I had my choice of two different trains to get downtown. There is the NSB, the local train, which is 90 nok ($16.33 usd), and the Flytoget airport express. This train cost twice as much, however has student discounts for 89 nok. I opt for this and buy a return ticket. As I head to the gate and downstairs, I see that the train is departing at 10am. My watch says it is 10am exactly. I hurry down the stairs, see a train, and proceed to sit in said train. I'm thinking..."am I on the right train?" The train is completely empty. Very nice, but completely empty. Much nicer than the "Blue Water" line I've been on that has service Port Huron, MI to Chicago, Il. I look out the window, and see Oslo S, so I assure myself I'm on the right train.

So we start moving a little after 10am. My body is still set to 4am time, and I've had maybe 35 minutes of sleep now going on almost 24 hours. We leave the airport and I am greeted by absolute stunning scenery. I have a video, but am having troubles linking it and will do so ASAP, so you will have to settle for a couple pictures.


The train. Nice, quiet, empty.



As you can see from the view outside, lots of snow and trees everywhere. Oh, and what's this? Free Wi-Fi on the train?

OSL has free wi-fi, but you have to have it send you a SMS message to get an activation code to get on the wifi. Being as I have a CDMA-based Verizon phone, I can't even get a (Roaming) phone network in the country, so I couldn't get on wi-fi. But here, on the train it works. I take this time to send an iMessage to my dad, brother, grandma, and mom. I know its way early back there, and they had the ability to track my flight, but they still wanted to hear from me.

I send the messages, and about 2 minutes later I get a message back from Grandma. And I can't begin to explain what the experience is like. Here I am, on a train, in the middle of a country, halfway around the world. And in the span of half a second I can send, and receive, a message to my family. I ask and apologize if I woke her, and she says no not really. So then there is only one thing left to do now.

VIDEO CHAT!!!!!!!!!!
My grandma has an iPad, so I am able to use my phone or ipad to video chat with her. I call her, and when I see the screen go from "calling...." to "connecting...", I can't actually believe it's going to work.

Then the picture comes on. Now, it's not the clearest, or most stable picture. But it works. It is such an incredible feeling the first time, I really can't explain it. I would video chat a lot of friend and family on this trip in the future, but being in Norway for the first time, on a train, hi-speed, snow covered trees everywhere, it was amazing. It definitely felt like a dream. My mom also messaged me and I gave her a quick call too. A very calm 20 minutes later we roll into the station.

my first view of the, let's say architecturally diverse, city of Oslo


I walk up a slight elevator and am greeted with a very modern, sleek terminal. It is similar in feel to the airport, but not quite the same; but still better than any American airport and train station.

I don't actually have an agenda for Oslo; With it being the 26th it's a national holiday and most of the stores in the city are actually closed.

I decide to begin by finding a small cafe upstairs that has free wi-fi.


As I sit-down, and begin to catchup on my emails and other games and what not that require wi-fi, I begin to look at the cafe menu. Nice variety of foods. Oh, fish and chips, my favorite! 149- nok. Yum. Let's see, I have...uh, 300 nok? What?

Wait a second...I plug in 149 nok to usd on google, and it spits out $27 usd.

27 usd? I have never, in my 24 years in america, ordered anything that was 27. I think the record goes to the ultimate feast at red lobster, which is around $22 for crab legs, shrimp, lobster, a baked potato, and broccoli.

Ok ok I think...I'm in a major city, in the main city terminal, there's going to be a slight premium here. I'll go outside and grab a mcdonalds or something, no big deal. As I'm walking around towards an exit, I spot a Burger King. I can do BK. I look at the menu, think to myself I'll get a chicken nugget meal, and...99- nok? That's...2/3 of 27, so that means about $18...no, this isn't right.

I'm begining to think that I must have gotten royally screwed at the exchange counter. But when I realize I "only" lost about $25 in the transaction, I begin to realize that at this rate, I would run out of spending money on just food alone today.

IF YOU ARE EVER TRAVELING TO THE NORDIC COUNTRIES
Do your research on costs. I brought a fair amount of money. I thought it'd be a little pricey, but I in no way was expecting this. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

A quick google yields that, get this, Oslo is the most expensive city in the world

(source: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/l...h-tokyo-051406)

Yikes! Ok, I can still get by on McDonalds in the city...right?

Now up to this point, I still haven't really felt like I'm in another country. Depending on who you ask, some people will say getting in an airport is being in another country, some will say no. I was on the train, but honestly, I still felt like I was in the States. I had wi-fi, was talking to my family, checking emails, etc. It wasn't until I walked out of the doors, into the City, that I truly felt I was away from home.

It just hit hard. WOW. Here I am. Alone (kind of), half-way around the world. There are huge pieces of snow falling down. It is very quiet outside, but there is a fair amount of people out. I just let it soak in.

Here are three pictures of the first three things I seen:




Before I left, I went to use the restroom, and get this. THEY WERE CHARGING FOR IT. It blew my mind. I mentioned this on my facebook and one of my british friends mentioned back that I come from a country where you're supposed to tip a bartender for drinks. I mentioned that, you don't actually have to. You still get the drink. Not like this. If I want to use the bathroom, I have to pay. The fee was either 5 or 10 nok, I can't remember, ($1 or $2).

I decide to look for a starbucks, so I pull up my phone and find a starbucks nearby, about half a mile. I walk around, taking everything in, and come towards the location. Except I don't see a starbucks. I don't really see anything actually. I was expecting this big city with stores everywhere and people walking everywhere; maybe it was because of the holiday, maybe not. Either way I really have to goto a bathroom. I round a couple street corners and, what is this? Mcdonalds!


pictured: cheap food, free-wifi, and a bathroom...I think.


I walk in, and am surprised that this is a two-story McD's. I've never been in one in the states. It is very modern looking inside. I look at the prices on the menu, and am shocked to see them almost similar to the BK in the central station. I make it to the bathroom, free of charge, and settle down for a bit. There is no wi-fi here, but that doesn't really bother me. I munch on a couple crackers from the EWR lounge. Still 9 hours to go. I'm almost kind of bored. Maybe I'm just starting to get a little tired.

I decide to mosey on back towards more of the central station area. There's a (closed) TGI fridays near the station. I look at the menu, and am utterly dismayed at the prices on the menu. I think one of the steaks was 249 nok - That's almost $50 usd. I think I managed to say LOL out loud. That is insane.

I get back towards the station, and take one last great look at it.


It's around 2:30, and my flight doesn't leave until 8. I'm hungry, and still have what nok I didn't use (about 200), so I decide I will go with the fish and chips. I also grab a coke for 39 nok...that's $7! For a half-litre bottle of coke. Good God.
The food was great; don't get me wrong. But for what I paid, I usually get a full meal and unlimited drinks. Here is the fish and chips:


$30 USD worth of food.

I decide to get on the 3pm train back to the airport and hang around the airport for a bit.
I get into the airport and am now really starting to get tired. I goto an SAS kiosk as I never got to pick my seat. I look at my seat assignment, and reference it with seatguru. I was assigned seat 22C - the very back aisle of the plane. Nice try SAS! I opt up for seat 12A toward the front and a window. I stand in line for security, unsure if I can go through the premium security line as this isn't United territory. About 25 minutes later I get through. Oh, I kept my shoes on too. That was...nice.

By now, it's almost 4, and dark out. I fight to stay awake and go to a little found lounge area overlooking the gates. I go in and out of consciousness a couple times, probably falling alseep for no more than minutes at a time. I set my alarm, should I need it, but I don't end up. Fast forward to about 3 hours and it was getting close to boarding time.

The gate area is again, absolutely beautiful. Nearby there is a bar, playing some Johnny Cash. I don't really like Johny Cash, but it fits the atmosphere perfectly. Along the bar is full view of outside. I cannot stress enough how beautiful this airport is.

Here are a couple pics of the gate and bird. Stockholm up next!