$\"Frozen$ <\/a>

Brrr, it's cold!<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

We rendezvoused in Oslo (very cold), introduced everyone to Carlito (warm), spent a few days walking around Oslo taking in the sights (freezing cold) and frequenting coffee shops and bars to defrost (warm).<\/p>\n

$\"Friends$ <\/a>

Only silly tourists would be out and about<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Norwegians to snow is like duck to water.\u00a0 Whereas a light dusting of snow seems to bring JFK Airport to a stand still, Norway thrives!\u00a0 Ten feet of snow, no problems. Blizzard? Bring it on. Minus 20 Celsius with wind chill from the Arctic, sure…just let me take the dog out for a walk with nothing else but a fleece on.\u00a0 I can see how the vikings were tough and feared.\u00a0 Their descendents are genetically impervious to the cold.\u00a0 Life goes on, just with snow tires<\/a> attached.<\/p>\n

$\"English$ <\/a>

English Hubby making a snow angel<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

So we pretended to be well-wintered Norwegians as we shivered across town.\u00a0 Heading to the Opera House for a dose of Nordic high culture.\u00a0 My friend C, has a love for architecture.\u00a0 If you’ve ever had a friend like that, you know that you are no longer able to see buildings in the same light.\u00a0 We admired the use of floor to ceiling glass windows that lets in the harbor views, and how the entire structure is nestled into its space, creating a summer-ready outdoor amphitheater that also doubles as a roof.<\/p>\n

$\"View$ <\/a>

Style and substance all rolled into one Opera House<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

We admired how wood has been used to ‘warm’ the otherwise cold steel and glass construction, and gawked at the Guggenheim-esq structure that leads lucky ticket holders to their seats for a night of opera.<\/p>\n

$\"Glass$ <\/a>

Made of glass, steel and wood<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Other points on the self inflicted sight seeing tour of Oslo included the Nobel Peace Center, the Royal Palace, the Viking Museum and the phallic park (yep, you read it correctly!).\u00a0 It strikes me that Norway is a peaceful land.\u00a0 After all, it is the home of the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n

$\"Nobel$ <\/a>

A celebration of peace - Nobel Peace Center<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

If that’s not enough peace loving action for you, just take a look at the Royal Palace<\/a>.\u00a0 The only thing separating crazy people and the Royal Family at home is a low hanging chain, stretched regally across a few stone bollards.\u00a0 My local liquor store in Spanish Harlem has more security than that.\u00a0 Obviously nobody has tried to jack His Royal Highness’ stash of Akevitt<\/a>!\u00a0 We casually strolled up to the palace and looked at the front door in awe.\u00a0 It did cross my mind to knock.<\/p>\n

You can’t go to Norway without going to see the viking ships.\u00a0 What else is there to say?\u00a0 We came, we saw, we photographed, we conquered.<\/p>\n

$\"Wooden$ <\/a>

Gods of the sea<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Then onto one of my favorite parks in the world.\u00a0 I’ve been there twice, and still can never seem to remember it’s official name.\u00a0 To me it will always be known as the phallic park.\u00a0 No prizes for guessing why…<\/p>\n

$\"Snow$ <\/a>

Vigeland Sculpture Park in all its glory<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Once we had “done” Oslo (…sort of like how American tourists are able to “do” Europe in 3 days), the circle of ‘friend fun’ – led by Vino ferocious guard dog (sarcasm inserted here) – headed to the mountains.<\/p>\n

$\"Dog$ <\/a>

Vino the most popular dog on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

A couple of hours in the car and we were transported to Carlito’s magic cabin.<\/p>\n

$\"Cabin$ <\/a>

Camp Carlito<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I’ve never seen so much snow in my life.\u00a0 It really isn’t a surprise to me that Amundsen beat Scott to the South Pole<\/a>.\u00a0 This is <\/em>the perfect training ground for a snow bound expedition.<\/p>\n

$\"Snow$ <\/a>
Winter wonderland view from Carlito's cabin<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
The rest of the days in our wonderful white icing wonderland were filled with snowboarding (skiing for the lesser man and woman), hot chocolates at the chalet, and well deserved hot showers and meals back at the cabin.\u00a0 I’m utterly convinced that the beautiful fair haired, blue-eyed folks here learn to ski before they learn to talk.\u00a0 Everyone on the slopes is as graceful as a gazelle.\u00a0 Young and old alike glide their way delicately through trees and hurl themselves at frightening speeds down the mountain.\u00a0 In comparison, our New York contingent look like knuckle dragging apes with planks strapped to our feet.\u00a0 As we were shuttled back up the mountain in the most beautiful covered high speed chair lift, I counted less than a handful of tumbles on the mountain side.\u00a0 I’m sure they were all tourists or Danish.<\/p>\n
$\"Mountain$ <\/a>
Hajfell ski slope - playground of the Norwegians<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Now for the vacation finale – every year it happens…you get dressed up, say a silent prayer to no-one in particular, asking for strength to get you through the night.\u00a0 The restaurant\/bar\/club\/party is always a disappointment for one reason or another.\u00a0 You curse yourself for wearing that new pair of heels, and worst of all you know you are meant to be having the time of your life (which is often far from the truth) as the clock strikes midnight.\u00a0 Sound familiar?<\/p>\n
Well, ringing in 2010 with beloved friends in a small cabin in Norway was, hands down, the best New Year’s plan ever.\u00a0 Carlito spoilt us rotten with a traditional festive meal. It was a viking voyage of culinary discovery.\u00a0 Sauteed juicy reindeer<\/a> (yes, dear Bambi – sorry kids), ligonberry sauce and a whole load of trappings on the side.<\/p>\n
$\"Dinner$ <\/a>
New Year's Eve dinner fit for a Viking King and Queen<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
To top if all off (…as if it could get any better…) the Entourage competed for the inaugural International Nobel Yahtzee\u00a0 Championship title.\u00a0 With Australia, England, United States (U-S-A; U-S-A) and Norway all vying for bragging rights, the competition was stiff.\u00a0 English Hubby dominated early, but luck seemed to be on my friend J’s side (side note: she is also the Boggle<\/a> Queen of the Universe).\u00a0 C + N blew on dice and rolled with the punches admirably. Carlito and his better half hung in there for dear life.\u00a0 Tactics, calculation, foul play, bribery and orange cake came into play.<\/p>\n
$\"Dice$ <\/a>
High stakes in the championship Yahtzee tournament<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
When all is said and done, another year (2009) passed into the annals of history and a new one begun.\u00a0 The sun continues to rise, and eventually the snow will melt, but our adventures in Norway will be frozen in our hearts and minds.<\/p>\n
$\"Sun$ <\/a>
Sunrise over Norway<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
May lightning strike twice, in fact many times over and bring each of you many more New Years to remember. Crackling fires, delicious food, fantastic friends. What could be better?<\/p>\n
*names have been changed to protect the not so innocent<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have a dirty little secret – I went to see Thor last night.\u00a0 Norse legend, big hammer, lots of lightning and thunder, manly vikings saving the world…ring a bell?\u00a0 Not only was it a voluntary move to see an action movie with English Hubby, but I have to admit that I actually enjoyed it. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[5,7],"tags":[4],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163,"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.noplaceliketravel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}