Early rising European explorers

The first time I felt like a European resident was after driving a mere three-and-a-half hours to Oslo, Norway, this weekend from our home in Sweden.

We left our apartment at 5 a.m. Saturday, and because we're in Sweden during summer, the sun was brightly shining in the sky. This departure was one of our first compromises as a married couple, deciding on a middle point between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. If you know us, then you'll also know which one of us picked each time.

Absolutely nothing is open at 5 a.m., and the earliest thing to open is McDonald's (in some locations) at 7 a.m. Almost everything else doesn't open until 9 or 10 a.m. and is closed by 8 p.m. This is Europe, a place where America's "when I want something I can have it now" philosophy doesn't apply. If you want to go to the bank, for example, you better get there between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  (or 14.00, as we more commonly say here). Otherwise, you have to schedule an appointment.

Multiple radio stations at this hour play a continuous babbling brook sound, or the same song is playing on six stations in a row. Must bring our own music on the next trip.

Oslo has a population of 500,000 people, which makes it the largest city in Norway. Compare this to Dallas' 1.3 million (or 6.45 million for the metro area), and it's only the ninth-largest city in the USA. But this is the life of a northern/Scandinavian dweller. Sweden has a mere 9 million people for the entire country.

Oslo feels very similar to our Swedish home, just on a larger scale. The town square has an Apotek (pharmacy), H&M, O'Leary's bar and many other businesses we have. The words are in some ways only slightly altered, such as to say thanks in Norwegian is takk, and in Swedish it's tack.

Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Sculpture Park) in Oslo

Since Oslo is next to the sea, we naturally visited several museums dedicated to exploring the waters, including a Viking ship museum. Our favorite part of the trip was getting to go inside the Fram, the strongest wooden vessel that has sailed further north and further south than any other surface vessel in the world.

We also enjoyed the Nobel Peace Center, which was a nice continuation of our visit last weekend to Alfred Nobel's home in Karlskoga, Sweden. We both spent a good 2 hours learning about all the South African Peace Prize winners and the exhibit about the most recent winner, President Obama.

We're now planning our slightly delayed honeymoon to Barcelona in mid-August before my school starts. Thanks to Ryanair, we'll fly there for $100 USD each. Right now, we're looking for a good hotel to stay in and other activities to do. If anyone has any ideas, please let us know.