Norway - Pt II - Oslo

Hello again!  Here is part two of my February trip to Norway!  Here are some pictures from my time in Oslo, where I spent most of my time.  Again, I'm just going to add photos as it's been awhile and I don't have much to say...hope you enjoy!

My first views of Norway - on the bus from the airport into the centre of Oslo!

First dinner there - vegetables, and pasta with reindeer meat!  Never thought I'd eat a reindeer...but when in Norway!  (And it was very tasty, though I had great cooks as well!)

Star Wars Graffiti Wall!

Long walk up to the prison - apparently used in a t.v. show.  The character always escaped and was shown walking down this path at the end of each episode.

Part of Oslo near the bomb attacks that occurred late last summer.  It's hard to see, but there should be a clock at the top centre of this building, but instead, there is a round piece of wood since the clock broke from the bombs.

Book shop!  With Tintin and Snowy on the sign!

The Royal Palace.

Posing next to a guard at the palace.

Random ice/snow sculpture.

The Grand Hotel (where Obama stayed when he got his silly award.  You know, the one for all the things he will do.  Eventually.)

The Parliament Building.

More Norwegian Chocolate!

um...yeah...

Posing next to a large troll!  Some of these are for sale, though I can't imagine trying to get this on a plane, (let alone trying to get it on Ryanair!).

Map in Norwegian...just in case you forgot where we are :P  (Okay, so I'm feeling too lazy to move it up to the top in the line of pictures, but it is pretty cool looking and I didn't want to cut it out.)

Part of a political movement...though, again, my knowledge of politics fails me.

Adds for the Mammoth Book Sale!  Apparently the best way to buy a lot of cheap books in Norway - especially since books are expensive there...probably a good thing I wasn't there for that during my trip!

Famous painting about a Norwegian fairy tale.  Don't know the whole story, but it's roughly about a boy looking for or he see's a golden or cloud castle....sorry for that horrible re-telling, haha.

"Hipster-town" according to my friend.  Apparently this is where all the hipsters (yes, Norway has them too!) live because it looks more European than the other parts of Oslo...it also has hipster shops around this part of the city as well.

The American Diner!  I'm assuming it's based on Hopper's painting: The Nighthawks.  In love with this place - it's sad, I know, to go to an American Diner while in another country, but this one was done right - better (prettier) than most US Diner's.  They also employ some American's as well, so you hear a mix of Norwegian and English, all in various accents.  Also the food is excellent!  And tastes very American!

The inside :)

More of the inside and a waitress outfit.

Little Mermaid statue.  I think it's a replica of the one in Denmark.  This one is in a walkway of a mall/food court in Norway.

And, like most posts, I must end with food.  This is a hot dog from a store kind of like 7-11 or any cheap, quick corner store.  They have regular buns (as you can sort of see in my friend's hot dog in the background) and they have hot dogs wrapped up in a potato-tortilla!  It was good, but I think I prefer buns.

Overall I had a great time in Norway.  It's a place I would love to return to and visit.  In a similar way to Paris, I liked that I could just do my own thing when needed.  I also loved learning about the culture from my friend.  My time in Norway also felt like a holiday - not a stressful day of traveling, and trying to figure out where you're going, etc - which is just what I needed at the time.  I just had a really great time there, and I think Norway would rate in the top 3 of my favorite places I've visited so far in my year abroad.

Norway!!! Part I - Lillehammer

I finally made it to Norway!  And my trip was amazing - full of a great mix of relaxation and touristy stuff.  I would really love to go back again (which I might do in the coming months....depending on how my travel budget is doing!).  I found the city of Oslo to be lovely and, although not usually described as "pretty" (which was the only word I could find to describe it the entire week I was there, leaving many Norwegians perplexed at my description), in hindsight, I think it could better be described as having a charm of its own, and being a sort of "diamond in the rough".  It didn't feel like any other city I've been to in Europe.  It wasn't super European, super touristy, or Americanized (though it did have European and "American" feeling features) it was just, different, which is what I really needed.  I also went to Lillehammer for a few days while I was there, which was very quaint, kind of a cute posh ski town.  It is famous for holding the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the Olympic ski slope is still there.

As this post is so late (I took the trip in February, and it is now April...oh dear) I will just add some photos to explain my trip, as a visual essay will be more fun and entertaining than a written one of me rambling and trying to remember what to say.... I will also split up the posts between the two cities I saw in Norway, since I have so many photos.

First up - Lillehammer!

Mostly famous for holding the 94' (I think) Winter Olympics, Lillehammer is a nice ski town, with cute houses.  It has a suburban feel, but is set in a gorgeous mountainside. 

My friend's mom's house that we stayed at in Lillehammer :)

Plant used to celebrate their version of Carnival

My awesome friend Ingrid!

Food!!!  Definitely ate very well while in Norway :)

The sausages were especially good as well.

Traditional Norwegian dresses

And this version is for the guys...it looks so snazzi!

Sign for the Olympics (I think this is the hospital though...could be wrong).

Sign pointing towards the Olympic Ski Park.

Old wooden Norwegian houses!  Most are from around the 1600/1700s if I remember correctly, though a few were even older!

Inside an old Norwegian house!

Norwegian sign for one of their famous brands of chocolate.

Clever use of skis.

The big ski jump.  (I think this is the Olympic one.)

View from below.

Skiing for my first time!  Can't believe it was in Norway!  (I went cross-country skiing, didn't feel ready for downhill yet!)

Cafe where we went skiing :)

Heart shaped waffles!  Apparently these weren't the best as far as taste, but they sure where cute!

Sorry if this post was a bit sporadic...kind of have a lot on my plate right now.  I guess it's true when they say that it rains, it pours.  (Which is quite funny because today is becoming a busy day, and it is raining heavily in my part of England!) 

Anyway, be sure to look out for pictures from Oslo coming soon!!!

Quick Update...

Hello,

Sorry for my recent lack of postings.  I can guarantee it is not from lack of travel or picture taking but, rather, a procrastination of schoolwork, which effects how (in)frequently I post on here.  Once I get caught back up on my course work (hopefully by the next week or so) I can start to catch up with my postings!  I still plan on posting a general blog about my trip to Norway - and hopefully sooner than later!  Also be sure to look for postings about Jane Austen's house in Chawton, the Dicken's Museum in London, and my most recent trip to Windsor Castle! 

I promise to post again once I start being the good Uni student I am (yeah right) and am done playing catch-up on schoolwork.  Til then, take care & thanks for your patience :)

Literary Europe VIII - Henrik Ibsen

(Note - A general post of my Norway visit is to come.  I still have a ton of photos to go through, and it was just easier to focus on this post first.)

While in Norway, I went to the Ibsen Museum in Oslo.  It is the last apartment he lived in until his death in 1906.  This apartment is possibly his grandest, as he was able to live as he wanted by the end of his life (due to his successful career as a playwright).  The museum is located very close to the National Theater and the Grand Hotel, where Ibsen would walk every afternoon to take his lunch at his private, reserved table at the Grand Cafe.  (Along this walk paparazzi would take photos, people would wait outside to see him, and some people even set their clocks by him since he left his house at the same time every day.) 

On the tour of his apartment, I got to see the room he wrote in, his two desks (one he first had at this apartment, and the other, his "Munich desk" which he eventually had shipped over from Germany).  In his writing room also hung a portrait of his "nemesis", another playwright (I believe it was of Swedish playwright, August Strindberg) which he kept 'watching over him' to 'make' him write.  It was a portrait that Strindberg wanted for himself, and he would have been (possibly was) infuriated to know that Ibsen had it, and was using it for motivation to write.  While there I also got to see the bed Ibsen died in, where he uttered his lasts words, which were "On the contrary" - which many people feel reflect his written works and his personality.

Although I was not allowed to take photos inside the apartment, I do have a few of the outside of the building it is in, the exhibition at the museum, and other nearby buildings of importance to Ibsen.

Ibsen Museum.  The main floor of his apartment should be the third floor in this photo.

Closer view of the main entrance and gift shop.

Statue of Ibsen outside the museum.

Plaque on the outside of the building.

(Pop art) image of Ibsen, alongside a bust of the founder of the museum.

Ibsen's coat, hat, and walking stick!

A fan with Ibsen's signature (a women was collecting signatures of famous people....or something like that, can't quite remember the story).

In the bathroom - they had Ibsen tiles!

National Theater which Ibsen would pass on his daily walk.

It even has his and two other playwright's names on it :)

Standing by the Ibsen statue outside of the National Theater.

The Grand Hotel.

The Grand Cafe where Ibsen would take his lunch every afternoon.  His table is still there, though I didn't go inside to see it.