Oslo, Norway
Trip Start
Jun 09, 2007
1
Trip End
Jun 10, 2007
Oslo,
Norway
Saturday, June 9, 2007
I woke up this morning half-heartedly. Ellen, my American grandmother, passed away last week and today is her funeral. What kills me is that I am not there. Instead I will be going to Oslo. But it is too late. I already planned my accomodation, tickets, etc. I have to go. Besides, it is useful for me to stay in my room and mope around.
The train ride from Stockholm to Oslo took me 6 hours. I did not realize that there were assigned seats and I had to move to another seat because I sat in the wrong one. How unfortunate. I really liked my first seat. My assigned seating was in the uglier part of the train, the part that is undergoing improvements. Though ugly, my view was great. I sat right across this rather cute guy and the view outside was amazing too. I was sad to see the guy leave at an earlier stop.
I finally got to Oslo and quickly got myself a map and headed for my housing. I got my housing late and found most places fully booked. I found this vacant apartment by chance and took it. But it is a little far away from the central city. Luckily it is close to a train station. The apartment is really cute though I had to climbs lots of stairs.
The city itself was attacked by a heat wave. It was so hot. I could not wear my jeans to walk around and had to change. The city itself is small and expensive. I wanted to get myself some good Norwegain food but could not find any nice Norwegian restaurants. Since I was starving, I decided to eat at Burger King. I paid 85 kr ($15 for a burger, fries, and a drink). I wanted a large menu but they gave me XL. It was confusing but I was hungry.
I decided to walk randomly in the city. I started at the Central Station and walked around. Carl Johan's Gate road had plenty to see. It was filled with shops, restaurants, and if you walk long enough, the palace is towards the end of the road. The lady I met on the train told me to visit the Vigelund Park and I was instantly glad I met her. The park is adorned with beautiful sculptures--mostly naked ones. So don't bring your kids there (though there were lots of families there).
Day 2:
I woke up really early in the morning because I wanted to hit the town again. Well I soon found out that unlike other Nordic countries, Norway is the most religious. Almost everything is closed on Sundays. The trains ran on a less frequent schedule. It took me a while before I got to visit the Aker's Brygge and catch the ferry to visit the Boydoy island. I just wanted to take the ferry ride. The island houses all the famous museums--Viking ship, Kon tiki, etc, which I had no desire or time to see.
I took another walk in the city center before I had to head back to catch my 1:00pm train.
