Entry #12 - November 17th 2008

This whole entry is basically about my 4days, 3 nights trip to Norway. Enjoy!

Friday: woke up at 5am so we can take the 6.35am train. Train from Orebro to Kil Station, then from Kil Station to Oslo C. Train rides accumulated to a total of about 5-6hours. Oslo was raining from time to time, but it was not that big, so it was all good. Went to Oslo with Christina, Martina, Martina's boyfriend Otto, Adam, Yuka, Eva, Ulli, and Nora. The last three people only joined us on our trip to Oslo and did not continue on with us to Bergen or the Fjords. They spent 3 days in Oslo instead. We explored the city, went the the Royal Palace, Vigeland Sculpture Park, the National Gallery, and the City Hall. We got lost from time to time but we figured everything out. I highly recommend the Vigeland Sculpture Park, I think that was the best attraction from Oslo. Beautiful, Captivating, Stunning. Martina called her friend who is currently studying in Norway and she showed us around town. Oslo at night with lights! Christmas decorations are slowly visible. It was amazing. At around 11pm, we took a night train to Bergen.

Saturday: spent the whole night on a train. Had a few pillow fights throughout the night. Wasn't able to get much sleep but it's okay, the scenery was fabulous! Snow everywhere, moutains, lakes, and a Christmas tree with lights! The only time I could fall asleep was when I fell asleep on Christina. :P At 7am, we arrived in Bergen, but unfortunately nothing was opened, not even our hostel. So we sat around the train station and waited til 9am then tried checking in again, we weren't allowed to go yet because people were still sleeping in the room. So we just left our bags with them and explored the city. We saw some churches, walked around the neighbourhood, had brunch/tea/coffee. Weather in Bergen was interesting to say the least. It would suddenly rain for about 5-10 minutes then it will stop for 10 minutes and continue. We experience hail, rain, sun and wind in Bergen!!! What a mix! We went to a castle and then there was a thunderstorm! Then out of nowhere, hail began to shower on us!! It was chaotic. Then suddenly everything stopped and we were hiding in a not so good place, so I said "oh good, let's go hide somewhere else", and then i turned to them and added, "watch this, when I step out of this place, it's going to start pouring and whatnot..." and coincidentally, the moment I stepped out, ... yup, it started pouring down on me. What a joke! By noon, we got our rooms, some took an hour nap and then by 2.30 we walked around the city again. We climbed up a huge mountain (we lost 2 on the way, but managed to find them through text messages). The view up top was breathtaking. I will post pictures up on facebook soon. By then, we were all soaked (even with umbrellas!) We decided to go back to the hostel and just call it a day. We had some tea, played some cards, took a much need shower, and slept. The bed were comfy and so was the pillow, so I was definitely happy! The hostel consisted of 4 bunk beds, so we shared with two others strangers who were studying in Uppsala. I slept on the bottom, while Christina slept on the top. In the middle of the night, she needed the bathroom so she jumped from the ladder to the ground and stepped onto Yuka's shoes She was basically in pain, jumping in circles but not letting herself scream. I, myself, being the evil one, let out a few giggles ;)

Sunday: Woke up at 6am, train leaf for Voss at 8am. After arriving in Voss, we went on a bus that took us to the boat that will take us around the Fjords. The scenery once again was beautiful. Very white grounds. It was very sunny, so it was a very desirable day for a boat trip around the Fjords. The boat ride took about 2 hours (will post pictures up later, once again). The Fjords trip ended at a place called Flam (with a circle on the a). We stopped there for about 2 hours and then took a "traditional, old school" train back to Voss. The train took a very beautiful route, white snow, untouched. It was a bit scary though, the train, at one point, started going up a small hill but then after 2 seconds, the train would go in reverse for 5 seconds. We didn't think it was going to make it! hehe We stopped at a station so we can switch to another train that will take us to Voss. There, I did a snow angel (snow eagle) and had a few snowball fights! Once we got back to Voss, it was about 5pm, and our night train home was at 12am. Unfortunately everything closes at 5pm so we were in search of cafes and restaurant. In the end, we decided to stop at a Chinese Restaurant. We stayed there from about 5.30 to 8pm. After that, we made our way to the train station where we decided to waste the night away (waiting for the train) by playing cards and Uno!

Monday: Spend the night on the train from Voss to Oslo. Train lasted from 12am to about 6.30. Slept pretty good, mostly on top of Christina, but I think that was my trick to a good night's sleep on a train. At Olso, we spent an hour waiting for a connecting train ride from Oslo to Hallsberg. Slept for about 1.5 hours out of 4 hours while en route to Hallsberg. Customs were on the train asking for passport, thankfully I remembered to bring my passport. They asked us how long we stayed, where we stayed, if we enjoyed it, where we study, etc. We were kinda out of it because they woke us up in the middle of our sleep. Martina and Otto kept sleeping and the custom officers just asked us if they were with us and we answered with a "yes" and then they're like "okay then, we won't bother them, you can go back to sleep! hehe" At a stop we saw police officers, the custom officers and a kid... I guess he didn't have a passport? The train had some technical difficulties we delayed out trip for about 10 minutes and we had a connecting train that had a 10 minute gap between that train and the train to Orebro. But fortunately the Orebro train waited for us patiently! :)

So there you go, that's my story. Probably the longest blog I've written. Overall, it was an absolutely amazing trip, beautiful country, amazing places, fantastic group of people, what more can i ask for! And of course, we experienced all types of weather (snow, hail, rain, thunderstorm, wind, sun, etc)! It was Yuka's first time with hail. A good time nonetheless. Next place... Helsinki Cruise!

Always having a good time, you should too!
Ytam.