Last Day in Oslo and the Trip to Copenhagen, September 16 & 17

 September 16 - A trip to the library and a boat ride around the harbor

The Library, Oslo

View from the Library toward the Opera House

   Today we took the #12 tram (again) and went to see the modern, new, amazing public library of Oslo. It was only about 60 degrees and rainy off and on, so a good place to visit today. The library is near the waterfront, just behind the impressive Opera House. The library rises 5 floors, accessed by escalator or elevator. Windows overlook the harbor, the town, and the Opera House

    It is well used with people reading/studying/working on their computers all over. It was clearly designed to be comfortable with lots of natural light and comfortable seating. And, it is child friendly.

The white building across the canal was the apartment building where we stayed

    We met an aspiring young actor who was born in Eritrea and raised in Norway, but who had also visited Andover, Massachusetts for a while. We had a nice chat with him. He may be cast as a teacher in a part and we talked about being teachers - the importance of teaching students, not just subjects, the importance of trying to finding talents and good traits in every student and the importance of acting in teaching. 

    We took the tram back to Aker Brykken, our stop and ate at an Italian restaurant chain, Olivia. We split pizza and salad. And, like everywhere we go here, we chatted with our friendly, young waiter who hails from Cote d'Ivoire. He speaks 4 languages.

   On a whim, we jumped on a boat that is part of the public transport system, so free on our pass. It visited 5 little islands. It is a commuter ferry for people who live on the islands. We didn't see any cars on the islands and we tried to imagine living on them. The lighthouse in the harbor has a time capsule in it to be opened in 3000. 

    Then, back to the Coop to get some nibbles for dinner, which we hve done every day. We also bought food to take on tomorrow's train as the train food leaves something to be desired.

September 17 Oslo to Copenhagen

     We took our last Tram 12 ride to the Central Train Station. We decided to take the earlier train to get to Copenhagen early which mean the original train ticket was wasted. But, it was good to get to Copenhagen in the light and be able to walk to our apartment where Maura was waiting.

    We forgot our lovely sandwiches, apples and blueberries! We left them in the fridge and forgot to grab them before we left. We also had a bit of a scare at the station because there had been an accident on the tracks and it was possible that we'd have to take a bus for the first part of the journey. But, luckily, the train was re-scheduled and we left only a few minutes late. But, they had to put on different carriages and all the reservations got a bit muddled. We rode about 3 and a half hours and changed trains at Gothenberg in Sweden. We got sandwiches and some cookies there in the 50 minutes we had to wait for the train to Copenhagen.

     We arrived in Copenhagen and got out at Norreport Station and walked about a kilometer to Stockholmsgade 19 to a lovely flat in a building owned by the same family since 1880. It has big windows, high ceilings, beautiful wooden parquet floors and heavy period furniture. Maura was at the top of the stairs waiting for us. She flew in from London a bit earlier. We have two big bedroom and one little tiny one which won't be used.

     We walked to a nearby grocery store and also got take-away Thai food which we all enjoyed and went to bed early as we were all very tired from our long days of travel.