Difficult To Get A Read🤷♂️
Norway, specifically Oslo is new to us, and we arrived late at around 10:30pm to find very quiet streets and of course it was dark. We had little feeling for things, but our SIM cards switched countries seamlessly so at least we were able to find our hotel rather easily. For a Friday night the streets were eerily empty of cars and there were just a few people out and about. It was almost like watching a bad movie about a pandemic having swept away most of mankind.😂
Our hotel has a fairly modern set up with an automatic check-in process where you enter your reservation code, pay with your credit card and then door keys are created for your room by a machine. I have used similar check-in arrangements in other countries, but this was the most advanced process that I’ve used to date. Impressive, but of course the human interaction piece that I enjoy was missing, and with it a few more jobs.
When we went out this morning just before 9:30 the streets were still empty of traffic. It was a real puzzle.🤔 We found a place next-door and had a simple breakfast. Hotel guests get a 10% discount, and when two hot beverages and two simple pastries cost $30 the 10% discount is most welcome!
After our breakfast we decided to walk down to the harbour area or at least down to the water.
Our hotel is very central and just a couple of blocks to the water. The opera house is an unusual looking structure. It sort of looks like an iceberg angled away from the water. Given that Oslo is so far north, it may have been the intent of the architects to reflect the snow and ice that is here much of the year. That’s just a guess.
It was cool this morning, perhaps only 9-10°, and with the grey cloudy skies you could be forgiven for mistaking the season as the start of winter.
We decided to walk up to tourist information to find out what there might be to do in Oslo during our two day stay.
Winter is pretty long in Norway, so many of the gathering places are sensibly indoors. This particular public area featured tourist information, but also a series of restaurants as well. It was a really nice welcoming environment.
In the tourist information office I overheard one of the people working there explain to a German couple that the downtown core was shut down today because of the annual Oslo marathon. The lightbulb quickly went on for me as that would explain why all the streets were dead quiet last night and again this morning! We knew there had to be a simple solution. It also explained why the accommodation that we had to rebook was 60% more expensive than it was when we originally booked our accommodation back in February!
Back outside, we began to walk towards the cathedral and the outdoor food market. As we moved in that direction we began to see and hear the marathon commotion. Lots of drums!
We decided to go inside the cathedral and we were delighted to find a quite unique style. Particularly the ceiling.
After all the churches I’ve wandered through, it’s nice to be pleasantly surprised from time to time.
It was now 11 o’clock, and after a very small breakfast, we were getting a little peckish and decided to walk up to the food market. We were told that it was only set up for just this weekend. A nice bonus!
Food samples were offered at almost every booth. The place just screamed out for a Joop Lunch. So we had one!
The cheeses were particularly satisfying, but there were also slices of apple, cured meats and even potatoes. AM bravely tried the brown cheese that we had heard about, but it was a step too far for me.😂 I balk when colours start entering my cheeses, though I did enjoy the pepper cheese! This being Norway, we also found some amazing smoked salmon, and we bought a piece to enjoy with our white wine and Bree cheese tonight. We made the decision to take our food gathered through the day back to our room for dinner given that most of the restaurants would be extremely crowded with the running crowd. There were a lot of people running the 10 K, the half marathon and of course, the full marathon.
Our Joop Lunch finished, it was back out to wander the city.
There was most definitely some sort of route plan for the runners to follow, but I never figured it out. They seemed to be running on all sorts of streets and around and around and everywhere! Though I’ve never had an urge to run a marathon, I can appreciate the dedication necessary to prepare. Though honestly, have you ever seen someone running with a smile on their face? Walkers tend to smile quite frequently and have been known to walk just as far!😅🚶♂️
We kept on walking along the waterfront and eventually came to an extremely modern area of the city. Much of it built on cement platforms over the water.
A combination of accommodation and commercial services.
A pretty interesting area complete with a kiddies play ground.
We stopped here to pick up a few groceries for our dinner. The space guy was definitely a bonus…
When we first went out this morning, my initial impression was that Oslo is a pretty sterile looking city (AM loved it). It’s pretty angular and even the old town looks pretty clean. Not at all what I tend to look for when travelling. Basically there is no real ‘edge’ to the city centre. However, as we walked the city my first impression shifted a bit when we passed through the new zone. It was clear that the planners and architects had made a serious attempt to pull off something different. I found myself wondering why our city planners couldn’t build something similar instead of the many rather boring towers that are currently being added into the city core. On this front Oslo was spot on! In fairness I recognize that we are visiting on a marathon weekend when the usual flow of the city has been disrupted. I suspect it will appear different on Monday.
Tomorrow we have to get our tickets sorted out to travel south. The train tracks are disrupted due to maintenance and this could mean a bus. We are also hoping to ride the commuter ferries through the islands just off Oslo. whatever happens it promises to be a good travel day!
That’s about it for this edition.
Geoff, from coolish Oslo🥶
Distance Walker - Wandering & Wondering! 