We are here! Yes! We left near 80-degree weather in Atlanta to find a climate much better than expected this far north. The two days we've been here so far have been gloriously sunny but cold, at least not as frigid as expected by this Southern gilr's standards.

We left Atlanta on March 21. We arrived in Oslo on March 22 with no sleep and no brain. We had been through a lot. First, before we left Atlanta, actually only about an hour before our Lyft driver was to pick us up, the major-league zipper on Stan's hard-sided bag blew a gasket. I mean it jumped completely off the track, never to be restored. Stan did his handyman thing but no workie. He had to make a tire-screeching trip Marshalls to buy a new hard-sided bag and come home and repack. Whew! That was bad luck but much better than having the zipper pop at the airport or when the baggage handlers were transferring the bags from Amsterdam to Oslo.

But that's not all. Our flight itinerary took us from Atlanta to Amsterdam then on to Oslo. In Amsterdam because of construction, we had to deplane our jumbo jet via stairs and take a bus to our terminal. We had to go through customs. As we met the customs officials I passed through quickly but I could hear Stan saying, "But Janie, but Janie" as he dug through the many pockets of his backpack. He could not find his passport. It simply was not there—I even looked myself. It had fallen out of his backpack on our flight from Atlanta. I cannot say enough good things about the KLM (Delta's partner airline) staff. As soon as we realized what happened, four employees (all this happened during a shift change) made it their mission to find and return Stan's passport. It was a heart-thumper, but yes, the passport was found and yes, it was hand-delivered by a gorgeous young woman KLM rep running through the airport in uniform and high heels with passport in hand. Yes, we were the last to board the plan but we made our connecting flight to Oslo.

By the time we reached our apartment, we were plum wore out.

Let's move on to day two. We had enough sense left over from yesterday's adventures to reserve a place on the Oslo Bike tour. Thank goodness!

We woke to sunny skies and cold temps. We got out about 10 am and walked ourselves to Oslo's Central Station to buy local transport passes and also to secure tickets for our trip to Flam on Saturday. That done, we settled for some lunch at Ergo Restaurant at the foot of the Station where we had cheesy omelets, salad and a delicious Diet Coke.

We walked to Viking Biking Tours, first following Google Maps in the wrong direction for a half mile then correcting ourselves for the actual half-mile trip in the right direction. Well, shoot, we were a bit late but they sent one of the bike tour guides back to get us. What great people and what a great company.

Oslo is a great place for biking!! First, the weather is cool enough to make it a refreshing experience and flat-enough so that the biking is not too hard. The first stop was Akershus Fortress/Castle, 1299 AD, the original seat of power in Oslo—please note, the first capital or seat of power of Norway was in Bergen, but that's another story. This fortress was built by Vikings and meant to hold-off Swedish invaders who attacked Oslo 19 times from 1308 until . . . I don't know, but they kept at it for a long, long time. Oslo burned to the ground in 1624; so much of what we saw today was built in the 1600's. This fortress is still in use today as the Norwegian Department of Defense. Built on a hill, the fortress looks down on the beautiful Oslo Fjord. This bay on this 62-mile long fjord once was a highly industrial, oily ship-building area but now is a lovely first-class marina with yachts, The Astrup Fearnley Modern Art Museum, restaurants and very, very expensive living accommodations. It is a very classy sight to behold.

Next stop was City Hall - a remarkable building but with an unusual style of architecture. Some call it ugly; I call it fascinating. It features harsh vertical lines and stark red brick color, but the unique designs in the brick, the beautiful lunar clock in gold and the Nordic Mythology artwork, makes it completely beautiful. We learned that some cultures, because of the Catholic influence, show their power through the great architecture in cathedrals. The folk here who were never conquered/cultured had no religion and revered local power. Thus cities like Oslo show prestige through local governmental buildings, thus Oslo City Hall.

We visited the Royal Palace (Norwegian Slottet . . . king's palace) built to overlook the city via the long and wide French-styled Stortingsgata that runs from the palace to the Norwegian Parliament building. From this point we rode through streets, sidewalks and alleys past posh houses and building built in the 1800's by very wealthy folks who yearned to be near royalty.

Then, finally we reached what we had been thinking about all day - The Sculpture Garden, Vigeland Sculpture Park. What an amazing place. In 1920-1943, Gustav Vigeland, the artist, was given a plot of farmland near Oslo city centre and was invited to make an art park for the citizens of Oslo. He was given a huge studio/work place and a team of assistants to build the park; even through World War II, his commission continued. He died in 1943 but his assistants put the finishing touches on the park. The park is based on the theme of the human experience and features over 200 sculptures showing human beings in various events/emotions of life - all to be repeated by the next generation, perhaps with the same vigor and same remorse. All sculptures are void of anything that would date it making it relevant for all the ages