Norway in a Nutshell

My time in Norway ended up being a bit briefer than I had anticipated, but it was good non the less. It began by arriving from Stockholm on the overnight train. I dumped my bags in a locker and then hopped on another train to Bergen almost immediately. The train ride from Oslo to Bergen is supposed to be extremelly beautiful and amazing, so I took off on the 7 hour ride to see the scenery. It winds up into the mountains and you have some amazing views of the fjords that Norway is famous for. I was going to get off halfway and take another train down into one of the fjords and also a boat before continuing on my way, but it was very snowy and I decided to just enjoy the ride instead. The scenery conists of tons of mountains and at this time of year they are covered in snow. There are a bunch of lakes as well and some evergreeens also. I really enjoyed the ride. I got to Bergen around 4 in the afternoon and had just enough time to walk around a bit before catching the overnight train back to Oslo.

Once I arrived back in Olso, I was going to go and find a hostel. I did not book anything because the site that I usually use for booking did not have anything listed other than a really expensive hotel and I figured I would just be fine to show up at one of the hostels listed in my book and be able to get a room, especially since it is low season now that has never been a problem. So I grabbed my bag out of the locker and headed off to the nearest big hostel. Once I got there, they informed me that they were full and only had a private single room available that was really expensive. They recommended 2 other hostels so I called them and they were also full. It surprised me so I figured I would go with Plan B instead, which consisted of taking the overnight ferry back to Copenhagen, Denmark that night instead of the following night, so I headed off to the ferry station. Now let me draw you a little mental map. The train station where I originally began would be the middle point on a line. About 15 or 20 minutes walk towards one end would be where the hostel I went to was. About 15 or 20 minutes walk to the other end from the train station would be where the ferry dock was. So I trapsed from the train station, to one end of the line and then to the other to get to the ferry dock with my backpack on my back, which only seems to get heavier as the weeks go on instead of lighter. Go figure! So anyway, I head to the ferry dock and see about getting a ticket. They I asked for jsut deck passage, which is basically you pay to get on the ship and you sleep where ever you can find room like the floor, lounges, couches, if you are lucky, whereever. It is the cheapest way to go. The woman informs me that they only have private rooms available for the equivalent of over 300 dollars. They do not offer deck passage (of course they would not because it is NOrway and the most expensive country in Europe). So I say no thank you and head on my way. Now my Plan C is always that you can jsut sleep at the train station or airports, but last time I did this we all got kicked out around 1am so we ended up sleeping outside the train station on the concret instead in Venice. Luckily I made some friends with some Ausies so the 3 of us hudled up together under their sleeping bag to keep warm and it was much warmer there than here. I quickly decided against Plan C because with temperatures hovering around 0 at night here, I would have litterally forzen to death if I got kicked out, so on to Plan D. This consisted of taking a train back sometime today to Copenhagen. The woman at the desk informed me though that there is only 1 train per day that goes and the one for that day is full so she could only offer me it for the following day. That pretty much put me back at square one with not being able to leave until the next day and having no where to sleep. I almost did it and then Plan E quickly popped into my head. I headed to the bus station to check on buses and HALLELUJAH there was one that left that night and was an overnight ride to Copenhagen and was not that expensive and there was room. I could have kissed the guy when he told me that (do not worry, I did not, but I coulda I was so excited). I quickly slapped down the money, threw my stuff in a locker for the day and headed out because I had exactly 12 hours to explore the city before my bu left. Dad, arent you glad I have so many backup plans???

My first stop in Oslo was the famous Froggen Park where down the main center walkway are a bunch of sculptures. The sculptures are extremely interesting because there are some of children, adults, elderly, and they are all in different poses and all of them are nude. I walked all through there just looking at them and taking some pictures. They are done quite well and are quite the eyeful to see. Next stop was over to an old fort on the edge of town. The fort is this huge old complex that contains the old palace, church, armory and many other buildings. I wanted to go into the palace and church, but unfornately they were closed. So I walked around a bit and then I headed off to a museum I wanted to see.

I cannot remember the name of the museum, but it explores issues of conflict and tension and nobel peace prize winners. The exhibition they had going on was on Freedom of Expression and how far is too far. It was an great exhibition using interviews of people and also film, music and writings to explore this idea. After that exhibition, I headed upstairs where it looks at some of the nobel peace prize winners and what they have done and contributed to receive the prize. It was truly amazing to see all that has been done and all that these people have accomplished. It almost brought me to tears because so often we think that we are only one person in the world so what can we do, yet you get enough one people together and you have a whole movement. There are other permanent displays as well that examine the idea of peace in various regions of the world. It was a fabulous musuem and I think my favorite one I have seen so far. I spent over 3 hours in there and it is really not that big.