On 6 January 2020, we loaded into Josh’s parents’ 12-passenger van with Alyssa’s parents, Josh’s dad, eight enormous duffel bags, one suitcase, and two strollers. We drove across the Canadian border to Toronto where we kissed and hugged everyone goodbye and got ready for our adventure.
The trip from Toronto to Lisbon was a dream. We flew TAP Air Portugal and were seated in an enormous front middle row where we were brought a bassinet as well as goodie bags for the kids full of crayons, toy airplanes, neck pillows, bibs, cards, and even a diaper changing pad. The time difference was jarring– we were woken up at what felt like 3 in the morning to us and offered mushroom chicken dinners (hard pass from these vegetarian travelers)– but the hospitality was undeniable.
From Lisbon we had just a short flight to Oslo, and both kids remained totally pleasant, maybe because they were so sleepy. Adina and Ruby were certainly out cold for the whole layover.
The landing at Gardermoen was a bit unbelievable– just miles and miles (kilometers and kilometers?) of gorgeous Nordic forest and then BOOM! airport runway. I’d never been to an airport with pristine hardwood floors in the terminal, and we thought we were accidentally sneaking into the country when we walked through the green “nothing to declare” customs gate without seeing a single other human, but such is life in Norway! We ordered a taxi with a handy digital kiosk, and a half hour later were happily resting in our AirBnB. Home for the next six months.
It’s a single young woman’s apartment that she rents out on AirBnB while she studies in China. Two bedrooms, a bright living/dining room leading to a balcony, a bathroom with the standard-issue Norwegian heated floors, and a very sleek, brand new IKEA kitchen. It’s a bit odd to know that we’re essentially camping out in someone else’s home for six months. She’s left behind a lot of her things, but I’m sure it will start to feel more like ours once we’re unpacked and settled in for a couple weeks. For now, I don’t particularly care as long as we can finally get some sleep.
Four in the Fjord 