Hey Ho! Stockholm!

It is currently 12:21am and I arrived in Stockholm about 3 hours ago. The last week has really been amazing! Got to Oslo on Monday and met up with Kristian, my buddy from Laurier. Oslo is really pretty, and quite modern as well. It reminded me of a realy city, like Toronto, haha. That first night, Kristian took me to this pizza place for dinner, and I had probably the best pizza ever in my life! Damn, it was good!

The next day, Kristian and I left together for his workplace, then I went on my own. Took the bus and visited a huge park. It's most famous for the 160 some odd statues, the most statues in one place by a single artist. Then I went to some outskirts and visited the Kon-Tiki museum, the Fram museum, the Navel Ship museum, and the Vikingship museum. Each museum was unique and different in its own way, and really fun! I learned-ed-ed! In the Fram museum, there was the ship inside, and we were actually allowed to go in he ship, and there were various displays and stuff inside. It was really neat. It smelled bad though, ha ha. Only because it is a real ship, and it's really old. The Viking museum was reeeaalllly neat. It wasn't anything fancy, just a huuuge space, in the shape of a cross, and various restored viking ships on display and other artifacts that were found in the ships. It's crazy to think that those actual pieces of fabric, pots and pans, combs, cauldrons, etc, actually belonged to some viking explorers thousands of years ago! Anyway, that night, I met up with Kristian again, and we had dinner at his house with his parents. It was sooo lovely, and their generosity and hospitality was much more than I ever expected! We had a really pleasant dinner on their balcony, overlooking the sunset in their neighbourhood; it was really nice. I think his parents liked me, ha ha. After dinner, Kristian and I took the subway to the mountains and had a little hike. It was pretty neat; saw some old Norwegian houses, an old church, and the famous ski jump that was apparently built for the 1952 winter olympics.

The next day, which was my birthday, Kristian got the day off work, and we took a ferry to one of the islands. His mom also went, but I think she left before us. Anyway.... it was another beautiful day, and the islands were wonderful. A bit too hot though, when in the sun. On the ferry back to the mainland, we bumped into his mom heh heh. It was nice. She went home (I think) while we went to visit the fortress, that the Germans took over during WW2. It was alright, nothing that spectacular, ha ha. That night Kristian took me to this posh little restaurant\cafe near his house, then out around downtown for drinks. We didn't stay out too late though because we were both really tired. Drinks are HELLA expensive here! The two cocktails Kristian got me were 86 and 88kr... divide that by 5 for Canadian dollar. Whew!

Next day, I took the bus to Bergen. I think I am in love with Bergen. I'll try to keep it simple, but Bergen was really spectacular. Even the bus ride from Oslo to Bergen was the best I've ever had. I loved their architecture, and the landscape. Everything was on mountains, so some streets were really really steep and narrow! The guy who's house I stayed at was an okay guy. We didn't really have too much in common, and sometimes it was difficult to maintain conversation, but he was nice and helpful anyway. I met some of his friends and his roommate, Sonia, who, by the way, is the most awesome girl I've met so far in my travels! We got along right away! The next day, she didn't have to work, so she took me around town and basically spent the day with me. It was sooo much fun. We walked near the harbour, in the city center, visited the fishmarket, took a cable car up to one of the mountains, trekked back down the mountain, walked along the really narrow old alleyways, looked at touristy shops, visited her work place, bought ice cream, and hung out by the docks. Around 4:30pm, we headed back to her place, met up with Håkon (the guy who originally hosted me) and his frinds, and we went to buy a disposable BBQ and some food, and walked by the pier (a different one) and the guys went swimming, and we all just hung out there for about an hour. The weather was perfect, and I was in good company. After the little swim, we went to a small park, and BBQed. It was really really pleasant. Haha... I need a thesaurus and learn more words.

Anyway, on my last day in Bergen, I spent the last hours with Sonia. We went to the grocery store and bought mix for bolle, which is like Norwegian scones or buns. It was fun, baking, ha ha. We also whipped up some fresh cream for the scones, and it was all very yummy! The train ride back to Oslo was boring and uneventful. I pretty much slept the entire journey and arrive close to midnight. Met up with Kristian and his friends, and then we all partied into the night. Ha ha. Well, it was Kristian's birthday, so he deserved it :) It was fun times, and his friends are good people, based from first impressions. One of them just graduated from Laurier as well!

Anyway, so now I am in Stockholm and it's been a loooong day.... on the bus. My hostel is really nice! It's a part of a hotel, and it's fancy-schmancy! We even get bath-robes... whoa. I know. Anyway... it is now 1am and I would like one night to sleep before 4am. Soooooo.... good night, and I will try to write again soon!

Pictures will come once I get back to Dublin...