim around 2.45pm.  The route would take us across the center of Norway, so we'd get to see some of the beautiful interior as well as the stunning coastline.  We'd been on the train for about an hour and a half before the sun finally rose up high enough above the horizon that we could see it, and it cast this beautifully delicate, sometime pinkish looking tinge across the landscape.  It was quite lovely.  I wouldn’t say it ever got to a full on daylight, rather more an enthusiastic twilight.

Unfortunately its a bit tough to take good pictures from a speeding train with smudgy windows, so I don't have many great pictures from the journey, I'm afraid.  I did have the realization about halfway into the trip, though, that we were basically traveling through forests and forest of Christmas trees, that were perfectly dusted with snow so that they looked exactly like the fake ones you stick on top of Christmas cakes.  I like this country.

Which came first?  Scandinavia or Vermont?

Trees a-plenty - with the sun just peeking up above the horizon

The ManpanionTM is awake!

Adorable houses litter the countryside like architectural confetti

One of the stylish, chocolate-box picturesque train stations en route
to Trondheim

My peaceful reflections were only occasionally interrupted by Satan Child, whose parents had also booked into Comfort Class (presumably with the hope of trying to keep it happy) but for whom the promise of free coffee seemed to do nothing to allay the full-on screaming tantrums it would throw at regular intervals.  "NEIN! NEIN! NEIN!!" it would yell LOUDLY.   We looked it up - "nein" is not even Norwegian for "no" so god only knows what that kid was yelling.  Perhaps he'd been kidnapped and was yelling for help.  We'll never know.

Anyway, the journey was very relaxed and easy.  I spent a couple of hours blogging while my manpanion(TM) slept.  We spent his limited waking moments eating chocolate Santas and enjoying a plastic glass of cava in the buffet car to celebrate our holiday (I know - bit of a thin excuse, but that's just how we crazy kids roll!).  Bang on time we arrive into Trondheim and, again, our hotel is only a 5 min walk from the station.  There was a bit of snow on the ground but not too much, so it only took a bit of effort to lug our cases through the station and across the street.

ManpanionTM and Oscar P. Lion in perfect harmony.

The beautiful town of Trondheim

Again, I was expecting our hotel to be a bit crappy (I don't know why) but it was pretty swanky!  The Hotel Scandic Nivelden was also well located with only a 10min walk into old town.  By the time we checked into the hotel, there was only about a half hour left of daylight, so despite being knackered, we dragged ourselves out to see the cathedral before it got completely dark.

Nidaros cathedral

Nidaros cathedral is the largest and northernmost cathedral in Scandinavia, built over the tomb of St. Olav.  The oldest parts are from the 12th century, though it had to be rebuilt in parts several times due to fire.  For the history buffs among you, here's the link to some more deets about the cathedral:  http://www.nidarosdomen.no/en-GB/  Unfortunately by the time we got there it was pretty dark and was closed, so we couldn't go inside (though we did hear someone inside banging away at the organ, which was nice) but it was good to see it.  We walked around for a bit more, exploring, but the whole town seemed very dead and sleepy, with most of the shops closed.  Presumably this was because of the holiday season, rather than regular life in Norway, given it was only mid-afternoon on a Monday!  It is a bit odd - we're walking around, there's nobody about and its completely dark - and its 4pm!

The famous flying buttocks of Nidaros cathedral

Matt practices for his alternate career as
a traffic crossing attendant

To keep ourselves going, we stopped and had a coffee and sat outside, wrapped up in our warm coats, under a heat lamp with a fleecy blanket draped across our knees.  It felt very Nordic and daring.

So, after wandering back along the river and admiring how beautiful the town looked, with the lights reflecting in the water, we got back to the hotel and completely crashed out.  Unlike my manpanion, I hadn't slept at all, so it was starting to catch up on me, so I pretty much passed out from 4.30pm to 7pm.  

Waking up, we both felt much more human again, so we headed out to find food for supper.  Yelp had served us well yesterday, so we decided to consult it again for today's selection - and found ourselves intrigued by Bare Blaber which offered the following description:

 "Join the throng that packs both the interior and dockside terrace of this popular place over near the Solsden waterfront area.  Its renowned for its cocktails, shorts and juleps - and for preparing what many believe to be the finest pizzas in town, including the intriguing chili bollocks (presumably a wintertime special)" 

Chili bollocks??  Well, that just sounded like an offer we couldn't pass up - plus it was again just a short walk from our hotel, so off we went in search of said frosty balls.  We found the place with no probs and grabbed a menu - but bollocks to the bollocks!  There was no such thing to be found!  It was all obviously a marketing ruse!  (or instead a description of what to expect on the walk over to the restaurant?).  They did, though, make spectacularly good pizzas, so with only the most marginal assistance from the waitstaff, I picked a Bacon-themed one and a chorizo pizza - and both were delicious!!  Very thin crust which was crispy and chewy and very tasty!  Washed down with some icy cold dry cider, and dinner was a success!

Duly stuffed, we waddled back to the hotel around 9.30 or so - to find that our gaff had become completely jampacked with lots of earnest looking types in fairly smart attire attending a jazz festival (JuleJazz or something).  We did contemplate for a brief moment or two bringing our Wicker Park/La Grange hipster groove to the throng and going down to join in the festivities but post-prandial sleepiness combined with jet lag had us saying bugger it to that idea in fairly short order.   So instead, it was Ocean's Eleven on the hotel movie channel.  Tomorrow, we need to be at the ferry terminal by midday, so at last we get to sleep in for a bit!  And - apparently - our hotel has been voted as having the best breakfast buffet in town, so I'm sure the pickled fish quotient will have significantly improved by then!

Pretending not to be cold as we sit outside and drink our coffee
just like the locals...

Umm...OK.

OK.  Are we sure we're not in Disney Epcot version of Norway?
This is almost too picture perfec to be real!

Another picture of... um.. perfection

Looking for the chili bollocks.
Finding only delicious pizza.

Our swanky-pants waterfront hotel

Day 3: Scores on the doors:

Pickled Fish Quotient: remarkably still a 0 (though I suspect this may be broken tomorrow!)

Bloody Hell Its Cold Score: 2 (a bit nippy walking around town, with some definite pretending not to be as cold as you really are in places)

Trondheim sunrise: 10.01am

Trondheim sunset:  2.40pm (that's a whole 4hrs 39mins of daylight, kids! count 'em!)

Off In Search of the Northern Lights!

Day 1/2: Chicago – Oslo

Oscar P. Lion and D.Mouse heading off into
adventure.
(Emirates jet purely for show)

It’s here!!!!  It’s here!!  Its Boxing day and we’re finally off on our grand adventure Chasing the Northern Lights!!  My first overseas trip with the man I love and one that coincides with our 5 monthaversary – and its going to be a corker!!  We’re heading off to Norway, by plane, train and automobile (and ferry and husky and snowhotel), following in the footsteps of the lovely A&K and taking the Hurtigruten Ferry all the way up north into the Arctic Circle, in hope of seeing the Aurora Borealis and some spectacular star gazing!  Its not going to be a fancy trip (our cabin on the ferry is almost laughably small) but it should prove to be breathtakingly beautiful with incredible scenery and stunningly festive landscapes. 

I’d spent Christmas evening at Matt’s place with the kids (he lives in the ‘burbs about 35mins drive west of Chicago) so at around midday, we said good bye to them and headed back into the city.  A quick stop via DSW and REI for boots and gloves, we got home around 2pm to enjoy a late lunch with Mumsie.  Mumsie is very kindly looking after the cats and house while I’m away – she’ll be spending the 8 or 9 days we are away figuring out her suitcases, ready for her return back to Cyprus mid-January.  It’s a thankless, Herculean task.

Anyway, after a quick post-lunch nap, it was time to finish up the last bits of packing, hail an Uber and head off to the airport.  I’d decided we should start our first international vacation together in style, so had ordered us a nice big Ford black SUV thing, so we had plenty of room for all our gear.  Given it was only 4pm on a Saturday afternoon, the traffic was very light so it only took a half hour.  We checked in our bags at the SAS counter with no line, made sure she stamped “PRIORITY” on our boarding passes so that we could fast track through security.  

The line to get through the security wasn’t that terrible – but it was moving fairly slowly.  I thought I’d initially made a Good Queue Choice, but it soon turned out I’d make a Poor Queue Choice and had failed to notice the Indian chap with a thousand children a few people ahead of us.   OK, maybe not a thousand, but he definitely had at least 5 which, at one point, all lined up in front of the scanner, tallest to smallest which was mildly entertaining.  It must have taken him and his whole entourage a good ten minutes to get themselves through the checkpoint scanner and, without any exaggeration, he must have used about 30 of those bins to corral all their stuff in.  At one point, he had so much stuff he was trying to jam through the machines, he ran out of conveyer belt to put them on, so instead single-handedly invited the new Olympic Sport of Airport Scanner Jenga, seeing just how many bins he could stack on top of each other without the whole amount coming crashing down.  The entire clan were being shepherded through the airport by an attendant of some description – she made absolutely no attempt whatsoever to hide her disdain with the entire protracted process.  I think she must have set a new world record for the number of eye rolls and bored glances per second.  

Playing for our hordes of adoring fans in the
SAS lounge

Anyway, finally they managed to get themselves squeezed through and out the other side, then a couple of minutes later we were through.  We’d overachieved on the Leaving Enough Time So We Don’t Have To Rush At The Airport front, so we had a good couple of hours to kill before our flight was due to leave.  Fortunately, due to my Extremely Important Status with United, we were able to access the lounges, despite traveling *gasp* Economy.  So we first checked out the SAS lounge which was nice enough, but virtually deserted and roastingly hot.  We camped in there for a bit with some pretzels, a nice Oregon Pinot Noir and Baby Martin, Matt’s travel guitar.  We sat in a little alcove (probably the old smoking area), joined by Oscar P. Lion and D.Mouse, and quietly picked away at a few tunes for our new band, TomatoTomato.  I’m sure the other folk in the lounge deeply appreciated the impromptu concert that was going down (who wouldn’t want to hear an acoustic version of Space Oddity, right?).  After a while, the excessive heat drove us to seek comfort in the cooler, far less friendly (but with better food) Swiss lounge.  After 10mins, we decided we preferred the SAS lounge, so back we went.  By this stage we only had about 20mins left before it was time to board our flight to Stockholm, so time for one last glass of wine before heading to the gate.

Yes.  We traveled economy. 

Yes.  It was quite cramped and shockingly devoid of flat beds and champagne.

But yes.  We survived.

Each Economy seat came with a flannel plaid shirt included.
Nice touch, SAS.

The flight was fine in that it was very smooth with no turbulence.  Despite the fairly cramped quarters, Matt managed to get some sleep while I tried, and failed, to nod off, so instead caught up on my celebrity gossip and repeatedly failed to crack level 572 on Cookie Jam.  My other main focus for the entire flight was Colonic Deflation Prevention.  Mumsie – maybe eating all those Boston Baked Beans the day before/of our flight wasn’t the best pre-flight meal plan I could have chosen.  Ah well. 

 

Which brings me to the First Rule of Flight Club: Don’t talk about Flight Club.

Which brings me to the Second rule of Flight Club: If I suddenly veer off in a different direction after a long flight and walk away from you.  Do not follow me.

Snow!  Down below!!!  Hellooooooo Oslo!!

After days and days and days (OK, about 8hrs) we finally arrived in Stockholm – and STILL no snow!!  What is going on?!  It did feel a bit chilly as we disembarked from the plane but fortunately we transferred immediately into the terminal building, so were not yet in need of our thick heavy coats that we’d packed away in our checked baggage. 

We were both pretty knackered by this stage – it was about 11am local time, so 3am in our heads but we shuffled through the terminal, passing through the immigration checkpoint fairly quickly (“just passing through!”) before we then ground to a halt for what seemed to be an entirely pointless security checkpoint.  WHY?  Why do you need to screen our bags and shoes and miniature musical instruments again?  We’ve only just got off the plane!  And, if its so vital, why do you only have 2 people manning one tiny scanner and a total of about 7 bins?!   But,  ah well, such are the vagaries of travel so nothing else to do other than wait patiently until we finally shuffled through and were out the other side. 

The enigmatic shops at Stockholm airport.  Wonder what they sold?
(fortunately they didn't employ the same sign-writers to let people
know where the loos where....)

By this time, we had just over an hour to wait until our flight from Stockholm to Oslo which, as I’d discovered while watching the in-flight map, was annoyingly back the way we’d just come!  We’d flown over Oslo on our way to Stockholm so it wasn’t that long a flight, just 50 mins or so.  Stockholm airport was very nice, with some fancy shops and, most importantly, several coffee shops so we refueled a bit and sat around like zombies until our flight.  It was lucky we made sure we were at the gate early – the flight wasn’t supposed to start boarding until 12.30pm, according to our boarding passes, but at 12.15pm, they opened up the doors and by 12.31pm announced that boarding was complete and we were off!! 

We finally arrived in Oslo just after 2pm and, because we’d already cleared immigration when we’d arrived in Stockholm, we just decamped off the plane straight into the arrivals hall (finally, that bit made sense!).  Our bags had the good manners to join us less than 20mins later and, after figuring out the best transportation options into the centre of Oslo (Airport Express train), we were finally on the last leg of our very long journey!  The train was supereasy and deposited us right into the centre of Oslo, the Central Station.  We took a cab to our hotel, the Clarion Hotel Royal Christiana, which was only 5 mins and $20 away (as we found out later, it was only a 2min walk from the hotel, so the cabbie obviously took the scenic route – ah well).  I was expecting it to be a bit crappy, but it was actually pretty nice, so that was a pleasant surprise.

The standard here in Norway appears to be twin rooms (chaste bunch, obviously, the Norwegians) but I managed to sweet talk the fresh-faced trainee who was checking us in at the hotel to switch us to a double room (or as he phrased it “the twin beds pushed together, ya?”).   So it was with much relief that we finally checked into our room and collapsed in a heap on the bed, asleep almost before our heads touched the pillows!

Well, hello there, friendly toilet.

The bed was very comfy (although by this stage, I think anything would have felt comfortable as long as I could lie down on it) but the doubleness of the bed curiously didn’t extend to the duvets, which were still twin bed sized, with two of them neatly tucked side by side.  (its actually pretty smart if you think about it – no more disproportionate stealing of duvets and the ability for individual temperature control!).  It also became apparent why this room was available – it was a mobility-assisted room so the bathroom was ginormous with a very interesting looking loo contraption.  I wasn’t sure whether to sit on it or shake its hand.  The general bathroom friendliness continued with a note printed on the top of the mirror above the sink which read “YOU LOOK GREAT”.  It was very kind to say so, but I can assure you, dear blogwatcher, after a full day’s traveling with bugger all sleep, I was not looking, in the least, great.

We slept for a couple of hours til about 6pm then dragged our unwilling, jetlagged asses out of bed, showered the grime of the journey off us til we vaguely resembled human beings again and then headed out into Oslo to explore and find something to eat.  I’d looked up places online via Yelp and my guidebook also recommended this place called Café Sara which was about a 10min walk from the hotel and was described as “dark but warm English-style pub serving a hearty mix of Norwegian dishes as well as pizzas, Turkish and tex-mex,  The house special is a meat stew with corn, rice and potatoes – perfect for a cold winter’s night”.  Alrighty then  - sounded perfect to us (despite the lack of an H), so off we crunched out into the night.

We were bundled up to within an inch of our lives and were very grateful for the various fluffy animals adorned about our persons, so it was a nice amble to the pub-restaurant.  I discovered I’d forgotten my inner liner gloves (doh!) but at least I’d remembered my hair conditioner this trip (see Barcelona blogpost).  I’m sure I’ll be able to pick up some suitably Norwegianly patterned ones at some point during this trip, so I’m not too bothered about it.  

Anyway, Café Sara’s was excellent, as advertised, and the food was very tasty.  We shared a delicious steak, smothered in some cheesy topping with yummy potatoes and a thick brown gravy, as well as a very juicy, succulent chicken skewer with pita and salad.  It was just the right amount of food for our confused, jet-lagged tummies and washed down with a flagon of crisp Bulmers cider, our restoration was complete.  Our adrenaline system got a nice jolt too when the bill turned up – this was one of the most modest priced places to eat but the check was still an eye-wateringly expensive $100 for the two of us!  Even the cheap eateries in Norway are not what anyone other than a Norwegian (bar, perhaps, the Swiss) would call cheap.  But c’est la vie – it is what is is.  After dinner, we wandered back to the hotel and had one final beverage in the hotel bar, staffed by a very chirpy hostess, before agreeing we’d done enough to have stayed up til 9.30pm and that it was, finally, time to call it a day and head off to bed. 

Last line on the menu,  Sounds fair.

The blissfully dark, welcoming interior of Cafe
Sara.  Norway - you are shaping up nicely.

Day 1 and we did good.  Tomorrow, Trondheim!

Vital Stats of the Day:

Oslo sunrise: 9.19am

Oslo sunset:3.17pm

Pickled Fish Quotient: 0 (none consumed)

Holy Crap Its Cold Index: 1 (warm and toasty throughout the day)

The Family Descend.......Best Bits and Fire Pits!

So...better late than never but, Loopy, this blog post is for you!  Way back in August, the gang (minus Thomas unfortunately) made their inaugural visit to the Windy City for three whole weeks!  I finally got around to going through all the pictures from the Royal Visit so thought it would be fun to share them with you.  I know, I know - i probably should have blogged each big event as it happened - but I was too busy having fun with the family!  I hope you enjoy the piccies - Mumsie is back in Chicago for her annual Holiday Visit, so my TV is now permanently tuned to the Hallmark Channel and my house already smells like Christmas baking.  Is it time to put the decorations up yet? 

Day 0 - Arrival day!!

They're herrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre!!  My favorite type of airport
visit - the times when you are there to meet those you love

"So...yes,,,just bring me back a bit of Cadbury's, please"
Mumsie overachieves and I consider opening up a British sweet shop

Loopy and Eren soon get the hang of dressing
appropriately for a Chicago summer.

Day 1: First day out in the city - discovery of the local park for Eren to run around in, Starbucks, Jewel Osco and the pet store.  Topped off with a little light drizzle and its the simple things in life that give the most pleasure....

"What IS all that wet stuff falling from the sky?!"
Loopy gets overly excited by her first sniff
of rain for months....

CHEEEEEEEESE!
Its all going down in the Holloway Cat Household.
Dylan sure knows how to party.

Nope.  Crickets.  There ain't nuthin' going on up top there, Dylan....

Day 4: Night-time cruise on the lake with firework extravaganza!

One of our first evening's out together - on Weds and Saturday nights through the summer, there is a free firework show at Navy Pier.  I'd booked tickets for Loopy, Eren and I to take one of the many river/lakefront cruises so that we could go out onto the lake and have a fabulous, show-stopping view.  It was also the first time for Loopy and Eren to see the city all lit up at night, and enjoy the ride on the boat, especially going through the locks heading out of the river into the lake.  It was a brilliant evening - the people-watching on the boat was a lot of fun and the fireworks were spectacular.  I think it was probably one of the best firework shows I've ever seen - so, blogwatchers, if you ever find yourself in Chicago over the summer, then you MUST go!!

First trip out - an evening cruise out on the lake to
see the fireworks!  A classic summertime night out
in Chicago.

Eren enjoys a massive vat of choccy ice-cream almost as big as
his head from Ghirardelli's.  He may have had a little help from
Aunty Soopy.....

The view from the quay of everyone's favorite
presidential candidate's addition to the
Chicago city skyline... 

Loopy Lou and Eren

Proud Auntie.  Cheesy grinny nephew.

The spectacular, and only slightly blurry, Chicago city skyline. 

Fantastic fireworks - love this town!

Sideshow Bob-tastic

ooOOOooooo.......aaaaahhhhhhh

Day 6: Chicago Water and Air Show
The gang certainly picked a good time of year to come and visit.  Chicago is absolutely packed full of stuff to do in the summer - when our weather is as crap as it is for 5 or 6 months out of the year, you cram as much as you can into the oh-too-short summer months!  This is obviously my first summer in the city proper, so it meant a lot of the adventures we had together I was able to share for the first time too.  The Air and Water show is one of the biggest events of the summer and runs Saturday and Sunday on North Beach, down along the lakefront (where I used to run).  It gets really really busy with I think around a million people or so in attendance over the weekend.  However, I'd got the inside scoop from a born-and-bred Chicagoan friend (thanks, Bill!) that the best time to see the show was actually to go during the last dress rehearsal on the Friday afternoon.  You still get to see some of the star performers but without having to battle and slog your way through the monster crowds!  Sounded good to me, so Loopy, Eren and I trooped off down to the beach around Friday lunchtime to go check out the scene (burning our feet on the sand cos it was so hot!).  Though we only stayed for an hour or so, it was a lot of fun and Eren loved seeing (and waving at!) all the different types of planes and helicopters.

Eren gets very excited with all the planes - but doesn't
forget his manners and makes sure to greet each one
with a friendly wave!  

And discovers that these planes are LOUD!!!!

After the Air Show, then we headed off to Navy Pier as I'd bought us all tickets for the Sea Dog Experience - a speed boat trip on the lake!  It was great fun - the speed boat wasn't the bonkers nutcase-pelt-along-at-full-Top-Gear-speed-with-donuts experience (that was Sea Dog Extreme) but we still managed to go a fair cheek-flapping clip.  The ride was about a half hour or so and a quick there and back on the lake, but it was fun to see the city again from the water, this time in daylight.

The famous (and now, sadly dismantled) Ferris
Wheel at Navy Pier

Eren takes his first ever spin on a carousel

After the carousel, its time to go nuts on the Speed Dog for a high
speed whizz round the lake!  Just love Eren's face in this pic!

Day 7: Brunch-tastic!
First full weekend with the folks and it was time to expose Loopy and Eren to a Full-On Brunch, Chicago-style, so i took them to a local place in Wicker Park that I knew would be good (and that might have something that Mr.Fussy Pants Eren would actually eat!).  I'm not entirely sure we quite had enough food (you can see still some of the table underneath the groaning platters) but we gave it our best effort.

Its brunch time!  Mumsie meets her pancake nemesis at a local
brunch spot in Wicker Park

Not quite sure there is enough food on this table.  Eren is like
"umm..you expect me to eat all this??"

A feeble effort from Mumsie leaves the pancake triumphant and
Mumsie defeated.

The Evil Banana Nut Pancake stack
 claims another hapless victim

Day 8: Here Comes The Train!

OK, now this was genuinely adorable.  Eren loves trains.  But until our day trip to Evanston, he's never actually seen one for real, let alone ride in one.  We took care of that on Sunday, when we caught the Metra blue line from Wicker Park and rode out to the 'burbs.   Eren was just soooo excited and his little face when he caught his first glimpse of the train down the tracks, approaching the station, was brilliant!  Eren, of course, very soon after realized that trains were perhaps a bit louder than he was expecting!  Getting on the train was very exciting, as was watching the scenery speed by - his enthusiasm was infectious and you could see everyone in the same car as we were in smile to themselves in response to his innocent joyousness.  It was just lovely.  A reminder to us all that it really is the simple things in life that often offer the greatest pleasures.  

That, plus a Metra train that's actually running on time for once.  Absolutely priceless.

Here comes the train!!!  Eren comes face to face
with his first train encounter!!  

And discovers a common theme with planes!  These
things are LOUD!!

It was all VERY exciting.  Eren charmed the pants
off everyone else on the train.

No trip to Evanston would be complete without a trip
to the pie shop, under my old apt building.  Loopy
overachieves on the LMP stakes. Bloody gorgeous!

In the charity shop down the road, we lost Eren for
a bit - but came across this fetching life-sized garden
gnome instead.  Tres festive.

Day 13ish: I did it Segwaaaaaaay!

Oh yeah.  Segway, baby!  I bloody love those things.  Even if I say so myself, I am a bit of a Segway connoisseur, having earned my PhD in Segway Navigation following a particularly technical and challenging Seggers through Golden Gate park while I was still living in San Francisco a couple of years ago.  I shit thee not.  The diploma is proudly on display, pinned up in my office.  

OK, OK, so I know.  Segways do NOT look cool.  In fact, yes, I'd go as far as to say that you know that you will look like a complete tit when you are on a Segway - not helped by the ridiculously pointy and unattractive crash helmets you are forced to wear (though Loopy did try styling hers in a rather unique, arse-backwards kinda way).  HOWEVER, that being said - the minute after you get on a Segway and learn that a) they are p*ss easy to drive and b) you're not going to fall off (unless you are called Matt and no-one happens to be looking at the time), then you instantly don't give a crap because Segways are THE MOST fun you can legally have under 15 mph!  They are a hoot.  So much so that pretty much everyone who has ever been on a Segway is guaranteed, about 30mins into their Seggy experience, to utter the words "I want one of these!!".  Suddenly walking seems so....well... pedestrian.  

The tour itself was brilliant - it lasted a good couple of hours and we covered a lot of ground, starting downtown by the river and motoring all over downtown, via the Adler, the Field Museum, Buckingham Fountains, the Bean and loads of other places in between.  Yet again, the weather was glorious, so it was a perfect day for Segging.  If you ever get a chance to do it when you are in Chicago, you must!  It was a great morning out!

Oh?  What's that, you say?  Who's that rather dashing chap accompanying me and Loopy?   Well, I had three tickets and, as Thomas wasn't able to join us, I had one free.  I couldn't let it go to waste, now, could I?   So I invited a special guest to join us....and, bless his heart, he was totally game.   A brave, brave man indeed.....

Special mystery guest and Loopy.

Loopy and Segway in perfect harmony!

See that professional style lean?  Loopy becomes
a certified Seggers expert in less than 3 minutes.
Feel the burrrrrrrn!!

Group shot!  All still smiling.  No casualties yet!

Loopy adopts the Go Faster Pose.

OK.OK. Busted. The Special Guest is my new
chap, Matt.  I just love this picture.

Still surviving!  Still smiling!!  

Couldn't resist getting a Little Cheeky.  

Loopy, Matt and their dodgy lollies.
Pervs, both of them.

I really must book that appointment
 at the beautician's office

Day 13ish: A night at the movies at Ravinia
A double-header for me today - Segway in the morning with Loopy and Matt, then off to Ravinia, the outdoor concert venue, in the evening with Mumsie to go and watch the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing the Star Trek score to accompany a screening of the film.  It was simply incredible - listening to the music being played live while watching the action on the big screen was just so exciting.  I think i'm now completely spoiled and will demand to watch all my future Summer Blockbusters with a full orchestra in attendance.  Nothing Less Will Do, Dammit.  Of course, being a bit Trekkie, the evening also made for some fun people-watching.  Mumsie got to play with a Phaser and a Stun Gun (steady) and I discovered an alternate use for a Tribble.  Just another regular Sunday night in the 'burbs.

Day 14 (ish): Off to the Circus!

What a night out this was!  At the last minute, I'd booked us to go and see the new Cirque Du Soleil show in the city - called Kurios.  The only other time I'd been to a Cirque show was when I was still living in NYC and I'd been really disappointed - so much so, I'd left at half-time!  I don't know what it was about that show, but I'd been put off ever since, so hadn't made any effort to go see anymore.  But, Loopy had seen an ad for the show and was excited by the prospect, so I thought sod it, lets give it a go!

Methinks Loopy is a tad excited....

O. M. G.  It was absolutely amazing.  Spectacular.  Probably one of the most impressive visual spectacles and physical performances (steady!) I'd ever seen.  Its impossible to try and describe it - but it was suitably weird and kooky, with a mechanical, steam punk theme that generated some incredible costumes.  It was one of those experiences that united everyone watching in a collective experience of "how the hell did they do that?" or "oh my god, look at the muscles on him!", putting incredulous smiles on faces and a heartfelt promise to oneself to Definitely Get Back in The Gym on Monday.

One part of the evening that wasn't expected was that, just before the half-time interval, the show was temporarily halted for 20mins or so due to an intense storm and lightening overhead, such that it wasn't safe for the performers to be up in the gods, in the peaks of the tents!  We weren't sure initially if this was part of the act or not, but it became apparent that it wasn't.  Fortunately the storm passed such that the show could go on - it would have been a complete bummer if it had been canceled!   

Yep.  That's my man.  Phwoarr.

Selfie at the circus!  Not sure if Loopy's slushie brain freeze
had set in at this point, but that's the only acceptable excuse for
her expression...

General awesome weirdness

How did this random date night photo sneak in here?
Kitchen-side seats at Girl & The Goat.  Bonza.

Day 15-ish: The Day of The Helicopter.

Loopy - has Eren stopped pointing at helicopters yet and shouting "helicopter!"?

Yet another highlight among highlights - Loopy, Eren and I took a surprise city skyline tour in a helicopter.  The total flight time was only about 15 mins or so, but the overall experience was a ton of fun - waiting in the "departure lounge", it was really exciting for Eren to watch the helicopters take off and land.  It was the first time for Loopy in a helicopter too, so it was a great experience to share with both of them!  Yey!

Eren bags the co-pilot seat!

Fab views of the skyline below

Signing the wall afterwards to say thank you!

We survived!

Random picture of us at the Blue Man Group show!

Day 16 (ish): The Night of the S'Matts

OK.  Forget S'mores.  There's a new chocolate marshmallow treat in town.

It's called a S'matt and it will totally change for EVAH how you think about setting fire to sugary treats over gas firepits.  

Just be careful not to melt anything else by accident.

Alas, I am bound by a secrecy agreement and am unable to reveal to you the exact formula for making a S'matt.  You'll just have to come and visit me in the summer - I will ask the S'Moremeister General himself to make you one and then you can judge for yourself....

Fire up the Pit!

Eren happily discovering the joys of fire while Matt gets his
S'moreswhisperer on....

Do Not Disturb. S'matts in Progress.  

This is just a random picture of some doughnuts.
You are welcome.

Day 18 (ish):  The Museum of Science and Industry

I think this day just turned into an excuse for us all to model Eren's space wanger helmet but, hey, if the astronaut helmet fits, wear it!

The original

No caption required.

Space Cow

Alien baked potatoes in space

Houston...we have a (drinking) problem

Day 20-ish: Oh No!!  Final weekend!!

And then, way too soon, the Family Visit was drawing to a close.  There was time for one last visit to Navy Pier to have another spin on the carousel and the other rides, followed by an expedition of quite epic proportions in the local SuperTarget.   And then, before I knew it, we were back at the airport saying our goodbyes and trying not to cry.  It was such a spectacular visit and I loved every single last minute of it.  All I have left to say is....... ROLL ON SUMMER 2016!!!

As the family visit started to draw to a close, it was time for another
 quick trip to Navy Pier!  Eren and I work on perfecting the art of the
 On Horse In Motion Selfie.

Spinning the Wheel.  Last go round before the original Ferris
wheel is dismantled and replaced with a bigger, newer
shinier version.  Bit sad, really.

We all collectively sucked at crazy golf.  Only managed
to lose 2 of or 4 balls, though, so thats a result in my book.

And, of course, we finished the day by trying to scare
the pants off Eren.

I think its working...

Though he could be faking that abject terror...

Loopy expertly glides one in (oo-er). THE BOAT, THE BOAT!!!
Geez.

And if Eren hasn't already charmed you into submission,
here's one final shot.  Totes adorbs.