Four days in Oslo

Well, I’m finally back in London after nine days of travel. I’m a little bit worse for wear, but I spent the most amazing vacation in Vienna, Prague, and Oslo.

You may be wondering how I ended up vacationing in Norway. To start, Norway fascinates me: the people, the history, the culture, the government, and the way of life. Norway is a peaceful Scandinavian nation of stunning physical beauty (and I could equally be referring to the landscape or the Norwegians – tall, blonde, and fit). They have universal health care, subsidized higher education, and a comprehensive social security system. I did not see the northern lights, or snow, or the extreme seasonal variations in daylight. And yet it is still magical to think of Norway as a land of midnight sun and winter darkness. Sadly, I didn’t spot any trolls or Father Christmas – I imagine I’d have to go farther into the northern forest for that. But although I’m fascinated by the country, the real reason that I chose Norway was the opportunity to visit my good friend Katja.

Katja is smart and adventurous and loves to travel; she has spent the last few years alternately traveling through Europe and Africa and studying in France and India. We met in 2010 at the Université Paul Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence, where we struggled together through ten hours of grammar class per week. By inviting me to stay with her this past weekend, she unwittingly agreed to be my full-time tour guide in Oslo, navigating the city, answering my non-stop questions, and directing us to great cafes, bars, and restaurants. I want to take a moment to thank Katja and her family for welcoming me into their home. After a long week of travel and youth hostels it was heavenly to sit down to a family dinner, curl up on a sofa, and generally feel taken care of. Katja was generous with her time, her family, her friends, her food, and her clothes – she shared so much with me and made my experience unforgettable. I hope that one day I can return the favor. Takk! Thank you so much!

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I left Amy in Prague on Thursday morning. Amy had been my travel companion in Vienna and Prague, but we were separating and she was headed for Bruges. Arriving at the airport three hours in advance of my flight was definitely unnecessary, as I spent over two hours sitting at the gate before boarding. On the positive side, I did finish A Certain Justice by P. D. James, which I had bought at Heathrow. I couldn’t put it down. When I arrived, I took the train from the airport to Oslo Central Station where Katja was waiting for me – with chocolate! We were thrilled to see each other, and walked around the city center as we caught up. That evening, we had dinner with her family – salmon and vegetables over rice – before meeting her friend Kristin for drinks in a hip part of the city. Unfortunately for me, prices are high in Norway and the exchange rate was brutal. I chose a Norwegian beer, Aass, for 66 kroner ($12). 60-66 for a half liter of beer or a glass of wine is standard. We talked for a long time about the bombing and the youth camp attach this past summer, Norway’s intervention in Libya, and the problem of rape in Oslo - mitigated with silly girl talk, of course.

Friday morning began with a typically Norwegian breakfast – Kaviar. Before you get the idea that Norwegians are ridiculously wealthy lushes who eat caviar like cream cheese, let me just explain that Kaviar is a salty, salmon-colored fish paste, which is very healthy and very cheap and also extremely pungent. We spread it on thick brown bread. Breakfast also included a pear, an orange, and some brie. The weather outside was chilly and overcast, but dry. We left around noon for Vigeland Sculpture Park. The park is the life work of the sculptor Gustav Vigeland, and includes more than 200 statues depicting the stages of life and the range of human emotions. The scale of the project was incredible, and the nude statues in bronze and granite were moving and thought-provoking. I loved the maze in the ground around the main fountain, which, according to Katja, takes several dizzying hours to complete. The park is well used and well-loved by the residents of Oslo.

 The maze

Afterwards, we headed towards the posh residential area to the Viking Ship Museum. The Viking ships and tombs discovered around Oslo were very cool, and there were sleighs, tools, and textiles on display as well. It was fun to compare the truth about Vikings to my cartoonish image of them. It may be inaccurate, but I picture Viking men seated on the benches of a long boat rowing for days on end, while a hulky bearded Viking in a horned helmet oversees them, eager to punish any slackers. Wherever they disembark they wage war, pillaging and plundering coastal villages. At least according to any parody I've ever seen. If you're interested in the Vikings, and their legacy in Britain, check out BBC'S Blood of the Vikings series (start here). But be warned, you may be disappointed to learn that Viking helmets did not have horns!

We devoured an enormous portion of Thai food at the Rice Bowl for a late lunch/early dinner and then went home to shower and change for our night out. Katja, Nora, Vanda, Kirstie, Kajsa, and I chatted over several refreshing Moscow Mules before venturing out so that they could show me the trendy bar scene. I was really impressed by how well the girls spoke English, and they were gracious and convivial hosts. We got on really well and had a blast. 

At breakfast on Saturday I tried Norwegian goat cheese, which is a semi-hard cheese with a rich ochre color. I was also introduced to an ingenious Norwegian invention: a special cheese cutter. I bought one later that day as a souvenir.

Katja and I explored downtown Oslo at a relaxed pace. It was beautiful outside, and the Opera House was a popular place to be that afternoon. The architectural design of the Opera is meant to invite everyone to come, not just those who can afford to attend the Opera. You can walk up wide paths to the top of the building, where a fantastic view of the Oslofjord awaits.

 The roof of the Opera

Oslofjord

We sat up there for a while admiring the view before declaring the necessity of caffeine and leaving in search of coffee. Katja lead us to Café Jaegar, where we ordered two lattes and one cookie, and sat on a couple of porch swings on the patio with comfortable cushions and blankets. It was a great place to take a brief rest before heading to the old harbor.

Katja enjoying her swing and her coffee

As I mentioned earlier, I bought a couple of souvenirs in Oslo: a cheese cutter, some ugly troll magnets, and a stuffed moose. Oh, and chocolate...

Goodies!

We ate sushi for dinner that night before turning up at Katja’s friend’s apartment for a “pre-party.” Having a few beers or glasses of wine with friends before leaving for the bar or club is common, even imperative, with the cost of alcohol in Norway being so high due to heavy taxes. I laughed the entire time we were there – here are some snapshots of the people I met, though I couldn’t possibly do them justice. There was Maria, our host, beautiful and riotously funny if very politically incorrect; Vidar, her unlikely but surprisingly well-matched boyfriend, nerdy and an advocate for Labour politics; Marius, an art student, who entertained us all by sticking Maria's novelty Star Wars chopsticks through his gauges; Christian, soft spoken and intelligent, interested in linguistics and chemistry; Kajsa, outspoken and animated, her personality fills a room. We talked about: making mistakes in other languages (and in the process teaching me everything NOT to say in Norweigan and Swedish, which actually wasn't too helpful), recounting embarrassing stories and fabricating alternate endings (ahem, Katja’s cameo in a Bollywood film), politics, stereotypes of Americans, and Norwegian culture. I learned a lot and laughed a lot, and after several hours we went to a nearby club called Blå.

The next morning, we caught a subway train to the entrance of the forest north of Oslo for a hike. The forest was a beautiful landscape of evergreen trees, bright yellow-green moss, and streams of clear dark teal water. We took a less trafficked trail, breathing in the cold damp fog as we ascended 700 meters to the Ullevålseter Lodge. It took just over an hour. Ullevålseter is a summer farm where hikers, cyclists, and skiers can rest and eat lunch. There were dogs and children everywhere, which seemed to illustrate two things to me: first, that rigorous physical exercise in nature is part of the Norwegian lifestyle; and second, that ir precisely the reason why the welfare system can work – the active lifestyle that is part of the culture means that the government can rely on a physically fit nation. Health care can be provided to all because in general the people of Norway are exceptionally fit. On the way down, we passed several lakes with surfaces as smooth and still as black glass. It was a wonderful end to the trip.