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Oslo Day 2 - 13-June

Sunday morning
Good thing I got earcups with me. One of my roommates is an old russian man, who only speaks a few words german, doesn't understand you in German or English and also snored continuously and very loudly!

The sunday. I was hoping that some shops would be open in a city like Oslo, and that's true. In fact I notice that a lot kiosks under the name of Narvesen are open. As well as kiosks with a big "VG" sign (it appears to be a newspaper or magazine which is quite popular in Norway), 7 eleven and the Mix. Though you see quite some 7 eleven shops around the Narvesen just beats everything. You see these stores everywhere in the city, sometimes the distance between 2 of the shops is just 20 meters (across the street). Most supermarkets and some larger shops are also open.

I forgot to buy breakfast at the Hostel and because 45NOK is quite pricey (8NOK= €1) I decide to buy my own breakfast Some ready-made sandwiches and a 0,5l pack of milk is my breakfast, price: 39NOK. Not much of a difference. For lunch I buy myself a small jar of marmalade (food is sold in large packs, so a small bottle is actually quite big and should be sufficient for a 3 week trip) and sliced bread (which is quite hard to obtain as people here prefer unsliced bread). When making my lunch I find out that I don't have any knife but with fingers you can make quite nice sandwiches as well.

I walk around in my T-Shirt today and it proves to be a hot day today, and indeed temperature reaches around 25 degrees. Though many shops are closed the city centre is quite busy and a lot of people are walking over the squares and the Karl Johans gate. First I need to arrange a reservation for my train to Bergen. at train station they offer me a window-seat and I immediately book a night train from Stavanger back to Oslo as well. With scanrail a seat reservation costs 50NOK, the night train in a 3-bed compartment is 175NOK. Hostels can be more expensive so that price is quite reasonable.


The skyline of Oslo. One of the few highrise buildings you can see, but you see these 2 skyscrapers from everywhere which can be very handy if you need to find the train station (the building in front of the skyscrapers and on the right of the photo).

Sightseeing
After the duties, I decide to walk to the seaside, Oslo is quite inland but located next to a fjord, there is seawater and a lot of seagulls are flying all over town. Many people are fishing on the shores and enjoy the nice temperature. Quite frequently some of the fishermen catch some fish. I will find out that they like to catch a few fish and then have a small barbeque in the park.

View from the harbor in Oslo

Further along the seaside is the Town hall. On pictures it looks quite dark and ugly, but due to its ugliness it is also a rather interesting building to see. In front of it is a large square where the trams pass and where a Fair is placed, at this place they have a summer festival and a bit further down the street are stands where nice looking norwegian ladies (and there lot's of those) offer free things. I end up with a pack of free macaroni-sauce, though I doubt if I would use it.

Oslo's Radhuset (Town hall).

Another main attraction in Oslo is the Vigeland park. A park with a lot sculptures of naked people showing all kinds of expressions. The park is quite a walk from the city centre and my Lonely Planet guidebook recommends to take the tram or subway. However, I am in the mood for walking as it is basically just a straight line from the Royal Palace. But somehow I always manage to walk quite differently and after an hour of walking in wrong directions I end up at the park. The statues are supposed to be the most interesting thing in the park but what I immediately notice is that only tourists are walking on the paths and look at the statues. The big grass fields are loaded with people, and everywhere you see the smoke of little throw-away barbeques where some fish are being heated up.

The park is quite enjoyable with so many people around, but the way-back needs to be made. I decide to follow the tramrails this time, maybe that should prevent me from getting lost, but I get lost anyway as the tramlines were making a lot of corners and I decided it would be better to just follow a big road. And after another hour wandering through all kinds of streets (which is not a punishment as there are lot of beautiful wooden houses outside the city-centre).


Sculptures in the Vigeland park.


Vigeland Park

Socializing with football
In the common room of the hostel, the usual crowd gathered in front of the TV to watch the football matches for the European Championship. Many English people were depressed by a sudden 2-1 loss against France (enemy number 1), but the atmosphere is quite good. Through the large facade made of glass you had a nice view to the busy street outside where trams kept on driving. At 0:00 the twilight starts in Oslo and that's quite a strange experience as back home it would be dark for over an hour. It tricks your biorhythm a bit because you thinks it is still early in the evening and also waking up at 2:30AM because the sun started shining is very strange. But I don't get very sleepless of it.