Oslo

The first stop on our Baltic cruise was in Oslo, Norway. You'll remember that about a week before, they experienced the tragedies of the bombing of some government buildings and then the crazy went over to the island and shot a bunch of people. From the minute we got off the boat - which was very close to their town hall - we could feel a sadness in the air.

We saw one lady with her children who had come down from Lillehammer to pay their respects.

They had been afraid to come to Oslo until then.

The flag was at half-mast over Parliament.

There were memorials all over the city.

This little girl was on her way to pay her respects.

The front gate of Parliament.

My mom and I both bought a rose and paid our respects.

This is outside of the Oslo Cathedral.
Absolute masses of flowers.
This area was almost 2 feet deep with flowers.

This is one of the guards outside the royal palace.
Definitely not as stiff as the guards in London.

It was time for the changing of the guard.

The Akershus fort. Right near our boat.

Beautiful city that is outrageously expensive.
There were "last minute shopping opportunities" near the ship and I can't count the number of times that I heard, "You want HOW MUCH for this little magnet." It was a good day to take food from the boat with us. We had a lovely picnic on the grounds of the palace.