Weekend in Oslo
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March 31st, 2009
Funny story: Remember how I said we chose to visit Oslo because it was the cheapest weekend flight available? Well, after we booked the trip we discovered that Norway is actually one of the most expensive countries in the world! So we took the cheapest transportation to the most expensive destination. Oh the irony!
Despite the cost (which actually was quite similar to Zürich), we enjoyed our short trip to Oslo. It is definitely still winter in Norway; it snowed on Friday and caused our flight to be delayed by about an hour. By the time we got there, though, the snow had stopped. We actually got really lucky with the weather because it was supposed to snow all weekend, but instead it was mostly sunny with no snow!
On Saturday, we spent most of the day wandering around the city and doing some shopping. For lunch, we found a great restaurant along the harbor and sat outside. All the restaurants had outdoor seating with fur seat covers and heat lamps. Since Norway has great seafood and it is rather hard to come by in Switzerland, we ordered a seafood feast for lunch involving king crab, mussels, and shrimp. It was delicious!
On Sunday, all the shops were closed (like in Switzerland) so we played tourist. We took a sightseeing boat cruise through the Oslofjord. We got off the boat on “Museum Island” and went to a couple of museums – Kon-tiki and Viking Ship. The Kon-tiki museum was interesting and something that I didn’t know anything about. It is all about a Norwegian adventurer, Thor Heyerdahl, who sailed across the ocean in a reed boat (among other things). The Viking Ship museum has three real, full-size viking boats on display.
Although it was just a quick trip (made even shorter by the delayed flight and daylight savings time-change), we had a good time and enjoyed Oslo. I would definitely like to return to Norway sometime in the summer and check out the famous fjords.
I should also note that it is only March and I have already met my travel goal for the year of visiting 3 new countries: Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Norway. Yipee!
