You have to go up to look down

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Norway was fantastic. Cold. Expensive. Beautiful. The people were among the nicest (and prettiest) that I've ever met.

Day 1

Duffel bag is packed. We walk to central station which gives us a good idea of how (not) fun it will be to walk around carrying all your things with you and then take the train to Schiphol airport. We get to our gate where a whopping 2 people are. Apparently Norway is not a happening destination. Eventually the gate fills in and we get on our plane and 2 hours later we arrive at the airport in Norway. It's pitch black and freezing and almost midnight. We fumble around for about an hour trying to figure out how to get from the airport to the hostel and eventually figure out that we need to get to the central station in Oslo. When we go to buy the ticket we have our first experience with how crazily expensive Norway is. For a twenty minute train ride from the airport to the central station, it cost about $13. For comparison, it cost about $5 for the same type of train ride in Amsterdam. We finally make it to Oslo and
figure out that we need to somehow find a bus that will take us to our hostel. As nice as the Norwegians are, they aren't the best direction givers. Today was our first of many "walk until you see it" directions. Eventually a very nice and somewhat mysterious little girl tells us which bus to get on and which stop to get off at. We get off at said stop and.....well there are no words to describe what you feel when you are cold, alone, and with no idea where you are in a foreign country and a bus drops you off at midnight at a deserted stop that has a forest on one side and freeway on the other with absolutely no human life or within sight. Through what could only be divine aid, we somehow stumbled across a sign that pointed us in the direction of our hostel...which was basically the nicest hostel I think I will ever stay it. It was gorgeous. Very modern and chic. We also got to meet a a crazy guy from either Portugal or somewhere in south America who rambled endlessly about how his brother looks like Jack Nicholson. He also for
some reason carried around paperwork that said he was Jewish. ???

Day 2

We get up nice and early and are greeted with a sunny day and a huge breakfast buffet. Our mission is to take the ferry to this island that is supposedly populated by bunnies. We ask the receptionist at the hostel how to get to said bunny island and she looks at us pityingly and rather cryptically says "There.....are.......no more bunnies." "No more bunnies!!!!" "Someone has collected them." "?" We actually got a few differing answers about the lack of bunnies on this island. Some told us that the bunnies had been collected, some told us that they all died, and some told us that it just wasn't bunny season right now. My personal thought is that the Norwegians are lying to us to keep us from going there...they want the bunnies all to themselves.

We get into town and I'm beginning to have severe doubts about Oslo. The place is completely empty. Absolutely deserted. Ghost town. We could walk for blocks and see maybe one other person. And the few people that were there seemed a bit greasy and had black hair and
many many tattoos and piercings. I thought "Okaaaaaaay.....Norway has some alternative folk....Not quite what I imagined but sure." It turns out that over Easter all of Oslo's citizens go up North to ski and the place clears out. It also just so happens that there was a metal concert in town which explains the few heavily pierced people that were there.

So we walk down to the harbor in order to take the ferry and get some more "walk this way and you'll see it" directions. The harbor, by the way, is gorgeous. I have honestly never seen anything like Oslo. it's just stunning how that ridiculously blue water carves out the coastline and meets the city. Anyways, we get into a line that may or may not be for the ferry and luckily end up on an island just off the coast. We basically have no clue what we are doing. Luckily, it turned out to be a cool little island and we got to soak up some sun on top of these abbey ruins. However it quickly got really windy and cold so my friend and I scuttled back to the dock where we huddled together to
stay warm and sang country songs (poorly) to keep our minds of the pain. We get back from the island around noon and try to hit up a bunch of free museums. Basically we would go to anything that would get us out of the cold and let us put our bags down for a few minutes. This meant that we were treated to a rather interesting contemporary art museum that featured an artists who apparently hated nurses.

Around 1 we finally met our couch surfing host Frode!!!! I can not say enough good things about couch surfing. I was afraid that the expectations I had for the experience would be too high. I knew I was romanticizing the whole thing by expecting really laid back people who where interested in art and politics and cultural exchange. We would do yoga together and talk about social health reform and then make some chai tea or something. That's the type of people I hoped to meet via couchsurfing but fully understood I could very well meet some creepy or distant people. Frode ended up going way above my expectations. He was amazing. The whole experience was amazing. We talked religion,
politics, world stereotypes, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, cultural practices, etc. etc. etc. all over tea and whole wheat pasta and hiking through the hills behind his house. He also had a comfy couch. Viva el Frode!

Day 3

8 am train ride. Probably the most scenic 6 hours of my life. We got to see river valleys, huge bodies of water that were almost colbalt dark, lakes that have been iced over, mountain ranges, tiny villages, the freakn tundra, sun drenched fields, etc. It seems that each time we went through a tunnel, there was a new world on the other side complete with new weather. On one side of the tunnel we could have been in Italy and on the other side of the tunnel we might as well have been in Antarctica. When not enjoying the gorgeous views we ate cookies and played cards.

We got to Bergen around midday and our instant reaction was "Awhhhhhh". It's that cute. I can't explain in words. Look at the pictures. After checking into our hostel (I highly recommend Dorm.No hostel if you ever happen to check out Bergen) we decided that we should take advantage of the clearish
day and take the funnicular up the mountain. Amazing views. I feel like my entire Norway trip was basically one amazing view after another. We were lucky that we decided to go up when we did because about five minutes after we got our last shots, the fog rolled in so thick you could barely see in front of you. Then it started to snow. It was nice and clear not ten minutes before that. At best, weather in Norway is highly schizophrenic.

Day 4

Today included a fish market and an aquarium. We took a nice walk along the Bergen Harbour all the way to the aquarium where we got to enjoy some fun little penguins. On the way back we stopped at the fish market to get some smoked salmon. Because of the snow and rain the fish market wasn't too happening. I'm sure its a much cooler thing to visit when it isn't -100*C outside.

We also met some really chill people at our hostel. We played cards for no less than 4 hours and talked about the difference between studying in Denmark and studying in Amsterdam. I love the sort of people you
meet in hostels. Everyone essentially has the same ideals (traveling and traveling cheaply are enough to make me like someone) and you get to meet people from all over the world.

That night (Saturday) we did what cool college kids do everywhere and went to mass. Let me rephrase.....we went to a 2.5 hour midnight mass that was all in Norwegian. Mass is only marginally interesting at the best of times...but make it late, long, and foreign and it becomes an almost deadly combination. Oh well, now I have something to bring to the table when the whole "strange things I've done on my travels" conversation pops up.

Day 5

Another gorgeous 5 hours. This time everything was covered in snow. I also got to see where an avalanche had derailed a trail only a week before. Train was still there. Comforting thought.

We get back to Oslo and it is cold and snowy. We check into our hostel and spend the rest of our money on pizza and snack food from some ethnic store.

Day 6

Although we didn't have much planned for today it actually turned out to be quite successful. We
tried to hit up some more free museums thinking that we'd have better luck with them being open on a weekday. Not so. Everything was closed so we ended up taking pictures outside the museums to prove that we actually had attempted to be cultural. We had heard about a park that contained a bunch of sculptures and decided to head over there. By this time in the trip my duffel pack had worn a grove in my shoulder so we decided to spend our last 22 kroner on the small luxury of public transportation. It was 22 kroner well spent as the sculpture park (Vingeland?) was pretty spectacular. The statues are impressively lifelike and more than a little creepy. I took pictures of my favorite. On the way back from the park we stopped by the Norwegian castle and were lucky enough to get there during the changing of the guards. Pretty impressive show. Norwegian guards have funny hats. Now that I think about it....guards everywhere seem to have funny hats. The Norwegian guards, however, had this little feathery tassles that hung down in front of their faces. That would drive me crazy. What if it tickled your nose?
You couldn't move to scratch. *shudder*


Quotes of the Trip:
"You have to go up to look down."
"So will an elk eat your cat if you leave it outside too long?"

Things I did on this trip that I have never done before:
1) Fully arranged every aspect of a trip. Hotels, food, and transportation were all planned without the aid of a parent or friend.
2) Live off of nothing but bread and jam for the a good 5 days.
3) Posed with a giant troll.
4) Eaten fish from a fish market.
6) Stolen a towel off the floor of a hostel because I lacked the extra money to buy my own (It looked clean!).
7) Washed my hair with soap because we decided shampoo and conditioner would be too bulky to carry around.
8) Norwegian mass. Nuff said.
9) Took more modes of transportation in those few days than I think I ever have in my life. We covered planes, trains, trams, busses, metros, walking, and funniculars.

Go to Norway! While all your friends are going to Greece, and the south of France, and Spain, you should check out Scandinavia. Theres a
*shiver*
*shiver*
The cold had made us crazy by this point. Some poor soul who was working on boats at the island had to suffer through us singing "Fancy" by Reba.
lot more travel cred to say you hit up Norway, and the scenery is unbeatable.

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Photos

Our stuff
All our wordly possessions. In time I came to hate this duffel bag.

"Where are we?"
This is what you look like when the last bus running that night drops you off int he middle of nowhere at midnight with no sign of human life anywhere.

Plush digs
Our retro modern chic hostel.

Here comes the sun...
Enjoying the sunshine. Little did I know that the next few days I'd be wearing every article of clothing I brought with me so that I could retain some body heat.

Hello....?
See? totally empty

Chicken statue
Proof that norway is strange. You can see the Oslo Cathedral behind the chickens.

More sun soaking
This would be the last time I'd be able to get buy wearing only a long sleeve tshirt.

Abbey
It's a poor substitute for bunnies, but still pretty snazzy.

*shiver*
The cold had made us crazy by this point. Some poor soul who was working on boats at the island had to suffer through us singing "Fancy" by Reba.

Where we stayed
Yay Frode.

Enjoy the view
Oslo from the top of the hill.

Sunset
Purty

Random artsy shot
Behind us is the Northern Light. Don't be fooled...there is only one.

Sunrise
The next morning

Comments

[Steph]

wonderful!
Ahhh Lauren that was great! How amazing! I personally enjoyed the tables at your hostel. And the statues. Don't freeze over there!! And save some stories for when you come back and we get to have sleep overs!~ I think I found a cat . . . I have to go back Friday to get it. It is adorable and feisty- just the way I like them. ??

[Judith (cousin)]

Loved your travelogue of Norway. Your descriptions of Norway's beauty have piqued my interest in travelling there one day. By the way, why did you stay the entire 2 1/2 hours for the Mass? Many years ago I went with friends to their friend's daugther's baptism at a Greek Orthodox church in Orange County. The lengthy service in Greek lasted hours (but seemed longer) and was exceptionally painful, since we had been drinking Ouzo the night before. I understand. Nuff said.