My first trip to Norway has been through a mini cruise with my classmates in the danish class.They found a very good offer from
DFDS Seaways, a mini cruise which is half the original price.They agreed to make the trip in June (can't remember the exact date) and they invited me to go with them. My immediate answer was a "no" and told them that I don't have the money to finance the trip and that I have to work on a Monday (since the trip will be until monday morning).
But my classmates insisted. They told me that they pay for my ticket for the mini cruise and all I have to do is ask permission from my hostfamily. I was really touched by their kindness, they're really very nice to me and it was my "Mor" who promised to take care of my other finances for the trip.
So I asked my hostfamily about it and it's fine with them.Infact, they gave me money for the ticket and I payed it back to my classmate who shouldered my ticket and they even gave me an allowance for the trip.
So off we go on a saturday afternoon. We were 6 in the trip : my Columbian,Thailander,French,Austrian classmates and the 6-year old daughter of my Austrian classmate.The boat trip lasted for 9 hours or more and we arrived at Oslo port early in the morning (maybe 5 am). We really had fun in the ship.The rooms we had were not that spacious but it was clean and with it's own toilet. I stayed with my "Mor". First, we ate dinner availing the "eat all you can" promo.Ohhhh my!!I can clearly remember the delicious food we had during that night and we were eating for hours,hahaha.And it was very funny since my classmates would always teased me that they were travelling with 2 kids,the daughter of my austrian classmate and me,hehehe.We were almost of the same height and all my classmates were married and they find me childish,ahehehe.I ate a lot of ice cream that night, just like the kid did.
As usual,I'll ask apology for the quality of the photos that I'm going to share with you since I don't have a digicam that time and I only asked my Columbian classmate to scan some photos for me. So I can't show all the nice scenery we captured during the trip since all the photos were already sent home.
Taken on the ship on our way to Oslo.Then after our looong dinner, we went to the bar to enjoy the live band. But too bad coz my French and Thailander friends went to their room to take a nap because they felt dizzy because the ship was shaking because of big waves and they forgot to take "bonamine",ahehe.So off to the bar we go and we were having a good time.We kept on dancing and I kept on telling them that the drummer was cute,ahehehe. Some men approached our table and It's very funny coz Carolina,my columbian friend,kept on showing her finger with her wedding ring to the men,ahehe.That's a funny trick...I'm going to use it someday,ahehehe. The one man approached me and asked if she can dance with me and my "Mor" immediately told the man that he can't dance with me coz I'm still a child,the man went away and we kept on laughing.She's really against the idea of me dating some men coz for her..I'm still a kid..ahehe.She's really very protective,just like my Mama.
taken at the bar with Lise,the daughter of my Austrian classmateThen after a a couple of hour,my French and Thai friends joined us at the bar since they're already feeling better.So we all danced and enjoyed the night.And after that,we kept on laughing coz we found ourselves singing the lines "it's got to be perfect" every now and then.It was one of the songs played by the band and my French classmate went wild and danced wild with the music,hehehe.
with my classmates,R-L:Samira (french),Kularp (Thai),Carolina (Columbian),Elizabeth (Austrian),Lise (pronounced as Lisa,Elizabeth's daughter) and yours truly.We made an arrangement in the ship to take the guided tour,where someone's going to tell a short history about the places that we're going to visit.Upon our arrival,we were ushered to the bus waiting to take us to different places and it was my very first time to take a 2-storey bus,ahehe.I was amazed and kept telling it my classmates and they said that I'm crazy,hehehe.We had the entire sunday to stroll Oslo.
We went to Vigeland Park (a famous park in Norway,I'll make a detailed post about it in my next posts.It is a park with a lot of naked statutes.We were laughing the whole time we were strolling at the park...there was just a lot of nudity in it,aheheeh but they look cute though.
This is one of the statutes in Vigeland Park.But this photo was taken by yours truly just recently,during a picnic with friends.We also visited the Viking Museum where a lot of old artifacts used by the vikings where on dispay such as weapons,clothing and their ships.It was like going back into the old time.
We also went to Holmenkollen,the famous ski jump arena in Oslo.I used to watch eurosport during my vacant time in Denmark and I was amazed by those people who seemed like flying as they make their ski jump, then my classmates told me that those competitions were held in Holmenkollen,the place that we are visiting...wowww what a pleasure!
(Photo grabbed from www.tourist.no).I had a photo like this but unfortunately,It's not scanned so I just grabbed this one.We also visited the Castle of the King and Queen of Norway.
The Castle of the King and Queen of Norway,but this was taken just recently by your truly during the visit of my cousin here in Oslo.
Taken within the vicinity of the castle (but the castle is nowhere in sight,hehe).The background is the busy Karl Johannes Gate of Oslo where a lot shops and boutiques are located.As we strolled Karl Johannes street,we stopped to take a picture of a huge circular building,which I later identified as Stortinget or the Norwegian Parliament Building.
Stortinget.Photo grabbed from travel.yahoo.comWe also went to Aker brygge,also a place with several shops and we ate at a McDonalds located there.It's also where the ships for Oslo fjord tours where located.
We're back at the ship Sunday afternoon and we arrived in Copenhagen the following morning.On our way back,we went to the Tax-free store in the ship and my classmates went shopping,while I was contented looking and the nice and expensive things on display such as make-ups,perfumes,chocolates,etc.To my classmates,the stuffs there were cheaper compared to boutiques,but for me it's just too expensive since I only have a very little amount of pocket money,ahehehe.But I still managed to buy a toblerone for my employer's daughter.I always buy her something everytime I go for a mini trip.And my classmtes were making fun of the testers until they we're done with their make-ups,ahehehe.
I really had fun with my mini cruise to Norway with my dear classmates and friends.And I never thought that I'll be coming back again to Norway. And now here I am,working in Norway and It will be my temporarily residence for 2 years.
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