Day-by-Day Overview of Norge

20/6/14 Boat to Norway:
The ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo is an overnight "mini cruise." It's adorable and also known to some of the locals as the "booze cruise" because of the duty free alcohol you can buy on board. Alcohol is expensive in Denmark, but it is outrageous in Norway. On weekends the boat is full of groups partying. I ate some amazing potato and bacon pizza (Scandinavian Italian pizza is the best) and while I was eating a group of 5 men dragged me over to join them at their table. They then proceeded to buy us 2 bottles of wine. I found out that they were actually a group of 12 who were traveling for a boys' weekend. They were intent on me having a good time and probably bought me a combined 600 dkk (about$100) worth of fancy drinks. There was a dance club on board and an outside deck where the sun set for hours. It was basically perfect.

21/6/14 First Day in Oslo
A very hungover me dropped my stuff off at the hostel, then set out walking to the Munch Museum. He was super dark and messed up, and I realized I really like his art. I did a lot of typical tourist things: the palace, parliament, churches, etc. The thing that struck me most was how different Norwegians are to Danes. They are far more reserved in some regards, like they are not as friendly when you are talking, but then they are super aggressive when it comes to crossing the street against the light or making noise in public. There was a ton of energy in Oslo. I was exhausted and went to bed at 10, before sunset.

22/6/14 Train to Bergen and Hiking Mount Ulriken
The train from Oslo to Bergen was gorgeous. I was a little disappointed because I was comparing it in my mind to how gorgeous some of my trains in the Swiss Alps were and I was expecting it to be better. It was definitely on par though. I took an obscene amount of pictures. The first thing that happened when I got to Bergen was I met a lovely Australian girl at the bus stop who was staying at the same hostel I was trying to get to. She jokingly suggested that I "take a walk up the mountain." Which I not-so-much-on-purpose did. My hostel was overlooking the city and right next to a famous hiking trail. I brought my heavy duty hiking boots, and felt silly when it started off as a paved incline. It very shortly turned into some of the craziest hiking I've done with the main theme climbing up rocks. The view from the top was breath-taking, but I fell in the stream on the way down and scraped my back and twisted my ankle. That night after the front desk made fun of me for being an American and being smart to ice my injury "unlike Norwegians who tough it out and pay with injuries when they are old," my new Australian friend and I met a group of other people. It is hard to make friends in Scandinavian hostels sometimes because there are a lot of families staying there and older couples. This was one of my favorite hostel-friend groups I've ever made and they really enhanced my time in Bergen.

23/6/14 Bergen, Bryggen, and Sankthansaften
I left the mountain to go into town and do the touristy things there. Bryggen in the cute 900 year-old water front area that is on all of the postcards. It was charming and all the lines of the buildings were crooked and a mess. I walked to some churches, went to the fish market, saw the Stave Church, hung out in a park, saw the fortress, and basically was in awe with how cute everything was. A few morally questionable things happened this day: 1. I pet seal pelts and they were so soft and I want everything I own to be made out of seal skin. 2. I ate a sample of whale and it was delicious. 3. We drank beer in public very sneakily on our way to a bonfire. 4. We hopped the fence to get to the bonfire when we found out they were charging 150nok to stand near it and none of us had that much kroner on us. The bonfire was for the midsummer celebration. The one we went to boasted "the largest barrel bonfire in the world" and it was truly impressive. They do bonfires all over Denmark and Norway for the event, it has pagen-turned-christian origins like almost all holidays, but has to do with celebrating Saint Hans, John the Baptist, and burning evil spirits. That night I also followed the tradition of putting flowers under my pillow so I would dream of my future husband, I chose daisies of course.

24/6/14 Back to Oslo
Played cards with my new friends in the morning outside overlooking the mountain. Took the train back to Oslo and took too many pictures, OH AND I FOUND OUT THAT COKE PUTS PEOPLES NAMES ON COKE BOTTLES ALL OVER THE WORLD AND THEY ARE DIFFERENT NAMES BASED ON WHAT COUNTRY YOU'RE IN. It is my favorite marketing thing that has ever happened and I am so upset they don't do it in America.

25/6/14 Last day in Oslo and Ferry back to Copenhagen
I went to the statue park in Oslo and walked around the city. I enjoyed the city much more the second time and the weather was gorgeous, I took the ferry back and it was WAY more low-key than the one I took on Saturday, but I still managed to get drunk and make a Norwegian friend.

Being back in Denmark is great. It is so refreshing to hear Danish instead of Norwegian again, that was really messing with me. I loved Norway though, I am such a Scandinavian girl. Today I didn't do much because I didn't sleep on the boat. I went into town and visited Den Lille Havfrue so I would feel like I did something, but I mainly was a bum. Now that Norway is done I can start really getting into Denmark.