After leaving Copenhagen, I made a quick stop in Malmo, Sweden. It is there where I had to catch the train to Oslo. I had an hour before the train left, so I decided that me and my luggage would go on a mini-tour to take a few evening snaps. The last time I was there, it was SO cold that Morten and I only staying for about 30 - 45 minutes before heading back to Denmark. The weather was much better this time around and I was able to re-take some of the pictures I had taken in the past. It's a cute little town and was so alive with people out to dinner and enjoying the patios, etc.
On the train to Oslo, I was so lucky to have a bunk bed. There were 6 of us in this little room and it felt a bit crowded, but I managed (sometimes I can feel a little claustrophobic). There was a German couple that I had ran in to while I was waiting for the train in Copenhagen that were in my room. I thought that was quite a coincidence! But another thing I thought instantly is that they looked like the snoring type, so I knew instantly that I wasn't going to get much sleep. It was 2am and I noticed the snoring was louder than it was before... it was unbearable. And I noticed that I noticed the snoring because the train wasn't moving. Usually, the train will stop for a few minutes, but this time it stopped for longer than 30 minutes or so. So, I got up and opened the door of the car to see what was going on. I couldn't tell what was going on, but I did noticed that we were in Gothenburg, Sweden. I made a mental note so I could put it on my map. :)
I went back to the room and the snoring persisted and the girl on the bunk across from me was awake by this time as well. We giggled about it for a minute and then decided to put on our iPods to reduce some of the noise. It worked! And I was able to sleep for the rest of the journey!
We arrived in Oslo and I started talking to the girl in the bunk across from me. Come to find out she, Emily, is from France and is currently living in Paris... much to her dismay. She's 25 years old and she too is doing a journey similar to mine, except that she's making her way WAYYY north in Norway. She wants to go where the sun doesn't set. Burrrr. Anyway, we decided that since we were both traveling alone, that we would travel alone together... and that we would meet back at the train station at around noon.
In the meantime, I had to make my way to my accommodation. This may sound strange, but I have decided to couch surf! Not sure if you've heard of it, but you can check it out at www.couchsurfing.com. It may seem a bit risky, but once you get familiar with the sight, it's really just a bunch of people who love to travel and want to do their part in the world by helping other travelers out. I'm doing this in Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg, and Lausanne.
Since this is my first couch surfing experience, I didn't really know what to expect. Kiva is my host in Oslo. She is a professor at a University here and had to work today, so she left the keys at the Shell station down the street from her house. I picked up the keys and let myself in... opened the door and my jaw dropped in awe. Her place is so amazingly beautiful! It looks like a model home! Everything is in place. There isn't anything lying around anywhere. The furniture, art, books... everything is amazing! I let myself in to her room and put my bags up neatly. Got ready to take a shower and was so afraid I was going to make a mess. I'd hate to say it, but it's even more tidy that my mom and dad's house! :0 I took pictures so I'll never forget this place.
I make myself back down to the city centre and I meet up with Emily. We get a little lost, so we decided to take the tram to one of the spots I had noticed on the way up to Kiva's house. It's the harbor. And it's beautiful. And it is very difficult to capture the beauty of this place with the camera lens. Emily was a great travel buddy! We just walked around and soaked in the sights around the water... took a little train tour and then a cruise through the Oslo fjord... which is when the sky opened up and poured down rain. I didn't take much pictures of the cruise and what we saw in the fjord, but it was beautiful, even with the pouring down rain.
In the fjord, there are 40 islands. Not all of the islands are lived on, but the ones that are have most peoples Summer houses on them. The Summer houses are either red or yellow, so I can remember. They all pretty much looked alike... and according to the guide, there is a waiting list to get a Summer house on some of the islands. I think tomorrow, we will take a ferry over there to walk around the little town they have built up there and to go to the Holocaust Museum.
Later in the day, I received a text from Kiva telling me that she left the keys to her bicycle if I wanted to borrow it... and that she has a family reunion to go to over the weekend. So it looks like I won't be able to meet this little angel of mine during this trip. But hopefully we can keep in touch and unite some time in the future...
No comments:
Post a Comment