Oslo: Awesome capital of Scandinavia (part 1)

Of course, like every other time I travel to a new place, I am going to rave about how stark raving AWESOME Oslo is! 

At first I was a bit skeptical about the whole trip, being that Norway is without a doubt the most expensive place, ever, in the world.

Anyhooter, we ended up gathering 9 of us to hit the road up north last Thursday, so we split gas in the cars 5 ways, and the ferry tickets were only a fraction of the cost. Yeehaw! 

Steffi, Guri, Hanna,  Nina, Emiel, Adelija, Simona, Alberto, and I

Hirtshalls Harbor, Northern Denmark

In addition, all the shopping on the ferry is tax free, and while I formerly thought this was a waste of space, time, and money, my thoughts changed when it became clear that we could buy a bottle of vodka for 20 euro, while in Norway it is closer to 35. Good call, Color Line.

 Gloriousness of tax free shopping...

It took 2 hours to drive to Hirtshalls harbor from Århus, then we waited in an awesomely not awesome line for 2 hours to get on the ferry, and then is was 4 hours of FUN! Thank god for motion sickness pills, or I would have been barfing up a storm on that thing.

This is the windblown look...rawr.

So what I thought of a ferry was a crummy large boat with plastic seats and screaming children, but this baby was like a mini cruise ship! 4 hours of decadence, tax free goods, beautiful views, and only one screaming child, who happened to wake me up. GRRR.

Arrived in Larvik, Norway, and headed to Baerum  (Guri's hometown) to drop her off and rearrange our stuff before driving the rest of the way to Oslo to continue our adventures.

Of course, none of our stupid Danish sim cards worked there. So, we had to use the Danish, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Dutch ones, costing a fortune and making things uber difficult. The main problem: WHERE TO STAY?!

As of Wednesday afternoon, we had nowhere to stay. Cheap(-ish) hostels were booked, no apartments to split, and Couchsurfing just didn't come through. Until Wednesday at 10pm, when all of a sudden CS paid off, and we had too many places to stay! Wherein lied another problem.. how to split 8 of us between different places???

Alberto stayed with some family friends in the ritzy neighborhood by the Palace, Emiel and Adelija stayed with a complete stoner man, and Steffi, Hanna, Simona, Nina and I were hoping to meet up with someone.

Eventually we got to Frode's house, ate some quick grub, then he took us to an art gallery (weird, weird stuff: eyeballs hanging from the ceiling as birds, sketches of a woman  having an abortion, and rice on the floor in the shape of a vagine, complete with blood. I had no idea what to think, but to each his own...)

First night at Frode's, cool artist flat in Grunerlokka.

We got the hell out of there, but then all of a sudden Norway decided to be REALLY COOL and not allow people (us) into bars if we weren't 23. Whaaaaaattt??? I already waited 21 long years buddy, but whatever. After 3 misses, Nina and I called it a night and went back to sleep, while the others went to party at Villa. Norway got ever COOLER when they all came home at 4am, turned on music and continued to talk as loud as possible, and then Simona brought up gay adoption rights, and I gave up the idea of a good night's sleep. 

Friday was the day for exploration! Guri sort of mentioned a bit about May Day, but said only there would be people protesting for the legalization of pot. Little did we know, as we walked to the city, we encountered the biggest parade/protest of the year! From every street and every direction, more and more people came, with signs about anything and everything, megaphone and marching bands. And claustrophobia for me.

  Really fun when you can't read what the signs say...
  Coolest marching bands! Playing ABBA!
  Clueless.

So the parade hampered our travel time a bit, but it was the best weather I have seen in ages, and was stoked on life. Not just sunny, but warm warm warm, close to 75, and I got a sunburn! Crazy times. 

So we met up with everyone at the Central Station (junkie haven, btw.) and did all the major sightseeing, with Martin, who was Emiel and Adelija's host, and probably high all day.

First we went to the Akershus Fortress overlooking the harbor and apparently a popular sunbathing hangout.
Group photo! Minus Martin, weirdo...
 Fortress/solarium
Harbor area, full of pirate ships! Yippeee

After that, we headed by the city hall up to the Royal Palace, to eat lunch and bask in the sun.

Giant palace, complete with tourists and Norwegian flag (EVERYWHERE!)

View from top of Palace, looking towards the city.

Nina and I, suckers for a guy in uniform...

Simona and Sarah enjoying the sunshine

Rested for a bit, then headed more north up to the sculpture park, Vigelund, and were thoroughly impressed. So much bigger than I thought, and overflowing with people, dogs, babies, and BBQs, basically all of my favorite things! 

There are over 200 statues, portraying various human activities, though some seem overtly sexual, but I'm okay with that. 

Thinking we're cool...not so sure.
 Wrought iron gate guarding the Monolith.
River flowing through the park
Main fountain
Boys will be boys...

Setting sun, leaving the park.


Some of my favorites

The park was great, but soon it was time for dinner, where we parted ways, only to meet up later that night at the Palace, where the fun began! 

We then went to the place Guri was staying with her boyfriend and his best friend, and hung out until we went out to Mono, and met up with Ola, our new couchsurfing friend we didn't get to stay with the first 2 nights.

Nina headed back to Frode's later that night (around 230) thinking we would have an okay night of sleep...until they came home 5 minutes later with friends, and stayed up drinking in the living room area until 630, which was just not so great! Glories of couch surfing continue...

Saturday. The weather was TERRIBLE, but we took a ferry to Hovedøya island, where an old monastery was build and is semi-preserved. It was really pretty, but when it started raining, us girls called it quits and the boys attempted to explore around the other parts of the island.

Old Monk fortifications

Had brief dinner at Frode's house after we ran into him at the supermarket, but decided it was time to move to Ola's house for the night, for *hopefully* better sleep, and possibly some better conversation, as we didn't feel so welcome at Frode's place. 

To be continued..................

More weird conversations

Just because I don't want to do work right now...

Me:

(865): mom just said that her bf is good in bed. fml.

(1-865): i am watching a movie about a vagina with teeth and then you sent that to me while im eating sushi.

(excerpt from www.textsfromlastnight.com)

Adam:

i'm lost

Me:

just laugh

and think its funny

Adam:

how am i suppossed to laugh at the though of a vagina with teeth?!

Me:

nature at its finest, I'de say

Adam:

no!!! u know what that could do

Me:

ruin your life?

Adam:

yes

Me:

survival of the fittest

Adam:

i hope i never encounter one of these toothed vaginas

or i'm screwed

On another note, today was WARM! Like, 'not needing a jacket for the first time in 6 months' type of warm! Especially on my bike. Which leads me to tell you that I think I sweated off the body weight of a large midget riding around today. My life is glorious.

But really, it is, and I am off to OSLO tomorrow! Quite excited indeed...

New obsession alert!

Ok, facebook, twitter, fmylife and LOST are a thing of the past. Not really, because I'm still equally obsessed, but when you read something like this:

(212): dude wtf did we explode in my microwave last night?
(1-212): idk but i think it had a face

it makes me realize I may have hit an all time low, but I don't care. 

www.textsfromlastnight.com 

Get on it!

Random musings

I can't believe this school year is almost ending. When I first got to Utrecht, I thought I had all the time in the world, but then all of a sudden, it was December and time for me to hit the road.

Then we got to Denmark, and I thought, "Eh, got 6 months here. Plenty of time!" but no no, it's really all ending.

This weekend 9 of us are heading to Oslo to visit Guri's hometown, and despite some logistical issues (like umm, a place to stay!?!) we're heading out Thursday morning, back sometime late Monday night. I'm pretty stoked- Norway is gorgeous! I wish I got to see it covered in snow, but hopefully the sun will grace us with it's presence sometime this weekend, and we will be even more thrilled :)

On another note, the week after that (May 13, I'm thinking) I'm heading off to Ireland for some articles I'm working on. I'm planning on writing about the drinking culture (no jokes-PLEASE!) and what has come with that, from the high risk of and death from liver disease and cancer, to the increasing rate of underage drinkers and the new ban on alcohol advertising at public events, to how the recession is affecting alcohol sales, with 1,500 pubs closing in the last 7 years, the proposed VAT increase, leading people cross the border to North Ireland to buy alcohol, and the amount of job losses due to the tax increase, recession, and border crossing.

Should be exciting, and I already have a lot of information, so hopefully it works out. Plus, I get to go to Dublin (and hopefully some other places...) and see what it has to offer. 

But, when I get back we have a week of preparing our final, then a week to "reflect" and prepare for our oral exam, and then...I'm basically gone. Looking at a calendar is frightening.

I'm so, sooo glad I decided to come here. And so thankful for my supportive (emotionally and financially, ha) Mama. Sometime, we'll come back and do Europe right!!

Also, Ashley came to visit me 2 weeks ago (wow! that long already?!) and we had such a good time! Friday she came to school and got to experience a bit of Friday bar, although we both had to come home to nap because she spend the night at the airport, and I left school at 6am after working on a proyecto...
So far, at every school function or "meeting," we've had free refreshments. And by that, I usually mean BEER! For 15 of us, they bring an entire case. Good times Denmark, good times.
We went out later Friday night and to the coolest house EVER! Exposed brick walls, little kitchen with everything you needed, tiny bathroom (that I got locked in! ugh. claustrophobia...)  and amazing artwork by his roomie, all in something that just looked like a big warehouse from the outside. Denmark is so Brooklyn.

Saturday we had a big bbq at the park with these DISPOSABLE BBQs! Such a mystery to me, but they work, so why the hell not. 

We stayed there for awhile, until we basically started freezing although it was a gorgeous day, then watched a movie and called it a night.

Sunday we headed for Odense, a quaint little university town about 1.5 hours towards Copenhagen.
Because it was Sunday, it was pretty dead, but it made it more beautiful in a way. The self guided walking tour that was supposed to last an entire day took us maybe 2 hours, but then we had sandwiches, and took a nap in the park. Sooo worth it!

Odense is also the birthplace of Hans Christian Anderson, of children's fables fame. We got to meet him-BFF!

"Pull my finger!"

Ummm...story of our lives. I love this girl! And chocolate milk...mmmm...

Good times were had by all, and I think a bit of a sunburn to show for it.

Weird conversations..

Maybe because its springtime and using your brain is optional, but nevertheless I have been subject to and the participant in many an odd convo over the last couple of days. Here are some great examples!


With Ashley via Skype, after making fun of her use of the word 'furnitcher' versus...ya know, furniture:

Ashley Matsumoto
btw.. im having serious spelling issues
doesnt furnisher just look wrong to you?????
the sher part
Sarah Chase
maybe because you fall asleep in the middle of spelling them
Ashley Matsumoto
im so jealous your going to norway!!!!!
Sarah Chase
furniture!!
dude, GOOGLE IT
Ashley Matsumoto
omg
Sarah Chase
furnitcher
Ashley Matsumoto
i hate my life
Sarah Chase
hahahahahahahahahaha
FML for sure!
Ashley Matsumoto
i did google it!
it says "did you mean: furnisher?"
Sarah Chase
furniture
Ashley Matsumoto
ah fack
Sarah Chase
"to equip with what is needed"
like to FURNISH your apartment
all i can say is WOW
you have been spending too much time alone ahaha
Ashley Matsumoto
shit
im speechless
w/myself

Then, I decided to tell Nikki about the whole debacle, and her response is:
"can you say special
my pants are giving me a muffin top and its quite uncomfortable"

Like that is appropriate! Also, later she said:
"i just goled
that stands for giggled out loud
its my new word"

Then Barb and I were talking about the insane heat wave in California, and I was curious.

Me:

sounds weird, but has anyone died?

old people always die of heat stroke in the summer

Barb:

haha not quite yet but ill keep my eyes peeled

and hears open

to hear of death for you

Now THAT is a true friend indeed...

Random convo with Ben a couple of weeks ago:

Ben:

hahah i dont have cable

or tv in general

Me:

thats what the internet is for

what the hell else do you think i do with my life

Ben:

i dunno cook food

kill babies

Me:

oh

right

Ben:

i dunno throw jacks

u prolly do that a lot

Me:

i dont even know what that means

hoodrat

I like my friends. They keep me happy :)

Oldie but a goodie

Because there is virtually nothing exciting going on in my life right now (besides my addiction to Lost, and Smash coming to visit this weekend!) I thought it would be of utmost importance to share one of my favorite videos. Through good times and bad, this always gets me through.

Enjoy!

This is WARM??

Although the sun is out, the birds are chirping, and we are planning BBQs and other outdoor soires, yet Google weather suggests "highs" of 13 celsius, with a low of 7. People, that is chilly. I mean, not even room temperature chilly. I'll give it about 45-55 NORMAL (fahrenheit..wait what? America, get your shiz together and get on the metric system!) degrees. At its warmest point.

Maybe this isn't much different from other places, but to me it just seems damn chilly. How can you even enjoy yourself when you're busy freezing??