Sightseeing in Oslo

Hi! October 8-10 I went to Oslo for some sightseeing!
(Friends wanted to plan a trip there, and I was flying out of Oslo to go the Finland on Monday, so it worked out great to spend the weekend in Oslo first!)

Meet the friends I went with: Terri (the other Canadian from Augustana), Kirsten and Aaron (Americans and we are in the same Norwegian language class), and Jonas (Danish, my housemate, good at cooking, and in the outdoor program).

So now here's some stories and pictures from the trip!

Terri and I hitch hiked from Bo to Oslo on Friday morning and it worked out really well. It took about 4 hours instead of 2 on the train. We got picked up quickly and people were really friendly. But they were surprised that we were hitchhiking. For example...

Maja: Er det rart --nei, jeg mener uvanligt-- aa haike i Norge?
Person som kjoerer: Nei, det er RART.

(When I asked if hitch hiking was uncommon in Norwegian, at first I accidentally used the word 'strange' instead of unusual. The driver answered that the first word I used was correct: it is weird to hitchhike.)

We stayed in an OK ho(s)tel (but read the reviews here, the bad ones are quite funny) ... All accommodation in Oslo is very expensive so we were happy enough to get this room.

5 for the price of 2 ;)

The first thing I did when I got to Oslo was take a nap. Not very exciting, but I had to charge up my energy for the beginning of my holidays.

Aaron at Bari Pizza for dinner. This is the best restaurant in Oslo I tell you!

Later we did some night time sight seeing in Aker Brygge, a neighbourhood on the waterfront with fancy cafes and apartments with cool architecture.

Aaron, Kirsten and Terri riding a polar bear. So cool.

Terri is the master of great poses.

Artwork outside the Nobel Peace Center.

The next morning I went to the Folk Museum (where many buildings from different places and times and different types were displayed). It was impressive to see so many different buildings, but a little disappointing that I could only look from the outside.

This church was made in 1200 of only wood!

Then we went to Vigelandsparken. This is definitely my favorite place to sightsee in Oslo (and maybe in any city?!). I think I could go there again and again and be interested every time! The fall colours made it extra beautiful. It was also cool to see some people doing parkour and some breakdancing in the park.

The park is full of people sculptures is all sorts of poses.





Look carefully and you can see the Holmenkollen ski jump on the hill in the background.

The ski jump was where we went next. Looks like it's coming out from the clouds!

Here's a view of the biathlon range and stadium (the finish area is on the right behind the building).

And a view of Oslo from up there. Lots of construction still and the train line not quite finished . The road up to Holmenkollen was totally renovated compared to when I was there last summer, they're making every look nice ;)

Saturday evening we cooked some dinner in the ho(s)tel and then went out looking for nightlife. We were turned away for being too young (!!) a lot of places, found a nice cafe-like pub where we talked with people who had immigrated to Oslo.

On Sunday we went to the Edvard Munch Museum. I really enjoyed looking at his artwork. You know, I haven't really been in an art gallery ever before.

The Scream

We walked though a botannical garden and enjoyed the sunshine.

A less than successful group picture...

Terri and I playing with the leaves :)

In the evening I saw a strange Norwegian movie in the movie theatre. It was a true story of a ridiculous bank robbery in Stavanger.

I spent the night reading my ecophilosophy textbook and trying to sleep now and then. I began by sneaking into the hotel we had stayed at for a few hours of sleep on a couch in the common room. I went to the train station at 3:30 am, but it wasn't open yet. After a bit of a worry about whether I could get to the airport for my plan at 7, I saw a few other people waiting outside for the first train at 4:45. Then the station opened before I got too cold and I continued my short hour naps there, on the train, in the airport, and on the plane to Helsinki. OK so Finland will be the next post. Bye!