WOW, SHIT! - BERGEN TO OSLO, NORWAY - DAY 8
I wake up early- The same time as my cyclist bunkmate from Birmingham. I was the only girl in the mixed dorm for both nights! I'm an honorary bro.
I actually wake up too early, due to my previous early call times, but I can’t sleep any longer, and get up before my alarm. I get ready quickly and have a small panic over not finding my phone. It was no issue as I find it among my messy sheets.
I grab my food and take a peak from the sunny, early morning view at our Hostel’s terrace before heading out. I make my way to the train station, and wait for an hour before boarding.
We take off to Oslo, and I instantly have the same view that I experienced yesterday when heading to the fjords. My shuffled Spotify playlist has Ennio Morricone’s “The Mission” soundtrack going. It perfectly coincides with the emotions I feel while I witness the beautiful landscape that reveals itself to me as I ride along. I enjoy this for a third time now, and appreciate people watching as they experience this for the first time. I’m actually sitting on the opposite side of the cart for this commute, so I get a whole new view, and it honestly gives me chills over its magnificence. It's so beautiful, I at one point just said to myself, “Wow, shit”.
Once we get past Myrdal, everything really is a new experience. The passing view outside my window entertains and surprises me after every tunnel. We stop at Finse which I thought was the most beautiful area- It kind of reminds me of an Icelandic landscape. If the brim of my hat hadn’t kept my distance, my face would’ve been pressed against the glass window. I hope to come back here one day. If I ever do, I’d love to go and stay in Finse to cycle, hike, and climb their glaciers.
Later, one of two monks sitting in the four-seater on the opposite side offers us his fruit. That puts a smile on everyone’s face. We're all viscerally struck by this random, yet simple act of kindness, sharing and humility. With a brief moment of living in a perfect world, we carry on to Oslo.
It was a very long ride, (about 6 hours), but completely worth every second and every cent. I was smiling from ear to ear the entire trip. I hopped off the train, and walked to my hostel. I did the whole routine, checked-in, put my linens on, etc., etc.
The Vigelund mausoleum I wanted to see closed at 5PM- It was 4PM, and on the other side of town. I rush down to a corner store, pick up two passes for the trams for 70 NOK. I hop on the tram but everything is digital, and there’s no card scanner for my paper ones...I shrug as no one corrects me, and figure I would just use one of the two cards on my way back. I make it to Vigeland Museum with 30mins. to spare.
I ask for a student price, show my ID, and pay 40 NOK. I rush through, looking for the haunting mural he painted, but only find massive sculptures. I ask the front desk, and she says, “Oh, you’re thinking of his BROTHER, Emanuel Vigeland. It’s a church just down the road, but it’s only open on SUNDAYS”. ...SONOFA-
There's nothing I could do about this- It's not Sunday, and I can't make it Sunday. I walk through the museum of his sculptor brother a second time to really take in his work. The ticket didn’t go to waste, because I actually did something in Oslo with VERY little time before everything closed at 5PM, and found Gustav Vigeland’s sculpture work to be inspiring. Like his brother’s mural that I didn’t get to see, his work revolves entirely around Love, Connection, Life, Death, and a bleak afterlife- All based on the Bible.
I head out at 4:50PM. Knowing I’d probably have to go to bed in an hour to wake up early for my flight, I took the tram back. I had the same scenario with the card- No one checked, and I rode for free. Unusual.
I come back to the corner store and ask about this. I was supposed to enter at the back door for it to scan, but I entered at the middle and front door. My immediate thought is, "Oh well, I still paid for it", but then I think, "Maybe I can get my money back". In a last ditch effort, I ask if I can return the unused tickets, but as I suspected, they cannot take them back. I’m 70 NOK out from that, but might try to sell these to my bunk mates later tonight. Ugh, it’s only $8, but still... I realize this makes me seem like a cheap piece of shit, but every $8 could be a sandwich for a meal instead, or a public transportation ticket that I ACTUALLY need to pay for.
I’m back at the hostel, and it’s 6PM. There’s not much more to be said other than I plan to wake up at 4AM, to catch my train down the road at 5:20AM, and then my flight at 7:40AM to get to Stockholm. I ate my last sandwich for the day, and my stomach feels good enough for a traditional Norwegian beer, Isbjørn.
I hope you got the flight out of Newark, Mom! See you in ARN I hope!!
Love you all!
-eM
