Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

All the pictures and activities I've written about so far in Norway are about nature (excluding the churches, but those are all about overcoming the natural man, so really the same category). Well, there are more common signs of civilization, too. And I actually did spend a good amount of time shopping. All still very fascinating, though, with a decidedly Norwegian flair. They even have graffiti. I did the majority of the shopping at Fritex, which is like a Goodwill or something, except like a million times better. Full of the weird and wonderful. Check out that coat I found. [did NOT buy it, to the disappointment of my friends] Sometimes we just browsed. Which, to you non-shoppers, is like sight-seeing for free. So above you have Gamle Stavanger, which means Old Stavanger, because it is the cute old part of town. The houses are all white, and the streets are mostly cobblestone. Which is kind-of painful, but helps give you traction. Speaking of traction, there is...

I was in D.C. four days. This is my fourth post. And it's the caboose. Tuesday was my patriotic day. Not that everything else I saw didn't show devotion to the country, but there's something different about the original buildings designed for D.C. Great Hall in LOC I started out in the Library of Congress. I actually had no idea where to go, so I went into the Madison building first, because that was the first building I saw with "Library of Congress" on it. Then a kindly gentleman pointed me to the tunnel that would lead to the Jefferson Building, where the exhibits are, after I told him I was looking for the Bibles. So of course the first things I saw were the Gutenberg and Mainz Bibles, 15th century printed and handwritten (respectively) volumes. I also saw Thomas Jefferson's library collection, but I am pretty sure my photos from that are horrible. One of the temporary exhibits was the Magna Carta, and the influence it had in American governmen...

For reasons I don't understand, I woke up the Monday morning in D.C. with a migraine. I would have preferred to stay in bed. However, I had an agenda to accomplish. So, by bike and train, I entered the Capitol. Then I called my dad to direct me to the nearest pharmacy so that I could buy Excedrin. Bless him, he did. With that accomplished, I directed my steps to Ford's Theatre, the site where my favorite dead person was shot. Conveniently, I got there 5 minutes before the next entry time. Ford's Theatre Presidential Box The bed where Lincoln passed away The books published on Lincoln The whole presentation is self-guided. I wandered around the theatre, noting the Presidential Box where Lincoln was seated. Then I crossed the street to the Peterson House where President Lincoln died. I looked at exhibits on his mentors, his character, his influence, and his lasting impression on modern culture. It was absolutely wonderful. I bought my only souvenir there. ...

Since my trip was over the weekend, logically one of the days I was there was Sunday. So we tried for Sunday-ish sight-seeing. That included the U.S. Botanic Garden, Arlington Cemetery, the National Cathedral, and the Washington D.C. temple. So it was still a jam-packed day. Mistletoe for the season   A whole room devoted to orchids The main gallery was a miniature National Mall The Hawaii section was actually pretty short. The changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier  The tombs at Arlington Cemetery all had wreaths for the Christmas season. It was amazing to see so many fresh wreaths scattered around. For some reason, when I took a panorama of the National Cathedral, it became deconstructed. But that's still artistic, right? The interior of the Cathedral. Notice Texas flag on right. While we were in the cathedral, some medieval-style singers sang something or other. I love singing in cathedrals. We w...

As an only slightly related introduction, I prefer writing on the most recent event first. When I have three patients, and I see patient A, then patient B, then patient C, I would rather chart on patient C, then B, then A. I figure I am more accurate on C, and only slightly less accurate on B and A, since I had an event between them and the documentation anyway. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. I take the same approach with blogging. I am not done recounting my Norway trip, but I just got back from a spur-of-the-moment D.C. trip, and want to get that all recorded while it's fresh in my mind. For 3-4 days (two of the days weren't full days. in case you wondered at my math) I zoomed around our nation's capitol on bike, foot, and train (with an occasional car), trying to see as much as I could, and still feeling like I hadn't seen a tenth of the exhibits/attractions. All the more encouraging was that pretty much everything was free. Made me less dis...