Chio says "What's the big problem? Laugh it through to the next day!": Norway

Norway
Monday, September 11, 2006

Norway would be our second country in our pre-SEP stint.. It was 2 girls and a guy now after we bade farewell to EngKheng and made our way to one of the most expensive travel places on Earth!

Arriving in Oslo and the National Museum
First impression of Oslo was the rate of high-techness the city was in... albeit it being cold and metallic.. with reference to the airport and the express train to the city centre. After checking into the hostel, we went around to Karl Johans Gate for a walk only to find the place strangely sleazy.. though it was supposed to be a main shopping street. Sensing that it was not wise for 3 young asian travellers to be wandering around a foreign land at night.. we grabbed our exhorbitantly expensive (already the cheapest we could find) meal and headed back to our hostel.

Our roommates were these 2 German girls who were students as well. Had a nice talk with them and that was when we found out that Karl Johans Gate was an infamous Red Light District at night. Haha.

Wasn't feeling too well.. so popped Paracetamol and headed to bed.

Daytime Oslo was much more peaceful. The buildings were characteristic and quaint. Was marvelled by the architecture.. probably coz it was different from Sweden and was still enthralled by the whole European-architecture thing. So we took photos as we made our way to the National Museum which was a rather long walk away.

Took the free tour guide who did an excellent job in explaining how all the murals around the Gallery.. all of which were painted according to Norwegian history. Turned out to be a rather enjoyable tour coz the art weren't too abstract.. haha.. means I understand what was drawn!

Folk Museum
Took a boat to one Peninsula where all the Museums were congregated.. one of which was the Folk Museum. The place was kinda like Skanson of Sweden. Nothing really interesting. Few photos also.

Viking Museum
Ancient Norwegians were Vikings.. and the boats were mainly used as burial sites. That's all I can remember haha. My brain is like a net.. wadever I read in Museums will just flow out through the holes. So er.. just see photos lor. Haha.

Vigeland Park
Norway's most visited attraction with over 1 million visitors every year. Approximately 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943), who also designed the layout of the park. A monumental artistic creation with a human message that is well worth seeing. Popular recreation area.

Yeap.. and it was real nice place to chill out.. sit in the grass.. under the warm fantastic weather.. The whole place was full of naked sculptures. Oh well.. this is art!

We were at the Internet point at the train station happily using internet when his (rather good looking) Chinese guy came up to ask if we were Singaporeans. Haha! Meeting a Singaporean in this part of the world is always exciting. He's Adrian.. studying Geography in LSE.. same course as Jilyn. Hohoho. Coincidental yeah?

Norway In a Nutshell
The best part about our Oslo hostel would be it's FREE CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST! Yeah the breakfast rocked.. with hot sausages, scrambled eggs, potato wedges.. FRESHLY TOASTED BREAD.. cheese.. yum yum yum.. so naturally we had to take this symbolic photo of our last meal in the Hostel before we headed on to Bergen.

Norway in a Nutshell is this famous ride which took us through the sights of scenic Norway via a train from Oslo to Myrdal.. then onThe Flam Railway, from Myrdal to Flam.. where we took a boat ride through the fjords to Gudvangen.. where to took bus up steep slopes passing by towering waterfalls to Voss where we finally took a train to Bergen. Watch this video here to really understand how wonderful this trip was.. where even my photos won't do justice to...

Bergen

Our second city in Norway and our final stop before heading back to our respective universities in UK. Bergen turned out to be a nice little fishing village with characteristic pointed-roofed houses. Walked around.. took photos.. then we took a bus out of the main city to Troldhaugen to visit the hometown of Edward Grieg.. a famous Norwegian composer.

It was a looong walk into Troldhaugen. The blazing heat from the sun didn't help either. Though it did bring about one of the more interesting happenings during our whole trip.

We were on our way back to the bus stop after visiting the place.. the sun was equally hot and 3 of us were damn tired from walking. Jilyn even wanted to faint on the spot so we could get and ambulance to send us back Haha. One of the girls did mention something like "I wish some kind soul will pick us up."

And almost immediately like a wish-come-true a car stopped by and the driver asked if we needed a lift. Under normal circumstances we would have kindly rejected.. after all.. we were vulnerable travellers in a foreign country. But that time wasn't a normal circumstance. So we hopped in.. me in front.. the 2 girls behind.

Turned out that the driver was a pianist himself doing some recording nearby and he often gives people lifts out to the bus stop! What a kind soul. The mere fact that he was a pianist probably got the girls smitten with him already haha..

Kind people do exist after all.

Second Day in Bergen
Started off by visiting the Hanseatiske Museum.. learnt about the Bergen fishermen's lifestyle blah blah blah.. then we took the Furnicular up to Mount Fløyen to see a spectacular view of Bergen!

Walking around the park was refreshing.. took a lot of group shots. Weather was great. And guess what's interesting? We bumped into Adrian (the Singaporean guy at the Oslo Internet Joint) again! Haha.

We wanted to celebrate our last day in Scandinavia by feasting on Norwegian Salmon.. but was oh too expensive.. so we settled on Pizza Buffet instead. Whoa eat until can die.

Just so happened that it was the Cultural Feste in Bergen so we decided to feast ourselves in the cultural mood. From street dancers to outdoor bands to puppet shows.. what a great ending to our Scandinavia trip! Met this cute little Norwegian boy who I gave my carrabena to.

We intended to spend the night in the airport but we realised that the airport wasn't 24 hours! So we just stayed illegally in the hostel common room till it was time for us to head to the airport.

Waiting illegally in our hostel common room for our morning flight

What a trip! Good bye Norway.. Hello UK!

Signed off at
11:59 pm

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