Flying from California to Europe isn’t easy.

As longtime travelers, we think we know the drill. I always make dinner reservations in advance for our first night so we aren’t hunting for food when we are totally jet lagged and hungry.  We also know that grabbing an Uber for our trip from airport to hotel is a better, though more expensive option, for bone-weary and luggage-laden travelers. We had it wired.

Let’s just say things didn’t go according to plan.

Our second flight to Oslo from Munich (after our all nighter getting to Munich) was delayed by over an hour. We surely wouldn’t make our dinner reservation so I rebooked it for two hours later while killing time. Easy.

When we finally arrived at Oslo airport, we checked the Uber app and it seemed straightforward. If only we could figure out where to meet our car. The airport signage didn’t say ride share. It said carshare and we figured that was the local equivalent. We followed the signage.

We ended up dragging our heavy bags over a long, pebble path that took us outside the airport proper. There was no one around in the quickening dusk. Just a parking lot.  Then along came a stranger and we asked him where we get the Uber.  He was confounded and said he was just there to pick up his own car.  It was a car sharing lot NOT a ride sharing spot. Oops!  He offered to drive us back to the airport and recommended we take the FLYTOGET express train into town.

In our thick brain fog , we accepted and got into a car with a man who was a complete stranger. (Yes kids, we did it again!  The last time we got in a car with a stranger, we ended up buying a timeshare in Mexico!).

But true to his word, he drove us back to the airport. We took the train and, now another hour later, we finally arrived at the aptly named Saga Hotel. 

There was no way we were going to head out again at 8:30 pm to our distant reservation so we asked our hotelier for a local spot within walking distance.  Most of the neighborhood restaurants were closed or closing but we arrived at Olivia’s Italian just as they announced last call.  We ended up with a yummy seafood pasta and pizza to share.

Sated and beyond exhaustion on our return walk, we settled into our charming, cozy room.

It was lights out for us.

However, it was not lights out for our brains.  For us, it was nine hours earlier and daytime and no amount of counting sheep was gonna cut it.  Jet lag is a bitch.

It was a long day’s journey into night. I thought we’d never see morning light.

And that’s where I’ll leave you on our first hours in Oslo.  But I promise, things pick up from there.