Another Quiet Week

12 April 1986 – Sat. a.m.

Dear ones,

This seems to have been another quiet week – we did take the trikk downtown last Saturday p.m. and went to the Historical Museum. We hurried some because it closed at 3. They had an interesting collection of things found from the Viking Age (800-1050 A.D.). The age of those things still is hard to comprehend. Their collection from the Middle Ages was good – a lot from the churches of those times (1500’s). They also had collections from Africa, Asia, Far East; a coin and medals collection. We walked along the streets some afterwards, but the town gets pretty dead – all the stores close at 1 or 2 on Saturday and don’t open again until Monday. We did stop for a cup of coffee and piece of cake.

Went to church here in Osteras on Sunday. It was baptism Sunday and 2 little babies were baptized. One cried the whole time it was his turn. Have I told you how are ushered in just before the baptism, the babies wear the really long dresses; the congregation stands for their entry and turn to watch (much as they do for a bride). Many of the women (mother, grandmother, sponsor) wear bunads.

Monday I met Jene downtown after her class – we had hamburgers at McDonalds. Then checked out some stores. There was a portrait schetcher working on the sidewalk so Jene decided to be sketched. She didn’t think it looks like her – so she gave it to us. As we were wending our way back to the trikk (to go to the lecture at the U – the first since Easter break) there was another artist doing landscapes in chalk. She decided she wanted one of those, too. So we stopped – he was working on one so we had to wait a bit. He smeared chalk on the “tagboard” or whatever, then took a wet rag and really smeared it around. It was amazing how he finally got it to look like something. Vince wasn’t feeling good on Monday so stayed home. Don’t know if it was a flu bug, or stomach upset. He did come to pick us up after our lecture, however. Jene baby sat for the Indiana couple downstairs, and needed to be there by 5:30.

Tuesday I finished the laundry; about all I can get dry in a day is 2 loads which I had done on Monday. Ironed the shirts and blouses, got the groceries. Got pictures of Heather in the mail from Dawn – that’s always fun. Also read a small book here of Mr. Gjonnes, a British one.

Wednesday Vince and I went to see about getting the snows (tires) off. They could do it the next morning. I looked up enough words in the English to Norsk dictionary to be able to look up a shipping firm in the yellow pages. The tires are good ones, and we will need snows back in Iowa. We can leave nothing in the car when we ship it. And even if we could, we need the space for our suitcases while we are traveling. Well, we could buy 4 tires for what it would cost us to ship them, so that’s out. The station (we bought them there) won’t buy them back and re-sell them. So then I called a newspaper to put an ad in. The big newspaper in Oslo (plus hotel workers, and hospital workers and oil workers) are all strike over here. And the little newspaper is really busy. But I mailed in an ad. Don’t know if they will translate it to Norsk or print it in English. We hope we can sell them and recoup some of the cost. (By the way, the rate exchange on the dollar has gone up must a bit, so it’s not quite so bad.)

Vince had been told to be at the station by 8 to get the tires changed, on Thursday, so he woke up bright and early. He left here some before 8, got into a little traffic, but probably wasn’t very late. Guess what? The mechanic doesn’t get there until 9. It’s things like that that are so frustrating sometimes.

Guess Vince thought that he’d (?) should give me something to write home about – so he did some work here at home, some writing, (after he got back from the station) and then suggested we drive up to Jevnaker – about an hour away – to the Hadeland Glassworks. The demonstration of glass blowing was closed – one of our tour books says open daily – but the outlet store was open. So we nosed around. We finally found out that the vases, candle holders, etc. were all seconds; I suppose if you didn’t know you might not notice – little bubbles in the glass, but once you start looking, you see them all. There is another glassworks in the same town so we went over there. Theirs are second also, and both places sell them for 40-50% less than the perfect ones you find in the retail stores. Did buy a candle holder for me – that wasn’t a second – she got it from the warehouse – and bought a vase for Nitzy. She’d given me $50.00 to buy something for her.

Got a couple of empty boxes from the book store the other day. We plan on sending home some of our winter stuff, when it gets warm enough to quit wearing them. We certainly can’t wear our winter boots home in June; and I haven’t worn them much here the last couple of weeks. The snow has melted enough so the sidewalks are clear.

Guess I’d better move along, Vince is up for forenoon lunch, and I need to write another letter before the post office closes (that’s at 1 p.m. today). I’ve already emptied a couple pens since we got here.

Love, Verla and Vince

Mom – thanks fo the obits – which of Elsie’s boys was the one she didn’t know where he was for awhile?

Forgot to include what Jene and I did yesterday. We went downtown and got to the Palace for at least part of the Changing of the Guard. We were trying to figure out if some of the other watchers were also tourists, or Norwegians visiting Oslo. After the guards had retired, we noticed that one fellow pushing a child in a buggy was still hanging around. I had heard that the band was going to play from 2 - 2:30, if the King was there. His flag was flying so that means he is there. The fellow with the buggy walked directly in front so Jene and I ambled there, too. Then we noticed a car in the portico and soon the chauffeur got out and helped a couple of people in. And as the limo drove out and right past us, we saw one of the persons was the King. The fellow with the buggy doffed his hat as the King went by. They drove down the street 2 -3 blocks, turned left on Univ. Ave. It wasn’t very long before the limo came back, minus the King. We debated waiting around, but eventually decided it might just be a waste of time. As we walked past the University, there were 2 police cars out in front and a red carpet up the steps. We didn’t hang around to see if the King came out, so we will never know. But it would seem to be a logical conclusion.

Checked out some shops we hadn’t seen before and some we had before comig home. Now it is time to go.