Carrying a small child through Europe

Walking from my hostel to the centralstajon (central train and bus stations)today I realized that I am carrying the weight of a small child through Europe, my bag was last weighed in at Stansted airport in London as 45lbs...add my other bad that is probably about 8lbs or so and you have a child. Although I think it would be better if I was giving a child a piggy back ride through Europe because then I could make them walk...and I would..because they are heavy!
I am currently waiting for my bus that goes out to Oslo Torp..the cheaper airport in the area that isn't even located in Oslo at all! It is nearly 2 hours south in Sandjefjord, I don't really mind the long bus trip because the views of the country side are beautiful, and believe me Torp is in the country...when I landed there last week from London there were horses staring at the plane as we coasted dorm the runway.
My day and a half in Oslo has been fairly interesting. I found a place to stay that I later read is mostly used for military personnel, which explains the bland white paint and structured set up of the dorm rooms. It was in a great location though right by Karl Johans Gate, the main 'drag' so to speak through central Oslo. Yesterday I grabbed one of those free touristy maps that seem to be everywhere you turn in Oslo and headed up to the Royal Palace. Gunnar had told me that the guards outside the Palace wore these hats with what I would call feathers on one side that cover part of their face...I had to investigate. The King's guards were very entertaining, they each have their own post outside the Palace and when they get bored they not only march but stomp around and make very quick turns and are overall terribly entertaining. I feel bad being one of THOSE tourists who enjoys watching guards around castles and palaces but c'mon...you don't see this type of thing just anywhere. After walking around the castle I headed across the city to find Vigelandparken, a park built by an artist by the name of Vigeland. Vigeland made over 200 sculptures and they are all displayed in this beautiful park. At first the park doesn't seem so interesting...just sculptures in a park..but no. All the 200+ sculptures are naked women, men and children in different poses. Some are fighting, hugging, kissing, throwing eachother etc. and they all look very lifelike. The other interesting thing about Vigelandparken is that all the sculptures lead up to a giant phallus made up of sculptures of people. Now that you don't see everyday! As I was walking through the park I kept on thinking that this kind of art, at least on this large scale and in a very public place would never be allowed in the US. But no one seems to bat an eye here as children run around the statues looking at them and some even climbing them. I have to say that the park is very amazing and even though it took me nearly two hours to get there after getting lost in the twisting streets of Oslo and refusing to take public transportation (you see more when you walk) it was totally worth it!
One thing I wish I had time to do is to go see the Munch Museum. Munch is a famous artist whose painting the 'scream' was stolen many years back, and restored once it was found. But I did see a lot of graffiti about Munch and a huge spray painted version of Munch's 'scream' on the side of a builing.
Alas, maybe another time I will be able to see the real 'Scream' for now I am headed to Dublin and am very excited about it! After studying Ireland for 6-7 months it seems like it is about time I go. I will be staying in Dublin for a night and them catching a series of buses to get to County Cork where I am going to be organic farming for a week. From there I am headed to the Aran Islands to visit an old roomate, and after that headed back to Dublin to hang out with my friends there for a few days before we go to the language school in County Donegal.
But before I leave beautiful Norway it seems that I should write more about it, I have written pages upon pages in my journal about my experiences in Bergen and how thankful I am for being able to have gone there. It is hard to summarize an experience that means so much, as Gunnar drove me to the train station Monday night I was reflecting up on how much fun I had meeting family and seeing exactly where my ancestors lived. For a moment I thought about how everyone told me my life would change on this trip and as we rounded the corner in the city centre in Bergen an overpowering feeling came over me. This feeling was something much larger than myself, it was a feeling you get that lets you know that what you just experienced or saw or felt has changed you, that your mind will often drift back to this magical, beautiful place and the amazing people you met. It is hard to describe but I can imagine everyone has these feelings after they have a great experience such as I had.
Gunnar and his family will never know how much that trip helped me in regards not only to family but also things about myself. Its amazing how much you realize about yourself when you are on top of Fløyden, one of the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen, looking down on the fjords realizing that a couple generations back your own blood called this place home. It is as I wrote before...undescribable.