Wednesday, 13 February 2008

Norway-Oslo Day 2-7th Feb 08

Happy Birthday Jia Ying! (Dated 7th Feb 08)

Itinerary for the day:
1) Small Village Town (can't remember the name)
2) SkiMuseum & Holmenkollen Jump Tower
3) Akershus Fortress & Castle Tour
4) Resistance Museum
5) National Gallery
6) Natural History Museum

Departure: 1900 hrs @ Oslo Gallerian
Mode of Transport: Coach to Oslo Torp Airport
Flight: 2220 hrs Ryanair to London
Arrival: 2320 hrs @ London Stansted Airport

We started the day early at around 8pm as we set off to this small village in the suburbs. Apparently we got information from Kim's friend in Bergen that this is a small town where there are lots of red houses amidst the snow and they are either shops or cafes or restaurants.. It was a long journey there & I thought it wasn't that a good trip because when we reached there, none of the shops were opened but I guess it's the process that matters because we saw lots of beautiful sceneries on the bus journey.. Indeed the scenery was like what her friend described. We wanted to make snowman there but we were running out of time so we gave up.

FYI, snow knowledge! there are 2 different types of snow- Dry & Wet ones. The dry ones are really hard & they prick your skin. You can't make snowman with this kind of snow because they will not gel. They look like large solid pieces. The wet ones are the one people use to make snowman. They are soft & look like they are in powder form. But because they are wet, they gel together more easily so people use them to make snowman! After snowing, you will feel warm if you have one of 2 types of snow but I can't recall which one is it. I guess it's the dry one if I am not wrong!

All the red houses behind me are either shops or cafes ..
Catch the beautiful Sun!
The highlight of Norway was really at the Ski Museum & this Holmenkollen Jump Tower! The Jump Tower is the place where the Olympic Winter Games will be held so remember the photos I post & if you ever tune in to Olympic, see if it's true?! The journey there was another long one but the scenery was once again mesmerizing! We took a train right to the ending stop where we alighted and had to walk downhill to reach our destination. There were lots of teenagers & youths with their snowboards & skiing equipment on the train & the moment they alighted, they put on their equipment & off they go down the snow! It was amazing! Sad that we didn't have any of those equipments but Kim & I made a pact to go skiing when we are back in Stockholm!

The whole area was covered in SNOW! (the wet ones!) If you see facebook, you would have seen Kim uploading the image of me lying in the snow! How I felt at that moment was something beyond words & only experiencing it yourself will make you understand! It took us almost 45 mins before we reached the ski museum & at certain point of time, we thought we lost our way & we discussed about our return route. Going downhill wasn't anything difficult but imagine if we had to walk uphill back, I guess both of us would most probably just stretch out our hands & ask for help from the cars that drove past us! haha...

Catch the photos but I am not too sure if I will be able to load the video..
The winding road covered in Snow~~
At the top of the hill!
Catch the kids playing with the SNOW!
Houses along the way.. I wonder if anyone stays there!
Lots of cars drove past us..Guess they are all on their way to ski!
When we finally reached the Jump Tower, we thought the hard days were over but to our horror, we need to climb up the endless flight of stairs!! I can't be bothered to take any pictures because all I wanted to do was to concentrate on getting up the Jump Tower! The stairs were really STEEP!! But the view from the top was definitely worth that little sacrifice though!

The Holmenkollen Jump Tower!
The view from the top of the tower....
Through the glass panel from the other side of the tower! Our return trip wasn't that bad because we could walk downhill to another train station but the scenery wasn't that nice and the road was much more slippery because most of the snow had melted. I landed on my butt once & now I've got 2 blue-blacks! haha.. But to be honest, this place isn't that really tourist-friendly because there were not much road signs to give directions & we had to find our own way by ourselves! This video shows my path downhill & how I walk in the snow.. haha..



As a result of the long walk, we missed the guided tour at the Akershus Fortress & Castle at 1pm in English.. As Kim had to catch a train to Bergen at 4pm, she left after reaching the fortress & I went to the resistance museum first before attending the guided tour at 2pm. We have been facing each other everyday for the past 1 mth & has been so used to that lifestyle but we had to part ways this time round. haha..

The resistance museum displayed the Norwegians' fight during WWII & how it was captured by the Germans on 9 April 1942. Germany to Norway was like Japan to Singapore. I didn't manage to complete the whole tour but merely glance through them.. For those interested in history & war-stories, that place will be the perfect venue to visit! Some displays----


Supposingly, the tour at 2pm was supposed to be in Norwegian but it so happened that there weren't any norwegians around and there was just this 5 typical Hard-Rock Style guys from Australia so they requested the tour guide to have the tour in English & she Obliged! So happy! The castle & fortress represents the last hold of Oslo, Norway! If it's been captured, it would mean that Oslo has been taken. It's the place for functions held by the royalties today & no one lives there actually. The castle looks eerie inside and you can see all the prison cells, secret tunnels etc etc.. But I always like looking at castles & fortresses because they are things that date back thousands of years or centuries back.. It's definitely something Asia doesn't have much except China & India! The tour was quite fun seriously with those 5 Aussies making fun of the tour guide from time to time... HILARIOUS!

The Castle Wall


Glass painting.. Castles are always decorated by them.. I don't understand why!
The Grand Hall in the Castle
The castle outline
View from the Castle in the Day.. But not at the same spot though! After the castle tour, I just went to two other museums the National gallery-display of art pieces & the historial museum since it was just beside the national gallery.. haha... I just had time to kill so I need to find some places to visit right! hehe.. Ok but let me tell you "beating the system" game once again before I move on.. People who know me will know that I am one who loves going around the rules instead of following them.. I feel bad because I teach Kim to do that too ..hahaha... :(

The Oslo Pass is valid for 24 hours from your first usage. The personnel at the first museum u visit will stamp the date and write down the time of visit so it will be valid until the next day at the same timing. Our first visit was at 1130am on 6th Feb 08 so it SHOULD have expired by 1130am on 7th Feb but what I did was to take my blue pen and changed the 1 to 7 so it becomes 1730 and I have 6 extra hours to use the card! I guess many people will do the same thing as me just that I don't know them yet! haha.. Entrance fees are expensive, food is expensive, shopping is expensive so we have to find a way to save on transport right! haha.. but anyway, the train system in norway is rather flawed! You don't have to pay when you enter the train station neither do you have to when you exit.. You just buy your ticket and the staff will conduct random checks! If you are always lucky & never faces any checks, basically you can don't buy any ticket and travel for free! It involves a risk because if you get caught, i heard the penalty is a serious one!

To talk about the National gallery- It's basically an art museum! I never like art but i thought maybe I should check it out and see if i have any hidden interest.. I found out that I AM REALLY NOT AN ARTISTIC PERSON! haha.. I see lots of people standing in front of an art piece, in deep thoughts, looking like they are really trying to understand the message the artist is trying to convey.. But to me, art pieces are just paintings of sceneries.. I don't see any latent meaning.. That's how poor I am ! haha..

After the museums, I just went to Hard Rock cafe to buy my tee and I realise I should stop buying HRC tees wherever I go if not I will really go BROKE in a month's time.. haha... But that tee's special cos it has 71 on it! As usual, I bought my Magnet for collection & of I headed to buy the most valuable meal in norway- cheeseburgers! I am not a beef person before coming to Europe... But after being here for a month, i am indulging in beef almost every other day... I don't have a choice & I kinda fall in in love with cheeseburgers... :)

Went back to the hostel, get changed & set off to the airport & LONDON!

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