oslo

You could feel the excitement in the air–summer had arrived in Noway!  We were maybe hoping for it to be a little cooler, well Katie and Mike were.  I was happy–sunny, dry, high of 87 but overnight in the 60’s.  Everyone here was so excited–June 2 was like opening day of the season in Oslo and they had planned a huge free music festival to celebrate!

We started our exploration of Oslo in the morning and it was so pretty outside!  Not a cloud, with the sun at a vastly different angle–high, but to the side so there were bright shadows all day and you could always find shade.  Even early, people were enjoying the magnificent parks full of soft green grass and no fire ants.  

Downtown Oslo had an actual ferris wheel, not the slow-moving, go-around one time 20 minute versions we had been taking, but the quick moving kind.  Even in the morning, people were setting up stages throughout every area we walked through and you could hear sound checks with some of the bands.

We stopped at a couple cool stores, one that sold vintage guitars.  It was fun to talk to the clerk, who had been to New Orleans and had great English.  Then we went to a camping store for Mike and Katie to stock up.  The clerk there was full of tips, saying that the water here is so pure, cold, and delicious you can drink it right from the tap.  “Only tourists buy bottled water,” she said.  

All Katie wants to eat are the foods she’s been missing–and who can blame her!?  After 15 months with no cheese, very little bread, and hardly any pasta, Katie ruled these days when it came to food.  By noon, we were eating Mexican 🙂

We walked down to the port, where people were enjoying the sunshine and boat watching.  There was a really big cruise ship there at one of the docks and lots of small boats and kayaks.

This huge white venue is the opera house.  One guy was cross country skiing across the bright white pavement, poles and all!  We relaxed on the cool cement and watched the boats. 

We took a break during the heat of the afternoon to take the camping supplies back to the apartment.  Already we had walked several miles and it was only 3 p.m.  By 4 p.m. we were back on the streets again, finding our way back to an amazing area called Vulcan, which had the best market I’d seen since Florence, Italy. 

The market was large and full of interesting food options.  Katie and I had the most delicious gelato since Italy (it really is better there!).  Mike ordered a meat and cheese platter which we all shared.  We couldn’t figure out why it was taking so long, but then 2 men brought out these lovely dishes, which were actually pieces of tile.  One man took several minutes to explain each item.  The cheeses included mild brie and a cheddar, but also strong bleu and 2 cheeses so strong he said we’d probably never tasted anything like it and he was right.  We dipped it in the sweet orange sauce and it was really good.  The small caramel colored cheese wasn’t really cheese, he explained, but a product made from the separated whey which was caramelized and tasted sweet.  The meats included lamb, fermented fish, reindeer…and whale.  That bothered us but we didn’t want to offend.  Whale is still harvested in Norway and Japan.  I guess it all comes down to what you’re brought up with, like the fish with eyeballs in Kyoto.  The flatbread, he explained, took a day to make and he talked about his grandmother making it for what seemed like 3 days because the women would talk and enjoy a “break” from other chores while pounding out the bread.

I will stop talking about the old and new aspects of the cities–I guess it took me this long to internalize that the countries we’ve been in are just waaaaaay older than the USA.  As long as your city wasn’t obliterated by war, there were still old buildings and now new ones.  Oslo was no exception, including the churches.  The ceiling of this one was surprising, covered in a huge mosaic. 

As we moved through the city there was more and more music; the festival included over 40 venues!  Some areas were small at local bars, others big in the courtyards of buildings on the stages we saw them building.  There was a great variety of music including electronic, pop, metal, Latin, Caribbean, rock.  A lot of it was sung in English, though the artists spoke to the crowd in Norwegian. 

Finally it seemed cool enough and late enough to enjoy a Norwegian beer.  Many places also had pitchers of ice water sitting out, which was welcome with the dry heat. 

Katie disappeared under this tunnel to dance with the locals to electronic music. 

Everyone sat in the cool grass on the hill.  It was after 8 p.m. but still fully bright.  We stayed there for awhile, until we saw a guy acting a little weird down by the water.  It was only then I realized there were no police around.  We had our bags searched by security going into one bar area, but that was it until on the way home we saw a pushing match between a guy and a cop, with the result of the guy getting arrested.

It was 9:30 p.m. (still light) so we walked to an area that had restaurants all around.  We had a delicious pasta dinner.  We couldn’t understand the waitress’s English about the Daily Pasta, but it turned out to be a fantastic ravioli and baby peas.  We were missing Todd when the restaurant literally had Pasta with Butter on the menu–his favorite!

At midnight it still looked like dusk.  This AirBnb is no rental–clearly it’s a home and includes an acoustic guitar, so Mike got to practice and entertain us while Katie and I fell asleep on the huge couches.  At 2 a.m. it was still light when I woke up.  Mike said there are different names for this effect, such as Civil Twilight.  I looked at the map and realized just how far north we were.  I only thought I lived “up north.”  The farthest north I had been was Cape Breton, Nova Scotia at 47 degrees latitude.  In Oslo we were at 60 degrees latitude.  No wonder the whole world looks different here.

Photo:  Norwegian Blonde Ale by Oslo Brewing Company, music venue, Oslo