I will try not to go in to too much detail lol
So on Friday I flew from Liverpool (never flown from L'pool before!) and had Starbucks coffee and porridge
I flew to Oslo Torp, which is quite a way from Oslo, and got the shuttle bus to the train "station". This was the station....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/utxasunnpte72fn/IMG_20150417_101724.jpg?dl=0
It took just under 2hrs to get to Oslo S and we did go through some really pretty areas. Although I was sat on the wrong side of the train to see properly! But we definitely went past at least one big fjord. No problem finding the hotel and checking in. And I DID get my balcony!!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9lbut9qugmvfnjj/IMG_20150417_130254.jpg?dl=0
I must have sat down for about 5mins and decided to go explore. And get very very lost LOL! I did eventually find the water and the building I was after. The stunning Opera House!! And, of course, I had a climb around it - the only opera house in the world you can climb on
Had a wander round and decided to look for a pizza place and only took two goes
Amazing pizza!! It was 4:30 and I'd not eaten since Starbucks at 6:30! Starving! It was a big pizza and the lovely girl promised to package up any leftovers. Which I gladly took back to my room to have a pizza and Grey's anatomy night lol. I'm just that cool
I bought some chocolate and made good use of the free hot drinks in reception.
Before that I did have a wander down the main street for a look around. And saw a hilarious poster advertising a gym. Didn't get a pic, but it said "Fed up of being fat and ugly? Well, just be ugly!" To the point, Norwegians....
Saturday was an AWESOME day!! I had my big breaky - muesli, yogurt, and berries. A plate of fresh slice pineapple, watermelon, kiwi, and grapes. Beautiful scrambled eggs on fresh wholemeal bread, with rocket and red peppers (this is my new favourite breakfast!) And coffee and orange juice.
I had pretty much the same breakfast each day, just changing the bread option really. Fresh baked bread every day!! Always some sort of wholemeal tho. And this was enough to get me through the day. I didn't snack or want to eat at all in the day time, I just got drinks.
Sorry, yes, not food
So I walked down to the marina and got on the boat ferry over to the museum island, Bygdoy. That is one posh island!! It was a bit of a hike, but I went to the Folk Museum first. I almost skipped it, coz it was a bit far, but I'm so glad I didn't. It was such a cool museum! Mostly outside and it was just stunning. The main exhibit was the Stave church, built around 1200 I think. And then the farm bit with the pigs
It was great looking round and seeing house styles through the ages and how people lived.
Then on to the Viking Ship Museum. I almost cried when I saw the first ship. Incredible!! And they're real ships they've found in burial mounds, no replicas. I spent a fair bit of time there, mostly in awe. And otherwise looking in the shop
Then on to the Kon-Tiki museum (about the explorer Thor
Heyerdahl) which was very cool. It had the Kon-Tiki raft, the Ra raft, some amazing things from Easter Island, and an underground cave system showing some of the sea life they saw, and a load of artifacts found on each expedition.
And then on to the Fram museum. Which also has the ACTUAL Fram, the first ever Antarctic voyage ship. OMG it was amazing! And you got to go on deck and also climb about below deck and see the cabins and engine room and everything. It was so cool! Loved the whole exhibition. Obv I have a soft spot for polar exploration
From visiting museums in Norway it is safe to say that they REALLY like putting whole ships in to museums LOL!
I'd kinda run out of time by then and missed the Maritime Museum, so took the boat back to the city centre and headed back towards my hotel. I remembered the Oslo Reptile Park was nearby and did a quick Google. Found it on a deserted, dodgy looking street, had to go through a passageway full of graffiti, and then open a HUGE metal door and go down in to a basement.... I didn't get murdered and it was actually a pretty good place. Interesting collection of animals, which all had good enclosures and looked healthy and well looked after. My favourites were a type of frog and a tortoise
Then I went back to my hotel and that's when things went wrong.... I at least eventually found the burger place I wanted to try, but it was quite late and a Sat night so the place was heaving. I walked in and almost ran straight out. Walked along for a bit looking for somewhere else I knew was around there, but couldn't find it. Spotted a club called Revolver that had a Mexican place attached to it and I saw there were some empty tables, so I went in. I ordered the only veggie thing and a beer - £15!! When it came it was on small soft taco with like a spoonful of refried beans and some cheese, with a teeny tub of salsa. I was too embarrassed to go up and order more so I read for a bit and finished my beer, thinking I would pick something up to take back to my hotel. I got very lost and ended up in some dodgy looking bits of town (they weren't, everywhere is lovely, but it was going dark and I had NO idea where I was) I eventually found some bits I sort of recognised and eventually made my way back to the main street looking for food. NOWHERE has veggie stuff!! Even McDonalds! Anyway, I ended up with McDonalds fries and a cheese topped roll and some biscuits .... And sulked in my room watching Grey's Anatomy.
To be fair though, that was the only real hiccup and it didn't really stop me. I was really annoyed with myself and disappointed to had "wasted" a night. But, it's hardly the end of the world is it?! Kicking myself for not getting either takeaway from the burger place or going back to the pizza place for some pasta or something. But, never mind. Tis done and it certainly didn't stop me!
Sunday was great too. I got on my first tram
And went to the Vigeland sculpture park in Frogner Park. Omg it was beautiful there! The park is gorgeous and the sculpture bit was amazing. Absolutely stunning!! Not as big as I'd thought, but I probably spent just over an hour there. Stopped at the cafe to buy a Coke and saw they had Moomin trays
I got the tram back to town and had a walk along Aker Brygge (the really posh bit of the marina), all the way to the end where a new modern art gallery is with lovely wooden walkways and bridges and a little beach. Also a small sculpture park!
On the way back I decided to join the locals and got some posh ice cream and sat on the wooden steps at the marina and had a read in the sun. It was HOT! About 20oC! Honestly, so much sun lotion!! Haha.
After that it was off to the castle, Akershus Fortress, which happens to be just on the other side of the marina. And I found out from the boat guide that it was the inspiration for the castle in Frozen! I'm sure every scandi country has a castle they say is the castle from Frozen, but you can kinda see it. Especially the main tower.
Anyway, I got an audio guide and mostly listened to the ghost stories
It was also pretty empty, I imagine from the unusual weather! So I was by myself most of the time. Completely by myself when at the top of the castle in a big room that had burned down whenever ago and I was listening to a story about the little monsters that are seen that are tiny, come out of the floorboards, have the faces of old women/witches, and carry little balls of flame.....
After that it was back across the marina and a beer stop. There wasn't very much drinking on this holiday seen as everything costs a million pound!! I got a bottle of beer (hilariously named Aass!) and a bottle of water - £9!! Anyway, it was nice. But I did get a bit tipsy before heading in to the Nobel Peace Centre. It's a serious place, probably not somewhere you should be a bit tipsy lol!
It was an interesting place and the exhibitions were good - the main two were about the last two joint winners. And upstairs was about the last ten years or so winners and then a really snazzy interactive bit with motion sensitive lights and iPads!
I decided to jump the tram up to a hot chocolate cafe (why isn't this a normal thing?!) to get some cake to take back to my room and got a gorgeous caramel mocha frapp thing. It was amazing!!! The nicest Frapp I've had
And I got a slice of carrot cake and some sort of weird caramel, mirangue, nutty thing (didn't like that one!) to take "home".
Got the tram back and had a shower and a bit of a rest. Seriously, it was HOT! Have I mentioned that yet?!
Found a really nice place called Cafe Sara, which is a bit of an Indie/rock pub/cafe/club thing. The staff were lovely and I had a really nice meal and a glass of wine and read for a bit. I wish I'd have been brave enough to look around a bit more, apparently this place has an indoor garden somewhere. But I was so nervous and literally sat at the first table I liked the look of and hid *blush* But at least I did it!
Strolled back to the hotel and had my cake with hot chocolate and watched Grey's lol!
It was sad getting up knowing it was my last day. Got up earlier because I really wanted to do the Fjord cruise and the only one that fit in with me getting back for the airport bus left at 10:30! So after breakfast I dumped my bag and coat in the luggage room and walked to the marina and got a nice, big coffee for the cruise
The Fjord is beautiful, no like the famous ones with the waterfalls and stuff, but it was beautiful. Loads of islands and some birds. And it was a nice relaxing two hours too.
I only had two hours left after the cruise so I jumped the tram to central station and bought a big bag of chocolate (asked Twitter for recommendations from Scandi people lol) and a Starbucks and went back up on to the Opera House for a bit.
Wandered back through town and picked up a few prezzies for people. I did warn people they wouldn't be anything big as everything was so expensive! But I found some stashed money and thought I'd just get some little things.
My last stop was the cathedral and I lit a candle for my Dad and had a few moments of peace
Then back to the hotel, a quick change, and then the bus to the airport. Traveled back via the main airport and flew back to Manchester. Rachelle and John came to get me.
And that's probably the main bits LOL!! sorry, not as brief as I'd planned
Also the photo uploader wont work, so will try again in a bit.xx
