My last attempt to visit Oslo almost four years ago was foiled by terrible weather and major delays in Minnesota and London. This time around the trip went smoothly and I was greeted at the airport by fellow Sauder Alumni, Emil Soberg. Emil and I attended UBC at the same time and became friends during the time we were both members of the B.Comm Rich Capitalists hockey team. My university days are what I consider to be the best period in my life to date, so it’s somewhat surprising that I have lost contact with a large portion of the people from back then. Despite living an ocean away Emil and I have managed to maintain that friendship. I visited his hometown of Lillehammer during the Christmas break in 2007 and he in turn visited me during the Vancouver Olympics and again briefly this past summer as he was going on a trip down the west coast with his girlfriend Maja. Emil, Maja and their dog Gullik were kind enough to share their apartment with me for the weekend saving me the hassle and the expense of a hostel/hotel. The couple are in the process of selling their apartment and looking for a bigger upgrade so we had to work around a couple showings and I tagged along to look at a couple listings. Friday night was “guys night out” as Maja was off to a party with some of her friends so Emil and I caught up with is long-time friend Knut, whom I had met previously during my trip to Lillehammer. We started off at a 50s style American diner for a gigantic burger and a couple Norwegian pints. This was my first true experience with the outrageous nature of prices in Oslo. I remember hearing that one of Rob Feeney’s restaurants was selling a $30 hamburger and I couldn’t understand who would ever buy such a thing. Guess what? I am now a member of the $30 hamburger club! My bill for the burger, fries and 3 pints came to almost $80 CDN. It was at that point that I decided to stop doing the conversion in my head otherwise there would be no way I could relax and enjoy my visit to Norway. I just accepted the fact that a weekend in Oslo would probably cost as much as an entire month is Asia and went with it. Our next stop was a small lounge that made exotic drinks that took a long time to concoct and featured names such as Chili Punch and Thor’s Hammer. We made one final stop to collect Maja and then headed home. It was a much needed night of man talk and catching up. The solitude of London faded quickly. Saturday featured a tour of the city with my hosts as my guides. The highlight was the elevator to the top of the ski jump. The photos from the top cannot do justice to actually being there. It also confirmed that anyone who enjoys jumping off this tower has a brain that is wired differently than mine. Crazy!! After some frozen pizza and a small dance party at the apartment we set off for another night on the town. The apartment dance party was no match for the one we took part in at the club Raspoutine (I thought the spelling was odd, and I suddenly had a craving for fries, gravy and cheese curds). We met up with Alex, another friend from UBC who had also visited during the Olympics. He was disappointed his schedule was so busy and that we only had a few hours to visit, but it was good to see him nonetheless. On the way home I had what could possibly be the worst late night meal I’ve ever had. Don’t order a kebab in Norway or at least from the place close to Emil’s apartment. I had a great time visiting Emil and getting to know Maja. I have a feeling I may have to save up for another flight to Norway in the not too distant future.
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