Norwegian Summer 2026 – Days 1 and 2: Madison to Oslo

Woke up at 4:30 in the morning, which sounds like punishment but was actually strategy: the whole idea was to drag ourselves a little closer to Norwegian time before we even left the ground. We’d missed the Norway–Senegal match the night before, so the first order of business, ahead of anything sensible like packing, was to watch it over coffee. Norway won pretty easily. Still stressful!

Then we got down to business and resumed preparations. Somehow we still managed to use up the entire morning on last-minute odds and ends, despite all the work we’d put in the day before. Dad popped in for his morning walk with the girls, then drove us to the airport. No line at check-in or security, and the bike bags weighed in at exactly 50 lbs. 🎉 That left a quiet hour to kill before our flight to Detroit.

Curbside at the Delta door

Update from much farther east. A long wait in Detroit and a long night over the Atlantic later, we arrived in a stifling Paris CDG, intact. A few more hours of waiting and we’d be heading north to Oslo and cooler temperatures.

Head on. Apply Paris directly to forehead.

Paris CDG turns out to be great for people watching and language listening. We found a cool hallway to idle in, working through a delicious raisin-walnut baguette with Brie (7 euros). Compare and contrast with Detroit, where you can’t get a bag of chips for under $15. Europe is for people; the USA is for profit.

Raisin-walnut baguette and Brie (not vegan but French)

The hop up to Oslo was quick and easy.

Masked up for the last leg

Our bikes turned up intact by 5:00 at the place where bikes come out. We hauled the whole pile of luggage about 10 minutes to the airport hotel and started to check in.

“Can I see your passport?”

“Sure.”

Wait. Where’s my passport? It’s gone. Not in the pocket it’s supposed to live in, and definitely not anywhere else I could think to look. We couldn’t check in, because the reservation was under my name and the front desk was not interested in giving us an inch of grace. A few real moments of panic. But I had it when I boarded back in Paris because they checked them, which meant it had to be somewhere, probably still on the plane. So I left Liz with the bags and bikes at the hotel and ran back to the airport.

POLITIET, not where I figured I’d spend my first hour in Norway

I traversed the entire length of the airport for the second time in as many hours, found the police station and pushed a button to talk to a voice on the other end. They buzzed me into a little private meeting area, where I learned she’d just gotten a call about a US passport found on an arriving plane. Hallelujah. It was in fact mine, an officer ran it down to me, and I was back at the desk checking in with passport in hand by 5:45. Absolutely amazing!

Up to the room, where I built one bike.

Bike number one, back on its wheels

And then two.

Number two on the stand

Both bikes assembled on pure adrenaline.

After an hour or so of bike building, we needed some food, so it was back to the airport, where we scored a pair of plant-based Whoppers from Burger King for dinner. Delicious!

Plant-based Whoppers never tasted better

Tomorrow we’ll actually ride some bikes…?