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Norway (22.-25.8.)
Door: Palien
22 Augustus 2015 | Noorwegen, Oslo
Safely arrived in Oslo, the transfer from the airport to Oslo central station is not cheap, but very efficient, it took less than half an hour, and only two stops. The system with the tickets is self-explaining, which makes it very easy. Not too easy was the orientation in Oslo proper, the station is just huge, and the arrangement of the streets around is rather chaotic, it took me a while to find a plate with the name of the street on it, and from there it was easy to find the hotel (had chosen one not too far away from the central station), the small folding map from my travel guide proved very useful in this respect.
Very practical, I walked back to the cebtral station and found the platform for the airport express train, together with ticket vending machines, and, which is really very convenient, machines, where you can print out your boarding pass. And I though you have them at the airport only, that´s a real advantage, to be able to print out the boarding pass a day before the flight, I can make sure, that I will not get a middle seat^^
My first stop was the opera house, an incredible place, looks like an ice shell, and you can go all the way on the roof to enjoy the view.
My lucky day, when i entered the opera itself I came in time to listen to two opera singers for free, they gave a special performance for the tourists, great voicea, a pleasure (assuming that you like opera what i actually do).
Strolled along the Karl Johan Gata, and took some pcitures, next time I should bring a proper camera with my, you cannot take great pics with the mobile phone.
Oslo is definitely no a place for the small wallet, everything costs ca. 50-100% more than in NL or Germany.
I really like that place, the atmosphere is great, and the Scandinavians are very relaxed people; everybody here speaks English perfectly, that makes the traveller´s life easy. I like the sound of the Norvegian language, similar to swedisch, but much softer, such as Spanish and Portuguese, interesting.
Day 2
Nothing better to start the day as with a rich breakfast; although the ambiente reminded me very much of a canteen the breakfast had all I needed, lots of scramble eggs and the delicious baked beans I remember from good old England. You get the impression, that the Norvegians are big meat eaters, there was a larg selection of sausagea and roast beef, too.
Today´s excusion led me to the fortress and the harbour and some noetworthy sights around. Following the advice of a young Norvegian student who was touting I visited the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Contemporary Art, it had a permanent and a temporary exhibition, and some of the objets d´artare best described as rather creepy (see photos). Oslo is located between the sea (Oslo Fjord) and the mountains, and the view of the sea with so many small islands around is really breathtaking. The locals used the great whether to sunbath at the ocean, there is not beach, but some wooden quais, and every place was taken.
A nice atmosphere, the scnadinavian crow is very civilised, there was nobody playing musci at a volume, that you can hea it 50 meters away, or a mobile shouter telling everbody in not less distance everything about his/her life.
This seems to be a typical Scandinavian trait, live and let live, the people respect each other and don´t pretend to be alone in the world as it is nowadays very much in vogue.
The novel prize for peace is awraded in Oslo, and they have a building dedicated to this prize, with an exhibition illustrating life and workof the current holders of this prize. Although this prize is held by a lot of persons who really merit it (Martin Luther King, his holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela etc.) it very much reminds me of others having awarded the prize who do not seem to be that worthy of it, not citing anyone here, but i guess the educated reader knows who is meant.
I heard one of the people working in the Noel Peace Price shop talking Mandarin to a Chinese cuetomer, a Norvegian guy, and we had a nice conversation about Chinese culture (I had complemted him on his knowledge of the language which I have never really mastered).
Again I have to come to the conclusion, that Norway is a country which should be explored in more depth later, possible a small group tour going around the country.
Oslo is a very international place, the tourists come from everyhwere, i heard French, Italian, Spanisch, Russian, German and even Dutch (three ladies sitting on the table next to me in the breakfast room).
On the way back I passed the Opera again, and this time the roof was full of people, they were obviously watching an event which was sponsored by Red Bull, not much was happening there, at least I saw no one flying around. On the other hand I did not stay there all too long...
Day 3
Frogner park in the morning, a great place for womeone who loves statues, it is actually full of them, all created by someone named Vigeland (no, not related to the dictator of the same name). A lit of tourists there, mostly very nosy Chinese from the People´s Republic, lots of western tourists, too, including my own. Apparently two local school classes (teenagers, one female, one male teacher) were used the park for jogging, and it seemed, that not everyone of them was in top form, those out of breath just walked.
I took the T-bane (subway/streetcar) there, only 3 stops, but a little bit too far to walk, I boldy went and bought me a 24h-ticket, as I intend to take it also in the afternoon. The vending machine is in Norvegian and Englisch, and the public transport system is very much self-explaining, I sincerely hope that I correctly validated my tickt, alt least I heard a beep and a green light was shown. I guess I will find that out, when I get into a control which, according to my guide are frequent.
Some pculiarities about Norway: The numbering of the floors is rather unusual, the group floor gets -1, then 1 for the firt floor, 2, for the second etc.
The people here are very fond of credit cards, i staood in front of a public toilet which cost 2 € to enter, and the only way to pay it was by credit card, never seen something like that before, what´s wrong with using coins? They still have them. Other countries, other customs.
Btw I really got my boarding pass issued at one of those machines located at the central station, that´s really highly practical.
In the afternoon I took a longer tour with the T-bane to the ski jump tower called Holmenkollen; after 15 minutes on foot I reached the destination, and tooh the lift to the very top, and was rewarede with abreathtaking view over Oslo and the Fjord. Two very brave Asian (possible Chinese) tourists went all the way down on the steel rope, maybe they wanted to feel like a ski jumper. It takes a lot of courage to do, it s a long way down, and you reach considerable speed, they seemde to enjoy it, though.
A strong wind on the top of the tower, it reminded me of God´s onw countrywhere I have the privilege to live right now.
The landsacpe reminded me very much of Helsinki, ths same kind of vegetation, obviously typically for Scandinavia.
No control of the ticket, i guess I will never find out, whether I did the right thing. Lots of people on the way back, many schoolchildren chattering away in fast Norvegian.
On the "ground floor" is a ski museum, with lots of photos and all kind of old skis, seems, they invented it around here.
Very practical, I walked back to the cebtral station and found the platform for the airport express train, together with ticket vending machines, and, which is really very convenient, machines, where you can print out your boarding pass. And I though you have them at the airport only, that´s a real advantage, to be able to print out the boarding pass a day before the flight, I can make sure, that I will not get a middle seat^^
My first stop was the opera house, an incredible place, looks like an ice shell, and you can go all the way on the roof to enjoy the view.
My lucky day, when i entered the opera itself I came in time to listen to two opera singers for free, they gave a special performance for the tourists, great voicea, a pleasure (assuming that you like opera what i actually do).
Strolled along the Karl Johan Gata, and took some pcitures, next time I should bring a proper camera with my, you cannot take great pics with the mobile phone.
Oslo is definitely no a place for the small wallet, everything costs ca. 50-100% more than in NL or Germany.
I really like that place, the atmosphere is great, and the Scandinavians are very relaxed people; everybody here speaks English perfectly, that makes the traveller´s life easy. I like the sound of the Norvegian language, similar to swedisch, but much softer, such as Spanish and Portuguese, interesting.
Day 2
Nothing better to start the day as with a rich breakfast; although the ambiente reminded me very much of a canteen the breakfast had all I needed, lots of scramble eggs and the delicious baked beans I remember from good old England. You get the impression, that the Norvegians are big meat eaters, there was a larg selection of sausagea and roast beef, too.
Today´s excusion led me to the fortress and the harbour and some noetworthy sights around. Following the advice of a young Norvegian student who was touting I visited the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Contemporary Art, it had a permanent and a temporary exhibition, and some of the objets d´artare best described as rather creepy (see photos). Oslo is located between the sea (Oslo Fjord) and the mountains, and the view of the sea with so many small islands around is really breathtaking. The locals used the great whether to sunbath at the ocean, there is not beach, but some wooden quais, and every place was taken.
A nice atmosphere, the scnadinavian crow is very civilised, there was nobody playing musci at a volume, that you can hea it 50 meters away, or a mobile shouter telling everbody in not less distance everything about his/her life.
This seems to be a typical Scandinavian trait, live and let live, the people respect each other and don´t pretend to be alone in the world as it is nowadays very much in vogue.
The novel prize for peace is awraded in Oslo, and they have a building dedicated to this prize, with an exhibition illustrating life and workof the current holders of this prize. Although this prize is held by a lot of persons who really merit it (Martin Luther King, his holiness the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela etc.) it very much reminds me of others having awarded the prize who do not seem to be that worthy of it, not citing anyone here, but i guess the educated reader knows who is meant.
I heard one of the people working in the Noel Peace Price shop talking Mandarin to a Chinese cuetomer, a Norvegian guy, and we had a nice conversation about Chinese culture (I had complemted him on his knowledge of the language which I have never really mastered).
Again I have to come to the conclusion, that Norway is a country which should be explored in more depth later, possible a small group tour going around the country.
Oslo is a very international place, the tourists come from everyhwere, i heard French, Italian, Spanisch, Russian, German and even Dutch (three ladies sitting on the table next to me in the breakfast room).
On the way back I passed the Opera again, and this time the roof was full of people, they were obviously watching an event which was sponsored by Red Bull, not much was happening there, at least I saw no one flying around. On the other hand I did not stay there all too long...
Day 3
Frogner park in the morning, a great place for womeone who loves statues, it is actually full of them, all created by someone named Vigeland (no, not related to the dictator of the same name). A lit of tourists there, mostly very nosy Chinese from the People´s Republic, lots of western tourists, too, including my own. Apparently two local school classes (teenagers, one female, one male teacher) were used the park for jogging, and it seemed, that not everyone of them was in top form, those out of breath just walked.
I took the T-bane (subway/streetcar) there, only 3 stops, but a little bit too far to walk, I boldy went and bought me a 24h-ticket, as I intend to take it also in the afternoon. The vending machine is in Norvegian and Englisch, and the public transport system is very much self-explaining, I sincerely hope that I correctly validated my tickt, alt least I heard a beep and a green light was shown. I guess I will find that out, when I get into a control which, according to my guide are frequent.
Some pculiarities about Norway: The numbering of the floors is rather unusual, the group floor gets -1, then 1 for the firt floor, 2, for the second etc.
The people here are very fond of credit cards, i staood in front of a public toilet which cost 2 € to enter, and the only way to pay it was by credit card, never seen something like that before, what´s wrong with using coins? They still have them. Other countries, other customs.
Btw I really got my boarding pass issued at one of those machines located at the central station, that´s really highly practical.
In the afternoon I took a longer tour with the T-bane to the ski jump tower called Holmenkollen; after 15 minutes on foot I reached the destination, and tooh the lift to the very top, and was rewarede with abreathtaking view over Oslo and the Fjord. Two very brave Asian (possible Chinese) tourists went all the way down on the steel rope, maybe they wanted to feel like a ski jumper. It takes a lot of courage to do, it s a long way down, and you reach considerable speed, they seemde to enjoy it, though.
A strong wind on the top of the tower, it reminded me of God´s onw countrywhere I have the privilege to live right now.
The landsacpe reminded me very much of Helsinki, ths same kind of vegetation, obviously typically for Scandinavia.
No control of the ticket, i guess I will never find out, whether I did the right thing. Lots of people on the way back, many schoolchildren chattering away in fast Norvegian.
On the "ground floor" is a ski museum, with lots of photos and all kind of old skis, seems, they invented it around here.
-
22 Augustus 2015 - 17:33
Lily:
Sounds like a good start to your holiday. Keep the news and photos coming. -
22 Augustus 2015 - 17:39
Lily:
I see The Doctor is enjoying himself too. -
22 Augustus 2015 - 17:57
Lily:
Norwegian sounds to me like soft singing, depending on which area you visit. And yes, the prices are double normal continental prices. -
23 Augustus 2015 - 12:05
Pietro:
So that's you, green face. had forgotten about this waarbenjij.nu thing that when i saw your spam-like name in my mailbox i was going to delete it. ;-)
you planning to go see the fjords? -
23 Augustus 2015 - 18:00
Lily:
I love the contemporary art. Another thing you should go to see is the park with the sculptures, really wonderful. -
23 Augustus 2015 - 18:05
Lily:
The parks with the sculptures are Frogner and Vigeland. -
23 Augustus 2015 - 18:49
:
Good idea, I wanted to go to see the scuplture tomorrow, thanks for the advice, I love statues -
23 Augustus 2015 - 18:50
:
Amigo PC, I plan another trip to Norway in the future, the fjords need more time I guess
-
24 Augustus 2015 - 15:31
Lily:
Oh no! I'd better take my rarely used credit card to Norway next time. Otherwise it's going to be very uncomfortable. -
24 Augustus 2015 - 15:35
Lily:
By the way, love the photos of the sculptures. -
24 Augustus 2015 - 21:25
Lily:
Wonderful view of the trees from the lift. -
24 Augustus 2015 - 21:56
P.:
for your last day in oslo, climb back to the sky jump tower. set up your GoPro cam on your helmet and jump down...one, two, three...spread your wingsuit and start recording your fly over the city and the fjord around. you can fly a wingsuit, right? you flew your space ship to planet delta snooker you can fly a wingsuit. ;-)
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
