Ode to London: You Are So Cheap And Warm!

The best part about living in the UK is the travel opportunities. Because my class and work schedule is busier than most I haven’t really taken full advantage of those opportunities. Last weekend however I had a 3 day weekend due to midterms and RyanAir having a special – London to Oslo. I had never considered Norway as a travel destination for me, but I’ve started to really enjoy those out of the way places more and more. Plus it was super cheap.

So at 2:00 am Saturday morning, my friend (and first real travel companion) Lauren and I set off to Oslo. 12:30 that afternoon we reached our hostel. It took and hour and a half to get to London Stanstead and another two hours to get from the “Oslo” airport to the city itself.

However, as soon as we got off the lane, the ATM decided to eat my debit card. Then, my emergency credit card was declined, my cell phone ran out of money, and I couldn’t refill it because I had no money plus they charge you to call customer “service”. And then of course Bank of America’s “free” phone number for international calls I in fact (gasp!)… not free. I freaked out for a second, but Lauren came to my rescue! Being independent and traveling alone is absolutely fabulous but you can’t underestimate the lovely convenience of a travel buddy. Lauren helped me out with all the money issues and gave me someone to bitch to instead of stewing on my own.

The problem did get sorted out and after finding our hostel (after getting lost) we explored Oslo. It’s a lot bigger than I expected and also less stereotypically Nordic. I guess I’m not sure what I was expecting, so there was no way I could be disappointed. It was a lovely city though. And everyone was so friendly and good natured and absolutely gorgeous. Even the children and stooped over old men were hot.

But it was cold (duh) and the most expensive city I have ever been to. The exchange rate is great but we paid $6 for water and the newsstand in the airport wanted $20 for a magazine! And I thought London was expensive…

That first day though, Lauren and I were so tired that we really just walked around and explored. We were dead by about 8:00 so we went back to the hostel to plan the next day. As we were sitting out in the hallway going over our guidebooks, an English girl called Sian came by and we ended up talking. Then she was joined by her travel companion, Sam, and just ended up bonding for who knows how long. It was one of those great times when you automatically click with someone and just never stop talking. I assumed that they would be two people I could write about in my journal and never see again, but have fond memories of. Turns out, they both work across the street from me in London! So we ended up going out with them that night to watch the Rugby world cup at a nearby pub. It was filled with British people, which was funny as we were in the middle of Norway. I know nothing about rugby but it was so much fun to cheer on my “home team”, and when they lost (miserably) I was sad. The plan was to go to bed early but the four of us ended up walking the streets of Oslo late at night, buying beers and kebabs, and retiring to the hallway with milk and Oreos back at the hostel. I loved every bit of it, and just further proves my point that you never have any idea what will happen and who you’ll run in to. The best nights are those that are unplanned and mostly likely you’ll remember than forever.

The next morning we got up to go to a ski jump we had read about. It’s a big tourist attraction because you can climb to the top and get a sprawling view of the surrounding countryside all the way to the city and beyond. It was a little out of the way but the train ride was incredible. Lots of pines and mountains and fjords (lakes, but I like that word, it sounds Norwegian). Basically a breathtaking day. The climb was intense and steep, but the view just let us look out for miles and miles. And the rest of our trip was just really laid back. We saw some museums – the ski museum, the Viking museum and my favorite, Edvard Much. We took the wrong tram into the middle of nowhere and had to wait outside in the cold (and yes! The rain!) in the suburbs. So we listened to music and Dane Cook and laughed our heads off while strange Norwegian people shared glances with each other over the stupid Americans. We went to the largest open air museum where we walked among old abandoned houses and churches from hundred of years ago. It was really scary as it was a Monday and no one was around, and we were convinced that ghost children were following us. Especially when in the middle of this old ghost town there was an elementary school or something with a creaky old playground. Since we act like ten year olds most of the time anyway, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that we spent about and hour playing on the swings and see saw with our new “ghost children friends”. Again, another plus on the side of traveling with people.

The worst part though, was the regret (I know, I shouldn’t have any). The last day we realized that we were just hours from the Northern Lights, and if we had planned in advance we could have taken a train to the far north of Norway to see them. Of course, you can’t see them every day, and it’s still early in the year, but the Northern Lights! I feel like that’s part of the list of things we need to do before we die. So now I’m thinking about taking a separate trip maybe in January when I come back to Finland or something just to see them. But I can’t say I regret this trip at all. It was low-key, and Oslo is a weirdly quiet city, but I never thought in a million years I could just hop on a plane for a weekend in Norway. This whole experience just keeps getting more and more amazing and unpredictable and just makes me sit down and think every day how grateful I am to be here!