OK, I need to wrap up my Oslo visit. I never know what I truly think about a place until I’ve been back home for a few weeks to let the experience sink in, and to see how I describe things when people ask me about it. Here’s what I keep hearing myself say about Oslo:
It’s just great. Beautiful; modern-yet-historic; lots to do, especially outside & active; people are nice; everywhere is super safe & clean; gorgeous water, forest, & mountains. Sure, it’s expensive, but not as much as I was led to believe (though perhaps just immune to it because of the high prices here in DC). The quality of everything is top-notch.
So everything there is truly great, and I loved Oslo, and can’t wait to go back. But… it lacks the spiciness & struggle that can sometime make non-US travel so interesting to me. Everybody spoke perfect English. You pay for everything by just tapping your phone, so I never even had to get any local currency. Norway’s food is nothing special, so they have amazing restaurants & food stands from every country imaginable. Fantastic public transportation is, and goes, everywhere, and works perfectly.
Everything is just so positive when you’re there. An example: There are no fare gates to ride the metro — they just trust people to do the right thing & have a ticket! Trying to save some money, I got caught riding a train with no ticket. However, the rail “cops” were just a bunch of smiling, laughing young folks, and having to give them my ID to get put on a government “Has Been Warned” list ended up being a joyous experience.
Oslo is an amazing place to live. The Norwegians have built an amazing society & I’m not sure I have any advice on how the could make it better. I wish DC could be exactly like Oslo! It just lacked some of the gritty soul that I seek when I strap on my backpack to see the world. That’s ok — there are tons & tons of such places out there still for me to explore.
Anyway, a final gallery of random Oslo in all its perfect beauty & wonderfulness:
eyeintim 
Leave a comment