Day 14

We slept in today, though it wasn’t planned. Nathan was up earlier than the rest of us. Oystein and I woke up about 9:00 and Alex about a half hour later. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night and so did Alex. I also woke several times. Our room is right next to the elevator and we can hear it.

We didn’t stress over the time, just took showers and got ready to go. I’ve been taking my shower at night so that I can curl my hair in the morning but since I didn’t last night, I ended up just pulling my hair back.

We had pastries at a bakery and then walked to the subway station. We wanted to buy the 3-day ticket that allows three days of unlimited transportation on the subway and buses. The station we went to only took cash or credit cards that had some sort of chip in them so we walked a few blocks to a main station where we could purchase our tickets. Finally we were on our way.

It took two trains to get to the Eiffel tower. It wasn’t too crowded on the trains-nothing like it was in London. There were three lines to get tickets to the tower and they were all long. There were a lot of panhandlers in the area-not something we saw in London often. There was a group of women who said they were from Bosnia asking everyone if they spoke English. Then they showed a paper saying they had been here for two months and needed money. It was quite interesting.

We stood in line less than an hour for the tickets. We didn’t really get a choice of the kind of ticket we bought. We had to walk up to the second floor and then take the lift (elevator) to the third floor. That is 704 steps people!! Yes, I did it. Yes, we went slow, though not super slow and we stopped several times for a breather. The first floor (about half the steps) had a couple of cafés and a shop or two plus the look out areas. We stayed for a bit and then made our way to the second floor. After getting some pictures we stood in line for the lifts to the top. Nathan wanted to walk to the top. We said no and besides that wasn’t a choice anyway.

We took pictures and enjoyed the view from the top before walking all the way down with a short stop on level 2. I was surprised to find that my ankles and calves got sore about half way down. I’ve never walked down so many steps at one time.

The kids did a great job with all the walking today. Alex had two times-once going up and once going down-where she complained and slowed down. However, both times were short and had more to do with boredom or not getting her way then it had to do with actually being tired. J

We stopped at a store or two on the way back to the subway and caught a train to Champs-Elysees street, a famous Paris street with high end shops and cafes. We walked down it a couple of blocks and back and got a snack before heading back to the hotel for a rest. The kids played at the hotel for a bit before Oystein and the kids went to dinner. I stayed at the hotel as I wasn’t hungry and had a bit of a stomachache. I used the quiet time to go through some of our pictures. We have taken close to 1000 pictures so far. I usually try to put them on the computer daily and at least delete the really bad ones but there have been a couple of days I didn’t go through the pics.

When Oystein and the kids got back, the kids had showers, I read to them and they went to bed.

Observations: The Champs-Elysees Street was clean and nice but I still found much of what we were seeing as dirty. There is graffiti everywhere and garbage on the streets. I’ll try to remember to get some pictures of this.

It’s been interesting being somewhere where most people do not speak our languages (English or Norwegian). I think it’s a good experience for me to have so I can more easily empathize with those in the US who do not speak English well. The majority of people we have spoken to have been nice.

There are lots of motorcycles and mopeds around here. Also, bicycling seems popular. Based only on my short observations, it is more popular then in London and less then in Oslo. We noticed that some areas have actual bicycle lanes on the sidewalk. Again, I want to remember to get a picture of that.

London was more instructional than Paris. We noticed that in London the subways had many warning signs about being careful and minding the gap between the train car and the sidewalk.

Day 13

Our train to Paris was at 2:00 in the afternoon and check out at our hotel was 12:00. We decided to just spend the morning in the hotel packing and relaxing. It took me about 2 hours to pack and all of our suitcases were full. Yikes. We do have a little space, but not much. We let the kids watch a little bit of kids TV.

We checked out at noon and caught a taxi to the train station. It was quite uneventful. The train ride was about 2 ½ hours and we were served lunch on the train. Paris is one hour ahead of London and on the same time as Norway.

We caught a taxi to the hotel. Our taxi driver spoke a little bit of English. Oystein had to have him stop at an ATM to get some Euros so we could pay him. We unloaded the taxi and the kids and I got the baggage in the hotel while Oystein paid the driver. Oystein came in and I said “Do you have my backpack?” “No,” was the reply. My heart started pounding faster. It was left in the cab. I kept thinking to myself “It’s just things, it’s not eternal,” though I confess I wanted to cry.

The receptionist at the hotel called the cab company but they said we would have to call again in the morning as they didn’t have a way to get hold of the taxi driver that night. My backpack is my carry on for the airport and we use it for our day trips. It had my Bible in it, some souvenir books we bought and all three of our cameras in it as well as a few other items. I took a deep breath and remained calm. A few minutes later the driver came back with my backpack. I said “Merci” several times and Oystein gave him another nice tip.

We got checked into our hotel. The elevator (it’s called a lift in Europe) is tiny and it took three trips up it to get all our suitcases. The room we have actually has two rooms in it so the kids are in one room and we are in the other. It’s not as spacious as the room in London but it’s bigger than we expected it to be.

After getting a few things put away we walked to find a place to eat. We ate lightly since we had a late lunch on the train and picked up pastries to have back at the hotel. Nathan and I had chocolate éclairs, Alex had an éclair that looked like it was maple and Oystein had an apple tart. Alex didn’t like the éclair but the rest of us liked everything.

Alex didn’t get hives today. We allowed milk products but limited it a bit.

Observations: My first impression of Paris was it is dirtier than London. The first areas we drove past had quite a bit of graffiti. Paris is even older then London which accounts some for its dirtiness. As we kept driving the areas looked neater. Our hotel seems to be in a pretty central location and so far it’s been quiet. Our room overlooks a courtyard.

The roads in Paris seem even narrower than London. In general, everything feels closer together so far. However, we have only been from the train to the hotel so it will be interesting to see what impressions we get tomorrow.

I am finding myself feeling a bit stressed. I think we are go, go, go too much and are expecting too much. Oystein and I talked about it and decided that we would take Paris more easily than London choosing one thing to do every day and not worrying about what we don’t do. Tomorrow our plan is the Eiffel Tower. Oystein is researching the internet for ideas for Sat. and Sun.



Scenery:

Day 12

It was nice to sleep in a bit; we got up about 8:00 this morning. We caught a bus about 10:00 and walked the rest of the way to Buckingham Palace. A tea store on the way was giving out samples of their teas and all of us enjoyed the tea so much we decided we needed to buy some after the palace. The changing of the guards is at 11:30 and we were there before 11:00. It was already crowded. We ended up across the street and only got to see the horses, guards and a couple of marching bands pass by into the gates of the palace. We didn’t get to see the actual changing because of the crowds. We left before it was completely done.

We walked around the area just a bit, bought our tea and found a place to eat. We had been noticing a place called Pret A Manger all around. It was obviously a chain deli and we decided we should check it out. We discovered that the name means “ready to eat” in French and that there are a few of them in New York and Washington DC. It was basically a deli that served ready made sandwiches and a few other items. It was good food.

After lunch we took the tube to the free museums. We went to the Natural History Museum first. They had a butterfly house that cost to enter but the museum itself was free. We enjoyed the butterflies but did not stay too long in the History Museum. It was full of Darwin and evolution and millions of years and didn’t have many hands-on things for the kids to do. Alex was bored and complaining. We left and went to the science museum.

We started off having a snack in a deli at the science museum and that did help Alex feel better. The science museum had some hands-on things to do and the kids liked it more. There were a lot of antiques to look at, like old radios, computers, telephones and many other things. The energy room was where we stayed the longest as it had several things for the kids to do. Honestly, by this point, my feet were really sore and I was happy just sitting on the bench while Oystein and the kids tried out the things in the energy room. Alex didn’t like the areas that were not hands-on and made it quite clear. We were all getting tired so we left and headed back on the tubes to Victoria, an area that has a lot of places to eat. We ate at the Spaghetti House and then went back to the apartment. By that time it was after 7:00.

We told the kids to get their pajamas on. Alex said “Mom, I have a bump on me.” Well, it wasn’t just a bump, it was a hive. Actually, it was several hives on her torso. I gave her some Benedryl and we are just watching her for now. After the Benedryl, she got a couple more hives but then they all started to look better, less red and smaller. She also complained the inside of her tummy was hurting a little. She isn’t whining and the way she told me I can tell it isn’t too bad at least. We will be laying off the milk for a bit. We will probably allow baked in items, such as muffins but no more cheese, milk or yoghurt for at least a day or two and we will keep a good eye on her. We have allowed the kids to eat almost whatever they want so Alex has been eating a lot of pizza. Dinner today was pizza with gelato as dessert. When we got back to the apartment she had some yogurt with Oystein. At lunch she had fruit and a croissant, the snack at the museum deli was French fries and breakfast was Cheerios without milk. So there was quite a bit of milk this evening but the rest of the day wasn’t too bad. The hives could also be from something else so we aren’t going to overreact and cut out all milk, but we will be cautious and deep a good eye on her.

Observations: We really haven’t been eating well on this trip. In some ways it’s been a challenge because we want to stay in our budget which means we limit where we eat. Also, we have an attitude that we want to try different things that we don’t have in the States, and of course, I love desserts so that is where I tend to try new foods. I can easily order an appetizer or starter for a meal sometimes and we eat at deli’s usually at least once a day. Here in London we’ve eaten at pubs a couple of times and that is less expensive as far as a sit down restaurant goes. Oystein and Nathan have both had traditional English fish and chips but Alex and I haven’t. Alex isn’t interested in tasting the fish and deep fried fish usually upsets my stomach too much so I decided to pass. Of course, Oystein has enjoyed trying different beers.

I am enjoying the architecture here. I love the stone buildings and the fact that most of the buildings aren’t really tall. I would guess most buildings are about 5-7 stories high. We did notice one skyscraper on our first day and David, our guide, said it was controversial when it was built because the higher floors can look into the Queen’s garden or something like that.

There are telephone booths all over around here. One block can have three phone booths on them. They are usually red and they are the style you see in old movies where the doors close all the way.

Often when you are crossing a street as a pedestrian, there will be the words “look left” or “look right” painted on the street by the sidewalk. We’ve been here three full days and it is still strange to see the cars driving on the left side of the road.

It would be more difficult to live in London then Oslo for me. I prefer the smaller Oslo with fewer crowds.

Buckingham Palace:

The Natural History Museum:

The Science Museum:

Day 11

(By the time I get around to writing about our day I am tired. I am just trying to put down enough info for me to remember the trip and often I am not happy with how this comes out when I'm writing but I figure better something than nothing. Hopefully I will rewrite some of this when I go to make my scrapbook of our trip.)

Hoping to get to the Tower of London before the crowds, we got up fairly early this morning. Unfortunately, we didn’t realize how bad rush hour is here. We went down to catch a tube (the subway) and it was crowded. I don’t mean just a little, I mean that we couldn’t even get on the first two tubes that went by because the cars were full with people sitting and standing. Those right by the door had to be careful not to get closed in the door.

We took one tube to the next stop where we would have changed tubes but because it was so crowded we made a change of plans. We ended up taking an open bus city tour. The weather was overcast but it wasn’t raining yet. The traffic was terrible but we didn’t care; we enjoyed the ride. About half way through, Alex and I went to the bottom of the bus because she was cold. We got off at the Tower of London stop and got something to eat and bought Alex and me sweatshirts before going into the Tower of London. We really enjoyed walking around there. There was a more medieval feel to this castle then the two we visited yesterday. The main tower in the middle had an exhibit called Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill. Nathan especially loved it as it featured armor, shields, and weapons from the medieval times. Alex began to lose interest by that point (we had been at the Tower about two hours already) so I tried to keep myself from being too frustrated with her. I really didn’t get to see much at that exhibit. At the end of that section though there were a few interactive things the kids could do and that perked Alex up.

After the Tower, we caught the city boat on the River Thames. It started pouring rain about 5 minutes into the ride. When we got to the end and it was time to disembark, it began thundering and lightening. Alex began to cry a bit and say she was scared. I prayed over her and comforted her. We decided to wait and were the last ones off the boat. We had purchased two umbrellas earlier in the day when it started drizzling and were glad to have them as it had rained off and on all day. We decided to try to find a place to eat and then catch the tubes back to our apartment as it was rush hour again. We figured if we ate then rush hour would be over. Unfortunately, with the rain and thunder and lightening it wasn’t so easy. The first couple of places we saw were packed with people. We stopped at a doorway for a minute when the pouring rain got even harder. It was still thundering and lightening too. After being there for just a couple of minutes, it started hailing. Both kids did great dealing with this delay. Finally we thought we would catch a taxi back to the apartments and deal with dinner there, but all the taxis were full (not exactly surprising given the time and weather). We finally found a small deli that had empty tables and ate dinner. Afterwards we caught a bus back to the apartments. We were back by about 7:00. It was nice to get back a bit early and not feel rushed to get everyone to bed. I helped the kids with showers and then they played a bit before I read to them and Oystein started some laundry for us. Tomorrow’s plan is to go to Buckingham Palace in the morning to watch the changing of the guards and then to two of the free museums here-a science one and a nature one. We will be able to sleep in until about 8:00 tomorrow.

We have kept our plans flexible knowing that we have only three days here and we can’t do everything we would like. We are also trying to keep the kids in mind and the museums appear to have some hands on things the kids can do.


Observations: In Norway we noticed that the delis and bakeries we went into had two prices for their items. One was an eating in price and was typically 4-8 Kroner (Norwegian money) higher than the take away price. (Take away is what they call take out here.) That’s about a dollar more per item to eat in.

In all the places we have stayed so far we have found that it is hard to find places to plug things in. The plugs are also in strange spots. For example, our bathroom here does not have a plug at all. At our last hotel, the bathroom plug was above the mirror-I couldn’t reach it. I ended up using a plug that was right outside the bathroom door.

Europe has a different voltage then the US. Almost all of our electronics (computers, cell phone chargers, and camera battery chargers) are already equipped with cords that convert the voltage so we have only had to use the plug converters. In Norway the prongs are skinny circles while in England the plugs have three prongs. We only have one converter for England but two for Norway.

The bathroom we have now has an interesting shower. Picture an American bathtub with a shower, but there isn’t a shower curtain. There is only a half glass door on the tub/shower at the end where the shower head is. We have to be careful not to get water everywhere. The shower head is pretty neat though. You can move it up or down on a pole so when the kids take a shower I can have it lower and Oystein can move it higher for his.

There seems to be fewer boundaries concerning personal space here. When we were at the Tower there are many narrow staircases. People just go without regard to others and I had to watch that all four of us stayed close. At one point, we started heading upstairs with Oystein first followed by Nathan. A few other people came from the left side of us and walked right in front of Alex without regard for anyone. I tried to say “Excuse me, we are together” but I don’t know if they heard me or understood me. Basically it was like when we were kids and someone would cut in line in front of you. When walking around and touring places we keep a line of Oystein first, Nathan second, Alex third and me last with Nate and Alex occasionally trading places. We do this because if we get separated it will most likely be that each child will still have an adult with them. When we were in line for the city tour boat, we had a large group of people walk up beside us and basically get in front of us. In the US there would have been an organized line, but that doesn’t seem to be common here. I have a hard time remembering that I need to reflect the love of Christ and not get angry about it. It isn’t even that I care if I am first, it’s the selfishness that bothers me. When people get in front of others who were first, they are disregarding others.

Day 10

We got up early this morning, about 7:00. There is construction on the road our apartment faces but they didn’t really start making noise until about 8:00. In this situation we don’t mind since we want to be up early in order to get our sightseeing in. Everything here closes earlier than it does in the states so starting early is better. Today we had a car tour to two castles. (http://www.londoncountrytours.co.uk/kent.htm). Basically we were picked up by a driver (David, the owner of the company) and he took us to the castles and to lunch. He was very helpful giving us ideas of things to do for the next two days and tips on when the best time to go to beat the crowds is. The castles are out of the city and having a driver was easier for us, especially Oystein. It would have been a challenge driving on the left side of the road. David didn’t go into the castles with us, which was fine. He was very flexible on how we spent the day and gave us a couple of options on which castles to see and other stops we could have made. We chose to keep it simple with a visit to two castles.

The drive to Leeds was about an hour and a half. We made a quick stop at the town of Greenich and took some pictures on the way. The traffic out of the city wasn’t too bad today. We spent about two hours touring Leeds castle and the grounds. The kids loved it! The entrance is through the oldest part of the castle but most of the castle has been renovated through the years. It was beautiful for the most part. I have always thought of castles as being cold, drafty and uncomfortable. Although there is truth in that the tapestries, rugs and blankets made it more inviting. Of course, the castle currently has electricity so the lights were on making it easier to see and the windows had glass on them so it wasn’t drafty. You can actually rent rooms in the castle for conferences and they have rooms to rent that are similar to a hotel room.

Nathan and Alex loved the moat. Leeds had an “I Spy” activity for the kids and Alex especially liked looking for things on the “I Spy”sheet. They did a great job and really enjoyed the castle.

After Leeds we went to a Pub and had lunch with David. Then we drove to Hever Castle. Hever is a smaller castle and has associations with King Henry VIII. We enjoyed this castle though were disappointed that we couldn’t take pictures like we could at Leeds castle. Also, this was a “newer” castle so not as many older items. Alex wasn’t as enthused about this castle though she loved the cabinet they had filled with dog figurines. After going through the castle we went outside to the water maze. They had boards on water that you walked on and some of the boards would cause some water to squirt up when you stepped on them. The kids of course loved that. Then we walked through the Italian garden. They are renovating it but it was still beautiful.

We didn’t get back into the city of London until about 6:30 so we had lunch at the bar and grill here at the apartments. The service was very slow though the servers were polite. The food was acceptable. By the time we got back to our apartment it was 8:30. The kids fell asleep pretty quickly. Actually, Oystein and I did too.

Day 9

(FYI for my readers: When Oystein was working in Oslo we had internet because he needed for work. Now we will only have it as we are willing to pay or it will depend on who we are staying with when we go back to Norway. I've been keeping my journal on Word on the computer so when I can update I can just copy and paste. Pictures may be scarce or not labeled well because it takes so long to upload pictures. Carrie, we will be going back to Norway after France. We will then be on the West coast and staying with Oystein's family.)

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with an incredible stomach ache. Not fun! I ended up taking my pill for sleeping and was thankful to wake up this morning feeling better, though tired.

I forgot to mention that yesterday Alex had a bloody nose three times. The air conditioning is very drying and she is prone to them so we weren’t concerned. She handled it like normal, just saying “I have a bloody nose, I need a tissue.” I hand her the tissues, she squeezes her nose for a bit and that’s about it.

We were up at 6:30 and caught the bus to the airport by 7:30 after we ate breakfast. The airport and plane ride was uneventful. I did hear the lady behind us complain that she would have to pay if she wanted to eat on the plane because she had already paid 300 pounds for the ticket. Oystein knew that the short flights would probably charge for meals so we weren’t concerned. We figured we would snack on the candy from the duty free shop and eat when we got to London.

Heathrow airport is huge and crowded. It is not a place I would want to be by myself with my anxieties and sense of direction (which is non-existent basically). Oystein had researched in advance how to use the transit system to get to the hotel. He was smart and asked at the information booth to confirm what he found on the internet. It was good he had as there were some changes due to some lines being down. He continued asking different transit people as went and kept getting different info. Can I just say again how glad I am we were together? It ended up taking us three trains (two in the tubes-their subway system) to get to our hotel. At the first terminal to catch the first train, there was a big crowd. People were rude, going in front of others and ignoring everyone. It ended up we were standing where the first class section stopped so we had to move down. With all the people however, we weren’t able to get on the train. The doors close on time and you are on or off; we were off. One lady was quite upset and practically yelled at the worker because her mom got on the train and she didn’t. We were frustrated but choose to have a good attitude. What a difference it makes to choose a good attitude.

The whole system was a bit frustrating and it sure showed a lot about the selfishness of human nature. People who arrived at the station after us ended up on the train we missed because they “pushed” their way to the front. They weren’t literally pushing, but almost. The lesson we learned was that next time, we will pay the extra money to use a taxi. We probably saved at least $100 using the transit system though. The kids did an awesome job! We are so proud of them. Alex had a little time of complaining when I bumped her and a bit toward the end but overall did so well. Nathan didn’t complain once and even helped his sister out by pulling her suitcase for a bit.

When we finally arrived at the hotel at 4:00, our room wasn’t ready. Normally it would have been but they had a few problems crop up. We checked our bags in with them and took a double decker bus up the street a bit and had dinner at a Pub. Then we found a grocery store and got back to the hotel to check in. Although I have been calling it a hotel, it’s really an apartment. We have two bedrooms with king size beds, a living room, a bathroom and even a small kitchen—all furnished. We booked the place when Alex was still not allowed to have milk and decided to keep it even after she passed the challenge. We figured we would enjoy the space and we were right. It’s nice having two bedrooms and extra space for a bit.

Observations: The transit system here is extensive. I can see how once you are used to it, it would be pretty easy to use. Oslo is smaller and has a smaller feel to it. I prefer that feeling.

Day 8

Oystein and I slept in until after 8:00am. I was asleep last night at about 10:00. The kids were up around 7:00 and they played quietly until we woke up.

After breakfast and showers we took a ferry to Bygdoy (pronounced bigday) peninsula to the Viking Ship Museum. The museum had a couple of authentic Viking ships and some items found in the graves of some Vikings.

After the museum we stopped at a toy store and then had lunch. Lunch was at Baker Hansen, a chain bakery. Oystein and I had smoked salmon sandwhiches and the kids had a pastry. Then we all shared a dessert.

Then we went back to the hotel for a rest. Oystein looked up information for London, I packed and laid down and the kids played.

For dinner we went to the grocery store and bought bread rolls, crackers, salmon spread and strawberries. We took it to the park and ate. For dessert we had gelato. Then it was back to the hotel for a swim, showers and bed. Tomorrow we have to get up early to catch the plane to London.

One thing I’m finding challenging is living out of our suitcases. We aren’t staying anywhere long enough to fully unpack but I still end up having to completely repack the suitcases before taking them anywhere. By the end of this trip I should be an expert packer.

Observations: Not very many places have air conditioning. In Seattle, if we’re hot we can head to a mall or store or restaurant and get cooled down from the air conditioning. Here, going into a store doesn’t help. The nicer restaurants, the grocery store we went to and a few places have it, just not most.

So far we have been doing pretty good with the budget we set for this trip. It was easy when Oystein was working because I preferred not to do much alone and the kids and I were happy with having a small snack and/or ice cream for lunch. We usually had such a big breakfast (which was included in the cost of the hotels) that we didn’t want a big lunch anyway. Now that we are all together all day, it is a bit more challenging on the budget.

A fountain in the city:


A play area we discovered by the water before catching the ferry:



The ferry:


The museum: