North to Norway

Hei hei (as they say in Norway!)! I just got back from quite an amazing trip up north to the thinly populated Scandinavian country! Meghan and I managed to book some inexpensive flights to see the country we never thought we'd ever visit. Study abroad is all about trying new things though, right?

Friday night, at almost 12am, we arrived in Oslo and headed for our Air BnB apartment. It was our first time using Air BnB. Hostels in Oslo didn't seem too nice, so we went for renting a room in a woman named Ingrid's apartment near the city center. Her place was so small and quaint and made our experience much better than if we had stayed in a dirty hostel with random people. We had our own beds and own room, and could close the door on the cat so it didn't jump onto our beds at night (well, Meghan wouldn't have minded, but I'm no great animal lover).

The view of our Air BnB balcony!

 It was absolutely freezing when we arrived in Oslo in the middle of the night, but Ingrid kept her apartment nice and warm. It was so sweet of her to stay up and wait for us to arrive (at almost 1am!) and then ever nicer that she went over our plan for the next day and gave us recommendations on where to eat and what to see. It was great having someone point you in all the right directions, rather than trying to figure it out on our own. I'd love to do Air BnB again, because our stay with Ingrid was so positive!

After sleeping for about 5 hours, Meghan and I were up at 7:30am and ready to explore Oslo. We both dressed extremely warmly, since the temperature was about 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and set off down the quiet residential streets towards the coffeehouse Ingrid had recommended. We ended up getting a little lost, but managed to find it, and there found out that Norway was incredibly expensive! Who buys a croissant for $6 (35 Norwegian Krone aka NOK)??? Well, I did...

We finally found our way to the Sentrastasjon (Central Station) and bought our Oslo transportation tickets for the day. I knew that the Oslo Opera House was nearby, so I dragged Meghan to see this architectural masterpiece. The marble and glass building has a roof that pedestrians can walk all over, and it extends all the way down to the water's edge. You could walk on top of it when a ballet or opera was happening! It was a bright, chilly day, but the water sparkled and the impressive white building looked stunning next to the icy water.

The Oslo Opera House

Overlooking the water and a large glass sculpture

From there, we walked through the main shopping street in Oslo, Karl Johan's Street. It was already packed and not even 10:30am! It reminded me very much of Dublin, from what I saw this summer. Meghan and I passed Domkirke, a very cute church off the main road with beautiful trees. The church wasn't as spectacular as some of the churches I've seen recently, like Melk and Salzburg, but it was pretty.

Karl Johan Street

Outside of Domkirke

The inside isn't as impressive as other churches I've been into recently...

We continued our walking around the city, which was a lot smaller than we had originally thought and saw a bunch of impressive and interesting sites! Here are some photographs and captions of what we saw on Saturday morning. I didn't manage to get any good shots of the National Theater, Palace, or Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park because either there was construction or we passed by in the frigid air too quickly. 

Norwegian Parliament

At the end of the street (to the left) is Norway's National Theater and Palace (though that's under construction :( so sad)

Some statues outside the National Gallery. I was so excited to go and see artwork by Edvard Munch, who is the Norwegian artist who painted The Scream. The Scream used to be my favorite painting and I remember making replicas of it all the time when I was into painting (or when I actually had time to be into painting!). However, the National Gallery was CLOSED for the week and weekend we were visiting Oslo! It was the most tragic thing ever and I was so upset.

The Scream by Edvard Munch...THAT I SHOULD HAVE SEEN ugh. Instead, this was my face when I saw the closed sign on the National Gallery.

We saw Henrik Ibsen's, the famous playwright who wrote A Doll's House (Mr., I mean...Doctor, Zedolik would be impressed...maybe), apartment where he spent most of his life and the road dedicated to him. I liked this photo mostly because of the leaves, not going to lie.

Looking out towards the Aker Brygge port. Meghan and I had a great time looking at all the boats and finding starfish all over the docks! It was a strange thing to see...

I give Meghan full credit for this photo. She bought me a "Nobel Peace Prize" and had me pose outside the Nobel Peace Center with it. We're such polisci nerds.

Once we'd seen most things in the central part of Oslo, we took a bus to get out to Oslo's fjord. Norway is famous for its fjords. Granted, they are much more impressive in the summer when the weather is gorgeous and you can hike and adventure around by them, pretending you're part of Lord of the Rings or something, but even in late October, Oslo's small fjord was breathtaking. In case you don't know, fjords are formed by glacial erosion, where a deep inlet is cut out and the sea fills in, surrounded by high cliffs and forest-y areas and lots of other nature-y stuff, including small islands that you can travel to by boat (Animals aren't usually my thing, and nature isn't either). I wish we had more time to travel out to some of the prettier, more famous fjords in Norway, but perhaps that a trip better suited for summer!

On the outskirts of the fjord

In the woodsy area around Oslo's fjord in Bygdøy, Meghan and I toured the Viking Museum, since Norway is also famous for its Viking history, and the Fram Museum. I haven't done too many museums in Europe since being here, mostly because I'm trying to wait out tourist season in Vienna, but with such chilly weather, going inside seemed like a good idea. Too bad the Norwegians don't seem to understand what heating is! Both museums were quite informative, but Meghan and I learned most from the Fram Museum. The history of Arctic exploration was fascinating and we learned all about the courageous explorers from Norway and their finds. We even got to tour inside a gigantic ship (the Fram) used in an expedition (probably a copy though...), and see a Northern Lights simulation on the ceiling of the museum! It's a shame we couldn't travel outside of Oslo to go see the real Aurora Borealis. That's definitely on my bucket list for the future.

Learning all about Viking ships at the museum!

We ate lunch at the Hamma Hos Cafe in the middle of the forest. It was a combination between an antique shop and restaurant and was very quaint. It had received rave reviews, so we made sure to search for it and go eat. Too bad an appetizer soup was 198 NOK (that's almost $34!)! I honestly couldn't bring myself to eat there and spend that much, so I waited for Meghan to finish her pasta and sausage dish, though she said it wasn't very good. Food in Norway hasn't been the best so far!

Though the place was cute, I can't say I even sampled the overpriced food here...

Meghan and I wandered around the fjord for a while, by the water especially, but it soon got too cold for either of us to bear. My fingers were beginning to go numb! We hopped back onto the bus to the central part of Oslo and walked down to the Aker Brygge area. This area by the water is said to be one of the newest, up-and-coming luxury towns in the world. The recent New York Times article, 46 Places to Go in 2013, stated that Oslo's waterfronts were stealing the world's spotlight. It was actually this article, and a few others, that prompted our decision to visit Oslo! And it was gorgeous. We were so lucky that the snow that the weather channel had predicted was to hold off until Monday when we were gone, because the views across the water were pristine. It was like stepping into an old folk tale by the sea.

Walking down to the waterfront, we saw this impressive building. It was close to the Oslo Konserthos (Concert House)

At the Aker Brygge waterfront with Meghan, with Oslofjord behind us

Aker Brygge with the City Hall in the background (It's that kinda ugly brown brick building in the back...)

Though it was steadily getting colder and colder as evening drew nearer, we were determined not to waste any time in Norway. So, we made our way to the other side of the port to the Akershus Palace and Fortress. This 13th century fortress used to be a "seat for kings" and the central area of the government when Oslo used to be called Christiania. Buildings were erected here over a 700 year period and the structure still stands as an iconic and picturesque symbol of Norway against the beautiful Oslofjord. Meghan and I wandered around inside the fortress, though we couldn't go into the castle since it was past 6pm, took photos, and watched a breathtaking sunset over the Oslofjord and water. Being by the ocean is so peaceful and makes everything seem more relaxing, in my opinion.

Inside the walls of the fortress

In the fortress, with the fjord behind me!

The start of the sunset over Oslofjord!

Despite being cloudy, the sunset was so beautiful

Since it was basically dark now, Meghan and I figured out how to get to Schrøder, our chosen dinner restaurant. It took us a while to choose the right bus, but when we did, we located our restaurant. It was supposedly an affordable and traditional Norwegian restaurant, and Meghan and I were interested in trying reindeer and ox. Sadly, Norwegians think $65 a plate is affordable...so reindeer was out. Meghan did get ox though, and it wasn't bad, just a bit game-y. We ate quickly, though my salad was quite lackluster, and both decided that since it was literally so so so cold outside and we were exhausted from having hardly any sleep and walking around touring Oslo all day, that we would skip out on Oslo's Ice Bar, and just go home to the apartment. I had never been so glad to see my bed at 10:30pm. I told Meghan I'd stay awake, but I think I passed out before my head hit the pillow. It had been such a long day!

Unfortunately, we had another early start the next morning, and it wasn't to explore more of the city. We had a flight at 11:50 to Prague, not Vienna, and had to get to the airport on time. We packed up and said goodbyes and thank-you's to Ingrid and made our way to the airport. There was a traditional Norwegian cafe where they were serving heart-shaped waffles with cream and strawberry preserve. It tasted so delicious! I'm glad I got at least one authentic meal in Oslo!

Me and my Norwegian waffle with whipped cream and strawberry preserve! It was so delicious (although I was also super hungry...)

We had a long day ahead of us, and it wasn't one we were looking forward to. In order to truly experience traveling on a budget like the students we were, we got our trip to Norway for a very good price, by choosing the most inexpensive modes of transportation home. That included a flight to Prague and then a bus to Vienna, since it's only four hours away. We had a little mishap with booking the bus from Prague to Vienna on the Thursday before we left, but Meghan told me she had had problems and so on Friday we sat down and sorted it out. We didn't manage to get the 2:30pm bus back to Vienna, nor the 3:30pm, and the only available one was a 9:30pm! We definitely didn't want to do that, so we booked a 3:00pm bus to Bratislava and then an 8pm bus to Vienna from there. That would have given us 15 minutes between buses to switch, but we were sure we could manage...right?

We rushed from the Prague airport to the main bus station (and got to see Prague on the ride over!) and tried to get on the 2:30pm bus to Vienna anyway. It was full. Darn. So then we waited for our 3pm bus...only to have the incredibly rude bus woman point out that the ticket Meghan had reserved was for SATURDAY at 3pm, NOT SUNDAY. I had a mini panic attack, since I absolutely had to get back to Vienna for a presentation on Monday. I did not want to have to take the 11:55pm bus to Vienna, which was the only available one. As I started to panic, Meghan started to panic. The bus woman impatiently waved us away. Cruel. 

Meghan's panicking calmed me down, oddly enough, and I tried to figure out what to do. I asked the bus agents if there were any buses to either Vienna or Bratislava that we could get on, though they were completely unhelpful. And why does no one speak English in Prague?! Czech isn't the most common or universal language in the world! Basically, we could take the 11:55pm bus to Vienna (by buying a new ticket) or try and get a train for about 90 Euro or probably more since it was so last minute. I refused for it to come to that. I saw that there was another bus going to Vienna in 15 minutes and I thought to try our luck. Didn't work. Meghan ran to another bus bound for Budapest, stopping in Bratislava, asking if there was room for two. There was only one seat, so that one left, too. I noticed that there was a bus stopping at Bratislava leaving at 3:30pm and I was ready to try asking one more time, though Meghan was done. She wanted to just take a train. I persuaded her to wait ten minutes until 3:30pm when the nice Czech man who spoke no English said we could get on the bus, for free! WE WERE GOING TO MAKE IT HOME BEFORE MIDNIGHT! 

The journey wasn't bad, I was just praising all my lucky stars I'd managed to get on a bus towards our destination. Surprisingly, we even made it to Bratislava five minutes after our intended arrival on the other bus and managed to transfer to our 8pm bus to Vienna. It was honestly such a miracle we made it home. In one day, we had been in four different countries and seen Oslo, Prague, Bratislava, and finally (thankfully) Vienna again. It's so good to be home, though Oslo was beautiful and such a great experience.

Oslo Waterfront