Good morning, Oslo!

Ahhhh!! The night train...one of my favorite inventions! Not only that, but the beds on the night train! You want to be rocked to sleep like a baby, take the train! I refuse to sleep sitting up which means I pay a little more for a bed. That's fine by me. The compartment I was in last night not only had a bed, but had access to a shower! Score! One thing I've learned as a backpacker is that you take advantage of the situtation RIGHT then! Don't sit and think about it...or the opportunity may have already passed you by.

I didn't hesitate to take a shower...you never know when you'll find the next one. I couldn't help but fret, a little, about the potential of the train jerking to one side and my naked body flying out the door into the hallway. Haha...good thing there are strong locks on the doors!

I stayed in a cabin with 2 other female travelers: Li Ping, a Chinese woman from Switzerland, and Christine, a 19 year old finishing her month long Europe stint. We got into Oslo at 8 a.m. I felt like a million bucks! Clean, ready for the day, a full night's sleep behind me. Ahhh! I sat in the station for a little while, reading my guide book about Oslo, trying to get my bearings...waiting until it was a little later so I could call Anne, my contact here in Oslo. Chris and Katarina, the couple I stayed with in Stockholm, hooked me up with Anne...a single girl who is so sweet! She came to the train station in her cute Peugot convertible and drove me, a complete stranger, to her apartment. She's moving to a new place and will stay there while I occupy her bed! She's amazingly nice!

She and some friends were going to go boating on the fjords around Oslo and they invited me along. Again, another split second decision: go to a museum by yourself, or go boating with 10 other Norwegians?! Easy! I grabbed my swimsuit and headed out the door with them!

I may start to sound redundant, but I met so many nice people today! Everyone on the boat was really cool! It was quite funny to see all of us, 11 in total, crowded onto every flat surface of this small boat. We putted out to a calm area and went swimming! I swam in the fjords of Norway! Check that one off the list of things to do before I die!

I got toasted a bit...it was warm and so deliciously summer outside! We all had a great time! I even tried a traditional Norwegian boating sandwich. Strange but true. They eat them open-faced...so I had a piece of bread, topped with mayo and shrimp that had been freshly caught (not by us), boiled in seawater, shelled and plopped on the sandwich! I can't remember the name of the sandwich in Norwegian...and it really just tasted like a lot of mayo, but hey...it's all part of the experience!

We got back to the apartment and Anne and Tone, the girls I went with, got ready for a wedding reception. I showered and walked down to the Vigelandsparken. It's a park near the apartment that is covered in statues by a Norwegian man named Vigeland. They are all men, women, and children, in the buff, in strange positions. No, it's not a sculpted karma sutra park...they're just in everyday poses...naked. There's one piece called the Monolith which is probably 30 or 40 feet high...naked body wrapped and tangled around naked body. It's pretty amazing. AND, unfortunately, I can't get this computer to upload my pictures! Again, sorry!

I sat down a bit, my head dizzy, the world rocking, my stomach rumbling. It was time to go. I hope it's just dehydration from the boat today. I bought some chicken curry on the way home and am here at the apartment, ready to crash into bed.

Tomorrow will be good...hopefully somewhat relaxing. I would like to go to the art museum tomorrow...maybe another museum, if there's time. I met Camilla, a girl who is staying at the apartment as a visitor as well...and she mentioned going to some island nearby on Monday morning. So, I may be doing that! I don't know how I'll find time for everything here in Norway! So much to do, so little time! It's been great, though! I just hope I can get the floor to stop rocking.