Norway!!

So after my exam was finished on Tuesday for my project management class, I began to get ready for Norway. I already finished my essay for my economics of innovations class, so I felt free and ready to leave for a vacation! I will write separate entries for each day because I wrote on paper what I did each day so it would actually be detailed and I knew if I wrote later, it wouldn't be detailed and I wouldn't have had the patience to actually write nice!

Here goes....

Thursday, October 25th, 2007 - - Göteborg, Sweden - Oslo, Norway

Eugenia and I met at 9:00am and were ready to get to Central Station. Got on the bus at 10:15 and were on our way to Oslo. After a 4 hour ride of gorgeous Swedish scenery and a bit of Norway's, we arrived Oslo at about 2:30pm. We immediately went to find the NSB (Norway train line) counter in the central train station. Got our tickets from Stavanger to Oslo for the way back and our fjord tour tickets as well. We found the tourist office and luckily we did because we had no map or any information about Oslo, aside from our "Things to do in Oslo" list we made prior to going. Got a lot of helpful information on where to go, what time things closed, and most importantly, how to get to Anker Hostel.

Found the hostel, checked in, got to our 6-person mixed room, made our beds (were not the cleanest looking duvets, pillows, or mattresses), made plans for where to go and headed out. Eugenia had read and heard from many people that Vigelandsparken is a must-see, so we hopped on a tram. It is filled with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite, and cast iron and is all outdoors. Some of the most famous sculptures are the "Wheel of Life" and the monolith. (I found a great website: http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/arch/769/Vigeland/ that explains a lot about all of the statues.) It was a beautiful day and most of the fall leaves were still colorful and the sun was shining. We had a wonderful time.

Next stop was Akershus Slott, the Akershus Fortress. Built in the 13th century, we couldn't go into the castle because it was closed, but could go onto the grounds and look around. Saw the small production of the changing of the guards and took a few pics. We wandered around the main street, Karl Johans Gate, and came across many beautiful buildings. Stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for a key chain souvenir on our way to the Royal Palace. It was dark at this time, so we could see the palace all lit up at the end of Karl Johans Gate. Walked onto the grounds and found many "people" in traditional Norwegian dress and many in tuxes and gowns going into the palace. We asked some other gawkers what was going on and they told us it was a government official dinner. There were news cameras and all sorts of photographers there, including us, taking pics of the Prime Minister of Norway as he climbed out of his car! Yes, we got to the Prime Minister from less than 50 feet away!

After the party we weren't invited to started to die down, we hiked it back to the city. Stopped by the National Theatre, which was beautiful from the outside. We were told from the lady at the tourist office that Ekebergrestauranten was a nice place to eat as well as an excellent view of the city. It is southeast of the center on a hill, so we got on a tram to go up the hillside. After missing the stop the first time up, we caught it coming back down. To our surprise, we needed a reservation and they were fully packed.

After taking a couple of pics of the city, we headed back down to find a place to eat. Ended up at a place called Tempest and had a fantastic pasta dish and a drink the bartender made for us. Not sure on the name, but had Bacardi Limon, some Norwegian liquor, Sprite and limes. Very tasty! Roamed around some more and finally found a tram to take us back to the hostel. On the way, though, we stopped at Stortinget, the Parliament, and admired the outside and as much of the inside we could see. Got to our room and much to our surprise, it was full with most everyone sleeping already. Quietly made our way to bed.

Asleep by midnight after setting our alarms for 6:30am. Wonderful 8 hours in Oslo, and even though we couldn't go inside most places (all closed by 4pm), we definitely felt we did as much as we could while we were there. Eugenia and I have the same idea of traveling: sight-see while you can and leave the shopping for home! Perfect travelling buddies!