Ola and Oslo

Tove had to attend a conference in Oslo in early February so I decided to meet her there on Friday.  We planned on spending the weekend with Ole Morten, Unn and their son, Ola, who is just a few days older than Graham.  Normally, I take the SAS express bus that goes directly from town to the airport about 30 miles north of the city.  This time, I decided to take the train.  The train was nice, but we encountered a problem en route that almost made me miss my plane --  An electric signal-light problem forced the train to stop indefinitely just one train-stop short of the airport.  This train-stop is famous because of its name and a special sign that is posted for shipping freight.  It's Hell.  You can read about it here.

Luckily, the conductor arranged for a taxi to get the few of us who were airport-bound out of Hell.  I made my flight, but with not much time to spare.  I'll probably stick to the bus for airport transportation.

I met Tove in Oslo's "sentrum" and then we took the "trikk" to Ole Morten and Unn's apartment.  We were anxious to see Ola, whom we hadn't seen since October, I think.

"Trikken" The Tram   

  

Ola is a handsome, energetic, happy child.  He was at the stage of just beginning to crawl efficiently while we  were there.

Cute kid

Proud "Mamma" (Norwegian word for "Mom") with happy baby.

Let's go!  He will be walking soon!

Within a few weeks or so later, he had advanced to up-righting himself via the coffee table and "walking" while holding onto the table.

We happened to be in Oslo the same weekend that Ole Morten's niece was to be baptized.  We went to the baptismal.  It took place in a beautiful stone church in a beautiful section of Oslo.  The Norwegian Lutheran ceremony was strikingly similar to a Catholic baptism/mass.

So, I went through Hell to get to Oslo, but it was well worth the trip.