Baltic Adventure - Day 13

City of Oslo seen from Westerdam on a cloudy Sunday morning

Sunday, July 4: Oslo, Norway.

We woke up to another day that looked cloudy and rainy. We'd really had enough of that already, so Mom & Dad decided they were going to stay on the ship. After breakfast, Deb and I armed ourselves with umbrella's and decided to risk the rain and take a self-guided walking tour of Oslo.

I wanted to visit the National Gallery of Art. We'd read the night before that Edvard Munch's most famous piece of art, The Scream, was featured there. It was an odd obsession for me, but one of the Star Trek producers, Ira Steven Behr, had kept a blow-up version of The Scream in his Deep Space Nine office at Paramount Studios, so I felt compelled to see the original when the opportunity presented itself. I'm not exactly a fan of Munch's style of art, but it was a new cultural experience. So off we went. Imagine my amusement to see the word "Trekk" engraved on the front door of the National Gallery!

It wasn't long before the sun came out. Soon the sky was blue and it was a beautiful summer day in Oslo. Deb and I continued our walking tour through Oslo. Just about the time we reached the modern section of town, near the train station, I mused to Debra it would be a shame if Mom & Dad missed seeing Oslo on such a beautiful day. Just then, a big red city sightseeing bus pulled up at the curb in front of us, and we heard our names being called. We looked every which direction and couldn't figure out who was calling us. Then Deb looked up and saw Mom & Dad sitting on the upper deck of the sightseeing bus! It was an odd coincidence running into them in the middle of such a large city, but we were glad they'd gotten off the ship!

Mom and Dad continued their sightseeing tour on the bus -- seeing stuff that Deb and I missed, like the famous landmark Oslo Monolith -- a pillar of naked bodies. The people of Norway seem to have a fasination with statues of naked bodies.

Deb and I continued our walking tour through the sleepy Sunday morning streets -- down the main pedestrian walk -- to the park and promenade at the center of town. We came across a lovely outdoor Cafe where we decided to have lunch and watch the children chasing seagulls near a large fountain in the center of the park. Afterward, we headed back to the Westerdam and stopped at a couple of tourist shops on the way back.

Back onboard the Westerdam, we took advantage of our free time to enjoy the spa facilities again, then got dressed for our last "formal" night. Debra and I had arranged in advance to surprise Mom & Dad after dinner with a cake for their 45th wedding anniversary -- even though their actual anniversary was coming up on July 12. Since it was the 4th of July, it was quite a night of celebration for the Americans on board, as the chef had prepared the specialty dessert of the week and the dining room staff marched to patriotic music through the dining room with trays of baked Alaska and sparklers.

As we sailed from Oslo into the deep waters of the North Sea, we knew we were soon coming to the end of a wonderful journey.