My last day in Oslo couldn't have been more perfect, however. I made a point of getting up early to finish tidying up my room, throwing the last of my rubbish into my two (stuffed beyond capacity) suitcases, then began the arduous journey from Kringsjå studentby to Oslo Sentralstasjon. It was quite an ordeal lugging both those heavy cases (one weighing 22 kilos, the other 32 kilos, I later discovered) uphill to the Kringsjå T-bane platform, and in retrospect I find it almost laughable the number of able-bodied people who walked past me without looking at me, much less offering to help. If I'd been in America, I later discussed with a friend at church, I would've had people tripping over themselves to help me, but Norway is a country full of very self-sufficient, independent people, so I wasn't bothered or offended. ...still, it would've been nice to have someone lend a hand.
And someone did! While on the train, I bumped into Mike--no, not Minnesota Mike, but Idaho Mike from St. Edmund's--who very kindly helped me transport my luggage to the storage lockers at central station. After that, we walked to church for my last service at St. Edmund's, where I said my goodbyes to all the parishioners; to Rev. Janet who has been so kind to me, to Shannon and Barbara who have been so good about letting me help out with the tea and coffee, to Trond who I only really started speaking to right towards the end of my stay here (sad!), to Geraldine... Honestly, the list goes on and on. Walking out of that church was so difficult for me, but I know I'll be back.
I spent the rest of the afternoon just going around the city. The day before, I'd taken line 3 to Mortensrud just out of curiosity (and found a very nice baguette shop), and so on Sunday I decided to revisit some of my favorite places throughout the city. I wandered down through Nationaltheatret basking in the sunshine and taking some photographs on my blackberry, since I'd already stowed my camera with my luggage, then headed up Karl Johans gate to the palace. I had quite a lot of time to kill before my flight, so I just... napped in the sunshine in the palace gardens, listening to my iPod and enjoying the sunshine.
My Flytog ride was a little emotional, though I managed to keep from crying--mostly because my luggage kept deciding to roll away from me, and I had to dive out of my seat on multiple occasions to try to stow it better. (The two Danes sitting in the seats across from mine chimed in helpful suggestions in Danish, but I think they were mostly just drunk and wanted a laugh at my expense. Meanies.) But that aside, my flight over was pretty nice and uneventful, and our pilot was pretty cheeky, describing our flight from Oslo to London Heathrow as "one hour and fifty-five minutes of action-packed excitement, starting with this riveting security film provided by BA for your entertainment. And safety as well, I suppose." (A bit paraphrased, but that's the gist of it.) I love flying BA. :)
Also: Sitting next to me on the plane was a young Norwegian boy with his grandmother; this was his first trip out of Norway, so when the plane started making its descent, I offered to switch places with him so he could get his first look at London. I think his grandmother really appreciated the gesture, and it tugged at my heart strings a little bit watching this kid, who was only a little older than I was when I had my first proper visit out of the US and back to England, gazing in awe out the window. Seemed fitting somehow.
Uncle Pete met me at the arrivals gate which was lovely, and I came home and crashed after staying up a bit talking with Aunt Jackie. Today we took a tour of Wisley Gardens, somewhere I will go back to later with my camera so I can photograph everything that stands still long enough, but tomorrow I plan to have a bit of a domestic day just doing laundry and getting myself settled into my room here for the next month. Truly, I am glad to be in England, but I don't expect this ache in my heart for Oslo is going to go away anytime soon. I fell in love with the city.
It's hard not to.
Lovely, I could feel the peace and joy u have...
ReplyDeleteGood luck with everything in UK.