Skeetlet

Three people standing on a boat with snowy land behind them. There are trees and cute Nordic houses with saunas along the dock.

A white building standing on the edge of a fjord, jutting out from a short rocky cliff.

A cluster of colorful Nordic houses on a rocky bluff with complimentary colored saunas along the shore for each house.

A fish-eye view of the water and small rocky islands all around.

She wanted to see the fjords, so we went on a boat tour. We did Oslofjord, which is small compared to Norway’s western fjords, but a lot easier to get to on a day trip, and still beautiful. It was also very cold and windy.

An old fortress wall, towering up from stone covered in dry thick vines.

A brick embrace in the wall of a fort.

A tarnished green cannon barrel riddled with deep pockmarks from bullets.

My brother and mom standing in front of a cannon with the sunset behind them over the Oslo harbor.

We found a super cute game cafe in Oslo after wandering the grounds of Akershus Fortress. The fortress was amazing and my mom had never seen anything medieval before. There was so much old stuff to see. We did multiple museums daily. Lots of walking, but it’s what she wanted!

Yeah, we decided this was just me, my brother, and my mom.

She struggled with hills, which were all over the city, so we had to budget double time for walking, sometimes splurging on taxis/ride shares when transit wasn’t convenient. We made unexpected stops, but also found neat things with some of those stops.

So for Christmas, we told her we were bringing her someplace. We did research and ultimately, sort of abruptly decided on Oslo, given plane tickets and various scheduling factors.

She’s 76 and losing mobility, so we wanted to do it sooner than later, and that was the right call.

So. How did I end up on a weeklong trip to Norway and Iceland? My brother and I decided to give our mom a trip because she’s never been on a proper vacation to an old place.

She’s been to Mumbai, Calcutta, Rajasthan, Rome, Hong Kong, and other places for religious retreats. She didn’t see things.

I mean she was right. Falling would be deadly, there’s no guardrail, and it was super windy.

A woman in a lightweight puffy down jacket, a grey wool skirt, and burgundy wool leggings standing with her legs slightly bent in front of a snow covered red and black crater in Iceland.

A woman in a lightweight puffy down jacket, a grey wool skirt, and burgundy wool leggings standing with her legs slightly bent in front of a snow covered red and black crater in Iceland.

From the other day…

The woman whose partner was taking the picture told me to “please be careful”, so I took an athletic stance in front of a volcanic crater.

A drink in a plastic cup on a bar.

Ya girl… who woke up at ~9am Reykjavík time this morning and is also at a concert now awaiting peaches to come on stage is currently drinking a double Hendricks RedBull.

Opening act for Peaches is GREAT. And the crowd is totally digging her. BUT, Minnesotan bobbing and swaying doesn’t really translate to east coast and she’s requesting more crowd reaction.

Two people in front of a cloud of green aurora.

Also me and my brother @footzilla.bsky.social in front of auroras.

A super bright green swirling vertical streak of aurora borealis in a cloudy sky.

Several green waves of aurora borealis behind a typical-looking red Icelandic house.

A pale green cloud of aurora behind the big tall obelisk church in the center or Reykjavík.

A fan of green aurora over a yellow Icelandic house with purple lights shining on it through tree branches.

Attn: @lookitup.baby
#AuroraPosting

Cargills are about to start an artisanal BBQ dog treat business.

@johnmaddening.bsky.social @crobertcargill.bsky.social

She also talked about how Iceland withdrew this year in protest of Israel’s participation. Unexpected for a tour bus.

Evidence.

Bus driver is telling people all about Eurovision

Three people grimacing in heavy blustering snow. They are standing in front of a waterfall that is not visible because of the weather.

A large waterfall in a snowy landscape.

A zoomed in photo of a large waterfall surrounded by snow.

Went and saw this waterfall. Also there’s a blizzard today.

Heading off on an Icelandic bus tour with a yellow weather warning today.

UNFORTUNATELY I don’t think I’ll be able to get there tomorrow before they close and they’re closed Sunday. 😭

The big pointy church on the top of the hill in Reykjavík. It is lit with blue and purple lights. There is a statue in front of it. There is a hazy evening sky behind it. The top is an obelisk with stone stripes kind of up the side.

Three people wearing hats in front of the pointy church.

An artsy looking photo up one of the lit walls of the church. It stripes straight upward with blue and purple lights.

A wood block table with some fake dried plants and a candle. There is a red cocktail in front.

Arrived in Reykjavík for our stopover. Spent 20 minutes in the Handknitting Association of Iceland before they closed. Had a great dinner. Walked uphill in sleet to see the church. I got cold, so I’m having them meet me at the bar.

First thing I do on any device or app is silence nearly everything.

A European building with a large purple graffiti adorned street corner wall. On top of a doorway on the corner is a simple message “I ❤️ Sluts”

Someone has graffitied “I ❤️ Sluts” all over the neighborhood where our hotel is.

Overheard older British couple in Nobel Peace Center: “…this is too much history.”

Update: spoken for!

People pretty regularly just carry their skis through Oslo.

And every once in a while the winningest combination of bizarre knowledge gap fillers.

I’ve heard she has a self help guide for that.

Anyone wanna go to peaches with me on Sunday immediately after I land from my flight back from Europe? 💀💀💀I will be SILLLY.

We have so many of those 💀