Oslo: Part I

I can't say my recaps of Oslo will be terribly exciting, as I spent most of my 9 days there in workshops or conferences, but I did have some time to see the city, and what I saw I loved.

Norway is maybe one of the most expensive places you can travel (wikipedia says that in 2009, it became the world's most expensive city). They are not on the euro-system, but have their own currency, the Kroner. Luckily, I got a lot of free meals through the conference- just as well, because from what I can tell, the Norwegian cuisine isn't anything special- a lot of fish, reindeer, and mayonnaise-based dressings. It's not a place you go to eat good food (unless, maybe, you have a lot of money).

This was not my first trip to Norway- I went to Bergen for another conference in 2007. Bergen and my brief visits to the fjords was awesome, even though it rained the whole time. This time, we had great weather in Oslo for the first part of the week- upper 70s and sunny (and by sunny, I mean the sun was up for ~21 hours of the day, being so close to summer solstice). By the end of the week, we were getting sheets of rain all day long.

One thing I noticed- flying from the East Coast (I flew direct from Newark) is a lot easier than flying from Denver. I know I don't have a great sample size, but seriously, I had almost no jet lag going either direction (there is a 6 hour time difference from Baltimore). It helped that I slept about 4.5 hours on the plane out there, and stayed awake the whole time on the flight back.

Norwegians have a very high standard of living. The quality of public transportation available in Oslo, a city of 1.4 million, is in my opinion, unsurpassed. They have subways, light rails/trams, buses, and trains, which all link together very well and all use the same pass. The city center itself though is very easy to just walk around. The weekend I arrived, there was a music festival going on, and on almost every street there was a band playing music, people drinking beer and soaking in the sun that they must be so glad to see in the summertime. Though signs are in Norwegian, everyone speaks excellent English, and it's a very easy place to feel right at home.

The first day I arrived, I didn't know anyone else there yet, so I wandered around the city to try to stay awake. It's hard to take pictures of things other than buildings when you're by yourself- I've condensed the pictures here in collages so you get a feel for some of the sites.

Top left: Karl Johans Gate, the major pedestrian walking street; Top Right: the Norwegian Parliament building; Bottom left: tulips in bloom near Johans Gate; Bottom right: the Grand Hotel.

Everything was in bloom in Oslo- they have a late spring, with tulips just reaching their peak in the first week of June. There are lilac bushes everywhere. The Grand Hotel (bottom right, above) is home to the Grand Cafe, where Henrik Ibsen and Edward Munch and other artistic types used to spend their days being inspired.

Top Left: Aker Brygge, the harborside shopping area; Top Right: Oslo fountain; Bottom left: statue of Henrik Ibsen in front of the National Theater; Bottom right: the Nobel Peace Center.

Oslo is located right at the top of a fjord, so it has a lovely waterfront. There are fountains (they love their naked statues in Norway- we are not in Loveland anymore) and parks and a whole line of popular shops and restaurants (Aker Brygge) right by the water. Also, the Nobel Peace Center is in Oslo, which showcases the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, right up to President Obama (bottom right, above).

My favorite two sites of the day were:

1) Grev Wedels Plass
This park was just fantastic. The picture here doesn't even do it justice- it's a little city park with a fountain in the center, surrounded on all sides by lilac bushes. Maybe it was the perfect temperature with a slight breeze, the warm grassy smell mixed with the fragrance of lilacs, the little girl picnicking with her mom, or the fact that I was in a sort of post-international-flight-stupor, but sitting in this park was a nearly spiritual experience.

2) The Opera House

More about this later (we came back to visit later in the week), but Oslo's new opera house may one day rival Sydney's for stunning architecture. Built to resemble the floating ice in Oslo's fjord, the opera house extends right into the water, and visitors can walk up the surfaces onto the roof where there is a viewing area. So cool!