30 Hours in Norway

Now you might be thinking, "Kayla I know you're a 'travelling fool' and all but why would you go all the way to Norway for just one night?!"

Well when you're presented with a great deal, and have an American paid time off program (thankfully mine is 3 weeks instead of 2 but I have lived the 10 days only life) you have to make the most of it. That means maximize every moment that you aren't expected to report to an office - be it long weekends, holidays, or even just the regular two day weekend.

In my case the price was right and I figured why not. For an expensive, small city like Oslo sometimes less time is less painful on the wallet. At first I wasn't sure whether or not to follow through on going, having just come back from my big trip in the UK but then I figured what else would I do this weekend instead? (The answer is, probably nothing).

So I took the red eye flight to Oslo and arrived in the city around 1pm. I made my way from the airport to the city by train and the first thing I did upon walking out of the train station was go to the tourist office and pick up the Oslo Pass. Normally I don't do the city pass deals, I always think that I'm never going to do enough things in the time allotted (usually 24 or 42 hours) to make the initial cost of the pass worth it. This time I took the bait since it included all public transit in and around the city center. I didn't realized until I had already purchased it that they also have a mobile version, which is available through the official Oslo app and is not advertised on their website.

Freshly minted pass in hand I made my way to my hotel. No hostel this time since there were not many in the city and not as conveniently located while at the same time being expensive enough to treat myself to a hotel instead. The hotel I stayed in (Comfort Hotel Karl Johan) was super modern inside. The room was small but really nice. I got settled, took a shower to wash the barely slept airplane feeling off, then emptied my bag and hit the road.

A backpack, or any reasonably sized bag, is a must have when wandering through a city. Normally I bring a packable spare but with such a short time it was easier just to empty my few belongings and take my regular backpack. While it always makes me feel a bit silly at first, when you stop to grab a few things and don't have to worry about where you're going to put it or paying for a plastic bag it is worth it. (And for me it was worth it when I went on a shopping spree in the super market!)

With the sun quickly fading I decided to head east to the Opera house where I had read that there was a great view of the whole city. I wandered my way there and scoped out what the climb looked like. It was two ramps that were built into the sides of the roof and then a second roof you could get to through a central ramp, almost like a giant "Z." I looked first at the long flight of short stairs that no one was climbing, then at the ramp that was more or less empty as well. Nearly everyone I saw was walking directly on the snow covered roof, right through the limp chain barrier.

I wasn't very confident in the terrain so I tried the ramp first. I made it about a third of the way up when I saw another American girl holding on for dear life and literally sliding down the ramp like she was on skates. Sure enough two steps in and there was no footing at all to make it up the ramp. I carefully made my way back to the ground and walked over to try the stairs. There was a woman in high heeled stiletto boots again holding on for her very life while trying to climb down the ice covered steps without dying. She made it, but barely. When I saw a group of old people making their way down the snow covered roof I figured it must be safe enough and climbed up about half way.

By then the bright sun was beginning to dip below the skyline and from there I could see most of the city, although probably not as much if I had journeyed through the frozen tundra of roof to get to the very top (there were few enough people that seemed to make it up that high that I didn't want to risk it). The glowing sun across the frozen water, with the beautiful sculpture sticking up out of the ice was an amazing view. When I finally made my way back down I stopped for a moment to watch a group of college kids walk out on the frozen water, none of them fell in but it was still crazy to watch them jump around on it.

Before I had left the hotel I did some reading about spending 24 hours in Oslo. The New York Times and some blogs all spoke about Grünerløkke (they spelled it grunerlokke though which is incorrect) which was supposed to be this hip and happening part of town, so I decided to walk there. I got a bit lost on the way but finally made it. By then it was dark and I was getting hungry so I figured I'd check to see what was around to eat. Much to my chagrine there was nothing but bars and pubs that specialized in drinks. I thought maybe my search was incorrect and walked around the whole area only to find places to drink and doner kebab fast food joints. It was quite disappointing to be there so early in the evening and so very hungry. There were a couple of places I would have liked to check out but nothing compelling enough to make me want to venture back north to that part of town, especially with so little time on the itinerary.

I started to make my way back to the city center and passed through this enclave of shops and restaurants that lied just to the south of Grunerlokke on the other side of the river. I stopped at Wünderburger, admitedly the first place I saw, and had a burger, fries, and a beer which cost approximately $35. Was it $35 good? no but it wasn't bad either. Their advertisement in the front of the store talked about how they source all their meat, cheese, and bread locally. I'm not sure if it was the meat or a spice that they use but the burger tasted very different from any burger I've had anywhere else in the world, and I've had quite a few. Not that the different was bad, it was just off - like someone trying to make something they had never had before and guessing at it.

Finally well fed I was back off into the cold. The wind had really kicked up by then but it didn't stop me from doing a bit of window shopping on my walk back to the hotel. Back in the warmth and exhausted from not sleeping pretty much all week (Iron Banner week waits for no Guardian) I figured I would rest for a bit before heading back out into the evening, it was still pretty early after all (around 6pm).

When I awoke from my cat nap I saw a comment on my Instagram account (ahem @the_travellingfool) from one of my Fraternity brothers who recommended a restaurant not far from my hotel and near some pretty cool bars. I reluctantly got out of bed and made my way over to Ett Glass.

It was a good thing I didn't sleep any longer because when I arrived to the restaurant I found out that the kitchen was closes at 10 and it was already 9:30! I glanced over the menu and unsure of what to get but still wanting to be adventurous I ordered a fish burger and a beer. The beers in this restaurant came up to 1.4L, which I would normally get but I didn't want to get too dehydrated again and deal with a painful charley horse (which is what happened after my nap). I settled for the normal size beer and sipped it watching the people around me. Everyone was in groups, chatting or laughing, drinking bottles of wine and eating plates of food that were unrecognizable. When my food finally arrived I wasn't sure what to think about it. From the looks of it, it was a grey blob on a bun with some kick-ass sweet potato fries. After one bite though I knew my friend had led me in the right direction.

Full of deliciousness I headed out of the bar and figured I'd walk around in the area to see what was around. Just up the block was a bar that called itself London pub, and I thought to myself well I'll be the judge of that. As soon as I walked through the doors I could have sworn I had been transported back to London again. The interior, down to the smallest detail, was identical to all of the pubs I had visited in London. I bought a pint and instead of telling me the cost the bartender simply handed me the credit card machine. When I arrived I had taken out 1,000 NOK for the purpose of not racking up a credit card bill but everywhere I turned they only expected card. I thought it was so unusual but as the trip went on I realized that is just how things are, a credit first city.

Pint and a glass of water in hand I found a standing table and resumed my people watching. Again it was couples and large groups only interacting with each other. I figured it was the relaxing vibe and plentiful seating that gave the pub it's more lounge like feel. The only issue with it was that I was soon growing bored of the same boring people just talking about whatever. I don't know exactly what since all anyone ever spoke was Norwegian. After I finished my pint I considered staying there to see how it would end up, now that there was a line of people waiting to get in the door to the only half full bar, but decided that I've already done the London Pub scene, in London, so why repeat?

Back out in the cold I continued my journey until I saw another line of people. I peeked in the entrance and saw a bunch of people hanging out outside and behind them, through the glass, more people swaying to the song playing loudly from the venue. Dancing sounds like fun, I thought, and it's something you don't need to talk to people to enjoy. I waited in line, paid my 100 NOK and walked in the door. It was already 11pm by then but the bar was maybe a third full. I ordered a beer and paid in cash (200 NOK), the change I got back was 3 small coins, 1 large coin, and a 100 NOK bill. I wasn't sure how much the beer cost, 100 NOK seemed a bit steep but not too far off the mark, so I dumped the coins into the tip jar and received a hearty thank you (in Norwegian) from the bartender. Later in the evening, when I switched to using credit card cause it was easier, I learned that the 3 little coins and one large coin was a nearly $4 tip!!

Beer in hand I wandered around the space a bit. The place was called Jaeger but I didn't see anyone drinking it. Instead there were a lot of large ciders and pint glasses held by people who were just sitting around. The indoor area with the bar had a bunch of tables and a library (I even noticed someone reading one of the books later in the evening). In the back was an outdoor area and the DJ, down the stairs was the coat check (all Norwegian bars seemed to have them) a co-ed bathroom and another bar, DJ, and dance floor.

Now that I was familiar with the layout I headed outside. There were heatlamps hanging from the overhang so it was warm but still had a nice breeze. While I was there a couple of guys came up to me, one of them shoved another one my way and said something to him. He started talking to me and soon we became friendly. He asked about New York, Trump, work/life balance and vacation time in the States. I learned from him that Norwegians are a shy bunch and never talk to strangers. The only reason he was talking to me was because he was a teacher and thought I might be foreign and interesting. His friends weren't nearly as chatty as he was, in fact I don't think one of them said more then one or two words to me for the rest of the night.

As the hour reached just past midnight there were suddenly droves of people where there had been none and the dance floor went from three people dancing by themselves to being packed. The teacher's girlfriend and her friends showed up as well and she was just as chatty as he was! I ended up spending the whole night dancing and drinking with the group of them, the teacher's girlfriend always making sure that I felt part of the group. It helped that the outdoor dance floor was brightly lit so it made it much easier to keep track of which tall blondes were familiar.

At first I thought I would stay there til the bar closed up but around 3:15am things began to get empty again. By this time I was exhausted having not slept for basically two days. I made my way back to the hotel and I certainly was not alone. The streets were filled with so many people. I haven't seen that many people standing around or walking around at night since my days at Binghamton. I wasn't quite ready to head to bed and stop watching all the Norwegians so I headed to 7-Eleven. It was packed but so much fun to watch everyone. I picked up a powerade and a bag of Cheez Doodles which ended up tasting nothing like the real ones back home (Wise brand of course). Goodies in hand I made my way back up the hill one block to the hotel. Now the streets were thinning out and I collapsed into bed, falling asleep to the soothing voice of BBC World News talking about the protests around the world and the new Trump regime.

I had set an alarm the night before, before I began my mini bar crawl, for 8am. Well 8am came and went. I finally woke up at 11am and cursed myself for allowing so much daylight to be missed. I suppose falling asleep at 5:30am will do that. By the time I got showered and dressed I had missed breakfast and all my time for museums and culture. There was one that I didn't want to miss, the National Museum, so I headed there.

I was glad I made it. I got in for free with my Oslo Pass, and this would be the only time I used it during my whole trip. There were some amazing artifacts in the museum like an original Viking helmet, half a church ceiling, and even a Native American and Sami exhibit. All in all the museum was pretty small but very well done. The viking artifacts were probably the best part.

All cultured now I continued my walk to the Nobel Prize center. I had seen the place where they have the dinner after the ceremony when I was in Sweden and now I was seeing the place where they give out the actual award. There was a museum component to it but I had wasted so much time sleeping that I didn't have any time to spare for a look around. From there I started to make my way back to the hotel where my things were (the most amazing part of the hotel is on Sundays check-out is 6pm!) but found myself starving.

A quick search on my phone for fish soup, a Norwegian specialty, revealed that there was a top place on my route back. I stopped in there, and having remembered my experience waiting around the night before, ordered and asked for the check at the same time. I was glad I did because it took them a long time to get the soup out to me. At first I was upset by this, after all how much time does it take to ladle out some soup?! But when it arrived and the scent wafted to my nose I wasn't so upset about the wait. The first bite was like heaven, seafood heaven. Inside the cream broth was mussels, salmon, cod, and some veggies at the bottom of the bowl. It was just what I needed after a cold, wet walk.

Well fed and happy I continued my walk back to the hotel, grabbed my things, and headed for the airport. Time was a bit tough so I opted for the more expensive direct train to the airport. On the way to the city I had taken the local train and this one cost nearly double but was worth it. The local train was old and run down, crowded and took about 35 minutes or more depending on which line it was. The express train took about 25 minutes, so not much time was saved there, but the area where you bought the tickets also had a terminal to check-in and print your boarding pass. While I could have gotten my boarding pass and then headed back to the local train it didn't seem worth the effort to save a few extra bucks.

The Norway airport seemed to follow what I am now realizing is a new trend in airports. They walk you through a huge duty free shop before letting you anywhere near the gate. I had enough time where I wasn't worried about making it all the way to the gate and did a bit of shopping. I picked up something for my coworkers and somethings for myself. The one part I was disappointed in was the lack of souvenir shops, especially since the only one in the city center was pretty terrible. I suppose it's because they don't have many non-EU arrivals/departures. I still found plenty of things to buy and purchases in hand I made my way all the way to my gate, waited an extra 2.5 hours for a new flight attendant to arrive from Copenhagen, and then made my way home.

Overall I am so happy that I did this trip and that I was fortunate enough to have selected a manageable city for such a short time frame. Oslo was a wonderful place and I hope to make my way back there one of these days.