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Published: October 24th 2011
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Royal Palace
Norway is one of the few countries in Europe still with a monarchy. This is the royal palace. Note: All events in this entry occurred back in March 23, 2007. For more updated trips and entries, please refer back to this blog at a later date. Thanks and enjoy!
I had always wanted to travel to Norway ever since I was a little girl, especially after going to the Norway exhibit at Epcot's World Showcase (for more information on how Disney World has influenced my interest in world travel, please refer to my blog entry entitled "Two Days at Disneyland Paris.") However, originally I was going to go to Oslo with a new American friend I had made in my new program through IAU at Centre'Aix (for more information about my study abroad experience in Aix-en-Provence, please refer to my blog entries entitled "The Move to Aix-en-Provence" and "IAU Trip to Nice, Monaco/Monte Carlo, St. Paul de Vince and Cannes." I also will also write an entry to two in the future about this friend and of my daily life in Aix-en-Provence if you are interested in reading more details about this.)
Unfortunately just after I had purchased my tickets and booked the hostel for us, she told me that her mother would not approve of the
costs, deeming it too expensive. Therefore, I was stuck traveling by myself because I could not refund the plane tickets. This did not ruin my friendship with her, however, since we still keep in contact to this day and I recently reunited with her during a recent trip to New York City (which will be detailed in several blog entries coming up in the near, yet not immediate future). I was a little disappointed because I was looking forward to having a traveling companion but by now I was very comfortable with traveling by myself and Norway was a destination I wanted to visit anyways, no matter who I was with.
I had booked the trip for a three-day weekend, starting on Friday and ending Sunday evening. The only city I would be able to see in Norway was going to be Oslo, simply because there was enough to visit over a two day period. My departure date finally came. My plane left Marseilles International at 5:30 AM GMT for Munich, so I decided to stay at a hotel nearby the airport so that I could take a taxi from there and not disturb Camille that morning. I got
up at 2 AM GMT, and left at 3 AM GMT through the aid of a taxi because the free shuttle was not running at that time. My plane, a Lufthansa flight partnered with Norwegian Air, arrived two hours later in Munich. When we arrived in Munich, snow was falling, and I remember seeing snow on the roofs of houses as we flew in. I had fifteen minutes until I made my connection, which was annoying because I had to navigate through the very huge and also new to me Munich airport, however I finally arrived at my gate, which was ironically for the same plane I had just left?!? It was nice because the flight attendants all greeted me like a long lost friend. The flight was very nice; the attendants gave us ham and cheese sandwiches with German chocolate as a dessert, and plenty of complimentary drinks.
Two hours later, we arrived in Oslo. I navigated my way outside of the airport, neglecting my guidebook's advice that it was better to take the train from the airport rather than a taxi. I took the taxi anyway, regretting it because the ride was about $100 dollars US! Nonetheless,
I arrived at my hostel safe and sound around 2 PM GMT. My bed would not be ready however for another hour or so, therefore I had no choice but to leave my things in the luggage storage area and tour some of downtown Oslo. I decided to start my tour at Karl Johan's Gate, which is a major boulevard found in downtown Oslo that contains retail shops and restaurants. I decided to eat a late lunch at a local restaurant next door to the TGIF Fridays there. I had one of the most unique meals of my trip in fact, which was a hamburger patty, fried and topped with a fried egg and served on the side with a pickle, roasted tomato and fries. It was actually quite good.
After eating my lunch, I decide to walk around and visit some of the shops located along Karl Johan's Gate. I know I do remember seeing a lot of clothing shops that I took the time to look around in. I then head back briefly to the hostel in order to retrieve my items from the luggage storage area and put them in the lockers up in my dorm.
After a little bit of drama when the elevator got stuck on its way down, I managed to get down to the lobby via the stairs and then continue my sight seeing tour. My next stop is the old castle, which now houses a Norwegian WWII Resistance Movement museum, and also used to be the location of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony which has now moved to its own building. I just walked around the premises and took lots of pictures of it and Oslo's fjord. After that, I decided to take a coffee break at a local coffee shop across the street. I then make my way towards Aker Brigg, which is a shopping mall with lots of stores and restaurants, and is also near the Nobel Peace Prize building. I looked in more clothing stores and then head back to Karl Johan's Gate. I head further down this time, first visiting the University of Oslo campus, and also the royal palace and also took pictures of the opera house. I then manage to find the History Museum, which had a very fascinating collection of viking era artifacts, and other such detailing the history of the Norwegian people leading
up to the 20th century. There was also an archeological and anthropological/ethnographic museum which contained artifacts and traditional dress from various indigenous and rare peoples like the Inuits, the Sami, South Pacific peoples and also the Etruscan of Southern Europe which was quite interesting and informative. Unfortunately this museum was about to close, so I only had 2 hours to visit a museum that was certainly worth a four hour or more visit, however it is a museum I highly recommend.
I end my day buying a sausage and cheese flat bread sandwich and a waffle for my dinner. I also begin to talk to some of my roommates in my dorm: a Dutch woman in her 30ths and a Canadian now living in Edinborough with her husband. Apparently she had just arrived from Lapland country in the north, and her train was delayed because a rain deer blocked the track. Only in Norway would something like that happen, I thought. I then go to sleep happy and excited about tomorrow, which would include a lot of museum visits.
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