Norway: Oslo

Our trip to Norway was 10 days long, and we split our time between its cities, fjords, and islands as we made our way up and down this comically long, skinny country. We visited Norway’s three largest cities, all of which felt tiny and adorable compared to, say, Munich (which feels tiny and adorable compared to, say, Berlin or New York). Much like Swiss cities, they were all very clean and safe, and full of friendly yet reserved folks who tended to speak English better than I did.

We flew in and out of Oslo, so it got to be our first and last impression of the country. We enjoyed walking around and getting a feel for the city, exploring the different neighborhoods and admiring the views. The highlight for me was definitely Vigeland Park, home of Olav the Babykicker and hundreds of other wacky sculptures of naked people in various combinations and poses. Although the park itself was free, it cost us a good 12 euros in public transport to get there and back. That was one of our first hints that Norway might not be quite so afjordable.*

Another fun activity involved walking around on the opera house, a delicious piece of interactive architecture located on the water. We found that almost everything in Norway is located on water of some sort. Take our first-night hotel, the MS Innvik, a boat parked in the harbor near the train station (location was key, since we had a 6:30am train to catch). Although the boat’s cafe was fun (and featured the least-expensive beer we saw the whole trip), our room wasn’t exactly fabulous. The teeny-tiny cabin featured bunk beds, a private bathroom with shower, and a porthole with a gorgeous view of the opera house. It was my least-favorite accommodation of the trip (despite the novelty factor), but given that my first choice for a hotel was rumored to have bedbugs, I think the MS Innvik was a good place to stay.

For most of our trip to Norway, we attempted to save money on food by picnicking or eating take-out. This strategy was in sharp contrast to our usual vacation eating, which tends to involve gorging ourselves on all the finest local cuisine available, not paying attention to the fact that we are never going to be able to retire because we are spending every penny we earn at restaurants. But that’s because we usually vacation in places (Italy, Japan, New York) where the food is one of the main attractions. Not so with Norway, whose regional specialties include pickled fish, smurf candy, and various organs of game animals. Given that I’m a vegetarian, I was more than happy to skip the pricey restaurants serving these things in order to have more money left for black licorice and 10-euro beers.

On our very last evening, we decided to actually have a nice meal out for once, and splurged on dinner at the Grand Cafe (whose prices seemed entirely reasonable after a week in Norway). The atmosphere was a little hoity-toity, but the food and service were good.

For our last night, we stayed at the Bondenheim Hotel in Oslo. It was entirely respectable, in a good area with lots of stuff around. Good breakfast buffet, too (which on this particular day happen to be full of Americans wearing cowboy hats and speaking in funny accents between sips of their breakfast beers). It was a pretty good deal compared to our other accommodation in Norway. My only beef with them is that the hotel’s website claims that the airport bus stops right outside the hotel, which is simply not true. It was a short, easy walk of several blocks. Liars.

I really wish we had had the chance to visit the Munch Museum in Oslo, but alas our time in the city was too short. I bet it would have been a scream.

Next up… fjords!

* Scott came up with this word during our trip, and was extremely proud of himself for it. Extremely proud.