Norway 2012-Day 1

Heading to Norway with Frank for his locksmith convention!

We had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to leave Cork and drive to Dublin airport for a 9:00am flight to Rygge Moss airport just outside Oslo. A long journey of driving in those early hours but as many planes were traveling east, to Heathrow no doubt, the sun was traveling west illuminating the sky.

We always park in Quickpark in Dublin and honestly it’s the easiest way to park and get into the airport quickly. We had an hour or so before takeoff so we had an easy Irish breakfast. Usually I like to get to the airport just on time so I don’t have to wait around, but it’s a fine art and obviously its better to be safe than sorry! Ryanair was the cheapest way to fly from Dublin to Oslo and it only took 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Upon arriving in Moss Airport we quickly found the bus we needed to get into Oslo and the ride was about an hour. Coming upon the city it looks very like New England and many of the places near my hometown of Fitchburg, MA. Once arriving in the city there are many construction areas that can be seen. Oslo must be building and expanding itself.

The bus station is right next to the train station and it was pretty easy to find. We bought our tickets and thought we would catch a bus as it was leaving the soonest for Lillehammer. However in chatting to the ticket man I heard “Track 9” and unfortunately that was not correct! The man had said “Track19”!! We made a run for it, a sprint actually- and of course me wearing heels! Needless to say the bus had already pulled away so we caught the next train 20 minutes later. Currently there are works on the railways so we were soon put on a bus to continue the journey. A pretty ride through mountains and by rivers. Scenic and sparsely populated.

However bus travel is tiring and long and we were quickly exhausting since we had been up so early with little sleep.

Yet around 4:30 in the afternoon we finally made it to Lillehammer! Coming up on it is a nice view with Olympic ski slopes in the backdrop. 

We had booked a room in the Rica Victoria Hotel  and while we had a little trouble finding it, its only about a 5 minute walk from the train/bus station. A nice old hotel with old features. Could use a little updating the bathrooms but overall a really cozy room with a small balcony and yellow couch. The bed was unbelievably comfortable. Either that or I was just exhausted!

We asked where a nice place to eat would be and  we were sent to the Lundegarten Restaurant on the main street in Lillehammer.  The owner was there all evening and was very kind. He gave us each a shot of a Norwegian liquor made from potatoes that would warm anyone on a cold winters day!

We had a drink by the fire and then ordered a perfect meal. The atmosphere was very nice and the food really was divine.

On the walk back we decided to stop off in none other than an Irish pub called Paddy’s. We were trying to avoid it at all costs but it actually was the most buzzy on the street and once inside it had a good atmosphere and warm interiors.

I asked the girl at the bar how to say ‘thank you’ and she said “Tak tak”. :)

Overall a nice night and even though it was an exhausting day, I had very good first impressions of Norway!