Out of the 10 days in Scandinavia, I only spent a day in Oslo. Before going to Oslo, friends who have been to Oslo, and said that they didn't find anything too special with it. Since I had only 10 days to spend in scandinavia (and there is SO MUCH to see), I decided to stop over at Oslo for only one night, before continuing on with the rest of my trip visiting fjords and heading to Bergen. Another reason for stopping in Oslo was so that I could go by trains which worked out to be cheaper than flying straight to Bergen.
I arrived in Oslo around early afternoon, and after a week of jammed-pack traveling, I was extremely tired. In my head, I thought of giving Oslo city a miss and considering it as merely a rest stop (since it was easter weekend, I thought all the shops would be closed).
However, as I was talking to a girl I met in my dorm she told me that Oslo isn't a huge city, and it is pretty easy to cover the major parts of the city in a day. She also mentioned that the weather that day was surprisingly delightful and the best they've had in the past couple of days. With me and my huge fear of missing out, I hauled my tired ass out of the hostel and went city exploring.
Accomondation: I stayed in 4 bedroom dorm in Anker Apartments.A fairly decent hostel, slightly far from the main train station, but rooms are super well furnished, clean, almost hotel style! I'd really recommend it if you don't mind walking a little bit :)
It was nice to see people sitting out in the park, couples, children, all just enjoying themselves on a causal sunday afternoon.
I took a walk past a river, and headed towards the Oslo harbour, passing by interesting statues and the MOST BIZARRE troll-like-gargoyle-gnome i've ever seen.
The size of that was probably about 1/3 to 1/2 of my actual height. Very unusual that you could easily find these things around Oslo; I saw a couple of them just as I was walking around!
I walked past the main streets of Oslo, and although all the malls and shops were closed, I was contented with window shopping and "studying" the scandinavian fashion style shop displays. Thankfully, most of the cafés were open that day, so that was great! I had a delicious norwegian salmon together with something called a white beer for dinner, which (although expensive) was so satisfying!
Speaking of beer, I when I ordered my drink, I did not specify the size of the beer I wanted, thinking that the waitress would give me a normal/small size. But when she placed the JUG (the cup was bigger than my face!) on my table, I was so shocked. She gave me a whole pint! I typically don't drink that much at a go, but it was some really nice beer, so I finished it up, and continued on my journey towards the harbour.
I loved visiting the harbours of all the scandinavian cities I visited during my trip. I think I probably have one too many shots of harbours, boats, canals, rivers, and waters. But this isn't something I get to see very often, so I was all for embracing it!
The Oslo harbour is pretty huge. Even though there were quite a number of people around eating and drinking, it didn't feel as crowded. Moreover, there were so many street buskers in the vicinity. Lively music to complement a nice view by the water, no wonder there were so many people just sitting around and soaking up the happy vibes. What a great way to unwind at the end of a day!
My trip to Oslo was short, and I didn't get to visit any museums or enter any major attractions. Despite that, I was glad I went out that day and made the most of my time in Oslo. At least I got to see the city and appreciate the nice blue-skied day.
OH YES, and I spotted that Troll-Gnome. Still finding it super quirky that they have things like that along the streets just outside of regular shops!
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