This is going to be a brief blog post, since my stay in Oslo, Norway was in fact not that long (just 3 and a half days). Oslo itself was not my trip’s final destination (it was an intermediary point between Romania and Iceland), but since this opportunity occurred, I was happy to add a major Scandinavian city to my travel list. To begin with, our plane landed late in the evening on Torp Sandefjord Airport (TRF), at about 110 km from Oslo. We took a bus from there and up until Oslo’s city center, and we traveled for about 1:45 hours. So, we were greeted by Oslo’s bright lights shining into the deep night. What struck me almost instantaneously were the beautiful old buildings intricately coalescing among modern skyscrapers. An increasing concern towards the environment was also pretty obvious since the streets were filled with Tesla cars. Moreover, when first entering our hotel doors, we were absolutely stunned by the fact that there was no reception at all. Operating terminals were present in the hotel lobby in order for visitors to check-in or check-out; these terminals would provide with your room-key and a receipt together with useful information for your stay in the hotel. Digital disruption, they say, and Northern European cultures apply! The hotel was really clean and inspired minimalism: the room provided essentials for basic travels and nothing more or less. A classic night stroll was mandatory for me since I love getting acquainted with new places by walking around a lot during nighttime, when streets are not crowded, when you can actually observe, when cities are asleep and quiet, and you can silently breathe in and out throughout your entire experience. Little bars and coffee shops decorated the alleys, and also retail shops for women and men – all implying that minimalist allure. Interesting how this could be felt everywhere! The following day, our trip to Iceland would begin. We went back to the same bus terminal from the previous evening, which is really organized and where each bus arrives and leaves without delay (since I am Romanian, brought up and educated in a not very punctual system, where tardiness is not roughly blamed, but silently accepted and integrated into everyday life, this came to me as a very pleasant surprise!). Our final destination this time would be Oslo’s International Gardermoen Airport (OSL) – an impressive and modern airport, where we rested for approximately 7 hours since our flight to Reykjavik was delayed! But all is well when it ends well – the story about Iceland continues in my previous blog post (http://voyageofthemoonchild.weebly.com/blog/freezing-cold-strolls-along-icelands-coastline). Transportation in Norway is not that expensive compared to the offered services’ quality. One-way ticket from TRF to Oslo was about 26 Euro per person and from OSL to Oslo about 18 Euro per person. When we came back a few days later, we decided to have a good lunch in the old center and then walk a bit. The weather was not good at all, unfortunately, so not much later, we went back to the hotel. I have discovered that changing weather conditions and especially rainy weather can easily ruin your travelling plans, unless you maintain a positive state of mind. The following day, which was Monday, was also very rainy. When travelling, I always check the weather in advance (so that I know what to carry on in the luggage); the forecast for the day would be 100% rain all day long…Very encouraging! We bought the Oslo Pass (it costed approximately 36 Euro per person) which would grant us the possibility of travelling with public transport around Oslo for 24 hours and also free entrance to most of Oslo’s museums and galleries. Even though we checked in advance online that the museums we were interested in were open Monday, most of them were not. We still managed to walk in the rain to the Akershus Fortress and admire a beautiful medieval castle right by the furious sea. Moreover, we took a bus to visit the Kon-Tiki Museum, the Fram Museum and the Viking Ship Museum. By this time, we were already moistened by the rain, which was a real discomfort…All these museums provided many information regarding the courageous Norwegian explorers and their expeditions, conquering seas, oceans and the Arctic Circle. I was on the lookout for a well-deserved cup of coffee and went straight to Tim Wendelboe’s small coffee shop. With its red berries and dark chocolate flavour, the cup of Nascimiento offered me the chance to feel a little bit of Honduras’ taste, while comfortably cuddling in a big blue armchair, glancing out a wide window towards the damp streets of Oslo. This coffee created the premises for a relaxing evening promenade. At one point, we came across a street filled with graffiti, very suggestive and impressive ones. Underground Oslo and its beauties. We couldn’t have left Oslo without visiting its famous Vigeland Park (Frogner Park). After taking the bus in the wrong direction, I decided to go on it until the end of the line, so we also got to see more less touristic places such as Oslo’s residential areas, neighbourhood parks, and formed a brief idea about the way people live in Norway’s capital city. Once reached our aimed location, we were delighted to see sculptures, medium and large sized, scattered around the park, on alleys or footbridges. The road led to a central spot, the Monolith Plateau, where even more bronze and granite statues forming the “circle of life” were present. The weather was quite pleasant, we spent some time admiring Vigeland’s sculptures and the nature surrounding them. I am very content about my short trip to Oslo because it opened the door towards Scandinavian cultures and their orderly rigidity combined with extraordinary minimalism. I was thinking of hunting for the Northern Lights from Svalbard, a very northern island of Norway, but at this very moment, this is just another dream. I think it is great to see how other cultures work and to notice intercultural differences; it makes you more aware, more present (in a weird manner), more out of your comfort zone and into the experiencing area and also, it makes you vividly see and feel how something different from what you already know is almost never bad.
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