Posted by I mentioned this earlier, but I am suffering from a dreadful cold…it was so bad that when I flew in my ears refused to pop for hours until after I landed. This may not sound like a big deal, but I have noticed in the past 10 years when I fly my ears will naturally calibrate so I no longer need to go out of my way to help relieve the pressure…
The cold and head pain was so horrible that I debated paying to take a bus from Oslo to Göteborg…yes I would have been out $70 but it would have been worth not having my head hurt the way it did. I know…I must sound like a baby…but I don’t see a reason to suffer if I don’t have to.
I also had a very long and eventful day on Saturday…and was quite exhausted and ended up sleeping in. Oh…I forgot to mention…I did go to a burger restaurant, Døgnvill Bar & Burger…it was pretty good! The thing I’ve noticed about burger’s in Europe…they always cook it medium, so if you don’t want to see a ton of pink, ask for well done or medium well. My burger had blue cheese, crumbled bacon, lettuce, a side of pickle, and you have to order your own side of fries. I also splurged and ordered a milkshake. I got a vanilla-banana shake…and yes…totally worth it.
Tips
- Google maps directions aren’t as good as they could be…I’m not sure if it’s because they don’t have a good feed from all the different modes of transportation, but sometimes it would make me watch much further than I needed to for the closest stop. My advice? Zoom in on the map and you will be able to see the stations and just drop a pin on it.
Breakfast time
So anyhow, today is my last day in Oslo, and really, it’s a half day. My flight was leaving at 7:15…I decided to not take a bus as I was feeling better and my flight back to Göteborg was direct and was only going to take 40 minutes. I got out of bed around 10AM, got ready, checked out, and decided to go to this restaurant called GRÅDI.
The restaurant is in a huge, open square, you can’t miss it. The sign isn’t high, it is low, right where the stairs are written in graffiti. The vibe of the place is really nice…a few points on this restaurant:
- It is close to the Tøyen station,
- There is big outdoor seating, so if it’s nice, sit outside
- The staff is a bit slow to help you
They advise that you order two things as their portion sizes are small. I also want to make a note, don’t even bother being outraged by the prices of Oslo anymore…pretend it’s NYC and everything is priced a bit higher.
I ordered their eggs benedict, pancakes, and orange juice…my thoughts on the food?
- The eggs benedict was quite good, again, not your traditional American benedict. It was served on a piece of toast, Iberico ham, one poached egg, fresh crushed pepper, big flakes of sea salt, fresh herbs, and a bit of hollandaise. What made this dish good? Iberico ham makes everything amazing. Their hollandaise is much more herbaceous than an American version of hollandaise and lacked citrus…honestly, it tasted more like an aioli than a hollandaise.
- The pancakes…I’m not a pancake aficionado…but something was a little off about these pancakes. I’m sure the flavor profile for a good pancake is different in Oslo, the problem is, I don’t know what that is as I’ve never had anything similar to pancakes in Norway. These pancakes were kind of flavourless and dry. It was topped with crème fraîche, and blueberries that had been frozen. 🙂 They did a good job thawing the blueberries, but I know what blueberries that used to be frozen look and taste like. Personally, I think it would have been better if they had topped it off with seasonal fruit.
- Orange juice in Europe is always delicious, 9 times out of 10 it is fresh squeezed…as in it took so long to get to you because they were running the oranges through the juicer.
Would I go here again? Yes, I would just try something other than the pancakes.
Oslo Centralstation (Oslo Sentralstasjon)
I decided this time I wasn’t going to be an idiot and I would use the lockers…you know, don’t make the same mistake I did in Tokyo where I had to haul ass to catch the train. not making the same mistake I made in Tokyo!
They have 4 different sizes of lockers here so make sure to choose the right one, as the bigger it is the more it costs. If you are leaving on a Sunday, try to get there at a reasonable time as the lockers do get full!
Oslo Opera House
This is a popular place to go to right before you leave as it is right across the street from Oslo Centralstation. I didn’t go into the Opera house but it is a very beautiful and you can walk around it and on top of it.
Ekebergparken
Ekebergparken is not a place to visit if you are short on time, so that’s on me. I would probably spend 2-3 hours here…there are some great hiking trails and it is a sculpture park. There is an incline, so bring some water and be prepared to hike upwards. I only walked around the base as I didn’t have enough time for the day to go for the hike…but next time, this will be my first stop.
Tim Wendelboe
This is the reason I cut my time at the park short…I really wanted to come here and try the coffee. This place has rave reviews from all over, Trip Advisors, Yelp, the Interwebs…so I had to come here and try. I’ve said this in past posts, I’m not a coffee drinker…but…I do love trying coffee in different countries…why? It’s all about the different flavor profiles based on the country…I find espresso in the US to be too bitter for my palate…I find it magically perfect in Germany and France…so where would Oslo fair for me? Also magically perfect. So who is Tim? Go here to learn more…http://nordiccoffeeculture.com/tim-wendelboe-oslo/
I ordered the cappuccino al Freddo…OMG…so…amazing…I’ve never tasted anything like this in my life…I want it again, so yeah…Tim…I’ll be back.
Walking towards the coffee shop from the tram stop I ran into this fair…not sure what’s going on, but it looks fun…and there were so many people just enjoying the day.
Summary
All in all, Oslo was fun. I’d do it again, but next time more cheaply…I’m going to try some food trucks…other things I want to do next time:
- Ekebergparken
- Take Fjord tours
- Holmenkollen Ski museum
- Visit Bergman (this is not in Oslo, it’s a town outside of Oslo)
- Museum of Science and Technology
- University Botanical Garden
- Old Aker church
- Storting Building
- Frogner Manor
- Explore more of Vigelsparken
Natalie Journeys 