Let's skip the bits on London to the end of the EU 2018 entries and focus on the main destinations, shall we? It'd give me one less post to worry about ;).
I'm not sure about you, but I'm often confused with the terms Scandinavia and Nordic countries. This is what I found in the internet:
While the term "Scandinavia" is commonly used for Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the term "Nordic countries" is used unambiguously for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, including their associated territories (Svalbard, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands).
Given that I've only set aside 2 weeks for this trip, I didn't get the chance to cross off one item in my bucket list, which is the Baltic Sea cruise or the fjord cruise. Okay, that's two things in my bucket list :D. So I've narrowed it down to Oslo, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen.
Earlier in the year, I've stated my intention to Firouz, and even as a person who stays in London and earns in GBP, he says that Nordic countries are expensive. Well, it's the experience and the chance to see the world that matter right? Soo cliche! Lol. Thank God that the round trip ticket to London was taken care of :)
I've added 4 new cities to my list. Not too shabby eh?
I've booked the 9:20 am flight out of Gatwick to Oslo Lufthavn. That meant that I had to leave the house even before Firouz woke up to go to work.
Making noise by dragging my luggage on the pave walk in the early hours of the morning
After 2 hours of flying time, we arrived at OSL. The queue for the non-EU citizens was horrendous, and it took me an hour or so to clear immigration. I opted for the the NSB train to get to the city center and it brought me to Oslo S (Oslo Central station). That was also where I picked up my Oslo pass.
We're here!
Oslo C. Well at least one of the eateries wings
I had booked a room the Best Western Karl Johan Hotell that was less than a kilometer away from the central station. I've decided to walk and lug my bag to the hotel. It was not bad actually. The hotel is actually on the same row as the Hard Rock Cafe and pretty close to everything, including the Storling building, that houses the Parliament.
Map and the walking route for the day
A cathedral along the way
Almost there (to the hotel)
The Parliament building
The facade of the Storling building
Best Western Karl Johan Hotell
Home for the next couple of nights
The obligatory selfie shot in the hotel mirror
It was one of those gloomy Spring day, but at least it wasn't raining right? Cold, but it wasn't raining ;). So I took the opportunity to do some sightseeing and get acquainted with the city.
I started off from the hotel to get to the City Hall. On the way, I passed by the National Theater.
Hard Rock Cafe is just several doors down
National Theater building
From the City Hall, I headed towards Akershus Festing (Fortress), a medieval castle "that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for Oslo." From there, I found my way to the Opera House and circled back to the hotel.
Baguslah minum duduk :)
Oslo City Hall
Took a detour and walked for a short while in Aker Brygge that serves as both commercial and residential area.
Nice residential areas
At Akershus Festing...
The view of Aker Brygge from Akershus Festning
Akershus Festning
Opera House ...
It was cool that you could walk up to the so-called roofs of the opera building
The buildings at the barcode project
By the end to day, Samsung Health recorded some 22000 steps and several more for the day. That's some serious walking I must admit. I could hardly get the minimum 6000 steps at home.
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