Heading North

I didn’t take anything but what I was wearing to Oslo last weekend, so I went shopping for clothes as much out of necessity as for fun. That seems to be the only way I buy anything now, since I am still living on few material possessions and an income that provides for only the simplest of pleasures.

As I was walking towards the city center, I dropped into a store named Carlings because they had sale signs in the window. I walked in to the tune of “Rosetta Stoned,” a welcome surprise after not listening to any Tool since getting to Norway. I took my time picking out three cheap shirts, trying them on, and making small talk with the associates so that I could finish out the album.

I ordered fish and chips for lunch at Cafe Sara, where the music again caught my attention. They played “One Headlight” by the Wallflowers, which wouldn’t have been much to notice, except that before walking into the city, I had driven Snow White to the garage to have them fix (you guessed it) one headlight.

That night, Karen and I went out for Thai. The place was called YaYa’s Thai Beach Bungalow, and it is a must if you like Thai and ever find yourself in Oslo. It would be difficult to say which was better – the food or the atmosphere – but I hope to have another chance to decide. Dinner was followed by a chilly evening walk through Oslo’s famous Frogner Park, aka Vigelandsparken.

Today was warm and sunny. The mountain didn’t get much overnight accumulation, so instead of snowboarding, I took a stroll along the river. I live between the mountain and the river and am on the mountain every week. However, this was only my second time visiting the shores of the frozen Lågen, even though it’s just five minutes away. I took my camera along and posted some of the photos on Flickr.