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Published: August 20th 2006
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August 16, 2006 & August 18, 2006 I arrived in Oslo around noon on Wednesday. I kicked off my trip in Oslo with an $11 McDonald’s extra value meal. Oddly enough, it tasted pretty much the same as the $5 value meal I’m used to getting back in the states. Welcome to Scandinavia.
Finally fed, I headed to my hotel, The Thon Astoria Hotel. I booked a single room, which you can see from the picture was extremely small. Given the cost of hotels throughout Oslo, I was satisfied with my “budget” hotel. The room was kept clean, and the staff at the hotel was extremely friendly. Unknown to me until I arrived, the hotel was definitely in a seedy part of the city. The travel book I brought along claimed the area was known as “Desolation Row”. Aside from the noisy Thursday night and the obvious hookers on each street corner, the area wasn’t all that bad. I’ve seen much, much worse in Washington D.C.
I started my tour of Oslo with walk down the main pedestrian street Karl Johans Gate. All throughout my stay here, this stretch of road was constantly bustling with people, merchants, and street
Karl Johans Gate
Popular pedestrian street performers. The street runs from the Oslo Central Station to the Royal Palace, bordered by all kinds of eating and shopping establishments.
Two memorable street performers along Karl Johans Gate were a puppeteer, and a blues singer from England. The blues singer had his electric guitar, amp, distortion pedal, and mic setup in the middle of the street, just whaling away. I enjoyed the music so much, I could have sat and watched for hours. Made me wish I had my guitar close by as the inspiration was flowing. On Friday night there was a Christian rock band doing a bit of a revival. During their break, a talented beat-boxer put on a performance. What an odd way to get across the Lord’s message. I tried to think about the Fat Boys blowing out some crazy beats while praising God for the food they were about to eat. Nope, doesn’t quite fit.
From Karl Johans Gate I ventured down to the harbor front, passing by Oslo City Hall along the way. By the harbor on Friday night there was a crazy Pakistani Festival going on with Pakistani rock bands and all, including a wannabe N’SYNC group. For me,
it was an opportunity to get a good meal at a decent price. The aroma in the air brought me back to my childhood days, as I reminisced of the times walking into Khalid’s family kitchen. Only one word came to mind, “gonkachala”!
Another energized area along the harbor was the Akerbrygge, a popular zone with outdoor restaurants, busy bars, and an indoor shopping mall. During the evenings, this was definitely a place to be. Whenever I was out walking, exploring the city, I somehow always ended up in this area.
Once I had gotten a better feel for the city center, I decided to visit Frogner Park on Wednesday afternoon. The park is most famous for containing a lifetime of work by Norway’s greatest sculptor, Gustav Vigeland. Roughly 200 or so statues, surrounded by gardens and grassy lots, I positively loved Frogner Park. With every turn, there seemed to be a new sculpture that would catch my eye and lure me in for a closer examination. My visit to Frogner Park will definitely be one of my most vivid memories from my vacation.
I closed out my Wednesday evening by traveling up to the Holmenkollen Ski
Jump. More steps, as if St Paul’s Cathedral wasn’t enough. Located several miles outside of the city, the walk up to the ski jump was a lengthy 10-minute walk, all of which was uphill. Once to the top, this allowed the best, unobstructed view of Oslo. Given the effort to get to the ski jump, I wouldn’t say the trip out on a short visit to Oslo is truly worth it. Although, for me, seeing a ski jump for the first time did hold some value.
Late, after midnight on Wednesday night I got thirsty and decided to walk down to the 7-11 nearby. I grabbed a couple waters since I knew I had a long day of traveling ahead of me. While in 7-11, two girls were talking, obviously under the influence of something. Since the conversation wasn’t in English, I can’t be certain what they were saying. The next thing I know, one of the girls is on the floor passed out. Her friend just looked at her disgusted, turned away and then left her ass. Not being one to disturb someone when they’re napping, I left her to her privacy as well. Often times while shopping
Folk Museum Church
I believe it was constructed in the 1300s I’ve thought “I could go for a nap”, I’ve just never had the balls to follow through quite as emphatically as this girl did.
Thursday I spent visiting the fjords through the “Norway in a Nutshell” fjord tour. That trip is covered in a separate journal at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Norway/Sognefjord/blog-82904.html.
Friday morning I slept in for a bit. Having not had a good night’s sleep in quite awhile, I felt it was well earned given this was a vacation! Once up, I headed to the Bygdoy neighborhood to visit the Viking Ship Museum and Norway’s Folk Museum.
The Viking Ship Museum was a small exhibit containing the remains of three Viking ships dating from over 1,000 years back. For me, the museum was a little disappointing. I definitely had big expectations going into the visit, so perhaps that was unfair.
The Norway Folk Museum was comparable to Colonial Williamsburg in style and layout. Various older Norse houses had been reconstructed on the site, with local employees posed in traditional garb demonstrating various skills of yester year. While not highly entertaining, it was an interesting look into Norway’s past.
Friday afternoon I finally broke down and hit a
Puppeteer
Street performer on Karl Johans Gate local laundry mat. The stench from my suitcase was getting to be too strong.
Now I’m off to Stockholm where I’ll be meeting up with Tegan at the airport. I’m extremely anxious to share my past experiences with her and to build some of our own together. A week’s worth of vacationing is still ahead for us. I can’t wait to see her….
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