Olso part 2

Oslo has changed a lot since I lived there.  They closed down most of the streets downtown to cars, which makes it a really nice place for walking (and is also good for the environment).  They added this scooter-sharing program.  These scooters are scattered all around town and you can just find one, unlock it with an app on your phone, and then ride them around town.  When you are done, just leave it wherever you want.  

Oslo harbor. I took a ferry and I was the only one on the boat for the first part of the trip.  

One of the island stops, I jumped off the boat and took these pictures.

Another thing that has changed is that they built this Opera house, which must be good because my friend Trevor has come to Oslo twice for opera.  Approaching the Opera house from the boat.

this is an exhibit with shirts draped over all the wooden slats.  They are becoming discolored and tattered in the weather.  

More pictures of the Opera house. 

Here is a man-made iceberg.

I got off the boat and walked up and around the building.

Outside of the Grand Hotel.

I stopped in for hot chocolate and a "bolle". 

Statue of Henrik Ibsen outside the National Theater

My favorite yogurt

At Frogner Park 

I tried to find a Portuguese bakery and it was "stengt." 

By afternoon, the skies had cleared up.  

Here's a view of Karl Johan's and the famous Freia chocolate sign.  

Here is the best "bolle" I had at the airport leaving Oslo for Sweden.

And an Ericsson 5G sign for Jill's benefit at the airport.  

Natural History Museum

on Saturday, my sis and her family came in to go to the Natural History Museum.  Unfortunately, lots of other people, including some Girl Scout troops, had the same idea.  But it was still a good visit and my niece liked it.  She especially liked finding "iPads" to play with.

Posing with the dinosaurs. 

Apparently, this is what a bear looks like.

Oslo

My first day in Oslo, I went to the Nobel Peace Center.  They had on display pictures and bios of all the Nobel Peace Prize winners.  It was very interesting..

Then I visited the Norwegian Resistance Museum.  It was closed, but I walked around the grounds.

The second day, I wanted to go to the Henrik Ibsen Museum.  I had tried to go here last time I visited Oslo, which was about 10 years ago.  I don't remember what happened, if we ran out of time or couldn't find it, but I never went.  So this time, I definitely wanted to find it.  There are lines from Ibsen's plays on the sidewalks throughout the city.  

When I finally found it, it was closed.  

This made me laugh because when I was traveling with Esther throughout Norway, she learned a few Norwegian words -- "Is" (ice cream), "treng peng" (I need money) and "stengt" (closed), because so many things were closed when we got there.  

This is the Palace.  There was a group of people waiting in front of the palace and I didn't know what was going on.  Then a car went by and the king was in the car and we all waved.  I have now seen the king three times!  

Near the palace is this art museum named after Queen Sonja. 

Chicago

Over Memorial Day, I went to Chicago to visit a friend.   

First stop was the Chicago Art Institute.  I am not usually very impressed with an art museum, since we have the best in NYC.  But this one was amazing and we didn't get close to seeing it all.

 

 

Then we went to Millennium Park to see "The Bean."

 

 

Then there is this weird thing, that has water running down all the time, and then spews out water like this once an hour.

 

 

The next day, we went on an architecture river cruise

 

 

Then walked through the city

 

 

Here's the skyline with a tribute for Memorial Day.  

 

The last day, we went to a part of town called Andersonville. 

Complete with a Swedish flag painted on a water tower.  They also had a Swedish bakery, but it was closed when we got there. 

 

 

 

It was a fun time and I'll be back!

 

 

OnStage

My niece was in a play -- she played the part of Dexter in Singin' in the Rain.  I flew to Ohio to see her stage debut.  She was great!

And here's how she decompresses after a  lot of work!

Frozen on Broadway

I took my niece to her first Broadway show during spring break.  Here she is, waiting for the train.

Trying to keep her busy for the long train ride.

First stop was Central Park

Turns out, Crocs are not good for climbing on rocks.

Action shot!

At the theater...

Before the show

I tried to take a picture of her during the intermission.  I don't know if this was blurry because of the lighting or because an usher yelled at me to sit down, so I took it quickly.  Anyway, you can kind of see the set and kind of see the Elsa doll that I told myself I wouldn't buy for her and when she asked, I said, "One Elsa doll please!"  It's my fault, she didn't even see the souvenir stand.  But we got there so early, I told her to look at what they had.  

Posing in Times Square (she wasn't so impressed with it).