Falling in Love With Oslo

Cities have vibes, personalities, characters. I am a firm believer that a person's personal vibe can match with a city's, and those are the places that you sometimes hear someone say, "I could see myself living there." Up until now, my list of locations where I felt my personal vibe match a city's vibe was pretty small. In the US, it consisted of Washington, DC, and Boise, Idaho. And perhaps places like Atlanta, Georgia, or Albuquerque, New Mexico, but I'm not fully sure about those. Abroad, the list is even shorter, consisting of only Port Louis, Mauritius, and maybe Toronto, Canada, although Toronto is in line with Atlanta and Albuquerque. So if you're keeping track, I could only see myself enjoying living long-term in Washington, Boise, or Port Louis. And would consider Atlanta, Albuquerque, and Toronto. Not an extensive list, but that list has just grown by one: Oslo, Norway.

Slottsparken (Palace Park)

My love of Oslo started from the moment I stepped off the train from Stockholm. There was a pep in the step of the people in the train station. People were smiling and laughing, even the people with headphones in. There were people buzzing around outside the train station (this was a Sunday late afternoon). It just felt...right. My following three days, out and about walking and seeing the sights, just added to my love of Oslo. Whereas Stockholm felt sterile and forced, Oslo was relaxed and natural. There was a diverse group of people on the streets of Oslo, and those who didn't match the blond hair/blue eyed stereotypical Scandinavian look or look like they were direct descendants of Erik the Red--especially those whose heritage comes from places like Somalia, South Sudan, and Pakistan--actually blended in with the crowd. And then the beauty of the city didn't hurt either, especially with all of the green space everywhere!

This is not to say that Oslo was perfect. Some things were just bizarre, like (1) the prevalence of unicorn balloons everywhere, including one on my floor in the hotel (and strangely, these balloons never seem to deflate). Other things made me think someone needs to bop Norwegians on the head. For instance, (2) just because the temperature got to 65 or 70 does NOT mean it's shorts weather. Or a time to go sunbathing in a park. Those temperatures are still on the cooler side. (3) Then there's the cost. Oslo is consistently rated as one of the most expensive cities in the world, and it shows. I've basically decided that I'll just deal with four days of Oslo expenses later. (4) Separately, Norwegian doesn't sound like a real language to me. I have a hard time explaining what I hear when people speak Norwegian, but the best approximation I can come up with is that it is a bunch of Germans trying to sound out English words and accidentally getting into a spitting competition (I told you this was hard for me to describe!). And finally, (5) this sun things needs to be sorted out. The sunset after 10pm, with a light-ish twilight until about midnight, which then returns by about 2am for a sunrise not long after 4am is really messing with my internal clock.

But overall, I loved Oslo, and here are a few of my favorite photos:

Bislett Stadium, 1952 Oslo Winter Olympics

Det Kongelige Slott (Royal Palace)

Operahuset Oslo (Oslo Opera House)

Fields on Bygdøy Peninsula

Vikingskipshuset (Viking Ship Museum)

Aker Brygge Marina

And for the video that makes me incredibly happy, here's a song I've heard a lot here in Oslo. I don't understand Norwegian (see #4 above), but it's such an infectious and happy-sounding song!