Airplanes

I dislike the claustrophobia of airplanes. I choose aisle seats to lesson the feeling. Yet I hate it so much that even small things grate.

I hate being touched by strangers. And touched multiple times, in multiple places, by a stranger at a time I did not choose for the breakfast I didn't order? Grrrr. Yes, I called them 1.5 weeks ago and requested a special meal. They forgot.  Or claimed that all special meals had been handed out before me. Of course they did.

I still can't figure out why they decided to beat on the bathroom door. It was about 3 hours into the flight,  I'm half asleep and wearing bose headphones. I'm not moving at super speed, but my bathroom visit was going relatively quickly. I clued in that the loud banging was on my door when I felt it vibrate.  I can see knocking a few times,  but why continue knocking with increasing frequency? I had been in the bathroom less than 60 seconds!

Oslo

Txpenguin & T invited us to join them on this trip to chase the Northern Lights.

In the end, it turned out to be 6 of us; 3 couples.  Txpenguin & T, my brother R & my friend livingdeb, T & me. I'll try not to allow the two Ts to become confusing.

I'm a little grateful to R. Without him,  I would be the slowest walker, clumsiest, too often seeking a bathroom, most difficult person to travel with. It is nice to not be the "most" in this category. Or at least not all the time. I think I won most-cranky- in-the-morning, but I got better.

In Oslo Livingdeb's advance research led us to a cheap train to our hotel. Purchasing the tickets was a challenge,  but she also had the destination train stop. The hotel seemed like a mostly traditional hotel. Radisson.  Double bed, private bath, nothing special.

We took showers,  then wandered downtown. Saw a pretty church, went through a street festival. Met up with Txpenguin & T (who arrived later, through Iceland). My T even found a comic book shop.