Now I’d love to start my blog with a beautiful scenic picture of fjords and trees (so many trees!) However I was so overwhelmed by all the people (so many people!) and being back in an urban environment that I completely failed to take anything close to that. Instead I’ll introduce you to the Metro Station at Sisen (which was 2 minutes from the hostel I stayed at).
Pretty huh? Nice touch to an otherwise boring concrete walkway.
I was so exhausted from the flight and my silly night of wakefulness (and writing blog posts) that I really didn’t do that much on my first day, other than have a wander round the main streets in Oslo. To be honest the sheer volume of people, buildings, people, cars, people, trees and did I mention... people? Was just too much to take in. Did you know that Oslo city (not the attached areas to Oslo) currently has a population of around 580,000? The TOTAL population of Iceland is around 300,000! Now I shouldn’t find it strange, having lived in London and all. But after 2 months of seeing a couple hundred people at the most at one time, it’s difficult to assimilate. In fact if I hadn’t been so zombied out, I probably would have gone back to the hostel and hidden in the bed!
Anyway, I’m feeling better about it now. So on we go...
Errr what am I doing again? Oh yep pictures of Oslo. Hmm right, actually I’m not going to do this day by day as it’ll bore the tits of you (and me) so I’ll just skip to the key bits ok? Cool...
Bygdøy is a little spit of land in the Oslo bay that houses a good few museums. I made it to the Folk Museum, which is totally awesome. If like me, you have a thing for buildings and wood. It’s OK if you don’t, it’s still interesting (honest!) Basically they’ve brought together loads of old houses and buildings from around Norway to a) preserve them and b) give tourists an idea of what it was like in the ‘olden’ days.
You’ll get to see little gems like these...
Which have huge deep doorsteps and not a lot going on in decorations, unless you like carvings.
You also get to see this...
Such an awesome building. I really love this, there’s really intricate carvings around the door and the actual space inside is quite small and a little dark, but very atmospheric. You’ll have to imagine what it’s like as all my pictures ended up a bit blurry as I’d forgotten to bring my tripod with me (yes I’m adding that to the don’t leave the house/tent without, list).
There are tonnes more buildings, but its best to go and see for yourself. As half the fun is the exploring and feeling like you’re sneaking into other peoples homes. Anyway I also managed to go and see the Viking Ship Museum. Which had.... yup you’ve got it...
Viking Ships! Real ones! They’re in a huge church and there are 3 of them. One (the one above) was found with a female and child buried in them. The other 2 were a little more beat up than this one though and I can’t remember if they had anything in them, other than sledges and other daily life bits.
They are totally fantastic to see up close though. I was singing the ‘Vicky the Viking’ soundtrack (in my head) the whole way round! There are equally interesting (I’m sure) museums on the ‘island’ too but I didn’t make it to either of them.
I did make it to the Opera House though. Luckily I caught it when it was sunny and spent a good couple of hours wandering up and down it. Personally I completely love this building. It’s a really good example of how modern architecture can work really well in any environment. Check it out...
Yes I know that it looks like a glass box with some slopey concrete bits BUT all the slopey concrete bits are actually the roofs of the buildings underneath. They also have some raised sections that form a huge gutter taking rainwater right down to the water in the bay. You’ve also loads of contrasting textures from the glass to the rippled, stippled or smooth concrete, to the ‘braille’ metal sections on the top roof...
The best bit is, the roofs also form an easy walkway up to the top, where you can look out at the bay and enjoy the view! How cool is that? Completely love this building.
Oh I also checked out the cathedral in the centre too. It’s fairly nice and has some funky and brightly painted ceilings. Now I know that they’re meant to have some religious meaning, however this one just made me think he was taking a shower...
If you get to Oslo you should definitely check out the Vigeland Park. It’s a nice place to hang out on a sunny day (I should think, it rained when I was there). Not only that but it’s got tonnes of statues by this one guy. I bet you can’t guess what his name was...
I think they’re pretty cool. Next time I’ll check out the museum that goes with it and find out how long it took him, I’m thinking it wasn’t a seven day thing.
Thinking of cool things check out these two...
a couple of random finds whilst walking the streets. Love the staircase on the left side of the building, it reminds me of the tunnels you used to get in Play Schools when I was young. The graffiti is the only example I saw that wasn’t just crap tagging.
So that’s it for the ‘highlights’ of Oslo. I didn’t really go out in the evening. I’m saving that for when Hui comes to see me (early September I think).
Right now I’m on the train to Kristiansand which is further along the coast from Oslo (about 4 hours by train) and I’m planning on hooking up with some couchsurfers on the way to Bergen, where I’ll be meeting up with Rachel (Yay!). Even though its great meeting new people, I can’t wait to see someone I know! What else?
Oh yep, I’ve had two farms confirm, once for September and the other for October which is excellent! So it looks like I’ll be in Norway until at least mid October, I’m not sure what I’ll be doing after that. I’m thinking of trying for a season job in Sweden or somewhere to help top up the funds. I’m not skint yet but I don’t think Norway is going to be particularly cheap to hang out in!
Oh and lastly, let me introduce you to my new (unhealthy) addiction
This stuff is pure, unadulterated evil. They served it at breakfast at the hostel and I’m hooked! It tastes like runny sugar with a back hit of darkish chocolate. It kind of reminds me of this icing type stuff they have in the US. I think they call it Betty Crockers? Anyway I have a pot in my bag as we speak and it’s calling my name...
Catch you all soon
x
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