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Scandinavian Christmas 2024
  • Kim McMurry
  • Kim McMurry

Scandinavian Christmas 2024

A 13-day adventure by Kim Read more
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  • Trip start
    December 23, 2024
    Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Apparently, we are sketchy individuals..

    December 23, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 43 °F

    We spent the night at the Doubletree Hilton last night and caught the shuttle to the airport this morning. No major troubles until we went through security when they had to run our bags twice because our computers and books didn't pass muster the first time. My knee and ankle didn't set off any alarms (for once), so we grabbed some breakfast and now we're settled in and waiting until we can board the plane for the first leg of our journey to Denver. We'll spend the next 24-ish hours either on a plane or waiting to board a plane or train. Gonna to be a long day, but I'm SO happy to be with my Ellie today and that my McKelvie Rose is waiting for us on the other end of this journey.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Delayed!

    December 24, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ 🌬 37 °F

    But just for an hour. The flight from Denver was fine, except for the seriously irritating woman and her henpecked husband in front of us. At least there was no barking/whining dog on this one. Ellery spent her time watching inappropriate nudie movies. It was hilarious watching her try to cover the screen and then blush profusely.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler
    Flytoget train station to Oslo.

    Oslo Airport

    December 24, 2024 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    We're here! We got to take a brand new Icelandair plane, the attendants mentioned the Yule Lads and handed out Christmas cookies, and I even took a short nap. I managed to buy Flytoget train tickets with no trouble, and we'll see my Kelvie soon!Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler
    It's about 4:15 p.m.Sagene Church

    Merry Christmas!

    December 25, 2024 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 41 °F

    We slept in today. After the girls opened their gifts from Santa and we FaceTimed Daddy and the cats, McKelvie made us a fabulous Christmas dinner. I burned the brownies to a crisp because Celsius and Norwegian instructions and my lack of experience with both make things very interesting. I made up for it later with ice cream. 😊 We went for a walk around the neighborhood at about 4:30 p.m. Very dark and foggy, but beautiful. We also took Ellie down to see the Sagene Church.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Oslo Domkirke

    December 26, 2024 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F

    Beautiful, and I think what I appreciate most is how respectfully everyone treats this church. It's a place of quiet and contemplation amidst the chaos literally right outside its doors.

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    The Munch Museum

    December 27, 2024 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 36 °F

    Beautiful art by Edvard Munch and some seriously disturbing stuff by Jessica Baird, who obviously never wanted to have children and definitely didn't like being her mother's primary caregiver in her mother's last years. The Baird exhibit should've come with a warning. Talented artist, but the lady has issues. I liked the Constance Tenvik tapestries.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler
    Portrait of Torberg Andreas by Else Hagen
    By Else Hagen, meant to represent her experience with Alzheimer's Disease. Called "Bound".Coronation gown of Queen Maud.MonetDegasVan Gogh"Albertine""The Day After" by Edvard MunchThis installation instructed us to "explore your narcissism.""Satan's Daughter". She was screaming something about seeing the ceiling.Something @ the connection between reality, image, and words/concept. Flippin' weird.Picasso

    The National Museum

    December 28, 2024 in Norway ⋅ 🌫 36 °F

    Ellery says her favorite part of this museum was seeing their copy of "The Scream." My favorite room holds the Van Gogh and a couple of paintings by Matisse, Manet, Monet, Degas, Gauguin, and another room contains a couple of Picassos. I think Ellie also liked the dresses.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Today's Walk

    December 28, 2024 in Norway ⋅ 🌫 36 °F

    Our adventure began at noon today. We walked from the Stortinget T-Bane stop to Akershus Fortress, and from there, past the National Museum to explore the area before touring the National Museum itself. We found a lot of beautiful (and some very ugly) statues. The naked, red hat wearing ladies were located right near a daycare center. A favorite was the spaceman. When the museum closed, we took another walk through busy streets to the National Theatre stop where we saw the Ferris wheel from the Christmas Market in the distance. I'll add descriptions to these photos as I have time. It was a good day!Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Sunshine!

    December 29, 2024 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 39 °F

    Ellie wanted to see the ocean one last time, so we returned to the Oslo Rådhusplassen (City Hall Square). The Rådhuset itself is a beautiful building, too. We also walked past Parliament and the National Theatre before we hit the Christmas Market one last time for candied apples. Then we walked back up to the Royal Palace before coming back to the apartment to do laundry, pack for Iceland (yay!), and eat spaghetti. 💗Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Goodbye, Oslo!

    December 30, 2024 in Norway ⋅ ☁️ 32 °F

    We left McKelvie's apartment at about 8:30, and after a bus and metro ride, we purchased Flytoget (Airport Express) tickets to Gardermoen. About 30 minutes later, we were there, 3 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave, just as instructed by Icelandair, but of course, their terminal would not open for another hour. Once we got through security, we found our gate and settled in, only to discover that our flight had been delayed 2 hours. At 3:10-ish, we boarded our plane, the crew apologized about 8 different times, and we had an uneventful flight.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Keflavik!

    December 30, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ 🌬 23 °F

    The pictures are out of order. I've always liked this airport. This time, we flew over the coast as we came in from Oslo and could clearly see Grindavik, the volcano area, Keflavik, and Reykjavik in the distance...basically, the entire peninsula. The girls let me sit by the window, so that was pretty cool. 🌋Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Island Apartments

    December 30, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °F

    We didn't get to the apartment until almost 9 PM. Most restaurants were closing so we ended up at the Hard Rock Cafe before coming back and crashing. I was happy to see the murder kitty, Jolakoturrin again. 😝🐈‍⬛Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Sun Voyager

    December 31, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 23 °F

    This morning, we started our adventures at the Sun Voyager, which is maybe a block away from our apartment. The sun had just come up so the sky was beautiful. We noticed that there seemed to be a lot of runners wearing racing bibs, but at the time, we didn't think much of it.Read more

  • Kim McMurryScandinavian Christmas 2024Traveler

    Harpa Concert Hall

    December 31, 2024 in Iceland ⋅ ☁️ 23 °F

    When we arrived at the Harpa, we were in for a surprise. There were hundreds of runners, most in costume, leaving the building. Here's what I found online about the event:

    "ÍR’s New Year’s Eve Run (Gamlárshlaup ÍR) is held annually on 31 December by the local sports club ÍR. It is a combination of a competitive race, fun and family time for many people, where participants come together with different goals and backgrounds. The atmosphere is fairly relaxed and some people wear costumes. While some may be looking to improve on their time record on a fairly flat track, others may be aiming for an award for the best costume and the rest probably just to enjoy.

    The race starts at 12:00 at Harpa Concert Hall and distances available are 10 K and a 3 K fun run. There is no time tracking in the fun run. First three in men’s and women’s categories get awards as well as first place in all age groups. Awards are also given for costumes in a few categories. Last but not least, there is a prize draw amongst all participants" (Whatson.is).    Read more

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