Takk Norway!

Grab a cup of tea folks this is kind of a long one. After review, better make it a mug.

Learning to sleep semi horizontal is going to become a skill on this journey.

We spent in total 3.5 days in Norway. We flew into Oslo and it was really not what we had hoped for and certainly following Stockholm and Helsinki the city seemed dirty, inaccessible, and lived up to its title as the worlds most expensive city. We decided to take a 7 hour train journey across Norway to Bergen to get a small taste of the breathtaking sights Norway has to offer through our train window – well worth the time as the pics will show.

We stayed at Jans (Yans) place in Oslo, staying in another room was a group of great German guys who had fallen in love with Norway and were now here to explore Oslo. Simon got a quick re-fresh in German before we head there, and we picked up a few insider tips for the trip ahead. To be generous our room was cosy. We are quite convinced the room is actually a cupboard, but it was fine for what we needed and the bed was comfy. 

Day 1

We arrived in Oslo around 3 in the afternoon and we hit the city to see what it had to offer. We found instantly that the same charm that Stockholm and Helsinki had was not shared in Oslo. Being such a wealthy nation infrastructure is being built everywhere, meaning nearly every block in the city had some sort of construction going on. All guides and info on Oslo said we must check out the Opera House, so we went, we saw, it was architecturally great, but honestly we felt it was a desperate and quite obvious attempt at trying to re-create the Sydney Opera House feel, and it fell short. We didn’t think it was special, but the other tourists seemed to be in awe – we took this to mean they had not been to Australia. 

During our walks we checked out the prices and were staggered, and for a second we considered selling a kidney but instead we walked to the supermarket and bought microwavable meals for dinner and some milk and oats for our breakfasts. Kindly our host supplied us with bread, cheese, meat and some fruit so we could pack our lunches – saving us a fortune and our organs. To give you some perspective double the cost of everything at home and then add a bit more. A latte is $8 at somewhere cheap, a small cheeseburger meal at burger king is $10, don’t even think about going to a real restaurant. We returned to our room feeling quite disappointed in Oslo’s initial offerings.

Day 2

Given our first impression of Oslo we were determined to make today better. We started by heading to the museum of design, we got there it was open but they had nothing on show for this week…. OK. So onto the next thing, there was a free tour of the opera house at 12 (we considered that the inside might be better than first impressions), so we went and then the tour started and he asked for tickets – which we didn’t have. Apparently even though something is free you still need tickets, lesson learnt. So in a 1.5 hours we have walked half the city but have done nothing. C’mon Oslo you have got to have something! 

Really doesnt have an inch on Sydney.

So we walked and walked and finally we hit old town, things looked up. We found a 15^th century castle with gorgeous views across the harbour, and spent about an hour wandering the grounds. 

We then leisurely strolled the city, looking at things we couldn’t have. Then we ran into our first language mishap. We ducked into a burger store to use the bathroom and bought the cheapest burger ($4) to get the bathroom code. We made our way downstairs to the bathroom and saw two doors, both with one different word on them (in Norwegian) and punched in the code, we were a little confused as to why it didn’t work and so we tried again. We were promptly stopped by one of the staff who told us that was a storeroom and the bathrooms were to the right. We glowed red, there were a few smiles from the customers and we burst into laughter.

Day 3

We were up at the crack of dawn for the 6.30 train to Bergen after an early night to bed. We grabbed our yogurts to go and hoofed it to the train station. After boarding the train a lot of people around us went straight back to sleep which we thought was strange, isn’t this meant to be the most beautiful train journey in the world? Turns out you have a good 2 hours of seeing pretty much nothing. We had lucked out and scored the forward and reverse seated (see first photo) bit at the start of the carriage so we lounged out and made the space our own.

About two hours into the train ride and after many “practice” photos we were desperate for coffee. The tea lady came around and we bought two filtered coffees with creamer for 48 NOK or $9.50… and we loved every drop of it.

We finally started to get a look at the high country that Norway is famous for. The bright green mountains and trees, expansive lakes and rushing streams. There were many tunnels on the ride and sometimes you would come out and just gasp at the vista that was unveiled. Absolutely breath taking panoramas that our photography cannot do justice to. Highlights were the wide streams beneath sheer cliff faces that seemed to stretch to the sky, a pair of glaciers at high altitude that even at the end of summer were still massive and glittering in the sun. You really got a feel that Norway was created by these giant ice mountains millions of years ago by the sheer cliffs and rubble at the bottom that looked like the rock had been etched out by an enormous chisel millennia ago. We marvelled at the homes that dotted the way with these incredible views in their back yard. Do these people become numb to how amazing their own backyard is? Walk into your backyard and there’s a 400m cliff face 50m away. Does that just become normal? It is very safe to say that the scenic train ride was the highlight of our journey so far. Again the pictures do not do justice but some of our favourites will hopefully give you some insight. Note to Mum (Sue) there are many and I mean many unique trees, this is the place for you, honeslty you would love it. 

Thats a glacier up there!

We arrived Bergen at 2.30pm to a rainy seaside city keen to find the local fish market that is apparently super duper. After we found an info desk and a map we wandered down and found the markets. Sure enough there was everything from the ocean available to buy and eat on the spot or takeaway. To our horror and disgust this included whale meat. Norway being one of the few nations remaining that actively hunt whales. Simon banged his head on an awning and turning lobster red moved to the previous tent for some fish and chips. 140 NOK or $28 later we bought a single tray of chips and one piece of battered fish. It was good. It was not mind blowing and I’ve had similar at Batemans Bay for a LOT less but nevertheless it was enjoyable and our first decent protein since arriving in Norway. Bergen had lots to offer even though it was raining on and off all day and set out to have a look. We went through the old centre on the water which is now full of tourist shops, expensive restaurants and a bakery where we bought a delicious warm cinnamon scroll. 

 

 

We wandered up the road to find a 15^th century castle which we would return to later. Walking around the back of the old town we found some cheaper places to eat but still pressed on and found a gorgeous white street with narrow alleys and beautiful wooden houses. 

After realising we’d wandered too far we went back and found the funicular which is sortof like a tram and cable car combined. You hop in and it drags the carriage up the side of a mountain giving you great views over Bergen. Unfortunately due to the rain the cloud cover was quite low and we could not get a clear photo of the city but looking at postcards of it in summer it is quite something. 

 We went back down the funicular and continued wandering for a while until we settled on a pub for dinner as the cheapest sit down place outside a McDonalds we could eat. $60 later we had a pretty average pub meal and just caught up on the day for an hour or so. When we went out outside we headed to the centre of town where we had been told there would be music and dancing. There was a stage set up and various acts came on for dancing and martial arts. We walked off to another part of town and heard singing and as we got closer realised a choir was performing in a park so we stopped to listen in. According to Amy the sopranos were a bit weak but the baritones were very good. We walked back towards the city and heard bagpipes and sure enough a highlands band was playing in the old area of town so we stopped and listened for a bit before wandering on and found an older ship was cranking out swing jazz music with a boatload of people on board. A couple on the dock broke into proper swing dancing with leg kicks and twirls to boot. We gave a round of applause before the highlands band marched past us in full song with a mob following them.

Where the choir was singing

 Feeling a bit like the children in the pied piper tale we joined along the mob and followed them back to the old 15^th century castle.

Simon has massive beard jealousy

After the band finished playing their last song (Amazing Grace) the castle was open to the public so went in and explored all the rooms, the dungeon and up to the battlements. It was very cool and exciting. After we finishing exploring we walked back up to the train station for the arduous overnight ride back to Oslo.

Turns out we had stumbled on the perfect night to visit Bergen as it was Culture Night (Kultur Naat) so there were events organised all over the city. It was truly a magical evening.

Day 4

Given the not so restful sleep from sleeping on the train the night before we arrived home at 6:30am and decided to take a quick nap and wake up no later than 8am, at 10:30 we awoke. By the time we packed half the day was gone. The sculpture garden is a must in Oslo and it really is a sight. We are not sure whether we liked it or not, but we can certainly appreciate its artistic value, and the amount of craftsmanship and time this has taken.  I will let you decide what you think…

At 3:30 we caught the train to the airport and had a quick 1 hour flight to Copenhagen Denmark. 

Parting Thoughts

•  Norway is beautiful when you get out into the mountains and seaside away from Oslo. We will return to the north country and see some fjords.
• No ceiling lights makes you feel like you’re living in a cupboard (finding this in Copenhagen too)
•  Showers need to be enclosed with doors, this wet area concept is stupid

 Lessons Learnt

•  Don’t assume you know where the toilet is, ask.
• When booking countries look further than the capital (Simon)
• Budget supermarkets are your salvation in Norway
• Subway is rubbish in some countries
•  Always try and find the oldest part of the city, that’s where the cool stuff will be
•  Bring neck pillows for overnight trains, better still book a sleeper carriage

Write to you from Denmark soon.