Scandinavia: Oslo, Day One

Got to travel with my girlies to Scandinavia - Norway and Sweden this time. We chose to visit three cities: Oslo, Bergen, and Stockholm.

We spent the first three nights in Oslo. The apartment we rented was beautiful and within walking distance of the city centre. Super convenient. And it had such a gorgeous view of Oslo's skyline. We enjoyed sitting outside on the patio at night to enjoy it.

There was a bit of time that first day to explore the local area while we waited for the others to arrive. Three of us live close to each other so we traveled together. The other two weren't coming in for a few hours so after the owner showed us around the apartment she graciously offered to drive us to the nearby market so we could pick up some groceries.

It was right around the corner. 

The three of us had fun walking around the store, examining different food products and checking out prices. We picked up crackers, sardines, cheese, some fruit and a few other finger foods so we had something for the other two to eat when they arrived.

We easily found our way home seeing as it was about 50 yards from the store. 

I love Scandinavian decor and style. 

Very clean and crisp and white. The little amount of color really stands out against all the white. We discovered they use so much white to help make up for the many hours of darkness in the winter. Every little bit of light helps..

We picked up a couple bottles of wine at the duty free shop at the airport when we landed. We had read that alcohol is a bit expensive and harder to find than in the U.S. The recommendation was to get some at the airport and carry it with you.

Okay. We can do that. 

~~~~~~~~~~

We didn't have to carry it far. It was almost gone the first night.

This photo was taken about 10:00PM. 

Crazy light out.

The sky never really got dark. The sun must set just below the horizon so it only ever got dusky looking. And it was bright again by 3:00AM. I can't tell you how many mornings I woke up in a bit of a panic thinking I had overslept only to look at my watch and discover it was 3:00-3:30AM. It's a great feeling to be able to go back to sleep for that long.

The windows had darkening shades that we would pull down when we went to bed. The light didn't really bother me - I can sleep almost anywhere. But I appreciated them all the same.

This was taken about 11:30PM. I darkened the photo a bit to make the city lights pop out. It was a bit lighter at that time than this photo appears.

I loved all the light but I know the flip side happens in the winter and there's mega hours of darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~

Life is full of trade-offs.