Finally!

I got up really early, and hopped on the metro to get to the train station. I got my luggage out of the locker, and got my ticket for the express train. I waited. Then I waited some more. Then they said that the train would be about 20 minutes late. And since the trains run every 20 minutes, that just meant that the early one I had been hoping to take was essentially cancelled, and I would go on the later one. Luckily, there was a really cute baby on the train that I basically played games with the whole way (she would shake her head, so would I, etc.).

So I finally got to the airport, and got checked in. Then I took my bags over to get them checked in, and the woman didn't know the baggage regulations very well, so she was ready to charge me 250 NOK per kilogram that I was over the limit (since I was only supposed to have 1 bag/23 kg). Luckily, her coworker knew that the fee was just 250 NOK for 1 extra bag. After that, I zipped through security, and headed towards my gate.

The Oslo Airport.

I had to get my passport stamped to get through to my gate, and I sat down to wait. Found another cute baby that I played peek-a-boo with for a while. Then (joy), my flight got delayed from 10:55 to 12:05 and switched to another gate nearby. Woohoo! An extra hour worth of waiting! The funniest part was that once I boarded the plane, I saw something that said SAS was the world's most punctual airline, and that last year 92% of their flights were on time. So I got to be in part of that lucky 8%!

Once we were in the air, everything was incredibly normal. I slept for a big chunk of the flight, and then watched out the window (when I checked in I got to choose which seat I wanted, so I chose a window one!).

This is what my view was like for most of the flight.

One of my first glimpses of Manchester.

Once in Manchester there was THE MOST MASSIVE LINE UP I HAVE EVER SEEN waiting to go through customs. The stupid part was that they had quite a few officers working, but half of them were for non-EU residents, and the other half were for EU residents. The EU residents I guess were fewer in number at that point, so they zipped through, and then the officers still didn't really take any non-EU people. I stood in the line for about 1-1.5 hours, but once I got to the desk, they didn't even have to scan my fingerprints more than once.

My bags were waiting for me, so I found them right away, and started making my way out to find the shuttle to Lancaster. I got to the booth they had, and they gave me a nice little welcome package. I didn't have to wait too long to get on the bus, but then we had to wait a while on the bus before everything was ready to leave.

The bus ride took about an hour and was extremely uneventful. It was nice to see some of the English countryside, but I didn't see any of Lancaster since the university is a ways out of town. There were people to help us find our college (residence) when we got there, but I had to drag all my luggage half-way across campus.

On the bus ride to Lancaster.

Houses in Bailrigg (I think), the town right by the uni. Pretty typical.

I got my stuff into my room, and spent a while hanging out with the JCR (don't know what that stands for, but they are some sort of helpers) that had helped me find my room, and her friend. I met a couple other people, and then I went back to my flat in hopes of meeting some flatmates, and met 2 of the people on my floor. The girl I share a bathroom with (she's on a 1 term exchange from the US), and a guy from Germany who is here for his program. The three of us decided to go around and explore a bit so I could find some food to eat because I hadn't really eaten all day.

Luckily, our building is really close to a tiny little convenience store/grocery shop on campus, so I bought a little food there, and then we kept walking. We went all over campus looking at a bunch of the different bars (there is one for each college, so a total of 9 I think?), and stopped at the Graduate College bar. One of our flatmates was there, so we met him and a few of his friends. One of them had even been to Montreal before and was quite excited to tell the story of how he got there in the winter during a massive snowstorm, and (the part that may have been created due to drunkenness) how everyone went down the streets on skis.

I decided I was pretty tired, so the American and I went back home, and I went to bed pretty quickly. Since we were supposed to go to an exchange student meeting the next morning, and neither of us had an alarm, we decided to hope that the sun would be a sufficient alarm clock if we left our curtains open.

I bought a bedding pack from the university, and although it does have a duvet, and pillow, the sheets and pillow case are made of a terrible, cheap fabric that is rather scratchy.

Next - First day at Lancaster University.

Heading back to Oslo

**2nd half is heavy on the writing, sorry I have no photos for it.**


I got on my 8:30 train, and got a seat no problem. The train took us to Karlstad, where we had to get off and switch to buses due to construction of some sort.

I got on the bus that was headed to Charlottenberg, and it took about another hour to get there. When I got there, I walked around a bit, down what I think was the main street, and over by the library. I found an absolutely MASSIVE candy store on the main street. Half of the store was essentially bulk bins with candy, while the other half was mostly pop, but a bunch more candy as well. It made my teeth hurt just being there.

Massive candy store.

Random statue.

I was really tired, and carrying around my big backpack was hard, so I decided that I had explored as much as I wanted to (it was a small place, and the only reason I wanted to go there was because it had my name), so I just headed back to the train station. There was a pancake house right beside the station, so I went in there and had a "banana surprise" pancake which was essentially a crepe filled with whipped cream, some chunks of banana, and chocolate sprinkles(!), and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

I stayed in the restaurant for quite a while, relaxing and looking at the couple big (and a little outdated) maps they had on the wall. Then I basically just waited in and around the train station until the train came.

I got back to Oslo, and back to the apartment without any problems, and had a relaxing evening, mostly just surfing the web. When L got back home, I told her about what my plans were for the next day, and we worked out that it would be best if she drove me to the train station and I could take the express train to the airport from there. I stayed up late just for the sake of it, and made sure everything was ready to travel.

I got up early the next morning with everything packed and ready to go and had my last breakfast with L. She was kind enough to cook me some eggs and a sausage, and it was delicious! We headed out a few minutes later than planned, but I got my ticket and hopped on the train without any troubles.

I got to the airport, and headed into line to get my boarding pass. I got all the way through the long line and then the woman at the ticket counter looked at my paper and said, "You're at the wrong airport. That one is about 2 hours away from here." Since there was less than 1.5 hours until my flight left, I knew I couldn't do it, so I headed over to the ticket line to buy a ticket to Manchester.

The next available option they had was a business class ticket and I would have gotten into Manchester at 10 pm which was long after the shuttle to the university stopped running, and since it was so expensive, it wasn't really an option. I got a ticket that would leave at 11 am the next day, and the only good part was that it was a direct flight (my original one transferred in Copenhagen). I phoned L to let her know what happened, and she said she could pick me up at the train station, so I got another ticket for the express train and hopped on.

Because of some kind of construction that was happening, the train was about 15 minutes late getting to the station. L found me, and we decided to leave my bags there in a luggage locker overnight because I was probably going to have to get myself to the train station the next day.

We hurried back to her car because she didn't have much time left, and when we got there, there was a man who was writing her a ticket, even though she was only about a minute late. He had only started writing it, but he said that he couldn't undo it, and she got a huge fine even though she was standing right there! It was equivalent to about $120 CAD, and I felt really bad that it had happened because of me, so I told her that I would pay for it.

We got home, and I sent some emails to let my university know that I would be coming late, and then I went and had a four hour nap because I had gotten so little sleep the night before. After I woke up, L came home and helped me with some food for dinner, and then went out again.

I wanted to find some way to get the money to pay her fine, but there were no bank machines nearby, so I started freaking out a bit and decided I needed to phone home. Unfortunately I didn't have a phone, so I just went on Facebook and waited until I could get a hold of one of Keith's friends to text him to go on Skype. Then I decided that texting probably wasn't fast enough, so I made the guy phone my house and tell my parents to go on Skype. Haha, I owe him. I think he took pity on me when I said "I'm accidentally in Norway." Lucky thing my brother has nice friends.

After a fairly long chat with my family (the first time I had talked to them!), I went almost straight to bed, so I could get up really early the next morning.

Next - leaving Oslo.

To Denmark I go

So I checked onto the ferry, which turned out to be more of a cruise ship than a ferry, and got comfortable in my room. I took advantage of the free internet, and then when I thought the ship had started moving, I headed up on deck with my camera to take some farewell photos of Oslo.

My room! (There really wasn't much else other than the bathroom.)

Bye Oslo!

After that I explored a little. There were a whole bunch of different restaurants on board, and a big store filled with clothing, perfume, make-up, booze and candy/junk food. And most of it was super excessive. Like HUGE packs of candy and MASSIVE cases of booze. And they didn't really have anything touristy which was kind of what I was hoping for. You know, the cheesy tourist crap that has the country's flag emblazoned across it 40 times? Nothing of Norway or Denmark (though I'm pretty sure that ferry is a Denmark thing, not Norway).

Part of the shop.

I mostly hung around in my room after I got some food, until I thought that it was probably sunset time. Then I headed out on deck, even though it was cold and windy and snapped photos of the sunset like mad!!

So for real, I was in love with every picture I took. It was hard to narrow down.

After that, I took advantage of the Internet some more, and then I crashed pretty early (10:30ish?). I got up fairly early as well to go to the breakfast buffet (decent, but I had been hoping for more sweet things like pancakes/waffles), and then buy some Danish money from the exchange desk.

When we landed in Copenhagen, I decided I would walk to my hostel because it was not even 10, and even though my hostel was really far, I couldn't check in until 1. I started walking, decided I was going the wrong way and went back before I decided that I had been right the first time.

Good morning Denmark!

Copenhagen!

Along my walk, I got to see a few things, and I stopped a few times (it's hard carrying such a huge, heavy backpack!!). By the time I got to my hostel, it was only about 12:30, but I was so exhausted that I didn't care if I had to sit on a step waiting to get in, I just needed a break. Google maps says I walked about 5 km, and I figure I was carrying about 30-35 pounds worth of bags, so I was reeeeeeally tired.

Some park. I think it's close to the Little Mermaid statue.

Rosenborg castle.

The building with my hostel (the windows with the blue cards are where my hostel is. I'm not sure what the rest of the building is.

After I put my stuff in my room, I decided to go explore a bit and look for food. I found a couple vintage shops nearby, and bought some food at a grocery store before deciding I was way too tired to do anything else. I came back to the hostel and sat in front of my computer until I had mustered up enough willpower to get going again.

Apparently this place cuts Ricky Martin and Nick Carter's hair because that's who was on their sign. LOL.

When I had had enough of a break, I just decided to start walking, and see what I could see. I walked and walked and walked some more, and got to know where a few things were downtown. I found a huge (6 story?) department store called Magasin (I thought it would be a mall because calling a store the French word for store just seemed way too literal for me), and bought myself a facecloth. I even got a 10% discount by showing my passport (not like that makes much of a difference on something that costs ~$4).

I thought this was funny. What a resounding endorsement of their beer!

The best part about this was not that it was Toy Story, or that it was made out of Lego. The best part was that my camera's facial detection recognized his face!!

I walked a bit more before I decided to go back to the hostel, and then I crashed at about 8 pm. I actually just came back from my walkabout and crawled straight into bed. I was so tired and sore from all the walking and backpack-carrying that I didn't get up until 8 am. Yay for sleep!

Next up - Adventures in Copenhagen!

Last explorations in Oslo

Monday morning I decided that I would let myself sleep in, so I didn't get up until about 10, and then I just lazed around for a while and got a bite to eat before heading out around noon.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, but I thought I'd check what the Munch Museum is like, so I stopped at that Metro Station. Turns out the museum is closed on Mondays. Oh well, too bad. I got back on the Metro and decided that next I would check out the royal palace.

I got there and wandered the grounds a bit, taking a few photos. There were some guards standing at a couple different posts. They were much less regimented than the other ones I've seen. They did stand at attention, but they would look around from time to time, and when people asked if they could take a photo with them, they actually answered with words!! I thought it was kind of funny.

The palace.

After I had gotten back to the front of the castle, I noticed that there were a whole bunch of guards lined up in front of one of the little buildings. I stopped and watched for a while, but they didn't do too much other than stand at attention. Then all of a sudden a whole bunch of guards came marching across the court! It turned out that they were doing a changing of the guards ceremony. It was incredibly elaborate and took a great deal of time, but I watched the guards switch out. The funniest part was that three soldiers would go and stand by the guard to change (one to each side and one in front), and if you blinked, you would miss the guards switching out with the guy standing in front of him!

After the castle, I headed back to the Opera to check out the inside (I had failed to do that the first time I went to the Opera). The inside was pretty beautiful too.

Inside the opera.

I wandered for an incredibly long time trying to find somewhere I wanted to eat, and eventually I got too tired of looking and decided to eat at the T.G.I. Friday's that I was standing next too.

After my meal, I decided to see if I could look around City Hall. IT WAS AMAZING! I couldn't believe it was just a City Hall! Some parts of it look like a castle, and other parts looked like it should be a parliament.

Outside City Hall.

Just inside the front doors.

Where the action happens (as far as I know).

Random pretty room. (There were lots of these.)

Before I went home, I stopped at a gift shop and bought a fantastic book on Norway, filled with beautiful photos. I had a pretty quiet evening trying to upload more photos. I finally got everything uploaded and went to bed pretty late.

I got up fairly early Tuesday morning and decided to go all the way up to the big ski jump on the hill. It was a little confusing finding the bus to take, but I got on it and we started going up the hill. It was really neat because it immediately seemed like we were eons from the city (except you could still see it down the hill). I knew the ski jump was closed, so I didn't get off at it, but I got off the bus when the rest of the people did. I had no idea where we were, so I just started walking down the hill hoping to find a bus stop. I went past the ski jump (it was huge!), and continued.

View from the top of the hill.

Ski jump.

I ended up walking about 45 minutes before I found a bus stop to take me back to the metro station. I took the metro back to one of the stations downtown and decided that I needed to go buy my ferry ticket.

The ferry terminal was a bit of a walk, and I found out that the ferry is actually more like a cruise ship, so you can't just reserve a seat, you have to book a room. Fine by me, I'd rather sleep in a bed anyway, and at least my Eurail pass got me a discount on the fare.

I went back home to pack and try to get some food before I had to leave for the ferry. I took quite a while getting a blog post up, so then I really rushed packing.

I ran out of the apartment and hopped on the Metro, ready to go. Unfortunately, a few stops later I realized that I had forgotten to bring my Danish and Swedish phrase books. Fail. The only consolation is that I probably wouldn't have used them a whole lot anyway (and there are enough similarities between them and Norwegian, that the little broken Norwegian I know is probably mostly sufficient).

Next up - on the ferry to Denmark.

Weekend in Oslo

So after I got home from the train station, I thought about taking a shower, but decided to just crash instead. I had a pretty lazy morning surfing the internet when I finally did get up, and pretty shortly after L had gone to pick up M from a friend's house, we all piled into the metro to head off to L's work where she had left her car the night before.

She works in an office that is right in Norway's national soccer stadium, so it was pretty cool to get a bit of a tour around there. I even got to see the box seats that big companies own to watch games in. We also took a bit of a tour around the conference building that is connected to the stadium since L had been the one to make most of the design decisions for it as it was being built.

A reception desk in the conference centre. L helped make all these design decisions! It was all very modern and beautiful, and very Scandinavian.


After that we headed off to the Folk Museum. We only had about 2 hours to explore there, but it was enough time to see most of what was there. It was a really cool place. They had old buildings that had been brought in from all over Norway on display, and a couple of the buildings had really interesting exhibits in them. My favourite exhibit was the one that showed all sorts of traditional Norwegian costumes. They were all so incredibly elaborate and (new favourite word) beautiful.

There was also a really awesome old stave church there. I think it was built in the 1200's or something ridiculous like that. It was completely different from any church I had ever seen which was really cool (but apparently there's a fair number of them in Norway).

M in front of the church.

Inside the church.

There was even a little house where some women were making fresh lefse. I bought some and it was soooo delicious! Lefse is a traditional Norwegian flat bread that is a little bit sweet. I put some butter on mine, and it was fresh out of the oven (or fire pit...), so it was hot and so tasty.

After the Folk Museum, M was pretty tired, but we headed off to a big park called the Vigeland statue park. It was really neat. There were hundreds of statues there, and it kind of reminded me of when I went to Washington, DC just because of the statues being everywhere. M perked up here because she loved climbing on all the statues.

Entrance to the park.

I thought this statue was hilarious. Soooo random.

After that we went home and had a pretty relaxed evening.

I got up fairly early on Sunday and over breakfast we discussed what we should do for the day. M desperately wanted to go swimming. She loves swimming and I think she wanted to show me the pool. We decided that as long as we got going pretty quickly, we could probably do that and then do something else in the afternoon, so we headed out as soon as we could.

Considering it was a Sunday morning at 11, the pool was packed. There were tons of families and little kids there. There was even a Muslim woman there with full-on head-covered, long-sleeved bathing gear. I had a fun time playing with M (and my Norwegian has improved because I now know the word for "spin").

After the pool, we drove out to a little town about 30 minutes from Oslo called Son (pronounced "Soon") and walked around there for a bit. We saw a neat little art gallery and walked along by the water. I got some ice cream and it was delicioussss.

In Son.

There wasn't too much to see there, so we decided to go visit another little town called Drøbak a bit closer to Oslo. It was really pretty too, everything was right on the water. We checked out a few neat little shops and then walked by the water. We saw some boys catching fish with a little net, and then L&M decided to quickly check out the aquarium before it closed while I wandered a little.

Right near the aquarium in Drøbak.

After they came out, we walked along a path near the water, and I got to hear the story of how a big German warship was sunk right in that harbour during World War II. Even though there were sentries all along the coast, for some reason no one fired at the warship until it got to Drøbak (really close to Oslo). If they hadn't shot it down there, the Germans probably would have been able to capture Norway.

The island that houses the battlements/fortress/cannons.

We found a playground and I played there with M for a while before we went home. M had a play date, and then L&J went out for a bike ride, so I had some quiet time in the apartment. I decided to start uploading my photos, and man did it take FOREVER. I only got about halfway through before it was time to go to bed. I didn't do too much else that evening except hang around and wait for my photos.

Next up - About to leave Oslo.