Sweet November

It's hard to believe it's November already.

Who Loves The Sun

The days are definitely getting shorter. From about 3:00pm until the sun goes down entirely, Oslo sits somewhere between day and night. It's a strange feeling, and apparently it will only get worse as November progresses. 

It's now 4:30pm, and the streetlights are on. 

Adventures in Oslo

Today was perhaps the best day I've had in Oslo yet! I've had many good days before this, but today stands out. I think it was a balanced day, and as a result of the balance, my anxiety resulting from being unbalanced was minimal to nonexistent. I studied in the morning, went to the museums in the afternoon, walked around the fortress, had a nice sandwich and coffee as the sun went down, came home and sent some emails, had kraft dinner, enjoyed the internet.

The highlights of the day, and what will undoubtedly remain as highlights of the trip, were my visits to the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art and the Akershus Slott (Fortress).

The Astrup Fearnley Museum is one of the most impressive museums/galleries I have seen - if it weren't for its lesser size, it would stand right next to Tate Modern as an equal (if you ask me). The exhibition currenly in progress is the second part of a joint exhibition produced by Astrup and the Serpentine Gallery in London. Its aim is to shine a light on the amazing work being produced by the current generation of Chinese artists, all of whom have chosen to stay in China (the exhibition tells that in the past, most contemporary artists would have had to leave the country to pursue their art in more traditional centres such as London and New York). There were some incredible pieces. Here's the only photo I managed to take before I was told that photos were not allowed:



Following the Astrup, I wandered over to the National Gallery of Contemporary Art, which was great, but felt a little flat compared to where I had just been. There were, however, several great pieces, which may or may not include the following:


Once I'd had my fill of art, I took a walk and decided to do something I probably should have done within the first few days of arriving in Oslo: visit the fortress. It's marked on every tourist map, and it's within walking distance of three different train stops, so I really have no excuse for taking this long to get to it. Better late than never is what I continue to tell myself as I sit here writing this blog.

The fortress is built on a piece of land that juts out into the Oslo Fjord, and it's actually one of the more impressive fortresses I have been to - moreso than the ones in Denmark and St. Petersburg.

As I walked along the steep walls, I found a nice spot to sit and watch the sun sink lower into the water. I sat there for nearly an hour, and really felt like I was enjoying Oslo, which I was (and am). Here are some photos:










I'm now sitting here, reading through an Oslo tourist guide, thinking that I should probably get out and do more of this sort of thing before I have to leave.

Tomorrow I leave for Amsterdam, so my adventures in Oslo will have to wait until Monday.

What It Looked Like.

Russia was an interesting place and I'm glad to have seen it. However, it's not a place that I would consider to be a holiday destination. I continually summarize my experience there to others by saying that it was very 'Russian'.

As promised, here are some photos:















Russian clubs/bars are full of interesting people:


Now that I'm back in Norway, I'm faced with the challenge of living with a water-boil advisory. Apparently, the pipes in Oslo are not fit for use, and it's causing problems, like giardiasis. This means that the one redeeming feature of my room, my sink, is not useable, likely for the rest of my time here in Norway.

I'm trying to figure out if the water is safe to use for cleaning dishes, but of course the advisory is in Norwegian, which I know very little of.

If anyone is interested in coming to Oslo to install a water filtration system into my room, my door is open.

For Tomorrow

I really should post some photos from Russia, seeing as how I promised I would, but I'm going to put it off for one more day. It's bed time for me.

Back to the Future.

I'm now back from Russia, sitting in the Black Diamond in Copenhagen. I really don't know what to say about St. Petersburg, so I'm going to have to give it some thought. The entire week was definitely an enlightening experience, and I'll leave it at that for now.

I'll post some photos soon, so GET READY FOR THAT!

 

Stevie Wonder at Breakfast

Russia is cheap like nowhere I've ever been before. With one Canadian Dollar equalling around 25 Rubles, and most meals costing around 50 - 100 Rubles, I can afford to eat pretty much whatever I want. However, I'm finding Russian Cuisine to be quite heavy, as most meals involve dumplings covered in sour cream, and borscht (sp?).

The breakfasts are fine, but the lounge/restaurant insists on playing at least three different versions of Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" every morning.

My internet time is very limited these days, so I'll have to continue this story another day.