Scandinavian breakfasts and I were made for each other. It fits in with my more is more philosophy on life and gastronomy. We must hurry with reckless gluttony and eat our full Scandinavian hotel breakfast: tomato juice, muesli, cereal, pancakes, sausages, bacon, eggs (scrambled), Danishes (better than you have ever had back home), ham, terrine of ham, herring will dill and tomato. Its all so wonderful. And dont forget fresh fruit, a healthy afterthought to the above and great to put in your bag to nibble on later during a bus tour. If only breakfast wasnt served as early as 7 am. If only we didnt have a bus to board at 7:30 am. You may have guessed I hate eating to the clock. Long, languorous meals are more my style. But with my Danish plumped belly, I am off to a new Scandinavian country.
Off to the Hensinor Ferry to the Swedish shores, then up the Swedish Coast to Gothenburg, Sweden, a suburban city with trolleys, malls and very pale people.
Onward we trek till we hit the Norwegian border, take a break at a rest stop barely over the border, (we sneak
back to the middle of the bridge that connects Sweden with Norway to photograph the massive fiord that separates the two countries. It is so beautiful (and terrifying suspended way too high high above the schism, my legs shake), I wept after taking the picture.
We finally arrive in Oslo at 5:15pm after a journey from Denmark. Oslo is a motley mix of old and new buildings, framed by the Oslo fiord. I suspect that the fiord keeps urban sprawl from happening to Oslo, so it is a quaint, walkable city. We are staying at the Clarion Royal Christiana (Biskop Gunnerusgatan 3 at Sentral Station), a somewhat luxury hotel by tour standards, but certainly modern and in a perfect location for all that you want to do in Oslo. And of course an excellent Scandinavian breakfast awaits for conspicuous consumption in the early morning. Maybe you will discover how gossamer the ultimate croissant or breakfast pastry can be.
After our buffet dinner (again satisfying my nagging need for too much): hot and cold platters (herring, salmon, pastas, potatoes, salads and good desserts with the same excellent coffee that permeates Scandinavia), we head out
to explore the local neighborhood. Norwegians, young young volunteer to help us. Everyone is friendly. We walk down Karl Johann Gate, get carried away by the main street, and wind up at The National Museum. Karl Johann Gate is a street that is a melange of shopping, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs and bars and proves that a life of following your senses is always distinctly distracting.
We detour to the side streets and the sidewalks get very lonely and a rough crowd appears out of nowhere. We retreat as we simply have too much cash and credit cards on us to lose in one unsavory moment. I dont know why Oslo has some unsavory types strolling about but I didnt notice this in other Scandinavian cities. I love the thrill of discovery, but always follow your instincts, undeterred by other distractions.
It starts to rain. We are on the wrong end of Karl Johann Gate. We make our way back to the cocoon that is our hotel, which seems even more upmarket when we return.
There are 722 parks, Frogner Park, the biggest tourist attraction in Oslo attracts 10,000 visitors a day. Designed by Gustav Vigeland who believed that clothed figures would date the sculptures, decided to mold them all in the nude. Intellectually stimulating, the sculptures show the cycle of life, the anxiety of our lives, the joys and the inevitable weakening and death.
Oslo is the 10th largest capital in the world but uses only one third of its space. I suspect being ringed by a fiord limits growth.
Our tour guide tells us moose and wolves were spotted roaming the streets. One moose zeroed in on the coffee aroma and entered a posh coffee bar as two women fainted. He stepped into the next room where the hostess had her back to him. She turned around and fainted, predictably.
