Trip

8/30/02 Oslo, Norway (Phill) Seriously,

8/30/02 Oslo, norway (Phill)

Seriously, I think I\m the luckiest traveller ever. Okay, a bit much, but things just seem to come together. I arrive in Oslo and waiting for me is an email from a girl called Mari. I met Mari in Vietnam as part of the Norweigen contingent I met. Anyway, email has her phone number and says to call when I get here. I think she was a bit shocked that I called the same day she emailed me!

I spent Saturday morning wandering around museums. THe big one was the Resistance Museum which documents norways role in WWII. Basically, the Nazis took over the country thinking that this is how the Allies would try to attack them. The King was evacuated to the uk and the whole museum was basically talking about the British Role in saving norway and keeping it afloat. Really, I know its cheesy but it did make me proud to be British (Im still Scottish first!). Very cool stuff, afterwards I went and sat on the castle walls which overlooked Oslos harbour. Wow, perhaps the most beautiful city I`ve been in.

Anyway, I went to meet Mari around 1 o`clock. She had been out at a party the night before so I didnt think it was smart for us to meet in the morning :) Its funny cause I didnt get to know her too well in Vietnam and I really wish I had. She`s defiantely a cool chick (I`m not just saying that cause she let me crash at her pad). We spent the afternoon chiling in a few bars by the harbour. I swear she knows everybody in this city! I spent the whole day interrogating the poor girl since I knew nothing about her. It was like 2,000 questions!

That night we went and bought a pizza. This is the example of how expensive this country is, a large takeout pizza from a chain was just over 30dollars/euros. Crazy, then the shops here close at 6pm so you cant buy beer. We were off to a party that night but luckily Mari had Vodka... or should I say unluckily?

We met up with another friend of hers on the way to the Party: Christine. Off we all went to a suburb of the city. The party was great, really really like the ones we have back in Austin. I got dragged onto the dance floor (salsa no less), argued US foreign policy, got shots of something Norweigen forced down my throat, and basically got to be Norweigan for a night. Afterwards we went to a local bar where some guy at the next table was trying to tell me why i didnt like norway. Except I kept telling him i did. Crazy person I think. Then we headed to Christines apartment at like 4 or 5am and chatted for a while. Somehow I managed to convince myself that I shouldnt take my train that I had reserved for 8 the next morning. Actually the clincher was that the girls were going to Veg the following day. Basically just drag a bed in front of the TV, stock up on junk food and watch movies. C`mon, can you possibly imagine that I`d say no to that? Cute Norweigen girls and junk food? So I skipped my train and stayed another day. It was just the solution. Totally relaxed for a day, watched Nurse Betty and Oceans Eleven (see Kel! I got to see it finally). Although my hangover combined with 8 hours of junk food perhaps made for a bad combination :)

Posted by Admin at September 2, 2002 06:54 AM