Mike takes Oslo!!!

[Editor’s Note: We were in Oslo [pronounced ”Oosh-lou”] for two days and one night. Because we ended up doing quite a bit, I will be breaking each day into two parts. This will most likely mean four separate entries, so I apologize ahead of time]

Homecoming: Day 4, Part 1-

"Oslo, a bed –and- breakfast, Europe’s advanced bus system"

In order to save A LOT of writing, the trip to Oslo will be recorded as such:

1. We woke up HELLA early to make a 5:30am train [tog, “toe-guh”, short ‘uh’];

2. We rode a train;

3. We arrived in Oslo 5 hours later.

And also to save a lot of writing, the walk to our hotel will be recorded as such:

1. Christian and I miscalculated the distance and walked close to 3,0km when we thought it was closer to 2,0km;

2. This was done in really cold and really wet rain;

3. Neither of us dressed for rain.

Alright, so this brings us to our hotel, Regence Kristinelund, a former house-turned-hotel that was what we’d probably refer to in the states as a bed-and-breakfast. Say what you will, but next trip to Oslo, I will stay in the same place, no hesitation. It was clean, it was simple, and the people were extremely nice; they even tossed in a space-heater! Anyways, the place was nice. We bunked down for a few minutes and let my camera battery charge while Christian made the video-call to his girl back in the states; I tried video-calliing a few people on my Skype list with my iPod; however, it took credit to Skype phone numbers and seeing as Friday we’re going to Stavanger for a weekend long party, there was no way I was paying for that BOWL-Shit. So, sorry to those who would have gotten an update call, but my priorities lie with having a good-ass time haha!

Once we left, we hopped on the number 30 bus which took us down town for 30kroner (roughly 6$) and found our way to the Tourist Center to purchase an “Oslo Pass”, which is basically a city-hopper pass that gets you into really expensive destinations for free or discount, and allows for free-use of public transit. And trust me, if you are touring Oslo, get this pass. You pay for it almost immediately with all the cool things Oslo has to offer.

Also, another thing: the bus system in Oslo (and I think the rest of at least Norway) is far better than the US system. Why? Because it has these advanced systems on the main stops that send signals back-and-forth from the stop to the bus that tracks how far (in minutes) the bus is from the stop; it’s dead on. It’s not the-schedule-says-this-I-do-that system Seattle has, but it is far better and way worth it for America to step up its game and learn something from Northern Europe. And another thing: Oslo’s busses have trash cans!

[coughcoughHINTHINT Seattle]

….to be continued!