Oslo, Norway

Well, we didn’t think it was possible but we managed to find a place more expensive than London: Norway. John had a conference in Oslo from last Wednesday to Friday, so I flew to meet him and we spent the weekend exploring Oslo and Lillehammer (site of the 1994 Olympics). Luckily, Norway was a beautiful winter wonderland, thus satisfying my snow cravings and making up for the cost.

John’s conference was at the Olso airport which is about 45 minutes north of the city and John was staying at the airport’s hotel. As part of the conference, on Thursday night he had the opportunity to go to dinner at City Hall, the site of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Eating herring at our Christmas in Denmark prepared him for the feast of rare reindeer and cod! (He survived and didn’t have to buy another dinner back at the hotel.)

John greeted me at the airport when I arrived on Friday afternoon. The sky was clear and blue, the temperature was cold, and the landscape was covered in snow. It reminded us of winter in Winnipeg. We headed out, bundled up, for a long walk in the snow and made it back at dusk. We had a relaxing evening enjoying dinner and cozying up in our hotel.

We arose early on Saturday, packed up our rental car and hit the highway to Lillehammer. John was very excited to drive our rental car, a BMW 116i, a lucky upgrade. Unfortunately, the speed limit was only 80km all the way (worse than Manitoba), but John was still able to discover that some cars actually can accelerate on an incline. Our Mazdas seem to have missed that feature.

It was a beautiful crisp, clear day. Dawn seemed to last the whole drive; then we realized the sun wasn’t going to rise much higher. The 2.5 hour drive took us along the longest lake in Norway and into the hills. The terrain reminded me a bit of Lake Windermere in BC. The ski resort was 15 km past Lillehammer and called Hafjell, which we nick-named “half hill” due to its size. While it wasn’t Whistler or Sunshine, it did have some long cruiser runs and we managed to find some untouched powder in the glades. My rented skies were short, fat, curved and a total blast! So many short fast turns made so easy. I may have to invest in a pair when we move back to Canada. We skied the day away, but had to take a few breaks to warm up as we weren’t conditioned for such cold.

Skiing was made possible thanks to our friends and captains of our ultimate team, Liz and Phil, who lent us the winter gear we were lacking.

After Half Hill, on John’s whim we went across the valley to the Olympic Bobsled track and bought tickets to ride down it in a bobraft, a rubber bobsled that fits five passengers and one driver. John didn’t tell me until it was over that it goes 80km/hr down the track! I was kind of expecting a slow cruise down but the required helmets and pep talk about g-forces started to make me nervous. The ride was more thrilling than any roller coaster I have ever been on! Climbing up the corners, G-forces I’ve never felt before, no time to anticipate the turns; I have a whole new respect for the sledding sports. Those skeleton competitors are absolutely crazy! To any Calgarians reading, we highly recommend a visit to COP’s track for a ride.

Our hotel in Lillehammer was just above the main part of town on the mountain where the Olympic Village was located (ski jump, large arena, etc). After our exciting day of outdoor pursuits, we had a much needed sauna to relax. It was a 10 minute walk down a steep hill, past quaint, cozy, Norwegian houses with smoke streaming from their chimneys, to get to the centre of Lillehammer. We quickly cruised the pedestrian street and then settled ourselves into a restaurant for dinner at table by the window so we could watch winter from the warmth. With full bellies and tired bodies, we slowly made it back up the hill and into bed.

On Sunday morning we had a Scandinavian breakfast at the hotel (we chose to have jam and nutella on our toast as opposed to the fish spread) before starting our journey back to Oslo. The sky was white and a snowfall looked imminent. Once in Central Oslo, we set out on foot. In order to stay warm I had to sacrifice appearance; I looked like Stay Puff Marshmallow Woman with my down vest, fleece and snow pants on under my long coat. Motivated to find a Starbucks to satisfy our caffeine cravings, we walked most of downtown, past an outdoor skating rink, the university, the theatre, parliament and the train station. Our search led us to the Information Centre where we were advised that there are not any Starbucks in Norway, due to the public’s wishes. After cursing to each other that the cold must be affecting the Norwegians’ good sense, we settled for some local coffee and made our way to the Akershus Castle and Fortress.

We walked the walls of the snow covered fortress which overlooked the harbour. Guards were on patrol and marching around, and there were statues on the grounds to check out. The Norwegian Resistance Museum is located on the grounds and we spent two hours in there learning about the resistance movement in WWII. During their occupation of Norway, the Nazis used the fortress as their base, prison and execution grounds. Many resistance groups lived, trained, stock piled and planned from well hidden camps in the woods and hills.

When we left the museum a snowfall had started! We walked (and I did some gleeful skipping in the snow) back through the city centre and past the palace to get to our car. To our disbelief, parking for the afternoon cost the equivalent of CAD$40! We tried to spin a positive – at least we weren’t broken into – but that didn’t help much. Yes, our wallets were getting empty, it was time to go back to cheap London. We shudder to imagine what a Starbucks would have cost…

We had a long wait at the airport so we sat in the Sports lounge and watched the Arsenal match with a few drinks. It was another late Sunday night arrival home but it was worth it to have another great European weekend getaway, and we highly recommend Norway. Thanks for the wonderful Christmas present John!