I had a great day today and saw lots of Oslo, but it was far from your average tourist excursion.

I can always see Holmenkollen close up at a future time, but I wanted to catch up on my roots and wanted to see the places where my dad grew up and the places I personally remembered (although I was very young when my grandparents moved from Oslo and we stopped going there for weekends and vacations).

Oslo 1982

Oslo 1983, me and my great grandfather

We took the tram and set out in search of some personal landmarks!

Need I comment on the view…?

One of our first stop (after meeting with a dear friend of my dad’s) was my grandparents’ old house, from which I some solid memories. I would not have been able to point it out amongst its neighbors, but once I saw it, it was it alright, except I did not remember it as light and in my world, the garden was four times smaller than what I expected (but then again, as a three year old, my perspective was a little bit different…).

Right by the house was a brick school just as I remembered (except for the minor changes that occur during a period of two decades…)

…and we quickly retraced the little store where we’d go buy ice cream.

Next stop was a lake just nearby, where we’d go swimming with my mother (no memories of my own unfortunately),

and then we set out towards the highlight of the entire journey…

…namely the place where my parents got engaged!

My mother on the day of their engagement in 1975

My dad would always talk about how they got engaged on the ice, but I had no idea it was so close!

I’m really glad for this day. I’m glad I got to catch up on some of my Norwegian heritage and meet some of the people that mean a lot to my dad. The only disadvantage with being me is that I have roots a little bit all over, but that doesn’t mean that I appreciate them any less!