Today is finally here!

We arrived at the Wichita airport with plenty of time and sat patiently waiting for our first flight of the day, which would be at 10:39 a.m. Time passed quickly and we began to board the plane. A couple hours later, we landed in Chicago and had to make our way to the international terminal. We had almost 2 hours before our flight, but it still took quite some time to make our way to the terminal. We had intended to eat a piece of Chicago pizza while we were there, but by the time we got through security, there were no restaurants. Only kiosks with pre-made sandwiches. We each grabbed a sandwich and bottle of water. The total was $56. Guess it was time to get used to spending money. Speaking of money, we now took the opportunity to exchange some USD for NOK. $50 USD = $250 NOK. We wanted to have a little cash on us when we landed in Norway. Our Swiss Air flight began to board and we found our seats. The plane had 2 seats on each side, then four across in the middle. Ours were the four across. We sat down and began to unpack a few of our things into the space that would serve as our home for the next 8 hours. Eyes masks, check. Ear plugs, check. Books, check. Pillows, blankets, headphones, check. As the plane taxied to the runway, it finally started to sink in. We  were about to begin our much anticipated Trip of a Lifetime! We held hands as the plane took off and soon we were airborne and beginning our 4,436 mile trip from Chicago to Zurich, Switzerland, where we would then catch our connecting flight to Oslo, Norway. Just a few minutes into the flight, they began serving drinks and snacks. I decided it was time to start watching an in-flight movie, so I selected 21 Jump Street. Before the movie was over, here came the flight attendances once again, this time serving us chicken and mashed potatoes, with salad, a roll and tapioca pudding. And since we were on Swiss Air, we got chocolate.
They now began to turn down the lights and speak in hushed tones, trying to trick us into thinking it was time for bed. It was only 5:30 p.m. but we needed to go along with it so we could attempt to get some rest. I watched a couple more movies and listened to some music throughout "the night" and since we had already set our watches forward seven hours, we saw it was about 5 a.m. (10 p.m. our time) and breakfast was now being served. Seems like we just ate supper! Now we were eating croissants, yogurt, juice and coffee. As we approached Zurich, we circled for a few minutes before we were able to land. We had been watching the time and since we only had 40 minutes to catch our next flight, we began to grow mildly concerned. Our travel agent assured us that would be plenty of time. The plane landed and we tried to patiently wait for all the passengers to exit the plane. By the time we exited the plane, we quickly found which gate our flight would depart from, then had to ride a tram to that terminal, then go through security again, then go through immigration. We were running out of time. Rhonda and I were the first to get through the process and headed to our gate, A63. We took off on a dead run and had to run past a Swiss Chocolatier, which we had hoped to have time to stop and sample and purchase swiss chocolates. We had our loaded backpacks on and we were really booking it. We were even taking esalator stairs two at a time. I felt like I was on The Amazing Race! As we ran up to our gate, the attendant said, "Oslo?" And we said, "Yes" and she said, "You must run!" We showed our boarding passes and shouted, "There are two more of us coming!" Rhonda and I took our seats and anxiously awaited two minutes to pass as we hoped Robin and dad would make it! We were very relieved to see them get on the plane too! They sat down, the plane backed up and we took off shortly thereafter. What a rush! On this flight, we were again served croissants and chocolate. I was so tired of being fed! The flight landed on time and we headed to baggage claim with our fingers crossed. All our bags arrived, except for Robins. She reported the missing bag and they indeed knew it was not on the flight. It was still in Zurich and it would come on the next flight. It should get to our hotel by 7 p.m. We bought bus tickets and wanted to clarify this was the right bus, but our bus driver didn't speak English! A nice person, who spoke English translated for the bus driver so we at least knew we were on the right bus. What a strange feeling to be in a foreign country, lugging all our worldly goods around, unsure of where we were going and only being somewhat confident in our ability to get there. We found our bus stop and all piled off the bus. We were in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, within the city of Oslo, not knowing which direction our hotel was from here. Luckily we are not afraid to ask directions, and the man on the approaching bicycle was very helpful and pointed us in the general direction of our hotel. Soon, we had the Radisson Blu, Nydalen in our sights. We checked in and sat for a bit to gather our thoughts and our bearings before we headed out into the city in search of sight seeing adventures. So much to see and do in Oslo, so little time. It took us a while, but we were finally on the subway, thinking we knew exactly where we were going (per the instructions of the hotel clerk). She told us it was two subway stops, then we get off the train and could see all the sights. However, as we stood at the station at what we thought was our stop, we realized this couldn't be the right place, because we were in a residential area, and not a great one I might add. Again, we relied on a helpful stranger and she said to get back on the subway and go to the Nationaltheatrat stop. Then we would be in the right place. Did I mention that it was drizzling rain and chilly all this time? 

Finally, we arrived where we intended and managed to see the Parliament building, the Royal Palace, City Hall and Akershu Fortress and Castle and many other old, historic buildings. We started to get hungry so we stopped at the Rica Grand Hotel to eat a late lunch. We didn't really know what to order, so we just chose something we understood. I selected an open-faced smoked salmon sandwich, Robin got something similar, Rhonda chose an open faced shrimp sandwich, and Dad, the beef farmer, chose an open faced beef patty sandwich. The food arrived and it was a piece of bread, a layer of lettuce, an ice cream scoop of cold scrambled eggs, and smoked (raw) salmon on the top. This cost the equivalent of $20USD. It was okay, but I was not overly impressed. We got coffee as well, and it was around $6.50 per cup. It filled our empty bellies and by this time we were simply exhausted so we went back to the hotel, showered and crawled into bed. We had been awake for most of the previous 30 hours and that was plenty. The question remained, will Robin's luggage make it to Oslo by morning? 

When we awoke the next morning, we felt very refreshed, even though we knew our friends and loved ones were just now going to sleep. We felt we had successfully made the transition to the new time. Dad and I headed downstairs to the Scandanavian breakfast we were so looking forward to. Robin was already there and I am happy to report, her luggage arrived at 2 a.m. The food spread was incredible. There were so many different types of foods that I wasn't used to seeing. Lots of big loaves of bread that you could just cut off however big a chunk you wanted, several varieties of marmalade, many different types of cheeses to sample, plus fruits and vegetables and yogurts and cereals and a warm zucchini medley,  chicken sausage, scrambled eggs and much much more. And of course, coffee... strong coffee, which we were prepared for and were growing accustomed to. We thought Rhonda should be down to breakfast by now, so Robin went to check on her and she was still asleep! Finally she was dressed, and had eaten, and we headed out to see some more of the city before our Swedish cousins came to pick us up at noon. One thing we were encouraged to see was the Vigeland Sculpture Park. We purchased subway tickets and headed out, this time more sure of where we were going. However, we still had to ask for directions to the park. Streets in Oslo are confusing. 

 They aren't in city blocks like they are around here, thus the confusion. After we took in the sculpture park, we hastily made our way back to the subway station and jumped on the train we thought would take us back to where we started. However, we noticed the stops the train was making were in the opposite direction of where we needed to be, and eventually we would get back to our point of origin, but we knew it would take more time than we had, so we stepped off the train at the next stop and four minutes later we were on another train heading in the opposite direction, this one was the right one. By the time we arrived back at the hotel, our cousins were there, anxiously awaiting our return. My grandpa's 3rd cousin, Uno Fredriksson, his daughter Ingela Ostman and her husband Steffan were there to greet us. It was a happy reunion for us all. Uno is 87 years old and is mostly blind. But he loves to laugh and smile. However, he doesn't speak a drop of English. Ingela and Steffan have to translate all the conversations. Their English is very good, but they do struggle at times. We ate at a cafe and they only served omelettes until 2 p.m. then they began serving other food. So we ate an omelette and it came with a side salad. But, it was very good! We headed east, towards Sweden and as we arrived at the border, we all got out of the van and had our picture taken in front of the Svenska sign! We made it to Sweden, the home of our ancestors! Prior to 1981, we didn't know any relatives in Sweden, but through hard work and dedication, my grandpa took the initiative to seek out his Swedish relatives and managed to stumble upon them. Now, nearly 30 years later and only a little over one year after grandpa passed away, his son and three granddaughters returned to the homeland, to continue the legacy our grandpa left behind! 

From L to R: Robin, Val, Uno, Ingela, Ronald, Rhonda