SOLO EUROPE III: DAYS 1-2 [OSLO, NORWAY]

this fall i went on my first international trip since covid started. i knew for this trip i was going to go to vienna, austria, and budapest, hungary, as these were two cities that i tried to fit into my past trips but was not able to. everything else worked out for more logistical reasons; because they were all somewhat near these two cities. it was a long time coming & to be honest, i was a little bit nervous. as someone who has worked from home since 2020 & has only gone on roadtrips since then, i was a bit nervous about being in new, big unfamiliar places. i see how covid has made many people more sheltered, including me, which i do not think is good. it is like a muscle you need to workout. i knew this trip would be a good exercise & a good way to make myself uncomfortable.

i started my trip in norway, because flights were so affordable from the western united states to norway. it sometimes is difficult to find direct flights from the west coast as most flights to europe start on the east; it adds an additional 5 hours to a flight. i flew through a new airline, which is why it was so affordable. i took a redeye (my favorite), paid for a meal (which was surprisingly decent), & watched a few movies the movies (contact, best in show, and ladybird). i am now at a point where i would rather fly to a new city & explore for a couple days, than jump on a connecting flight; connecting international flights are stressful. i decided to stay at a hotel close to the airport than a hostel in town, as there were not many hostels in the city of oslo & i had somewhat of an early flight out to budapest in a couple days. 

when i landed at the oslo airport, I took a shuttle bus to my hotel. unfortunately, there is no real public transportation from the airport to the hotels nearby so you have to pay for a special bus which is over $7 usd, one way, even though you're only going about 2 miles. it's also the only way back to the airport, which also has the train station that connects you to oslo & the rest of norway. i checked into my best western hotel, which honestly was probably the best hotel i've ever stayed at. more on that later. i stayed in my hotel room for the rest of the day as i landed in the afternoon. i ended up eating dinner at the hotel (as i forgot to pick something up at the airport), but had to wait until the restaurant opened. i knew food in norway was going to be expensive, and this was no exception. norway is known for everything being expensive. i paid about $22 usd for 2 small pieces of fish, french fries, & mashed peas. it was good, but not a lot of food at that price. i then went back to my room and relaxed. my body is always so confused when i travel internationally & i generally do not sleep well the first night. you would think taking a red eye & not sleeping well on the plane would make me sleepy, but no.

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the next morning i had a wonderful buffet breakfast, took the shuttle to the airport, & then took the train to oslo. once i arrived in the city, i walked to the other side of the train station to get my oslo pass. norway is really expensive all across the board. you'll definitely pay off the oslo pass if you're interested in museums as it also includes all public transportation. it is such a luxury to not have to worry about pay or validation when it comes to public transport. after picking up my 24 hour pass at the city visitor center, i walked over to the bus stop that took me to the bygdøy peninsula. bygdøy is where most of the museums are located & is where i spent most of my day. all the museums i visited were covered by the oslo pass. 

the bus drive ride was really nice. it was cool to see some of the older buildings. scandinavia is not really known for century old buildings, compared to most of europe. a few things i noticed on the bus were 1) a lot of teenagers take the bus (the show skam also taught me this); 2) the streets & buildings were so clean (no trash & no graffiti). 

the old news stand

the first museum was the norwegian museum of cultural history. there are a few artifact exhibits that share some history, but most of the museum is an open air museum that inludes 115 buildings brought from all areas of norway & show the country throughout history; some centuries old & others from the last century. some of these buildings are organized into neighborhood streets which felt like move sets. the museum is the first open air museum in the world (it opened in 1881). this was really fun for me as i find buildings to be the most immersive when it comes to connecting with history. i spent quite a few hours here. 

some interesting facts i learned was unlike other parts of europe, norway did not have an established feudal system or serfdom (which is probably why socialism has worked well). also norway only gained independence in 1905 (from sweden).

log houses

a historical loft (c. 1750-60)

there are real farm animals, including pigs, chickens, & goats.

the gol stav church is the most famous building here. it has been in this spot since 1885 & was the first building for the open air museum. the church is from 1157-1216. inside are wood carvings that remind me of the tiki design.

it was common to see roofs of greenery

an old log house outfitted for the early 1900s. many of these buildings were used by families for generations.

inside one of the apartment buildings

not pictured here, but there were other apartment buildings that showed an fancy living in the early 1900s, a pakistani immigrant family from the 1980s, and others.

an old bank

the old town. on this day, they had some workers fixing the cobble stone road.

a tobacco shop from 1958.

christiana - the new old town of oslo reflecting the 1600s.

next i made my way to get coffee, which was long overdue as by this time it was the afternoon. fortunately right next-door to the museum was a coffee shop. i got my drink & decided to walk to the next museum on the peninsula. i had to walk through a few neighborhoods & embassies, to get to the section of the peninsula where most of the museums are located. unfortunately the viking museum was closed due to renovations, but i did end going to the fram museum. the museum is a big triangle & inside is housed a ship built in 1892 that was used for polar exploration. the ship has been in this building since 1935. it was really busy since it was later in the day & there were a lot of tour buses.

the big reason why ships in the past failed was due to the ice pressure crushing the ships. the fram worked differently. the fram was built so that it would slide on top of the ice sheet & drift with the ice. this also would extend the journey as to return, you have to wait for the ice sheet to melt. for one expedition, it took 3 years. yikes.

the fram.

a model of the fram in the polar

at the museum, you can actually walk inside the boat & see the living quarters. i love stuff like that.

a memorial outside the fram to the norwegians who reached the south pole in 1911

i then walked around the shoreline, but noticed the ferry was going to arrive soon. luckily my oslo pass also included a ride on the ferry, which is a more scenic way to return to mainland oslo than the bus. i sat in the back and enjoyed the ride. i have not had that much experience on boats & do not know how common it is on a ferry, but i did not get sick at all. 

the nobel peace prize building in the old train depot.

i wanted to visit the city hall, but unfortunately there was an event going on so i was not allowed inside. i really wanted to see the 1930s murals on secular civic duty. i enjoy those things as i am a civil servant myself.

the exterior of the city hall

instead, i walked across the street and had a nice snack & late hot espresso. at this point, it was getting chilly and there was a wind advisory. i was lucky, as most of the day it did not rain (only sprinkled a bit) and there was some sun in the morning. i did not expect the weather to be pleasant as this is norway. 

i had a delicious tropical fruit chia pudding. i love chia pudding & saw it quite a few times in norway (surprisingly)

i then walked over to the akershus fortress (c. 1300s). it has been used as a royal residence, prison, military base, & for government offices (including the prime minister). today the fortress is mostly like a big city park with some museums, but part of the fortress is closed to the public as it is used by the military.

during wwii, oslo surrendered to nazi germany & the area was occupied by the nazis. the fortress became a location of executions & after the war, nazis tried & found guilty were also executed here. in one of the buildings in the fortress is norway's resistance museum, which tells the story of how norway was affected by nazi occupation during the war. the most interesting artifact i saw was a radio made out of dentures.

norway's resistance museum

a memorial

after this, i started making my way to the train station so i could get back to my hotel before it got dark. along the way i saw a man with roller skis & ski poles. i have never seen such a contraption in my life. along the way, i stopped at christiana square which is the historical old town of oslo. the old town was moved here in 1624 after the original old town burned in a fire. there is not much to see here & no historical museums (such a missed opportunity). there is a funny hand statue here. oslo has a lot of modern that some would deem funny.

christiana square

i got to see the opera house, one of oslo's most famous buildings, before returning to the train station.

the train ride to the hotel was busy & after walking aimlessly at the train station unhappy with my dibber options (not the most delicious things for expensive prices), i returned to my hotel room. as i said before, it was quite fancy as i am used to motels. growing up, we only stayed at motels and in my own travels in the states i have only chosen to stay in motels because i'm cheap. 

this hotel had the best hotel buffet i have ever experienced for breakfast. there were so many good things and such a mix of more Norwegian, sensibilities and American food. as i said before, at this hotel is where i experienced the best hotel breakfast of my life. i loved how they had ordinary things for americans like pastries, bacon, sausage, & fruit; but they also had salmon, fancy cheeses, & cakes. so good. only complaint is no espresso machine (only coffee), but they did gave ginger lemon tea.

my glorious breakfast.

on a side note, admire with me the cute coin purses the bus drivers have to give change to the riders. so cute.