Will the rain stop?

Reuniting with Camilla, our Norwegian friend and former co-worker from Reef Encounter in Australia.
see all photos »

It's our fourth day in Norway, and I think the rain has finally stopped.  We ditched Roger and Nathan our second day here, which also happened to be our 11th wedding anniversary.  That afternoon we met up with our Norwegian friend, Camilla, who lives in Oslo.  Our loyal readers may remember Camilla from our December '06 entry in Australia.  We met her on board the Reef Encounter dive boat, she was a Hostie with us for about one week and we had a great time together.

Pastel "Scream". The Museum's main painting is being restored.
see all photos »

After all the weight we put on at the farm in Sweden, we've been rapidly losing weight in Oslo.  Not only can we not afford to eat, beer costs a fortune and wine is untouchable.  We are surviving on 7-11 muffins for breakfast and slices of cheap pizza from the abundant convenience stores.  And on top of that, add walking about 5-6 miles per day around the city.  We're nearly ready for our Kilimanjaro climb....

surviving on 7-11 muffins for breakfast

Munch's "Jealousy"
see all photos »

Anne

I thought I'd add my two cents on our museum visits in Oslo.  Our first was a stop at the Edvard Munch Museum.  This smaller museum is entirely dedicated to the works of one Norwegian artist, featuring some of his masterpieces during our visit.  Judging from his paintings, this guy lived a life full of sex, booze, and extreme bouts of depression.  It seems his best works always came during a lover's feud, while severely intoxicated, or on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  His most famous painting, entitled "Scream", depicts someone (probably himself) in the midst of a terrible round of anxiety, loneliness, and alienation.  While other figures in the painting are admiring a blazon sunset, the subject in "Scream" can only hold it's hands to it's own face during the nervous breakdown and feelings of loneliness.  The main "Scream" painting (there are several versions that Munch created-our photo on this blog is a pastel and not considered the main one) was stolen three years ago, and is still under restoration.  Norwegians apparently don't work as quickly as the Swedes.  Anyway, it is under restoration because the dipshits that stole it did some damage in the process, so we leave you with the pastel drawing instead of the main one.  Not to worry.  The National Gallery in Oslo does display one of the main "Scream" paintings, but we were unable to sneak the camera by the guard.  More impressively however, are the works of Monet, Manet, Gaugin, Degas, Picasso, Cezanne (sp?) and many other recognizable names featured at the National Gallery.  Incidentally, I was told that the National Gallery's "Scream" was also stolen some time ago.  Starting to wonder if I should withdraw my investments in Norwegian Security companies.

I'm not sure what kind of magazine this is, but we loved the title.
see all photos »

There you have it.  Off to Berlin tomorrow to check out Checkpoint Charlie.

bkh