I couldn't help but smile as I took the train in to the city center from the airport... looking out the window, laughing at the relentless sun trying to melt the fields of thick Norwegian snow... knowing he really doesn't stand a chance. I think about my last few weeks... from the Balkans to Berlin, and now to Norway... and I realize that March has come and gone without me even recognizing it was here! Furthermore, I understand that time won't wait, so I have to keep enjoying each passing moment...
While time is flying by, I feel really lucky... to see so many amazing places and meet so many incredible people. And, this week, I get to reunite with two of the coolest people I know; my good friends Susan and Roy are coming to visit me in Europe!
So... Norway is freaking cool. My friend Danielle used to live in Oslo and gave me the scoop on a bunch of places to check out, and even sweeter... she put me in touch with her friend Sigurd... who let Susan and I stay with him for a few nights! Sigurd and his partner, Øystein, were incredibly welcoming and live right in the thick of Grünerløkka... what I learned to be the hottest neighborhood in Oslo!
I spent the first day getting my bearings of the city... walking most of it, and catching up with Sigurd. I had a ticket to see Common at the Rockefeller in Oslo that night, but at the last minute, he canceled. I was definitely bummed, but there was much more to experience in Oslo than the hip hop show. And, over the course of the next few days... we pretty much did it all!
Susan got in the next morning, and we immediately went down to the Oslo Fjord (which was super cool). We bounced from cafés to museums to the Royal Palace to the City Hall and hit a bunch more places on the way up and down too. We stumbled upon the Nobel Peace Center: home of the world renowned peace prize, the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, the Contemporary Art Museum, and the Arkansas Fortress.
At night, we went to the Royal Revolver, this rad little underground dive with red leather furniture and red lights to see Woods. It was pretty freaking cool to catch the Brooklyn newcomers at this hip rock and roll joint about 200 meters from where we were staying... Oh, and dude plays a pair of tape recorders! Yes, G. Lucas Crane is a tape-effects technician... manipulating two tape decks as turntables, slowing down and speeding up the playback heads and singing into headphones, synthesizing harmonies with the tape effects (routed through guitar pedals)... pretty wild.
Oslo is a very walkable city, so on the third day, we did a lot more of just that. Our first stop was Tim Wendleboe, a mighty fine micro roastery... in fact, arguably the greatest barista in the world (2006 World Champion and 2005-2010 Nordic Champion Barista)... dude knows how to brew a cup of jo! Then, we cruised Karl Johan a few times (some of them on accident), hit the DogA (Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture) and somehow wound up in Haussmaniak, the artist squat... funny how this always happens. I'm quickly realizing that all the cool European cities have an alternative art scene... not in just the art being created, but a dedicated area for a different way of life. Here, it is Haussmania in the Blå section of Grünerløkka.
After playing around Blå for a bit, we made our way to Gustav Vigeland's sculpture park... Vigelandsparken... and wow, it's sweet! On our last night in Oslo, we went out to dinner with Sigurd and Øystein at this delicious restaurant called Fyret... we had some of the freshest seafood and elk! Late night, we decided to check out Blå for funky dance jams all night long!
On the last morning, we took another walk up by the student silos (student housing inside of legitimate old silos!) to Tim Wendleboe because it was that good! We hit the Oslo flea market (a mix of trendy and trashy) and hit the train to the airport... what a trip!
Haakon: third king of Norway.
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