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Hey
(this means hi in Norwegian and is one of the 3 words I have truly
mastered). The other two
would be skol (cheers) and takk (thank you).
I
should probably note that most of what is contained in the following
text are simple impressions by some guy who tends to be wrong about 47%
of the time. Ok … it's off
my chest here is the skinny.
My
flight left NYC via Iceland and arrives in Oslo a quick 7.5 hours later.
It was only about 5 hours to Iceland and on the way back I'll be
hanging in Reykavik for a few days.
| Travel
tip #1 – if you are a student or under 26 you can buy tickets
through companies like STA Travel that allow you to layover in
cities for extended periods. |
We
(myself and Burndog) were met by the soon-to-be married couple at the
airport. They quickly
gave us directions to the apartment they set us up in and we were off on
the train. About 2 seconds
later I lost the directions and we were on our own.
In a city of 500,000 this might not be the best scenario. I'm
pretty sure they were wrong anyway.
As usual I'm traveling without a map, guidebook, or watch …
moving like a cat on instinct.
So
we get to the loft . . . myself and 5 college friends are bunking in the
simple apartment. So what
do we do? Well in the fifth most expensive city in the world it is
essential to find cheap food. The
30 packages of pretzels I stole from Iceland Air would be gone in no
time. Unfortunately it was
Kristihimmelfaits Day (pronounced Kristy Himmel Farts – yes I think
that's funny). I also think
its funny that we bastardized the name into Kristi McCollough Day,
Kristi Yamuguchi Day, and Kristi Aguillera Day.
Everything
is closed in order to celebrate the ascension of Christ into Heaven. So
the Norwegian Posse heads off on its first trek to find a gas station.
Most of the rest of the afternoon was spent finding the best
value for beer. We ended up
settling on a couple of 1.5 liter bottles (40s for you ganstas out
there). We were told this
is the beer that the 'street people' drink.
Even so it cost 50 Kroner! That's
about $5 U.S. The cheapest
6 pack we could find was $16.
| This
being said I will give you travel tip #2:
Bring
in as much hard alcohol as your tired bones can carry.
The law says you can only bring in one bottle of spirits,
but the chances of being checked are far outweighed by spending
your 401 K on pilsner.
The
reason why the prices are so high, is because the alcohol tax is
used to treat people with drinking problems.
My
question is, who can afford to get cirrhosis of the liver around
here? |
Note:
The next two paragraphs will be guidebook style writing for all
the people in the house who would like to have a picture in their mind
of the capital of Norway – Oslo.
Oslo,
an old city founded around the year 1000, is a city of contrasts.
Simple wooden houses are nestled amongst high-tech structures.
Water fountains seem to pop up every few blocks along the
meticulous, tree-lined streets. Beautiful
facades and cozy cafes are the norm rather than the exception. The city
is built around one of the largest fjords in Norway and nature can be
experienced 15 minutes from any spot in the city.
Today's
city was designed with the intention of being one of the major cosmopolitan
centers of the world. After
Oslo was completely destroyed by fire in 1624 it undertook a major
facelift during the unification of Norway and Iceland.
During this time the city was renamed Christiania which was later
changed back to Oslo in 1925 after independence was granted.
Today's
Oslo houses the Edvard Munch museum (the creator of the painting
Scream), and the Vigeland Sculpture Park (400 rock sculptures of people
in various poses and formations). Just
walking along Karl Johan Gate (the major street in Oslo) is an
experience in fine cars and stylish decor.
Numerous other cultural interest spots that can be found at http://
www.visitoslo.com.
With
this being said I can get back to creating theories founded from
little-to-no facts.
At
the end of each letter I'll give you five theories that I have created
and then later destroyed based on my specific experiences in each city.
These will get more specific as the trek continues.
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