Antoine and Steffan, two dutch backpackers who lodged in my dorm room for my last 2 nights in Oslo. Not as crazy as Antti, however more fun to hang around with. Their first night there they were determined to go to a night club called "Tiger-tiger" in downtown Oslo. They went and came back excited because this attractive blonde girl gave them free tickets to return for the next evening. Steffan was pumped and KNEW he had a chance. I agreed that on our last night in Oslo, since they were leaving for Bergen, I'd go out with them to [View Full Entry]

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My room mates last night turned out to be a guy from Belgium...who's girlfriend was sleeping in the girls dorm!?!? They must be REALLY christian over there! I never could figure their reasoning for that. Then there was a mysterious adidas duffel bag sitting beside the one bed and a mysterious pair of shoes down there as well. I found out later that there were two IRISH guys who were staying there. I remarked how it seemed that they were packing light, to which I was told that they only came to Oslo for ONE NIGHT to go out drinking! [View Full Entry]

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What I thought was going to be a quiet night last night, was in fact anything BUT quiet. I returned back to my room to find two travellers from Finland. Kristian and Antti had completely unpacked everything they brought with them all over the room. Both of them are musicians, Kristian is apianist for the Helsinki National Theatre, so conversation was quite interesting. They both have exactly two weeks off and decided in the wee small hours of last saturday that they would take a last minute, anything goes trip through central and northern norway. Antti hadn't realized the plan [View Full Entry]

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As time passes on here I am slowly starting to feel the wrath of "walking" everywhere. I know that public transportation is THERE for that simple reason, however, I've only got a limited amount of time in certain places...so usually an idea to visit a particular location will just 'pop' into my brain and before I can really figure anything out...I'm heading in that direction. I think that I would waste more time waiting for that particular bus to come, then it would take for me to walk there. It's that sort of mindset that has led me to have [View Full Entry]

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I keep hearing about the HOT, HOT weather that you are all having back home. (Edmonton area that is) Well, I'll be the first to ask you if I could PLEASE have that! Out of the 2 weeks that I've been travelling, I think I had rougly 4 1/2 days of sunshine, in which 1 day was excellent (my day in Åraksbø). I'm not complaining, trust me, I'm quite loving my time in Norway and from my first half day in Oslo...going to be quite good. HOWEVER, some sunshine would be GREAT! I caught the express bus in Kristiansand and [View Full Entry]

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It's been about 4 days since I last had the pleasure of having internet (It's amazing how dependent we are on internet now!!!) and there is a certain gladness you have when the internet place is open when you venture back into the city. I spent my last 4 days in the area of Norway in which my family lived and immigrated to North America from. The farm in which they lived and worked is near a hamlet called Åraksbø by the town of Bygland...which is beside the Byglandsfjord (complicated isn't it!!) I rented a vehicle from a company called, [View Full Entry]

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The most common phrase that I do say while I'm here is in the title. Translated it means, "I am from Canada. Do you speak English?" The Canada thing is important b/c americans are a little iffy up here as well. (are there any places in the world for an American to travel anymore!?!?!) Anyway, like I said before, they all generally speak english so that usually works. Last night I thought I would take in a movie at the local Kristiansand cinema. I decided on 'Transformers', which I wanted to see anyway...(Geek I know, but it was quite good!!!) [View Full Entry]

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I've made it to Norway and the experience of getting here is something I'll remember. First, the keys on the keyboard are not THAT different...however i've caught myself having to look for certain keys, since they are not where they SHOULD be! The day outside here in Kristiansand is quite overcast, it's not bad out however it is a little nippy. I'm actually quite humbled by my experience here in the morning so far. Generally, everyone here speaks english...but it is the initial shock that they go through when you start speaking english to them that is quite funny. Here's [View Full Entry]

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Well...to my surprise as I walked up to the ticket counter for KLM with my raggity-ass backpack and such...she stamped this "fast track" sticker on my ticket!? I saw the long line up for the security gate and was dismayed about the long wait...I asked her, "is that where the line starts for security?" She simply replied, "Oh, your entrance is right there." and she pointed to a deserted area. Long story short...i am officially first class from heathrow to norway...with a layover in Amsterdam. As I type to you I am currently in the first class lounge, enjoying my FREE [View Full Entry]

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This morning was fairly laid back. Just slept in (til 8 am...haha) and slowly left my hostel making my way down to Trafalgar square to check in to my ONE and ONLY nice hotel that Jessica got me. As I was lugging my massive backpack up the Charring Cross station stairs, I notice a LARGE commotion happening at the top. As I reach the top, look towards the admiral arch..i see flood, after flood of bicycles fly by me. I had inadvertantly come across the start of stage 1 for the Tour de France!!!!!!! I completely missed ANY chance of [View Full Entry]

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