Thursday 26 February 2015

Oslo Adventures

I went away for another little trip last weekend, this time to Oslo for my friend Laura's 30th birthday, I had such an amazing time, we managed to cram in a lot of japes in just a couple of days!

First things first, we'd heard how expensive everything is in Norway, so we decided to stock up on Duty Free at the airport. Cue much bewilderment about what we were allowed to take with us. Turns out Norway is NOT part of the European Union. Who knew?? Fiercely independent, it turns out. This was good news for us.

I hadn't really done much research as it was quite a last minute thing, we had originally planned on going to Berlin, but the flights were too expensive. So I hadn't really realised how beautiful Norway is, I fell asleep on the plane and awoke to amazing icy vistas!


Oslo

train to Oslo Sentral
Birthday girl Laura

We got the train from the airport to Oslo Sentral, more beauty to feast our eyes upon. Snowy scenes! Our apartment was near the Opera House, which is an amazing building, I was very excited as you can see into the costume department and there were wigs and models aplenty.

Oslo sunset

There was a spectacular sunset across the water. Absolutely amazing. After finding the apartment, and spending around a thousand Krone on snacks, we found our way to Grunelökke, which is a cool, independent area in Olso. We went for cocktails and burritos, and immediately had to take a cavalier approach to spending, as it was too depressing to work out how much everything actually cost.

The next day we took the tram to Frogner Park to see the Vigeland sculptures. Everything has a bit of a retro, slightly 80s vibe to it, but the actual park is incredible, and we were super lucky that the weather was bob on, cold and clear and crisp.

Oslo tram
Tram chums

Frogner park, Vigeland scultptures
Hands in the air like you just don't care

Vigeland Park
Vigeland sculptures

After checking out the sculptures we decided to walk to the museum quarter. It took quite a while, and we were all desperate for an open sandwich and a sit down by the time we got there.

Viking ship museum
Viking ship Museum

The Viking Ship Museum was brilliant, really interesting and a very cool building. We spent about an hour there before getting the bus back to Grunelökke to refuel. We got beer and burgers from a place called Munchies, which was absolute 100% hunk central. Ridiculous.

Show me you're tough.


Oslo Opera House
Oslo Opera House

Godt Bröd Oslo
Egg custard of dreams

On sunday we went to try and find the Oslo flea market via a scamper up the Opera house building. Unfortunately we had to carry all our bags, which was a little arduous. The market wasn't quite where I expected it to  be, but we went to Godt Bröd bakery and coffee shop for the World's Most Amazing egg custard and cinnamon bun, which lifted our spirits into the sky! We found the flea market, but it was a bit disappointing, some great furniture, but that was just a pipe dream when flying with Ryan Air. We made our way to the bus station after a delicious hotdog. The bus journey to the airport was really beautiful, I wish we had more time (and money) to explore the countryside more! Can only imagine the wonder of Summer in Norway.

In summary: the men are insanely handsome, the dogs are amazing, and there's not a wallet in the world big enough for the amount of Krone you'll need. I would love to see more of Scandinavia!

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