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Monday, 24 February 2025

Sidestory: Northern Lightning ~ Malmö to Oslo

24-Feb-2025

Today, I travel to Oslo by FlixBus. I checked, and there was no good train connection there, but the FlixBus just runs all the way there without me needing to change vehicles, so FlixBus it is.

I still have quite a bit of brad and cream cheese left, so I spend some time preparing provisions for this trip.

Then I pack up and leave another empty room behind.

As I leave around 7:45, another sunny and reasonably warm day dawns in Malmö.

I then walk to the bus stop. Today is actually the first day that I encounter the Rörsjökanalen completely free of ice.

On the way, I walk by the Sherlock Holmes Cocktail Bar.

I arrive at the bus stop with time to spare.

There, Robert soon joins me. Not being a furry, he wasn't interested in the NFC. However, he joins me now for the second half of the Northern Lightning Trip.

The FlixBus for Oslo arrives not long afterwards.

This time, I managed to get us the best possible seats: Right at the very front!

And then we're off, on the long road to the north, departing at 8:45. Along the way we sometimes travel along the coast, but for the majority of the way,  the road runs through hills and forests. We also pass lots and lots of windmills, and a few of the old kind too! I also catch up with some direly needed sleep in the bus, having run on a bit of a deficit during the con (like everyone else).

 


We also have an elephant race. With trucks! And busses! And busses on trucks!

Somewhere around Göteborg, it starts to rain, and the rain shouldn't let of for the entire rest of the day.

It is also there that the road is regularly hewn from the rock, which is of a characteristic black color. And for some reason, that really drives it home that we're in an entirely different place now. I think it might be Gneiss? But I'm not sure.

Göteborg also has some cool old trams, mixed with newer models.

I use the 15-minute stop at Göteborg to take a quick peek around the bus terminal, and also go to the toilet (completely forgetting that the bus also has a toilet). These ones are paid, and you have to pay by card. Basically, you hold your card against the reader, 10kr. are booked off (that's around 90¢), and then the door opens up (unless it's occupied already). A light indicates which ones are free.



And then our journey through the rain continues. Eventually we even see signs pointing to Oslo, which is yet over 200km away.




And then we cross the Svinesundbra, and are over into Norway! Yay!

It's still quite a bit of a  journey through the rainy landscape. The route takes us roughly parallel to the about 100km long Oslofjorden, and occasionally gets close to the water too.

 
Eventually, we arrive in Oslo, which honestly reminds me a little bit of Wellington, on the other side of the globe.


We arrive at the Oslo bus terminal at 16:15, which is thankfully a heated indoor venue, so we can take our time to get our bearings.

From there, it's only a short walk to our Airbnb.

Unfortunately, it's still raining, but thankfully it's only Lv2 rain by now,  so we can manage.

Along the way we also pass this rusty old fellow.

And we also walk through Greenland, because why not? 

Our Airbnb is located in a canyon of houses.

 
And then, we run into a bit of trouble checking in: There's, like 28 different doorbells, and my host didn't send me which one to ring (in time). So I try to call them, but no one answers. Then I try to use mobile data to access the Airbnb website, but my mobile data fails me. Then Robert opens up a mobile hotspot, which I use the check up on Airbnb and find another number to call. I call them, and my host answers, telling me which bell to press. But the trouble is not over yet: We do not know which floor we need to go to, and  no one comes to pick us up, so we systematically search the block from bottom to top, until we arrive at floor 7 (we're still carrying all our luggage, mind you) where an elderly lady greets us at the door. Turns out she's the mother of our hosts and has just been waiting to show us in. Well, all's well that ends well.
We only booked a room, but since our hosts are currently away, and the old lady leaves after showing us around, we've effectively won the entire apartment, which is neat. Here's the bedroom.

It's also got a nice, spacious kitchen and living room.

As well as the best bathroom of my tour thus far.

After settling in, we head out for dinner. By now it's already quite dark.


Robert looked up a nearby place called Asylet, which is a cozy little place with a life fireplace and authentic Norwegian food. It's a good thing that he looked up the address too, because the entrance is kinda stealthy, and we walk right past it the first time.

I order Reindeer Stew, while Robert goes for a mackerel mix plate. His verdict is that the bread is really, really good - better than the mackerels - while my food is okay, but certainly not worth the high price of almost 50€ with drink. But maybe that's also because I'm coming down with con crud right now, after 5 days of furry con. I hope I get better so I can enjoy the remainder of my trip.

On the way back, we stop by the A-Food-Market, intending to pick up some original Norwegian Smørrebrød and cheese for breakfast. On the plus side, the supermarket is right along our route back. On the minus side, it turns out to be an Asia market, and quite a big one too. So no bread and cheese, but we do pick up some fruit juice.

After that, we head straight back home, happy to get out of the rain. Also, it's kinda cold. Not cold cold like in Denmark, but still the sort of cold where it gets uncomfortable over time, especially with the rain.

And that's it for today. Tomorrow, we're going out to explore Oslo, so we really hope the weather is gonna be a bit better then. Until then, stay tuned, and be of great cheer! =^,^=

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