Shenanigans That Side: Norway and Denmark

In the last post I had posed the question of why I waited so long to travel. Norway has helped me to answer that question...$$$. Holy cow is it expensive!! I spent a couple of days in Oslo and was blown away by the prices of things. The first day I arrived I stopped in the 7-Eleven for a quick bite and paid over $12 for a crappy calzone and 10oz soda. A draft beer in a restaurant is over $10. I learned quickly that Oslo is the most expensive city in the world...I had always thought it was Tokyo but apparently I was wrong.

The countryside in Norway is absolutely amazing. From Oslo I took a train up to Bergen to see the fjords. First of all the train ride to Bergen is fantastic. For most of the ride I could see a snow capped peak in the background, with a strip of bright orange and yellow trees fading into very lush green fields, shaggy sheep grazing on the fields which are bordered by this aqua blue river, greenish from the snow runoff. It was amazing. Just for effect I turned on some Enya :) For most of the ride there were a couple of Japanese ladies sitting near me but they were sleeping. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to wake them up and say look at what you are missing! I couldn't remember how to say “Are you nuts” in Japanese so I let them be. One of the days I took a fjord cruise which was kind of expensive but totally worth it. We took a ferry up Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. It was absolutely freezing outside but it kind of added to the effect, I look totally frozen in all of the pictures. At one point it actually started snowing on us...time to head South.

Loved loved loved Copenhagen! What an awesome city, it was absolutely buzzing. When I showed up I had no idea that the Olympics festival was happening but my timing was perfect. Within the first 3 hours in the city I had seen Obama's motorcade drive right by by me, watched a match between the two top dogs in karate, and went to a free Aqua concert. Apparently Aqua is very popular in Denmark? Everybody was SO excited to see them and were singing along to all the songs. I didn't even know Aqua was still around much less know their songs (other than Barbie Girl of course). Then went to the square where they were announcing the host of the 2019 Olympics. I happened to be standing in the middle of a mob from Brazil so when they announced Rio everybody went nuts. It was really fun. Finally, to top off the night I got to 'enjoy' a free concert by D.A.D, Denmark's kings of Rock and Roll. Oh my God they were horrible. I couldn't stand it after 1.5 songs and had to leave. Sorry D.A.D.

Oslo:
This is how I felt after the last train ride where there was a screaming baby right behind me.