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Published: December 13th 2017
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This morning we caught our Flybus airport shuttle to Keflavik airport for our 11:00am flight to Oslo. When we checked into Norwegian Airlines, we were confused about all the balloons on display in the check in area. We were beginning to believe that Norwegian Airlines just really valued customer service when we saw they were offering snacks, coffee, and soft drinks to the passengers at the gate. We later learned that this was the inaugural flight for Norwegian Airlines from Reykjavik to Oslo and there was a bit of celebration going on. The flight to Oslo was 3 hours and was rather uneventful. Once in Oslo, we caught the airport train that brought us all the way to Oslo Central Station in less than 30 minutes. Now we just had to find our hotel on Moellergata Street, the Comfort Hotel Express. We walked up Karl Johnans Gate, Oslo's main downtown throughfare and it was a little bit of culture shock. Oslo is by no means an overwhelming city but having spent the last few days in sparsely populated Iceland, Oslo might as well have been Times Square. We had a lot of difficulty trying to find our hotel. After many wrong
turns and several inquiries with the locals, we finally found it. For the first time on this trip, I finally had a little privacy as I got my own room. After settling in, we decided to have a somewhat early early dinner as we really hadn't had much to eat today. We chose to eat at Cafe Cathedral, a sidewalk cafe that we had seen while walking up Karl Johans Gate. We had a very delicious and relaxing meal. However, the real reason we enjoyed this place was the great people watching here. I just loved watching all the beautiful Norwegian people walk by both men and women. The entertainment of the evening though came from the prostitutes on this corner who were not very discrete in their attempts at solicitation. We just sat here and entertained ourselves watching all the transactions and negotiations that took place. In the 2 hours we were here, we saw approximately 3 deals and quite a few failed negotiations. I had my first taste of just how expensive it was to dine in Oslo. My dinner was by no means fancy or upscale. Add 2 beers and my meal converted to over $60 US
dollars! I knew that Oslo was expensive but it really didn't hit me until this moment. After dinner, we just walked up and down Karl Johans Gate people watching, avoiding the gypsies, and admiring the beautiful architecture. I was very surprised at the amount of gypsies that were peddling for small change here along Karl Johnans Gate. I expect to see them elsewhere in Europe but I didn't realize they were also in Norway. Oslo was a buzz of excitement compared to Reykjavik. It seemed like everybody was out strolling around and enjoying the beautiful night. All the bars along Karl Johnans Gate were overflowing with patrons. However, none of us was really in the mood to go out or stay out late so we just simply called it an early night at around 11:00pm.
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