My dearest family and friends across the sea-
I write to you today from a cozy four person cabin aboard the ship DFDS Pearl Seaways. My friends from DIS and I were welcomed aboard yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon and the ship set sail at 17:00. We bid Copenhagen farewell from the outdoor deck where there was a bar, live music and two hot tubs. Once we could no longer see the land we ventured back to our room and took a nap, rocked to sleep by the steady movement of the ship. We then watched the breathtaking sunset from the deck and the rest of the evening we spent exploring the various restaurants, bars and nightclubs. We ended up back in our room, watching Ever After until we were deep asleep. In the morning I got up extra early to see the sunrise. Unfortunately it was a rather cloudy day and although it was bright when I got up to the deck at 5:15, I was unable to see the actual sun break forth in the sky. It was still enjoyable and a type of peaceful that you don't get anywhere but on the sea. I went back to sleep for a few hours and dreamt a Titanic-esque dream of our cruise ship navigating the rough waters and sailing through debris from previous wrecks.
I awoke from my nerve-wrecking dream to the wake-up call on the P.A. system and in just a short hour we arrived in Oslo. We watched again from the upper deck as we pulled into the Oslo Harbor. We saw the old fortresses, the modern Opera House, the rolling ski hills in the background and the spires of multiple churches shooting up into the sky, breaking away from the rest of the skyline. We disembarked from the ship and began exploring the city. Our first stop was a famous bakery where we enjoyed pastries while sitting out in the cool morning air. We then walked through the city to the Sculpture Park. This was quite the site. A giant park filled with sculpture after sculpture, many of them nude and emoting feelings from happiness to rage to playfulness to love. The park was also covered in beautiful gardens, trees, grassy spaces and fountains. The Scandanavian love of the human body is quite different from that in America so it was quite amusing to see little children climbing all over the naked sculptures that were posed in various positions: men, women, babies…lots and lots of babies, and even aging men and women were depicted and climbed upon here.
After the park we walked to the National Gallery where we saw many pieces of art including Edvard Munch’s famous “The Scream” and “Madonna”. We even saw my favorite sculpture: Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker”. We saw works by Monet, Degas and Picasso. Since we only had a few more hours in Oslo we didn’t spend long there. Next we walked to the Royal Palace, saw a few of the guards marching outside the Palace and then continued on to a very modern part of the city: a shopping mall right along the harbor. We found a place to eat after which we felt it necessary to sample the ice cream in Oslo (delicious, by the way). Our last stop was the massive fortress area where we could climb up and see across the top of the city and, in the other direction, see out into the blue expanse of water. No worries, no one was attacking the city, but we stood ready at the cannons…just in case.
Eventually it was back to the cruise ship for our tired little bodies. We again sat up on deck and drank some wine as we watched Oslo fade from sight. Some snacks, a small nap, some drinking and here I am. We will sail through the night and arrive in Copenhagen around 9 am. Just a short little cruise that was full of adventures!
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