The First Week: Come & Gone

Hello, readers! My first 7 days in Oslo, Norway have reached their end and I am ecstatic! I have had so much fun with everything I have done, even the things I have found strange.

On my very first day in Oslo I was sent off by my Martin to get us both something to eat all by my lonesome and it was a frightening task but I kept my chin up and went for it. At first I went to a grocery store very close to him and his friend playing soccer but I came back a little discouraged with only water and a soda, saying "I couldn't find anything ready to eat without cooking." So he told me to go to the sushi shop right up the street and I left saying to myself "You have got this Aubri, you are not coming back without food this time!" I walk into the sushi shop and the Asian man behind the counter spoke English and Norwegian very well, I ordered two number 3's and then I went to pay; Martin's card did not work for me so I used my own in order to not break the promise to myself and then that did not work. I was so confused, I had so much money on that card and no matter how many times I tried it, it would not work (later discovering my bank wrote down the wrong dates I would be in Norway). I then walked out looking for an ATM and even had to use my little Norwegian language skills I have to ask where an ATM even was; I walked for 20 minutes before giving up and I did not have food in my hands upon returning to the soccer field. Martin then tells me he gave me the wrong pin number... Oh well! I had an interesting first day because of that!

The first trip into the city I went on with my Martin was to downtown Oslo where you can buy fast food, European clothes & shoes, buy a baloon animal from a weird guy in a clown costume, and visit the King's palace all in one street! We did not get anything to eat but we did get drinks and I must say soda here is WAY better than soda in America. They have this soda called Solo and it comes in a rasberry flavor, so yummy, they also have weird Fanta flavors but they are awesome, like strawberry & kiwi, and exotic. But this place is not all about soda; the King's Palace is gorgeous!

We walked up the front steps and it was magnificent, not that you couldn't see it beaming in your face a mile beforehand. Even though the Palace was gorgeous, what was more gorgeous was the King's backyard or the park behind called Slottsparken. Slottsparken is open to anyone which is so wonderful because it's beauty as an alotted area for grass, bridges and little bodies of water knows no bounds (I shouldn't speak too quickly however, I haven't been to a fjord yet)! The King's backyard is perfect for a nice picnic during the summer in Oslo.

Another fun trekk in the same day was when we went to Oslo's Opera house. I looked at Martin and said "This looks like superman's big icy place where he meets with other super heroes, what's it called again?" he replied with "Fortress of Solitude," "Yes! That's it, this looks like Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"

Super heroes aside, the Opera House is beautiful and I cannot wait to see a performance there as am I a lover of art and music. The view from atop the Opera House was amazing, looking over a nice body of water to a small moutain covered in trees and on the otherside there was the skyline of beautiful buildings. It is a fair price to go and when I get the money to do stuff that is not just free that is the first place I shall attend (if you are interested in learning more about it, here is the Opera House's website - http://operaen.no/)!

We went to another park a couple days later called Vigeland Park, where you can have a nice picnic and look at the wonderful scultupres crafted by Vigeland. But before getting to the park there was the long walk that felt like half-way across the city. We walked for an hour or two on the way to the park, thankfully everything looked so nice I could not complain. I stopped by to see the American Embassy and took a few pictures, the guard at the secured entrance was watching us very closely. Out of all the embassies in Oslo, America's was an impenetrable fortress; all the other embassies just looked like really cute, slightly larger than average sized houses. One other little adventure that occured before arriving at the park was trying to find a restroom in a store. In America we can walk into a store, ask to use the restroom, maybe be forced to buy something but at least stores are equipped with them for guests! Here, oh it is a different story, we stopped by many a drug store, grocery store, and small shop asking for a restroom to be told "Sorry." I cried a little... not really but it was fascinating the difference (if we went to a gas station, I am sure there would have been one). Finally, without getting to a restroom, we make it to the Vigeland Park!

You walk up to the main part and there gorgeuous old turquoise statues after another are lined up for you; most were of quite dark content but still nice. I got to hold the hand of the famous crying baby in the middle of the walk down the staues; I am still unsure as to why it is famous exactly but his hand is rubbed gold from being held so much and once it was stolen from the park, crazy! We walked all the way down the row of statues but after all the walking previously we did not make it up to the top of the entire park where another statue of people stands, it looked pretty from afar. We decided to walk back, relax for the rest of the day, and have some dinner.

Those were the main events of my first week in Oslo, Norway and there is much much more to come. Look out for my little video about trying new food here in my first week, it should be up a little later this week!