Norway!
Norway was… spectacular. Before I throw you a gigantic slab of text, here are some pictures. The first one is from my grandparents’ shinding on Sunday, thrown in for good measure.
The trip there was kind of harrowing: there were four different modes of transportation, the first three of which–subway, train, airplane–had some mild snafu along the way. The flight, in particular, wasn’t very pleasant: we flew Ryanair, Europe’s low-budget no-comfort cattle-car-with-wings airline. At least they got us there without crashing.
Once we got to Norway, however, things got much better. We rented a car at the airport, where a friendly portly Norsk named Knut helped us out. The drive to Oslo was absolutely beautiful: water, mountains, and trees everywhere. Oslo is a fairly small city–at 600,000, it’s smaller than Austin. On our first night there we visited Hovedøya, an island where some monks founded an abbey in the 1100s. It was abandoned in the 1500s, but the ruins are still there.
Later that night, we had some dinner–and we were introduced to Norway’s only real negative aspect: the absolutely ridiculous prices. We spent 330 kroner (just about 50 bucks) on dinner at a ‘budget’ restaurant. I had a burger, Jenny had some pasta. After dinner we went to a grocery store, since we figured those might be cheaper… but no. Lunch meat: $10/kilo. Water: $3 for a liter. Bread: $4 for a loaf. Cheese (the cheapest, sliced variety): $15. We settled for potatoes and apples, the only affordable things in the entire damn store.
After that particular financial kick in the gonads, we went to Vigeland Park, a large park in western Oslo hosting 212 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. Nearly all of them are of human beings, mostly couples, in all kinds of poses. Most entertaining are the statues of babies being flung about. There are some fairly disturbing ones, too, including several husbands beating up their wives, and at the center of the park stands a somewhat phallic pile of bodies. Nevertheless, the park is very beautiful and could give Central Park or London’s Hyde Park a run for their money.
The next day, we made a giant loop through central Norway by car. We drove to the largest national park in Norway, Hardangervidda National Park. Driving in Norway is pretty slow; there is only one freeway in the entire country, and all other roads are simple one or two lane roads with no divider. The speed limit is generally 80 km/h (50 mi/h), and you really can’t go much faster. Honestly, I didn’t want to drive any faster because the scenery was simply mind-blowing. Just check out some of the pictures.
Our goal was to get to Kalhovdfjorden, an very stark looking area completely devoid of trees. To get there, we had to go down a 20 mile, one way only gravel-paved road with tons of blind curves and sheer drops. Our efforts were definitely rewarded.
On the way back to Oslo we visited a stave church, a medieval wood-framed church. Most of these were built in the 1200s, and only about 30 are left. Only one example exists outside of Norway.
That night, we went back to Oslo, walked around the main drag.
Today we visited the Norwegian Folk Museum, a collection of several hundred buildings showcasing traditional Norwegian architecture. The second stave church picture you see is from the museum.
To sum up: Norway was awesome. The people were incredibly friendly, and every single person we spoke to spoke English. Although prices for everything are absolutely preposterous–we’re talking $12 Big Macs here!–the scenery is so incredible you almost don’t mind. This is one of the more random places I’ve visited, but it was absolutely worth it. I can’t recommend it enough.
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I’ve always wanted to visit Norway. I’m sure if I get the chance it’s going to be on a budget. The pictures are very enticing. You should have gotten a picture of that $12 Big Mac. I guess I’ll have to get that on myself.