🌏 Travel Feature: My 3-day city break in Oslo 🇳🇴
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Day 1: Oslo, Norway 🇳🇴
Welcome to an IntraOrdinary Travel post! I initially planned to do this as a combination of video and written blog but as usual, I got lazy. And when I’m lazy, boy do I procrastinate!
....
I arrived in Oslo, Norway yesterday via a Wizz Air flight from London Luton airport. It was a rather peaceful wait till boarding, I even had the chance to browse for unnecessary things to buy and sit down to eat breakfast at Frankie and Bennys. The events of that morning and indeed the previous day seemed like a distant memory. Because on the morning of the flight, I missed my coach and had to get the next one which left me with 1 hour 45 till the plane left. I went through security; which was unusually empty and made it out within 10 minutes. So I had a good 1 hour and 25 minutes to just browse. I ended up getting a new power bank because my phone charger had been playing up and then walked around some more, deciding if I wanted a take-away for the plane journey from Prêt-a-manger or a proper full breakfast with a hot drink to keep me occupied for the journey. I settled for the later.
The flight delayed taking off by 15 minutes but we arrived only 10 minutes after scheduled arrival time so kudos to the pilots. The plane was speeding to the extent that I started to think that we might have a plane-crash but luckily no such thing happened. Hallelujah!
On arrival at my accommodation, I changed into more comfy clothing with the intent that I would take it easy and do an evening tour of my own. I ended up sleeping, watching a couple of movies until 8pm when I left for an evening stroll. My accommodation is right in the centre of Oslo city so I didn't bother looking at a map, I figured that there will a few prominent sites around me so I walked in no particular direction. I sat down for a meal for 1(moi) at Egon restaurant. It claims to be (no actually Google maps labelled it as a Norwegian restaurant) but it was more Italian/Spanish than Norwegian. I enjoyed my hotdog and sweet potato fries and enjoyed the Iced coffee - I chose the Irish cream option. Shhhhh...I had two glasses...it was so nice!
Apres le diner, I continued on my evening stroll and found my way to Oslo Central station. It half saved my life today.
Day 2: More galavanting, then day trip to Sweden.
I woke up later than I anticipated and spent over 2 hours getting ready for the day. Which left me with under 1 hour to explore and then make my way to catch the coach.
Right now, I am sitting here blogging and enjoying the views of the Norwegian countryside. After I put down my phone, I will indulge in the kebab meal that almost made me miss my bus. It wasn't the kebab's fault, I underestimated the duration of the walk to the bus terminal by 10 minutes and had to sprint to make it. When I checked the departure board, I didn't see my bus. In desperation I run to one of the coaches and the driver to help me and by coincidence (God's grace really) it happened to be the bus I needed. I arrived 3 minutes before the bus left and was huffing and puffing for a good 4 minutes after. My heart didn't like this but my Google fit app was enjoying recording all of the action.
Now I'm ready for a good meal after that workout.
Upon my arrival at Karlstad in Sweden, I felt disappointed. This was not what I imagined and I wished I had visited Gothenburg instead. Anyway I made the most of the three hours I had and walked in the direction of two of the recommended places to visit. I was close but I took a detour and decided to walk next to the river/lake which runs through the city. It was pretty cold and I began looking for a restaurant (preferably Swedish) to sit down and perhaps get something done. I brought my laptop with me and planned to mark, plan lessons or work on some admin tasks during the coach journey. Spotting the Varmlandsmuseum close by, I went in, bought a ticket and explored. There was a creative studio in there and I drew whatever came to mind (inserted).
After browsing through the museum exhibits, I bought some juice and desert and set to work (inserted) #morelikeaworkingholiday #onedayilllearntoleaveworkatwork
#cheesecakeformepleaseyes.
Day 3: Fjord cruise and Norway’s culture museum, then souvenir shopping.
Well, I guess everything went according to plan. It's past 6pm here and I'm in bed updating you on the past hours.
Before I continue, I'm in bed relaxing as I plan to go galavanting (mostly for food) this evening. I decided to go souvenir shipping earlier but I think I'll save the rest of my money for food instead.
The cruise was lovely...but cold and so I couldn't wait to get to the museum. During the cruise, I spotted some lovely Norwegian style homes on the hilly islands, small boats as well as big cruise liners. My imagination told me that it can imagine me going on an adventure cruise in the future, but not when I'm old... middle aged most likely (whatever that age range is). See some snaps and videos below.
The Norsk Folkemuseum was totally worth it. It's a big site and one can easily spend the whole day there. I was feeling a bit of discomfort in my body so didn't explore as much. Before leaving, I visited the museum shop and bought my souvenirs so that I didn't have to battle with which products to buy at the shops in the centre of Oslo. I bought a couple of items and I was done. That's another lesson I have learnt from my travels. Spend the minimum amount you can on souvenirs. Unless they are going to be presents for an occasion.
So after my short break, I headed back into town on the hunt for some food. One of my roommates was also from England and was as keen to find some traditional Norwegian food as I was so we went out together. We had seen a traditional Norwegian restaurant on Google maps which was 3 minutes down the road. The menu was quite interesting but they didn't really have many options, there were about 4 dishes listed under each course and I was quite expensive. The minimum cost for a starter and desert was about 129 nok and 259 for a main which is about 10.94 and 21.96 pounds at the minute's exchange rate. So we went in search of other cheaper options. We ended up back at the first restaurant because the other restaurants didn't offer Norwegian food. But when we got back, the manager (I suppose) said the kitchen was closing in 10 minutes so we could only order dessert. We were heartbroken but we had our eye on the Norwegian style creme brulée as the prices of the main course meals were too expensive. All the same, desert was lovely and I was so close to ordering a second but the kitchen was closed by then.
After our lovely meal, we decided to walk some more. We headed towards the Opera house/theatre and took in a night view of Oslo from the top of the Opera House. Then walked in any direction back to the hotel. My neighbour and I were thinking the same as we didn't use Google maps. Being right in the centre of town meant that we will eventually end up in the centre if we walked in the opposite direction. That walk was quite entertaining. We heard some music from the Opera House and walked towards the 'sound of the music'. There was a small orchestral concert in one of the nearby bars and while it was too late for us to get inside, we enjoyed it from the outside.
Day 4: Adventure over, back to the UK 🇬🇧
Today should hopefully go smoothly. I woke up happy that I didn't have to leave the hotel at 5am because I had booked an 8:15 coach. I wasn't excited about the fact that I would have to change for another bus or taxi at some point and to be frank the day before, I was close to booking a new flight which departs from the Oslo airport I arrived in. This Torp airport seemed like a hustle to get to and I just didn't want to be stranded and miss my flight.
I arrived at 7:53ish and checked the departure board at the bus terminal, to my greatest shock there were plenty of buses heading to Torp airport directly. I was fuming because when I was searching for buses to the airport it seemed like Mission Impossible so I thought I had no option than to book a bus to the nearest town and make my way from there.There was one leaving at 8.05 to the airport and I walked to the platform to try to catch that. I bought a ticket (#&+;!) and walked to the coach I was initially going to take to find out if I could get a refund for the journey I was not going to make anymore. The driver said check on the website, but I checked my ticket again and it said not exchangeable and not refundable. Gutted I was. I had wasted money on this ticket and ended up spending another £30 on another ticket. But thankfully, it got me to my destination hustle-free. And here is where I got to continue the rest of my story. So far, so good! Norway has been quite an adventure. Next time by God's grace, I'll be heading further north towards the Arctic circle. To live my coolest dream (literally) and see some arctic animals and the Northern lights.
Till next time,
Happy living!
Claudy xoxo
Day 1: Oslo, Norway 🇳🇴
Welcome to an IntraOrdinary Travel post! I initially planned to do this as a combination of video and written blog but as usual, I got lazy. And when I’m lazy, boy do I procrastinate!
....
I arrived in Oslo, Norway yesterday via a Wizz Air flight from London Luton airport. It was a rather peaceful wait till boarding, I even had the chance to browse for unnecessary things to buy and sit down to eat breakfast at Frankie and Bennys. The events of that morning and indeed the previous day seemed like a distant memory. Because on the morning of the flight, I missed my coach and had to get the next one which left me with 1 hour 45 till the plane left. I went through security; which was unusually empty and made it out within 10 minutes. So I had a good 1 hour and 25 minutes to just browse. I ended up getting a new power bank because my phone charger had been playing up and then walked around some more, deciding if I wanted a take-away for the plane journey from Prêt-a-manger or a proper full breakfast with a hot drink to keep me occupied for the journey. I settled for the later.
The flight delayed taking off by 15 minutes but we arrived only 10 minutes after scheduled arrival time so kudos to the pilots. The plane was speeding to the extent that I started to think that we might have a plane-crash but luckily no such thing happened. Hallelujah!
On arrival at my accommodation, I changed into more comfy clothing with the intent that I would take it easy and do an evening tour of my own. I ended up sleeping, watching a couple of movies until 8pm when I left for an evening stroll. My accommodation is right in the centre of Oslo city so I didn't bother looking at a map, I figured that there will a few prominent sites around me so I walked in no particular direction. I sat down for a meal for 1(moi) at Egon restaurant. It claims to be (no actually Google maps labelled it as a Norwegian restaurant) but it was more Italian/Spanish than Norwegian. I enjoyed my hotdog and sweet potato fries and enjoyed the Iced coffee - I chose the Irish cream option. Shhhhh...I had two glasses...it was so nice!
Apres le diner, I continued on my evening stroll and found my way to Oslo Central station. It half saved my life today.
Day 2: More galavanting, then day trip to Sweden.
I woke up later than I anticipated and spent over 2 hours getting ready for the day. Which left me with under 1 hour to explore and then make my way to catch the coach.
 |
| The Royal Palace at Slottsparken |
Right now, I am sitting here blogging and enjoying the views of the Norwegian countryside. After I put down my phone, I will indulge in the kebab meal that almost made me miss my bus. It wasn't the kebab's fault, I underestimated the duration of the walk to the bus terminal by 10 minutes and had to sprint to make it. When I checked the departure board, I didn't see my bus. In desperation I run to one of the coaches and the driver to help me and by coincidence (God's grace really) it happened to be the bus I needed. I arrived 3 minutes before the bus left and was huffing and puffing for a good 4 minutes after. My heart didn't like this but my Google fit app was enjoying recording all of the action.
Now I'm ready for a good meal after that workout.
After browsing through the museum exhibits, I bought some juice and desert and set to work (inserted) #morelikeaworkingholiday #onedayilllearntoleaveworkatwork
#cheesecakeformepleaseyes.
Day 3: Fjord cruise and Norway’s culture museum, then souvenir shopping.
Well, I guess everything went according to plan. It's past 6pm here and I'm in bed updating you on the past hours.
Before I continue, I'm in bed relaxing as I plan to go galavanting (mostly for food) this evening. I decided to go souvenir shipping earlier but I think I'll save the rest of my money for food instead.
The cruise was lovely...but cold and so I couldn't wait to get to the museum. During the cruise, I spotted some lovely Norwegian style homes on the hilly islands, small boats as well as big cruise liners. My imagination told me that it can imagine me going on an adventure cruise in the future, but not when I'm old... middle aged most likely (whatever that age range is). See some snaps and videos below.
The Norsk Folkemuseum was totally worth it. It's a big site and one can easily spend the whole day there. I was feeling a bit of discomfort in my body so didn't explore as much. Before leaving, I visited the museum shop and bought my souvenirs so that I didn't have to battle with which products to buy at the shops in the centre of Oslo. I bought a couple of items and I was done. That's another lesson I have learnt from my travels. Spend the minimum amount you can on souvenirs. Unless they are going to be presents for an occasion.
So after my short break, I headed back into town on the hunt for some food. One of my roommates was also from England and was as keen to find some traditional Norwegian food as I was so we went out together. We had seen a traditional Norwegian restaurant on Google maps which was 3 minutes down the road. The menu was quite interesting but they didn't really have many options, there were about 4 dishes listed under each course and I was quite expensive. The minimum cost for a starter and desert was about 129 nok and 259 for a main which is about 10.94 and 21.96 pounds at the minute's exchange rate. So we went in search of other cheaper options. We ended up back at the first restaurant because the other restaurants didn't offer Norwegian food. But when we got back, the manager (I suppose) said the kitchen was closing in 10 minutes so we could only order dessert. We were heartbroken but we had our eye on the Norwegian style creme brulée as the prices of the main course meals were too expensive. All the same, desert was lovely and I was so close to ordering a second but the kitchen was closed by then.
After our lovely meal, we decided to walk some more. We headed towards the Opera house/theatre and took in a night view of Oslo from the top of the Opera House. Then walked in any direction back to the hotel. My neighbour and I were thinking the same as we didn't use Google maps. Being right in the centre of town meant that we will eventually end up in the centre if we walked in the opposite direction. That walk was quite entertaining. We heard some music from the Opera House and walked towards the 'sound of the music'. There was a small orchestral concert in one of the nearby bars and while it was too late for us to get inside, we enjoyed it from the outside.
Day 4: Adventure over, back to the UK 🇬🇧
Today should hopefully go smoothly. I woke up happy that I didn't have to leave the hotel at 5am because I had booked an 8:15 coach. I wasn't excited about the fact that I would have to change for another bus or taxi at some point and to be frank the day before, I was close to booking a new flight which departs from the Oslo airport I arrived in. This Torp airport seemed like a hustle to get to and I just didn't want to be stranded and miss my flight.
I arrived at 7:53ish and checked the departure board at the bus terminal, to my greatest shock there were plenty of buses heading to Torp airport directly. I was fuming because when I was searching for buses to the airport it seemed like Mission Impossible so I thought I had no option than to book a bus to the nearest town and make my way from there.There was one leaving at 8.05 to the airport and I walked to the platform to try to catch that. I bought a ticket (#&+;!) and walked to the coach I was initially going to take to find out if I could get a refund for the journey I was not going to make anymore. The driver said check on the website, but I checked my ticket again and it said not exchangeable and not refundable. Gutted I was. I had wasted money on this ticket and ended up spending another £30 on another ticket. But thankfully, it got me to my destination hustle-free. And here is where I got to continue the rest of my story. So far, so good! Norway has been quite an adventure. Next time by God's grace, I'll be heading further north towards the Arctic circle. To live my coolest dream (literally) and see some arctic animals and the Northern lights.
Till next time,
Happy living!
Claudy xoxo
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