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Chapter 4

The date of Clara and John's departure had finally come. Uncle Charlie had agreed to hold down the shop while they were away, so on a cold January morning they grabbed a cab to the airport. Clara was ecstatic, and John couldn't have been happier.

            "I can't believe we're actually going!" John said, smiling excitedly at Clara.

            "I know! I can't wait! So, where are we going first?"

            John checked the tickets yet again. "We're scheduled to go to Norway first. Our flight leaves at eleven this morning and we should be there by tomorrow morning. We land in Oslo."

            "Norway sounds really great," Clara said. "I can't wait to see the fjords! They should be beautiful this time of year. Hey, what if we tried learning Norwegian dancing?"

            John laughed, trying to picture himself and Clara struggling to keep up with Norwegian dance steps. "That would be...interesting."

            "We should try it," Clara said, looking out the window. The cab pulled up outside the airport, and they climbed out of the car, lugging their bags through the airport doors.

            About an hour later, Clara and John were settled in their seats on the plane, excitedly awaiting the departure. After what felt like forever, the plane finally began to ascend into the sky. At that point both John and Clara were exhausted. Clara leaned on John's shoulder and was asleep shortly after the plane took off. John smiled and patted her head, then was soon fast asleep with his head leaning on the window.

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            "Clara, wake up, we're in Norway!" John gently shook her awake and looked out the window. According to the pilot, they were five minutes from the Oslo airport and would be landing shortly.

            Clara blinked her eyes open and sat up, yawning. She leaned over and looked out the window. "Wow, that's beautiful."

            It was late morning, as they had expected, and the many snow-covered hills and valleys glowed under the winter sun. The landscape looked as if it were sparkling.

            Clara sat back in her seat and they waited for the plane to land. When it finally did, John and Clara shuffled through the crowd and eventually made it to the terminal.

            "Okay," John said, smiling. "Well, we're in Norway!"

            "We're in Norway!" Clara jumped up and hugged John tightly. "This is amazing. I still can't believe it!"

            John laughed. "I know, it's great! So, why don't we find a hotel, drop our stuff off, and then do some sight-seeing?"

            "Sounds good to me," Clara said.

            They grabbed a cab and asked for a hotel recommendation. The cabbie drove them to a fancy but reasonably priced hotel not far from the heart of Oslo. John thanked the cabbie and paid him, and then John and Clara collected their luggage and entered the hotel. They booked two rooms for the two nights they'd be staying here, then went up to drop off their bags. John and Clara were surprised to see that their rooms were across the hall from each other.

            After leaving their bags, John and Clara met in the hall and went back to the lobby, then outside, grabbing a map of the city on their way out. "What do you want to see first?" John asked.

            "Could we just walk around the city?" Clara suggested. "That way we can see everything."

            "Good idea," John said. They started toward the inner city, walking among hundreds of people bundled up against the cold. John thought it'd been cold in London; Norway was even worse. But he ignored the freezing wind and focused on enjoying just being here.