Oslo – Growing With Leala

This morning we have a quick flight back to Oslo where we finish up the trip. For our next accommodation I have booked a two bedroom apartment in the nice Frogner area of town. We visit the rental office to drop off our bags because we are too early to check in. From here we take the bus to the Norsk Folkemuseum. Did I mention we are here in a heat wave? The highs are in the low 80°F (average 70°) but the sun is very intense since we are located much closer to the sun at summertime. It gets quite warm when you are not in the shade. Most places have no air conditioning so it is getting warm indoors during the day. From what we have been told its unseasonably hot right now. Even Bergen is more hot and sunny than usual. We caught no rain at all there.

D has another friend in Oslo so we meet her at the Norsk Folkemuseum, an open air museum that shows life in Norway during different historical periods. I knew nothing about this museum until my friend A suggested it. We spend a few hours here going from exhibit to exhibit. D has time to catch up with her friend she hadn’t seen in many years so this is an especially good time for her. We even see the church that inspired the Norway church at Epcot.

We walk to catch the ferry to town after the folk museum. We joke that we end up on the popeye tug boat route instead of the large fancy ferry we see in other routes.

We have one more dinner together and decide to head back to our very nice apartment to unwind for the evening, plus my friends need to pack for tomorrow. Both are flying home tomorrow (T is staying local because she lives in Oslo). A was supposed to spend one more night in town with me but is flying standby and the flights only look good for her tomorrow in order to return home on a timely basis.

The next morning I walk them down to the train and say my goodbyes. I don’t mind traveling alone but I really do appreciate having the company.

I think this is it for travel companions for me during this bout of travel. I might meet up with other people briefly but no one else has signed on to do multi-day travel with me. It’s understandable; I know it is a privilege and not easy to do what I do. All the things aligned in a sense (good and bad) for me to be able to adopt this travel lifestyle, at least temporarily.

After I leave my friends I go see the statue of Freya, the poor unfortunate walrus that was killed because she was a nuisance in Oslo by boarding boats and chasing tourists that get too close to her. She was euthanized because humans couldn’t handle her.

After my visit to Freya I plan to visit a sculpture garden a couple miles away. Tired of walking I decide to utilize the Lime bikes nearby (bike rental). I already have an account with Lime in the USA so it should be easy enough for me to rent. I have a short discussion with a local who is irritated that he can’t park his car because lime bikes are in the way. I tell him I am not parking them as I am trying to rent one myself. He thinks they are a nuisance but I think they are great for tourists like me. It is a short ride to the sculpture garden; it is slightly a pain to park the bike because it will not release the bike from you if you are not located in a legal parking area (strange how I was able to rent the bike from a seemingly illegal area). Eventually I find a suitable place to park and walk the rest of the way. My bike ride is mostly uneventful with the only conflicts being locals trying to pass me up and almost causing an accident in the process.

The sculpture park is small with only a couple statues one being provocative. The park is located outside the modern art museum that is currently closed because they are switching out the exhibits.

My plan for the rest of the day is to make a sandwich and have a picnic in a nearby park. I get some groceries and return to the apartment but it is another hot day and I am not sure I am up for another day in the sun. Temperatures are normally much more mild this time of year. It is just my luck that I am here the hottest time of the year.

Since I am switching countries tomorrow I decide my time is better served following up on upcoming travel arrangements. I still have over a month left of travel and not all of it has been finalized yet. Being used to staying up late with my friend I do not get to bed until after 11:00 PM. The windows are open to keep me cool and I still hear partying outside. The next morning the party is still going outside. Even after I clear out of the rental there are people in the streets in their night clothes who obviously not been home yet.

The train ride to the airport is easy and quick but the Oslo airport is the busiest airport I’ve checked into since I’ve been flying in Norway. Today there are travelers who don’t understand Norway’s self-service check in and it slows things down considerably. Luckily I am very early so I don’t sweat the extra wait time.

Now I am at the gate trying to stay awake until I board my plane. Looking forward to a nap on the way to Denmark.

I have an early morning flight this morning from Alesund to Oslo to meet up with some friends for a fjord adventure. I book a flight too early – I am disappointed with myself because now I have to take a $60 cab ride to the airport because my flight time is too early for me to take the airport bus. I find myself not getting enough sleep last night and it is imperative I rest up so I have energy to hang out with my friends. Not much downtime is expected in this upcoming week.

I arrive in Oslo contemplating waiting two hours or so to meet up with my friend “A” at the airport who will be coming in on her international flight. I decide to wait and find a cafe open at arrivals. I order breakfast and take advantage of WiFi to get some planning done.

Eventually A arrives and we take the airport train into central Oslo. It takes a couple minutes longer than it should to find our hotel that is very close to the train station. It seems that google doesn’t give us the best directions in this area.

Our room is ready early so we are able to check in. We drop our bags and head out to lunch. We eat at a cool street food area called barcode. “A” enjoys a vegan burger while I try a mix of street tacos. After lunch we walk around by the water. One might consider this mild weather back home where I live but here they are experiencing a heatwave and everyone is out sunning along the piers near the water. It is Sunday and everyone seems to be enjoying the day. We admire the modern architecture and nicer cafes in the area. We still have some time to kill before our other friend arrives so we visit the Munch Museum.

The Munch Museum (Munchmuseet), named for the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, has exhibits that displays his famous artworks as well as interactive exhibits about his life. I am impressed with this smaller museum. We enjoy our time here. Apparently the museum has multiple Scream paintings and they rotate them in and out from time to time.

We head back to the hotel to briefly rest until our other friend D arrives. She has an even harder time finding the hotel so we go on a rescue mission to find her. She unloads her bags and we meet up with one of her friends T; T lives locally and met D many years ago while she was on an exchange program in the USA. We walk down the popular Karl Johans Gate and have a nice Italian dinner at an outdoor cafe. We watch seagulls bang their big beaks on the plates of the non-bussed table next to us while others shoo the birds away. We have a good conservation getting to know the new friend. Being all jet lagged (me not really but I woke up too early this morning) we head back to our hotel. We are meeting up early in the morning to go on our two day tour of the fjords.

The next morning

The plan is to meet in the train station about 45 minutes before our train is to leave. We all have assigned seats but 2 of the group booked later and have individual seats elsewhere. We want to try to move all together. When we get on the train we realize this just isn’t possible because the train is very full. The first train is about 4 1/2 hours. We spend the time talking, visiting the cafeteria car and looking at some of the views. Our next train is supposed the be the best scenic train but there is still plenty to see out our windows.

The next train we have from Myrdal to Flam is the old style train where there are no assigned seats. We rush onto the train to try to get seats together. Jury is still out whether there is a good side or bad side to sit. We feel like there is a good view and you’ll feel like you are missing stuff no matter what side you sit on. The only bad thing is the train gets a little stuffy and you are not able to leave the windows open due to the train being really loud, especially in the tunnels. The breaks have to work hard on this steep train.

We do cool down at our stop at a large waterfall. We feel the water and the mist on us while we take photos. All of sudden music plays and a woman comes out to do a siren dance. It is a show of Huldra, a siren who lures men into the mountains. It is quite unexpected and entertaining.

Huldra

We eventually get to the town of Flam and check into our charming hotel. We grab a quick meal because we are all heading out to excursions this afternoon. We eat at the local brewery in town.

Two of us ride an RIB boat around the fjord. Our enthusiastic guide stops the boat frequently to point out sights along the way. It was expecting a rough ride but it ends up being calming. I am toasty and cozy in my suit that is provided to protect again cold and possible capsizing. I find the boat at times almost putting me to sleep.

At the end we stop at Undredal a town famous in real life for its brown goat cheese and in the fantasy world it is said to inspire the movie Frozen. The goats free roam along the mountains and come in at set times to get milked. A couple different common cheeses are made but one local cheese stands out because it is cooked and caramelized to make a distinct brown cheese. Many say it tastes nutty to them. I think it does taste nutty a little but still seems like a cheese to me. The only difference is the texture is vastly different from any other cheese you’ve had. We got to try these local cheeses as well as one sausage.

We head back from our cruise and our entire group meets up again. We decide another meal is in order. It seems like the places that still serve food at this time is extremely limited so we end up back at our trusty brewery. I share a hummus platter with my friend. It is very good.