In Pursuit of Adventure: I'm Going to Need a Bigger Coat

I know as a Californian that I have a tendency to vastly underestimate cold weather. Simply because I am not used to it.

It rained once in Santa Barbara last year. My friends and I went sprinting outside barefoot and splashed around in the puddles, cheering at the novelty. I was at Shannon's during the sprinkle preview that morning of the actual rain to come. We climbed up on her roof and watched all the people in boardshorts and bikinis walk down the street staring at the sky incredulously. "Where is that water coming from?"

I was already shivering on the plane.

It's so hard to pack sweaters when it's 80 degrees out.

The plane was one of the new Dreamliners. It was very high tech. The TVs were touch screen. I even fell asleep for 5 hours.

Unfortunately, the descent into Oslo was very, very turbulent.

Fortunately, as someone who used to get motion sick a lot, I know exactly when I reach the point of no return between "This turbulence is making me feel nauseous."and "I'm going to throw up.", so I was able to give myself about a minute head's up before I broke a six year no plane vomit streak.

Having given up on the unnaturally dry and salty cardboard sandwich I had purchased at the airport for dinner, I had only eaten a peppermint patty (okay a couple peppermint patties). I threw it up into a paper bag provided so kindly by the airline that had, no joke, "You'll feel better in a minute." written on it.

Unfortunately, I did not feel any better after as I had attracted a lot of attention. I didn't want to be that person who leaves behind a lunch bag full of regurgitated Yorks on my seat, so I took it with me, unable to find a flight attendant to pass it on to. So I was left to carry my bag of embarrassment to Immigration, where luckily I did find a trash can. (Too much information? Sorry...)

I had a five hour layover, so I changed my dollars to Norwegian Kroner and got on the express train to the city. In my jet lagged haze I exited Oslo train station without a map nor a sense of which direction I was facing once I exited the station. I didn't really have a plan, I just had an hour and a half and I wanted to see the city. My two main goals were to see the water and get a cup of soup and I had a 50% success rate.

I was overwhelmed by the jet lag and the two overstuffed backpacks I was carrying, so I couldn't be bothered to find a tourist center to get information. Instead I saw a cool looking building, pointed myself in that direction, and started walking. By some awesome coincidence, the impulsive right and left turns I made led me to walk by the Oslo Cathedral (the cool looking building I initially saw), the Parliament, City Hall, The Royal Palace (sitting on top of a hill with a very long driveway), and the Oslofjord!

Near the Oslo Sentral Stasjon

I'm standing facing the Royal Palace on the long driveway, I know it seems like I took the picture facing the wrong way, but I liked this view better

The Akershus Fortress and Castle is behind me I think

My initial reaction was to compare Oslo to Glasgow. I don't know how the Glaswegians nor the Osloites would feel about that comparison. It had historic sights squished in between more modern buildings. Almost everyone I saw was blonde It was a pretty city, but I only got to see a very, very small part of it. I would love to go back to Norway someday. I would love to see the Northern Lights and I would love to go on those crazy hikes to places like Trolltunga or that rock squished in between the other rocks.

Norway is a part of the Schengen Agreement, despite not being a member of the EU. Once you enter an exterior border of a Schengen country, you are essentially free to move around to any country within the Schengen Area. Interestingly, there is one part of Norway that is not a part of Schengen, so you have to go through immigration to get there if traveling in through other parts of Norway or the Schengen Area.

I spotted the water while I was on my way to the Royal Palace. So after walking by there, I headed to the fjord. I rested my feet there and looked at the castle on the hill, the boats and ferries, and the islands covered in yellow, orange, and green trees (a novelty for someone from California!)

It had been a mix of sunny and overcast while I was in the city, but I could hear some distant thunder and could see some large clouds overtaking the sky. About an hour after I got to the city, it started raining very hard. I must have looked like a crazy person. The Norwegians calmly opened their umbrellas once the rain began and carried on without missing a beat, protected from the cold in their ski jackets and wool coats.

I had been warm from walking and dragging my heavy backpacks around, so I had taken off my fleece jacket that I bought when I was abroad from a Sainsbury's for 6 pounds. Unsurprisingly, it does not keep me that warm. I tried using it to cover my head like a hood initially, but gave up due to my lack of peripheral vision and also the novelty of rain has not worn off yet. I was the only person walking around in a tshirt. Additionally, I did not have an umbrella to at least give the appearance that I knew what rain was. So I walked back to the train station in my tshirt in the pouring rain, not minding one bit.

What normal people looked like

Rainy Selfie

I caught the train back to the airport and continued my unsuccessful one minded quest for a cup of soup. I then caught my flight to Amsterdam and multiple people thought I was Norwegian, which was a first.

Keisha and her sister picked me up at the airport and we drove back to her sister's cute Dutch house in Utrecht. The house is very Dutch looking with tall, narrow stair cases. I was very out of it when I arrived and I didn't feel very well. My main goal was water, shower, and bed. I felt very, very disoriented and I wasn't fully sure what day it was or where I was. I woke up today though, very refreshed and excited when I remembered that I am in the Netherlands.

This is Bubbles, the house cat

We slept late this morning to sleep off the jetlag. We ate toast and tea and planned our next few stops briefly. We then got dressed and headed to the Utrecht city center.

The Netherlands is very bike friendly. Everyone was biking everywhere, there were clearly labeled bike lines and special street lights for bikers. Mopeds can use the bike lanes, too. There were bikes parked everywhere, chained to every inch of fences, parked carefree in the middle of walkways. People often ride two to a bike, and one person sits sideways on the ledge over the back wheel. There were even free bike garages, where you dropped your bike off in exchange for a ticket and couldn't take a bike unless your ticket matched the one on the bike. Most bikes in the bike garage weren't even locked, but Keisha and I lived in IV where bike theft is a frequent crime and did not want to risk it.

Bike garage

There are lots and lots of cafes in Utrecht lining every cobblestoned alleyway and street. All of their outdoor seating faces the street, not the people you're with. We passed lots of cafes with people drinking their coffees or beers sitting next to their friends and people watching the squares. It was very enjoyable. Keisha and I stopped for a cappuccino and drank it while enjoying all the people in the city rush by in groups and on bikes.

I don't have a problem with caffeine, I have a problem without it

We then got fat fries in a paper cone, a very popular treat here. I got mine drenched in curry sauce and Keisha got mayonnaise with hers.

We spent most of the day just walking around the city, mainly because we had not been paying attention when we arrived and we had trouble reorienting ourselves to find the places we wanted to be. It wasn't a bad thing though, and I really enjoyed seeing the city. I really like Utrecht and the Netherlands. And the weather was not bad at all!