Melanie, Wendy and I all headed up to Oslo, Norway on Saturday morning (a little rough since the Crud Tournament was the night before) to embark on some Norwegian "girl time". We'd been searching for a fun travel location for a few months, when Wendy & I both found a great deal on airline tickets to Oslo. We quickly booked the tickets, found a hotel, and started envisioning ourselves shopping to our hearts content (a vacation w/o our husbands...oh the shopping possibilities!!) Little did we know; however, that Oslo is the most expensive city in Europe!!! Heehee...oops, no turning back now! So, we geared ourselves up for a great trip with a little less shopping :) 
We arrived on Saturday mid-day and set off to find our hotel, after a quick trip to McDonalds, of course! We stayed just off the main road (Karl Johan's Gate), and our hotel was perfect for just the three of us. We visited the Oslo City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, and then went to the Nobel Peace Prize Center. They were having an exhibit on Freedom of Speech, but we were "shooed" out before we really got to look around...something about them being closed or some nonsense like that :) We then walked along the harbor to Akker Brygge...just FYI, it's not actually a bridge like I thought it was! I took the picture on the left from there...it's of the Akershus Fortress which was built in 1299. We did some shopping in the shopping center there before heading to TGI Friday's for dinner. It was so nice to sit down at a normal restaurant and actually have some delicious food and nice waiters. The prices were insane, but I have to say, I think it was worth every penny! 
On Sunday morning we got up (a little late thanks to me forgetting to change the time on my phone) and headed to Holmenkollen to see the ski museum and the ski jump tower. That's me posing w/ a troll outside of the ski museum...he was pretty cute! The museum was cool, and the ski jump was amazing! I can't believe that skiers actually ski off of that thing, it was unbelievably tall and extremely steep! From there, we made our way to the Viking museum (after roaming around Oslo for awhile, chasing a bus, several stops into convenience stores to ask for directions, and lots of laughter). That museum was pretty interesting as well, but very small. 
We then went to the open-air Folk Museum, and then to Vigelandsparken (or Vigeland Park to you non-Norwegian speakers!). The Folk Museum was great...it was the perfect time of year to visit w/ the trees being so beautiful, everything seemed to just glow. Vigeland park is huge and a sculpture garden runs right up it's center. We walked through it in it's entirety and took lots of pictures of the beautiful Norwegian scenery. For dinner we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Why go all the way to Oslo for American food, you ask? Ummm, try living in England for a year, and I'm pretty sure that's where you would pick as well!! :) We stayed up late both nights, just chatting and catching up. Those girls are so much fun, and I couldn't have asked for two better travel partners! We had a wonderful trip, and I'm already planning the next one :)
We then went to the open-air Folk Museum, and then to Vigelandsparken (or Vigeland Park to you non-Norwegian speakers!). The Folk Museum was great...it was the perfect time of year to visit w/ the trees being so beautiful, everything seemed to just glow. Vigeland park is huge and a sculpture garden runs right up it's center. We walked through it in it's entirety and took lots of pictures of the beautiful Norwegian scenery. For dinner we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. Why go all the way to Oslo for American food, you ask? Ummm, try living in England for a year, and I'm pretty sure that's where you would pick as well!! :) We stayed up late both nights, just chatting and catching up. Those girls are so much fun, and I couldn't have asked for two better travel partners! We had a wonderful trip, and I'm already planning the next one :)
