Once we got down, Laurie and I wanted to go to this green area we walked by. It was around a lake that had a fountain. They had a carnival there, so Laurie and I went looking for food. Instead we opted to take a ferris wheel ride. I am not too keen on ferris wheels, but I didn't mind this and we got more good views.
After the ferris wheel Laurie and I found a nice shady tree and layed down to read, rest, and nap. It was great. I felt a few sprinkles, but they passed.
It was about 6:00 when we left. We stopped at the grocery store and back to the hostel. I heard thunder as I was walking back. I got back in time before the storm came. Well at least we had the whole day without rain. It did stop and it cooled off some.
After dinner Laurie and I walked down to the harbour. I thought there might be something happening in the square. Also, Laurie heard about a concert that she wanted to check out. It was at 10:00 and it was almost that. It is amazing how the light can keep you energized.
Laurie decided to go to the concert. I didn't want to spend the money. I walked around the square. I think ther was something there earlier because I saw a band shell and there were lots of people. What ever it was, it is over. There were a couple of guys that were putting on a show with fire sticks. I got there at the end.
I enjoyed my walk around I got back to the hostel about 10:45.
July 18, 2003
Today is nothing to write home anout. Laurie and I caught the 7:58 train to Oslo. I read, napped, ate, and admired the scenery for about seven hours. It really does seem to go pretty fast.
Lynn and Charlie, the couple we met on the train to Bergen, were on the train going back to Oslo. This is the couple from Newton, MA. We had a nice chat with Lynn and we exchanged emails. We hope to meet again when we get back home. When we arrived in Oslo, we had to hop on a train to continue on to Hamer. I misplaced our pages on Norway, so I couldn't remember why we were going there. I do remember there is an old paddle steamer. We got off the train and looked for the information center. We couldn't find it, so we asked for directions.
We were walking for awhile and it seemed we were going away from the center. We asked someone that was bikeriding and told us that we were going the right way.
We saw this big weird shaped silver building. It is called the Viking Ship and I guess it is suppose to reflect the Viking-boat heritage. The roof was the shape of a viking boat's hull. I believe this was the building for the 1994 Winter Olympics that took place in Lillehamer, which wasn't too far away. This was jsut an Olympic sub-station for ice skating.
The area looked completely empty, but we did find the information center. We were the only tourists looking for information. We were beginning to question why we came here. The woman at the information center told us that this was their slow time. Here Laurie and I were worried about booking a room for a Friday night at the hostel.
The hostel was right across the street. We probably walked about a mile to get here. When we checked in I almost fell over when she told me how much the room was. It was 190 Kroner which works out to be about 28 US dollars a person. It was the most expensive one that we have stayed in Norway and the area was the least impressive.
Our room was nice though. It was just a bunk for two, with a bathroom, a shower, a couch, chair, table, and a TV. That is the biggest treat. We only hope we can get English channels. When we traveled in England we could only get four stations.
Laurie and I found our way to the grocery store with some difficulty. Shopped for food for tomorrow. Since we weren't in a rush tomorrow, we are cooking eggs for breakfast and having hard boiled egg salad for lunch.
This place doesn't have much to offer, but that can be nice because we can just relax.
We have a nice balcony where we can sit and enjoy the nice breeze and read. Tomorrow we do plan on taking the paddle steamer. It will actually take us to Lillihammer. From there we can get the train back to Oslo.
July 19, 2003 - Happy Birthday Joe
I woke up to rain this morning. The sky had possibilities of brightening up though. After Laurie and I cooked breakfast we caught the bus to the center. We are spoiled, we didn't want to walk in the rain.
We took the 11:15 paddle steamer, the Skibladner, to Lillihammer.
The day turned out to be nice. The boat ride was 2 1/2 hours. The ride was on the largest lake in Norway, the Mjosa. On the boat there was a jazz band which consisted of six young people. I thought they were still in high school, Laurie thinks they are in college. They were good and it was nice to listen to some music.
In between the music, there was a man that was reading poetry/prose. It was in Norwegian, so who knows. I just know that he told me he was taking a group of people to this poets home and he would read. Eventhough I didn't understand it, I thought he was good. I don't know if the person reading was well known or not, but there was a photographer and someone was interviewing him. All in all the trip was nice. The Shibladner is the olderst paddle steamer still in operation.
We got off in Lillihammer. It was about 2:00. Laurie and I walked to the town center looking for the information place. We decided that we didn't want to spend money on any activities, so we decided to take an earlier train back to Oslo.
