It's Easter weekend in Oslo. Like any holiday weekend in Norway, it extends forwards and backwards from the actual holiday several days - so Wednesday was a work holiday, and Thursday, Friday, and Monday are national holidays. I have walked around, taking pictures at Vigelandsparken, some of which are posted here. Oslo has been completely deserted. Everyone fled the city to go to their cabins, or maybe Palma de Mallorca, or somewhere else where they can enjoy their hard boiled eggs and too much chocolate in peace.
Or so I thought! Today, Saturday, was the one glimmer of hope for me in the middle of this thick mass of holidays, as the GROCERY STORE was open today. So I went. And there were people everywhere. My corner was full of people: old people smoking cigarettes, young people giggling, children blowing bubbles, bums randomly talking to me, etc. It was more people that I have seen in a week, on my doorstep.
I didn't ask anyone where they'd been, since I don't know them, but I wondered anyway.
Everywhere I went, it was sunny and full of people and their children. There were multiple saxophone players, one 12-year-old boy carefully playing his electric guitar, and an accordion player. Glad to see the art of busking was simply shut down by the weather and not absent from the Oslo Experience. I walked down by the water, and after a while, I had to leave, because there were too many damned seagulls. Some people erroneously believe that seagulls are charming - that is untrue. They are simply less honest pigeons. The ones here are a little better looking, with nice grey markings, but are equally skilled at dive bombing people and, of course, are still an efficient source of birdshit.
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Besides my grocery store, I found a big Asian foods market on the other side of downtown that was open, right next to a Halal butcher. So, naturally, I purchased a couple of red peppers, some coconut milk, Sriracha, and half a kilo of beef liver. That's right.
Sometimes, especially right now, I don't understand why I buy the things I buy. I suppose, in this particular instance, the liver just looked right: shiny, plump, reddish - just unbelievably meaty. I do like liver - this is just quite a bit of liver. This is one instance in which Victor will be of great help.
It is a little after 8pm, and a nice, pale golden light is filling the street outside. This will be delightful for several weeks, I think, and after that, I will have to think about getting some blinds so I can sleep. And after that, buying a UV lamp for next winter. No need to think about it now, though: Spring is more beautiful here because it takes so long to come.
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