Tromoy

July 11th

Each morning after breakfast I went to "Fresh," the local health club.  The first day I barely got in.  The facility is fully automated.  Eventually I figured out how to activate the lock.  The people inside all wondered what I was doing.  I walked from the hotel in my workout clothes.  That proved to be a mistake too.  Everybody else carried a second pair of shoes.  They left one at the front desk and went to the changing room in their socks.  The machines looked the same as the ones I used in America.  I regaled Gail about the great workouts I was getting.  I was burning calories twice as fast as I normally did at home.  All the machines ask for your weight before you start.  I'd punch in 150 pounds, just like I always do.  In Norway the machines are calibrated in metric.  They thought I pushing around 150 kilograms (or 330 pounds).

Gail followed a more conventional regimen.  She walked around the town, enjoying the sights.  On Monday she passed a building with a big "T" on it.  Gail thought it was the train office.  We were scheduled to return to Oslo that afternoon.  She popped in to make sure everything was correct.  The "T" actually referred to "tourist."  It was a volunteer organization that encouraged use of the hiking trails in the area.  Gail tried to buy a pair of hiking caps as souvenirs for our boys.  Her credit card failed to work.  She didn't have any cash.

Laila and Per Gunnar picked us up in their SUV at eleven o'clock.  The plan was to visit Tromoy, a neighboring island.  We stopped at the "T" store along the way.  I gave the volunteer my card this time.  That didn't work either.  The system was down!  I had some cash remaining.  But it was 50 kroner less than the price of the hats.  I offered to make up the difference with a $10 U.S. bill.  "We don't want that."  Like it was poison.  He did accept the kroners even though I was 50 short.  That got me back to even, offsetting the service fee I paid originally for my currency exchange.

Bruno led the charge on our walk in Tromoy.  Per Gunnar donned a New York Yankees baseball cap.  Europeans view those things as "American cool."  I come from Boston.  New York is our arch enemy, at least when it comes to sports.  The Evil Empire   We joked about it at the time.  Make no mistake.  I did send PG a "New England Patriots" cap after I returned home.

There were couple of stylish restaurants Laila hoped to take us to for lunch.  They were closed on Monday.  So we retreated to the harbor in Arendal.  That's a fashionable place itself.  Then it was off to the train station.  Our once in a lifetime visit drew to a close.

The ride back to Oslo was more eventful than expected.  A lightening storm knocked out the power for a stretch.  We had to take a bus to the next station.  Then find the right train to complete the trip.  Most of the directions were issued in Norwegian.  We weren't phased by that any more.  Gail and I made it back and checked into a hotel right next to Oslo S, the city's main train station.  We had an off day scheduled for Tuesday.  On Wednesday, though, we were headed for the fjords!