Oslo, Norway - Day 1

Norway was one country I never really thought about going to until the opportunity presented itself to me.  I guess I had never really put Scandinavia on my "to go to list" period.  Even though it is expensive, it left quite an impression on me as the country is very beautiful and very clean.  Though, there is no way I would go in winter...no way!

Norwegian Dew

My friend Noah went on foreign exchange when he was in High School to experience another culture.  Now you would think he would have gone to a Spanish speaking country as he speaks Spanish fluently, but you would be wrong.  Noah is a man of mystery and was looking for more of a challenge.  Instead, he chose Norway as he knew nothing about the language.  He was a little disappointed to find out that practically everyone in Norway speaks English.  Still, he did learn a few useful phrases and a lot about the culture.

This year, Noah decided that he wanted to visit his host family again as it had been a few years and they had been asking about him.  Oslo sounded pretty cool and I had never been there before, so I figured why not and asked him if I could tag along?  He didn't have a problem with it and emailed his host family to let them know.  A day later, he got an email that both of us could stay with them.  Neither of us expected that and felt a little badly as having guests in your house for a week can be cumbersome.  I should know as everyone wants to visit you when you live in NYC.  But they assured us it would be fine.  That was great for us as Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world at this time.  We figured early September would be a good time as it would still be decent weather and the sun would still be present.  

I was stoked and couldn't wait for August 31^st to roll around.  A few days before we left I found out that we would be going through Newark.  Ack!  JFK is a lot closer to us and I avoid Newark at all costs as I don't like it even if it has cheaper flights.  It is just too much of a pain to get to from where I live.  So, the night before the flight I did some yoga, threw in some push ups and prepared to get all Eye of the Tiger on my suitcase.  You see, to get to Newark from my place in Brooklyn, you have to change trains three times.  If you have been to NYC before, you will understand my plight.  There tons of stairs at every stop of the subway, plus you have to walk to the appropriate platform to your train.  That is a lot of walking and hauling with a 40 pound suitcase.  That is a little under half my size!  I had to get into the zone.

The View From Homenkollen

So, the morning of the flight I ate a high protein breakfast said goodbye to my friend and cat who was house-sitting and we headed out the door.  It was around 85 degrees that Sunday and as always, pretty humid.  Not the best circumstances, but we were going to Norway, so I had to shut my internal voice up!  Sure, easy to say as I climbed up the final stairs to the Newark Tram.  I think I had lost 5 pounds in the 2.5 hours it took to get there!  Still, I was going to Norway!

The flight was pretty uneventful; there wasn't turbulence like the Dublin trip (I still wake up in a cold sweat from that one)!  My only complaint is that they put computer screens on the back of the seat in front of you.  Now, I love playing the games as I enjoy kicking people's butts; ask Noah, I kicked his three times in chess!  But people don't understand the joy of touch screens.   You don't need to pound them!  Remember folks, there is a head resting in front of that screen, if you hit it too hard, the person in front of you can feel it.  I should know, the person behind me was hitting his the whole time and kicking his feet into the back of my seat the whole night.  You gotta love over night flights and people who don't understand the magic of keeping their feet off of the back of seats.  It is safe to say I did not sleep all that well.  Though, something to note, the Norwegian people are very quiet on planes.  I think that was the quietest flight I have ever been on.  It was very scary.  I am not kidding, nobody was even whispering!

It turned out that I was the big winner between Noah and myself as I got 20 minutes of sleep while he didn't get any.  Between the chess and sleeping matches, Noah was having a bad night.  We were pretty excited once the plane landed, but we were both wary of the crash that we would soon have after the adrenaline wore off.  I remember what happened in Ireland; I don't do well with jet lag at ALL!

Holmenkollen

After getting through customs and retrieving our luggage we were greeted by Noah's host father.  I liked him immediately.  I have to say I was impressed that he did indeed speak perfect English.  I asked if he had learned it in school, he said no, that he had learned it from watching TV.  That is pretty impressive, because I have been watching Korean dramas for about 2 years, and I still can't understand most of it.  Thanks, English subs!!!

Something random that I noticed as soon as I got out of the airport and into the parking lot; the air is fresh and clean.  It is light, crisp, refreshing and very noticeable.  Now, maybe it wouldn't be noticeable to someone outside of NYC, but for me this was as a huge discovery and one that was a bit distressing.  What was happening to my lungs in NYC?  I was afraid to find out the truth and flipped my mind.

Also, the temperature was a lot cooler than I expected.  I had left 85 degree weather at home and was now looking frantically for a sweater as it was in the 50's.  So much for the theory that we would be hitting an Indian Summer in Norway. 

Trollin'

Our host father dropped us at the apartment so we could clean up and unpack a little. It was a great apartment with a view facing downtown Oslo.  The best part was that we were only 15 minutes from the heart of Oslo which is nothing compared to my daily commute into Manhattan daily.  He showed us our room, we freshened up and then we were off.  He wanted to show us Holmenkollen as it is hard to get to from the subway.  The roads leading up to Holmenkollen were very windy which is not great for me as I get car sick and was running on no sleep.  But in the end, I didn't toss my cookies which was a happy achievement.

For those who don't know, Holmenkollen is the world's second oldest ski jump and the arena has been hosting competitions since 1892.  Noah and I decided to check the place out.  There are many, many steps that lead down to the area where the audience sits and where they put on concerts.  It was fun climbing down but I stopped before I got to close to the murky water.  It was all fun and games until I realized I had to climb back up!  The steps are very high and there are a lot if them.  I am pretty short so it is safe to say my legs were burning by the time I got back to the top.  I knew I would be hating life in the morning, but at least my legs weren't feeling the 8 hour flight any longer!

We also went into the Holmenkollen Museum so that we could go to the top of the ski jump.  The museum was modest size, but packed with information.  I learned that traveling to South pole is not for wusses and nobody does it better than the Norwegians.  Seriously, the Brits tried to be the first people to get there, but were dismayed to see the Norwegians beat them to it.  After that disappointment, they froze to death on their way back.  That is a double slap in the face.  To the Norwegians it was just another winter day.  I would see this ability to deal with cold later on in my trip.

Vigeland Park

Also, within the museum are two huge taxidermy animals; a moose and a bear.  They were horrifying!  I am not into taxidermy and find it utterly creepy!  I had to chuckle at the moose as it had a poop pile in the fake cotton snow next to its bum.  Nice detail!

The time had come to climb to the top of Holmenkollen.  At first it seemed like a good idea as I heard the view was great!  It turned out not to be a great idea after I stepped off of the elevator and had to climb the remaining flights of stairs to the top.  My legs were still feeling the burn from my earlier climb to the bottom of the arena.  Feel the burn!  I have to say the pain disappeared after I saw the incredible view.  Everywhere you looked you could see trees and water.  I had just gotten to Norway, but I knew I was in for a visual treat. 

After, Holmenkollen we stopped into a restaurant quickly to grab a quick lunch as we were all hungry.  That is when I made my first encounter with the Kroner and the prices in Oslo.  A cup of regular coffee was over $3.00 dollars.  Yes, $3.00!  The small sandwich I ordered was about $9.00 and I mean it was small!  Well, you have to eat, so I paid the $12.00 and enjoyed the meal and the view.

It Looked Better in the Brochure

We thought our host father would be leaving us at this time so he could go to work as it was Monday.  Nope, it turned out he had taken the whole day off to show us around.  This guy was the best, but we couldn't help but feel badly as we weren't expecting it at all.  He responded by taking us to Vigeland Park because he had heard I had wanted to go there.  How cool was this guy?  He dropped us at the front gate and drove off to run a few errands and would meet us at the other end of the park.

I was so excited to be finally seeing Vigeland Park!  I had heard about it from a few people and had done my research.  I have to say Sinnataggen was high on my list of things see and he happened to be in Vigeland Park.  Sinnataggen translates to Angry Child, but I prefer to call him Angry Baby.  Angry Baby has been defaced and even stolen a few times in the past few decades.  Poor Sinnataggen!  No wonder he is so angry, I would be too if I had buckets of paint poured on my head.

Also, when in Vigeland Park you have to take a photo with the Monolith.  The Monolith is the main focal point in the park.  The Monolith is surrounded by many statues that depict different stages of a person's life and the Monolith stands in the center bringing the whole image together in a grand finale of sorts.

Sinnataggen

Well, the grand finale came to a screeching halt as I spotted a huge object wrapped in tarp and surrounded by scaffolding.  Apparently, the statues of Vigeland Park get a thorough cleaning once every eight years.  Well, on my visit, the Monolith just happened to be getting the treatment and was completely covered up.  Hmm, not the happiest photo op!  I won't lie; it was a little bit of a downer!  This was the main visual of the park and it was a plastic mess!  Noah mentioned he had a photo from when he lived in Norway if I wanted it back home, but it just wasn't the same.  It's kind of like going to France to see the Eiffel Tower and it is closed for a month.  Okay, maybe it isn't that bad, but it stung a bit. 

My disappointment was short lived as I spied many other statues in the picturesque park.  I had to remember, there were many other statues and Sinnataggen wouldn't let me down.  You know what?  He didn't!  Though, he was a lot smaller in person, but I have heard the same thing about Tom Cruise.

After about an hour and a half, we headed back to the apartment as our host mother would be cooking us dinner.  The meal was great!  I am a big fan of fish as are the Norwegians, so it worked out well!  I have found that the Norwegians are really big into ice cream as dessert, as well.  What a coincidence, I am too!  So, after a full belly, and a few hours of conversation with the host family, Noah and I turned in as we had been up for about 36 hours and were running on empty.