Destination Norway- II

The next day, I started to explore Oslo. The first trip was to the office of the conference organizers office near Majorsteun. I got my conference entry pass and then I left for Holmenkollen ski jump. Holmenkollen is located inside the city limits. Imagine…. A ski resort within a city. It is an artificial ski resort, with a single slope located among the low hills around Oslo, set amongst a lot of greenery. The area was well forested, and was served by a local bus stop. It was just within limits of the city bus service, though Oslo is not a very big city. The road leading to the ski slope was steep, and lonely. I crossed a resort on the way, which was under renovation. That must be a cosy, noisy place during the winters…. The façade of the ski slope displayed a sign board conveying that Holmenkollen was to host the Scandinavian winter games.

The Oslo Metro (T- bane)

The ski slope itself turned out to be quite an anticlimax. Obviously, I never expected any snow, but the summer pics online were pretty attractive, with lots of greenery and flowers in place of snow. The reason was that the ski slope was under renovation for the games. The ground around was all dug up and full of construction material. There was nothing much to see there. However, the area around was interesting. The weather was sunny, and the air was cool and crisp. The surroundings were green. It was a nice place to walk. In fact, walking in Oslo was always a pleasure. So I loitered around the area for some time, snoozed on the green grass and then caught the bus back to Majorsteun.

Holmenkollen ski slope

I met a Pakistani on the way back, who told me that I must visit the Vigilande park near Majorsteun, which was supposed to be the only place worth visiting in all of Oslo. So I decided to go there. The place was quite interesting…. A huge garden, with walkways, kids playing, cycling, skating, lots of attractive sculptures and of course….. greenery. I walked around a bit, and found the place pretty much like Lodhi Gardens back home in Delhi. By this time, it was 6 pm. Time to head to the Oslo City Hall, where the pre conference ice breaker get together was to be held. So I took the Metro to the National Theatre, which was close to the venue. The National Theatre area itself was quite a heritage area. They were ancient buildings, constructed in typical Nordic style (though I don't know what that means ;). It was the cultural hub of Oslo. The Oslo City Hall was just a short walk away. The get together venue was in tents behind the City Hall. The tents, it turned out were the ones used by the Eskimos of Norway… the Saamis. And it further transpired that the entire evening was dedicated to the Saamis. They presented cultural events from the Arctic.. music, dance, dresses, display of Arctic life… that came across as nothing too easy. The food was totally new to me. I was certainly looking forward to it…. Complete with meats and wine.. a light meal. The meat, we were informed was reindeer meat. So there was reindeer meat, reindeer liver, and … hold your breath… reindeer tongue. The reindeer, we were told was an integral part of life in the Arctic….. just like the camel in a desert. Of course, all that is changing now, with Eskimos adopting a more western lifestyle and their villages and towns becoming more modern. I met people from so many nationalities, that I was amazed by the colourful world we lived in. This was my first such experience. People from all over the world under a small tent, from as off beat places as Papua New Guinea. The South Americans bore a striking resemblance to us Indians.

Oslo City Hall

The Arctic Tents

The Arctic People- Saami

Reindeer Meat

Destination Norway- I

Finally, two and a half years of hard work and planning and a grueling, 15 month long Antarctica trip finally paid off. I was to present 2 papers at the biggest ever polar research conference, the International Polar Year Conference at Oslo, Norway. I reached Oslo on 6th June 2010. After getting foreign exchange and inquiring about the various modes of transport available to the main city, I settled for the Oslo suburban train (tog in Norsk). The best options were the Airport express train (Flytoget) and the Airport express bus (Flybuss). But both these would drill a hole in my pocket. So I reached the Oslo central railway station, and then took a connecting train to Grefsen, the area where I was to stay. The journey from airport to the city centre was a pleasant one. The train interiors were heated, and plush with cushioned seats. The conductors were well mannered, smartly dressed and very helpful. The train passed through the outskirts of the city, giving me a glimpse of the countryside. There were rolling expanses of lush green grass with neat houses and pretty gardens dotting the scene. There was not a shade of brown to be seen anywhere.Grefsen was a tiny station, with not a soul in sight to guide me to my hotel. Luckily, I found signboards all along the way. My hotel was a pleasant walk from the Grefsen station.

Suburban Train

The air was chilly, crisp and very clean. The ground was wet because of recent rains. The youth hostel was located just above a vast meadow lined all around by coniferous trees. It was a pleasant sight. I checked into my room, settled down and then went out to explore the area a bit. The hostel staff guided me. They were extremely hospitable, polite and helpful people. I purchased a 24 hour multimodal transport pass and went out. It was summer time and days at those latitudes were long. So I could be out till late at night. In fact, there was no period of complete darkness at all. It was dusk at midnight; then again the day began to break. My Antarctica camera was my constant companion. I decided to explore the riverside. It was 4:30 pm. The sun was shining bright. I was told that this was a rarity in Norway, and so its an ideal day to explore the riverside, that divided Oslo into two. All of Oslo would be there. So off I went. It was a pleasant walk through the narrow streets of Oslo, overrun by tram lines. I asked for directions at every step, till I reached a small stream. I walked along it, hoping to reach the river. When I didn't, I asked for directions again. The person informed me with a smirk that I was in fact walking along the river all this while. This, I thought, was THE river????? What an apology…. Back home in India, we called this a nullah. Anyways, I walked along it. The 'river' notwithstanding, the walk along a riverside was indeed very refreshing. There was a lot of greenery all along, people sunbathing, enjoying the barbecue and beer or wine. There were a lot of people running, cycling, roller skating, skateboarding, orsimply walking. This was what I later discovered was a daily routine in the life of Oslo residents. They were very sporty people. They liked to be physically active. So inspite of rains, people could be seen wearing raincoats and jogging or cycling. Kids could be seen playing soccer. Lots of people were driving with their personal boats lugging behind. During the winters, everyone was skiing. Coming back to the riverside….. I reached the Oslo central station. It was 6 pm.The Oslo central was the transport hub of the city. It was a huge complex where all modes of transport converged. All buses, trams and railway lines passed through that complex. It also housed numerous fast food joints, departmental stores, foreign exchange counters and post office. I explored it a bit. The public transport system in Oslo was impressive.

It consisted of the bus (buss in Norsk), tram (trikk), suburban train (tog), metro (t- bane) and the ferry to the museum area in Bygdoy. The tickets were common to all these modes with the rates too being similar. What was striking was that the interiors of all these modes were similar too. They were all quite comfortable, heated, clean and plush. The streets of Oslo were quite narrow. Finally, I took a tram back, picked up a pizza for dinner and retired for the night after chatting up with people of other nationalities at the Youth Hostel.