The McCooey's of London: Norway

Showing posts with label Norway. Show all posts

Friday, March 16, 2012

Last Day in Oslo

We wake up and have another lovely hotel breakfast and then head out to stroll around the Opera, it's a really cool Opera, it's by the water and you can walk on it's roof. Seriously cool architecture going on here.

Oslo Opera

Walking on the roof of the Opera House

Still walking on the roof of the Opera house...

After this, we got on the Metro train and went to Holmenkollen where the very popular "Ski Jump" and Ski jump museum is as well as beautiful panoramic views of Oslo. We weren't sure what would be going on there that day, but were totally pumped when we arrived and learned that the FIS World Cup for Ski Jump was going on. We bought our tickets and in we go! I swear I could watch those fearless ski jumpers jump over and over and over and over again. I didn't want to leave.

Ski Jumping fans!

Check out the ski jumper in yellow pants in this picture! Gotta love it!


Ski Jump

I'll end by saying Oslo is great and we'd totally go back.

A few other things to do in Oslo that we didn't have time for:
Edvard Munch Museum ("The Scream" artist), The Viking Ship Museum (they have two in house), The Mini Bottle Gallery, Winter Walking Tours, and Oslo Winter Park where you can go skiing or snowboarding (they even have evening skiing).

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Oslo, Norway: World Cup! Sledding!

So we wake up Saturday had a lovely breakfast at the hotel and then hopped onto the Metro train to Frognerseteren where we then walked down an ice and snow covered hill called "Kortetrekkeren" where we followed the "majority" when the crowd split down two different paths (there we no signs) and guess what??!! We ended up the Cross Country Skiing World Cup! There was even an American in the race! Now how cool is that?! I will tell you how cool... VERY! It was just one of those moments where life is just simply perfect.

Here are a couple pictures to help paint the picture:

Cross Country Skiing World Cup

die hard fans camping out!

After a little while we decided to find the sledding rental place, the REAL reason why we went there... I, of course, had to be the one to ask around and find out where the rental place was, I was a total local by the end of the trip... being spoken to in Norwegian left and right... Remember, the two paths in the beginning? Had we turned with the smaller group that's where we would have ended up... We rented our sled from Ski Service at approximately $25 each, grabbed a helmet and off we go to the "trail". I have to admit I was pretty pumped about sledding or "sledging" as they call it in Norway. Here I am before I take off down the hill:


Badass Sledder!

View while sledding


View while sledding. Oslo and it's Fjord's... So pretty...

Once you get to the bottom of the hill you have to walk to the train stop to ride it back up the hill and start all over again, but this time with your sled... We go down a second time and then call it a day. It had warmed up at this point and was more slush than snow (SAD FACE HERE)... We then had lunch at the Frognerseteren Restaurant and it was so cozy and adorable. I had delicious soup at $18 a bowl (wowzer!) and Mike had mystery meat meatballs with mashed peas, gravy and berries at $30 a plate. To wash all that goodness down we had two beers while I was drinking out of the glass I realized we were drinking "Aass" beer, it's Norway's oldest brewery and an award winner at that. Needless, to say we had fun with the name. Just so you know it's pronounced like "cause"...

Frognerseteren Restaurant

The view from the train on the way back to the top of the hill to sled again...

Before I forget to tell you we stayed at the Thon Hotel Oslo Panorama Hotel on Radhusgaten Street and would totally stay there again. Our balcony was probably bigger than our London flat, No Joke! Tasty free breakfast, clean rooms, nice, great location, and nice helpful staff.

Next up: Ski Jumping World Cup!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Oslo, Norway

We went to Oslo, Norway over the weekend and they weren't kidding when they said this city was one of the Top 3 Most Expensive Cities in the world.

Nobel Peace Center - it was a little chilly out and windy...

For example:
A bowl of soup: $18 USD
A beer: $15
A pizza: $30-40
A combo from McDonald's: $15
A regional train ticket to/from airport from the city: $16 per person
A taxi from the airport: $100-$120 depending on the time of day
A blueberry muffin/tart thingy from United Bakeries: $8 and worth every penny! So delicious! So heavenly! So perfect!
A casual dinner for two: $100-150+
***
1 NOK (kroner) is worth $1.78 USD
100 NOK is worth $17.80
***
Ok, now that I've gotten the "be prepared for how pricey Oslo is" let's get on with the fun!

Oslo is SOO much fun! I loved it there, it was very pretty, nice, has some character to it, very easy to get around using public transportation, etc...

Vigeland Park

We were VERY "outdoorsy" this trip. Friday we checked out Aker Brygge (wharf area with shops, cafe's, etc... a very nice area, great place to have lunch which we did at Olivia's. Once we ate our tasty thin crust pizza's we headed to Vigeland Park (free to enter year around) it is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist, and is one of Norway's most popular tourist attractions. It's one of the prettiest parks that I've ever been too. It's full of amazing sculptures, walking trials, view of the city, a museum, and a cafe. It is pretty much perfect. I'd love to see it again in the spring. It was covered in snow when we were there. Afterward, we checked out a cool upscale neighborhood, "Majorstua", and then had dinner close to Aker Brygge (The wharf area next to City Hall) /Karl Johans Gate (the most famous street in Oslo) at an Italian place called "Rufino's" and it was delicious! They make all their pasta and it totally shows Yum and Yum! It's a casual place so no dressing up required, but still a nice place and affordable for Oslo.

Aker Brygge - wharf area

If you are up for ice skating there is "Spikersuppa" an outdoor rink next to the Vigeland Park, we didn't go, but we did pass it on the tram and it looked HUGE. Its open every day 11-9pm and it's free, but you have to pay to rent skates (NOK 45) There is also a smaller ice rink in the square by the National Theater.