{"id":3000,"date":"2015-08-20T10:32:09","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T17:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com.php5-21.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com\/wordpress\/?p=3000"},"modified":"2015-08-20T10:32:09","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T17:32:09","slug":"scandirayvia-22-oslo-intro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/scandirayvia-22-oslo-intro\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

My journey to Oslo didn\u2019t bode well.\u00a0 It was my first unpleasant train journey of the trip.\u00a0 The train was extremely crowded and had, let\u2019s just say, a compromised<\/em> air conditioning system.\u00a0 I was very glad to get off the train in Norway\u2019s capital.\u00a0 But I next made a mess of a very long walk to my hotel and was pretty grumpy by the time I got there.<\/p>\n

The hotel, however, was fab<\/em>ulous.\u00a0 Called The Thief after the traditional name of the island it sits on at the end of the Oslo Fjord, it\u2019s Norway\u2019s only 6-Star Hotel, and boy does it look and feel it.\u00a0 My room was beautiful with more of that high-tech lighting I first experienced at Upper House in Goteborg.<\/p>\n

Here’s some nice example of Norwegian design in a museum complex next door to my hotel:<\/p>\n

\"Oslo<\/a><\/p>\n

It was getting late in the day and I was tired from the train trip, but I freshened up and trundled out for a nice Saturday evening stroll through an extremely trendy, new area of the city.\u00a0 It\u2019s built on the bones of the old shipyard.\u00a0 It\u2019s right on the fjord and lined with overpriced restaurants filled with extremely attractive people.<\/p>\n

Like this guy who was waiting for his date.<\/p>\n

\"Hunk<\/a><\/p>\n

Not that I’m a creepy stalker or anything, but hey, I did have the nice camera around my neck just waiting to be used, right?<\/p>\n

\"Hunk<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As I cast my gaze on the populace, I couldn\u2019t help wondering if the socialist government of Norway provided free gym memberships to all of the men.\u00a0 It certainly appeared to be so.\u00a0 This is not a complaint.<\/p>\n

I spent some time in the city enjoying its wonderful bookstores, which usually featured a great selection of books in English.\u00a0 As my sole souvenir of the trip, I picked up a beautiful copy of Bill Bryson\u2019s One Summer:\u00a0 America 1927<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Terrific<\/a>
Terrific bookstore!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And while I was on my bookstore safari I met these adorable lions, who were using the poles in front of the building they were guarding as scratching posts.<\/p>\n

\"Funny_Lions\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scandinavia seems to be a good place to be an opera house. \u00a0Here’s Oslo’s:<\/p>\n

\"Oslo_Opera\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I like an opera house the public is invited to walk all over. \u00a0Fun fact: \u00a0The construction of the site came in under schedule and under budget, so they took the extra money and time and hired an artist to create this interesting free-standing (floating) sculpture nearby in the fjord with leftover materials:<\/p>\n

\"Oslo_Opera_Sculpture\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Oslo I went to my third of three movie theaters on the trip. \u00a0I have to say I was not impressed with them as a group. \u00a0Not one of them had a big screen, and the rows felt cramped compared to the nicer American theaters. \u00a0However, you’ve got to love the name of this cinema in Oslo:<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
I mean, what ELSE would you call a movie theater in this part of the world?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next up: \u00a0Munch screams and Segways tumble!<\/p>\n

Average Rating: 4.8<\/span> out of 5<\/span> based on 264<\/span> user reviews.<\/span><\/div><\/p>

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