Location - Oslo

We were in Melbourne New Years Eve 2009 and we got lost, or sent our friend to the wrong suburb or something along those lines, so he sent me this message "I'd like to see the two of you on the amazing race." He was mocking us! And our travel abilities in Melbourne with a year and a bit until we were going around the world. So when this friend set us a challenge in Copenhagen, the mission was to find a hotdog with 'yellow sauce.' I thought that this would be our roadblock our chance to show our friend that we aren't completely hopeless. So inbetween museums and the other sites we saw, we LOOKED for hotdogs with yellow sauce. And. We. Failed. We only found French hotdogs and an organic hotdog stand. I could hear Phil telling us we were the last team to arrive.

Luckily our friends mother had hooked us up with his cousin, who showed us all around beautiful Copenhagen the next day. She was kind enough to point out all these hotdog stands that had come up over night (they had either just opened that day or we had walked straight by them). We had a great day with her and her friend and her half pug whose name our English tongues couldn't pronounce. She took us to the Crowned Prince's house, where we could line up and file through the big rooms to admire the renovations (there was a massive map of Tasmania in one room - and really what can you do but laugh?).

We could get so close to the Royal houses! You could go and knock on the Queens door if that's what you felt like doing. So different to the fort that is Buckingham palace.

After admiring the future home of Fred and Mary, we went to Christiania. Which is like Nimbin, except in Copenhagen.

After our guided tour of Copenhagen, which had lasted 8-9 hours, we drove to Sweden.

Stolkholm is apparently made up of 13 islands and a heap of 'bloody tunnels.' On our first day in Stolkholm Ri decided we had to see the hippy island and the old town island.

We arrived on the hippy island at about midday and noticed yellow and blue tap was going up and that they were getting ready for a parade. Then a rainbow flag walked by and I said to Ri "I think that a Gay Pride Parade is about to start!!!!" So we grabbed a park and he gave me a choice....
"We can go left and go to the park or go right and go to a gay pride parade"

I'm like ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU THINK WE HAVE A CHOICE?!?! HOW OFTEN CAN ONE SAY THEY SAW A GAY PRIDE PARADE? LET ALONE A SCANDINAVIAN GAY PRIDE PARADE! WE MUST GO."
I still can't believe he would let this opportunity pass by.
So we found a space in the crowd and watched the Scandinavian Gay Pride Parade 2010, oh the colours and the music and the gimps. SO MUCH FUN. I was singing along and Ri was watching, some what silently. But even he couldn't resist singing along to "I come from a land down under".... ummm I didn't know that song was 'Gay.'

Now I'm not remotely political. But I think that Gays and Lesbians should have every right to get married. No one can present me with an arguement as to why it's not their right, or why they have the right to stop them. I think laws against gay marriage are very short sighted/small minded. But that's just my opinion I guess.

From the Gay Pride Parade to a local vegetarian cafe (YUM) to Old Town on another island. I'm finding that lately I'm a self-loathing tourist. I can no longer walk around with maps out and camera shooting everything in site. I want to upgrade to traveller. I once read that the difference is that a Tourist goes to another country and tries to make it feel like home and a Traveller goes to another country and tries to experience it like a local. I'm somewhere in the middle. Still won't eat meat. But I can't stand being in an obvious tourist trap for more than the time it takes to grab a few gifts with the local flag on them.
That is what old town is by the way, a massive tourist trap. So.Sick.Of.Tourists.

We had another two days in Stockholm, but I can only be bothered writing about 2 more things that happened in Sweden.

We went into a local video store and asked the guy at the checkout if he spoke English.
Yes he did.
Sweet, then we needed a Swedish movie with English subtitles for my brother who I know owns one Swedish movie about Vampires called something like "Let the right one in."
Movie man had heard of this movie. He looked up the director of the vampire movie on his computer and found a similiar movie, and after going through an entire non-alphabetized shelf he decided it wasn't in stock... Back to the computer and suggested another one. Turns out no English subtitles. At this point he begged "Does it HAVE to be Swedish?!" Yes, we are in Sweden, why would I buy Big Mama's House in Swedish? Makes no sense. Eventually we found the only Swedish movie in the store with English subtitles. Love you Mr Movie Man.

At the Zoo in Stockholm (yes we went to the zoo, but it was the only thing open late on a Sunday afternoon). Ri needed to go the bathroom and I watched this happen.
Ri walked into a bathroom marked "Herr" walked out again 5 seconds later, looked next door at the bathroom marked "Dame" he then hesitated, then confidently walked back into the one marked "Herr". He really does make me laugh every single day.

Now we are in Oslo, Norway, with beautiful weather and free Coke. In Berlin I made Ri buy a book on travel in Europe and now he quotes it ALL the time. He was reading it at lunch in Oslo and looking worried.
"We need to dress up" he says
"What, why?"
"In Italy, the locals expect everyone to dress up... as the locals are snappy dressers and one of the tips is to take some good clothes"
"Do you want to go shopping? Do you want some good clothes?"
"Yes, for Italy"

So we went for H&M and found him a snappy shirt.
Oh he makes me laugh. Every day.

Until next time.