In Norway without a Kronor

You know that Visa advert that says that it's alright to be in any country without their currency as long as you have a Visa card? Adverts lie.

I've developed the bad habit of forgetting to change currencies before I fly, because these days I'm running on such a tight schedule with travel-school-travel-school that I just carry pounds with me and hope to be able to change currencies when I get there, only to find that the conversion rates are exorbitant or that you need to change about £200 worth of money before you can bypass a €4 minimum charge rate or things like that...

So really. Just prepare your travel money before you get there or you might find yourself in the awkward position of having to pay for your airport transfer without actually having any local currency. (Thank goodness Visa was right about being able to pay for stuff where my airport transfer was concerned - the bus had a card machine.)

When I got to Norway I met my friends Anabella, Samantha and Reuben who are all from Singapore and in Oslo on student exchange. Here is a nice picture of Samantha taking a photograph.

It's kinda crazy because Sam and I were primary school classmates when we were both seven years old. SEVEN! That means we've both known each other for two-thirds of our lives now. How crazy is that?

And here are Anabella and Reuben on the T-Bane, which is the Oslo metro train service.



The Oslo Opera House is a beautiful clean structure on the edge of the Oslofjord, in central Oslo and a gorgeous modern white building that stands out in such contrast to its architectural neighbours.



Rivalling the Sydney Opera House, even?

There's usually a guided tour that you can take backstage into the Oslo Opera House, but I couldn't really fit it into my schedule so I had to skip it sadly :(

The Oslo Opera House has a spectacular view out into the harbour.



When you walk onto the roof of the Opera House (yes you can walk on it! And it's really fun to, too) you're greeted by an amazing view of what seems like all of Oslo. Houses and buildings on rolling hills - and the beautiful clear blue sky made everything seem so magical.

Spectacular views of Oslo!

It was October when I went to Oslo; I was lucky, because on my first full day there it was nice and cheery and sunny and blue skies. And it was windy on top of the Opera House, because it's a large open space next to a large body of water, so I was keeping my scarf wrapped tightly around my neck.

And then suddenly, before I knew it I was being pelleted by little bits of white fluff.



That's right - it was October in Oslo, and it was snowing. Completely mindblowing!

I love, love, love snow - because we don't get any of it in Singapore, ever. The thing I'm enjoying the most about being here in Europe now is that we have seasons, because when it's year-round summer it does tend to get a bit boring. So I love snow, I love the white blanket it lays on the ground, and I love how different it makes the world look.

Basically, I went batshit crazy and happy once it started snowing. I started screaming and jumping and yelling all over the place and giggling like a five-year old. Bella Reuben and Sam pretended they weren't associated with me at all :p

The face of happiness.

Norway is expensive; it's the 18th most expensive place in the world to live in although I have to admit that the standards of living in Norway are amazing and justify the exorbitant prices and taxes on everything. A McDonald's Big Mac Meal costs around 800 NOK, roughly £8 or SGD16. SGD16 for a Big Mac meal?!?!?!!?

I do believe it's possible to find cheap or free things to do while on holiday in Oslo though. Eat in instead of eating out, to save a lot of money; lots of museums have low prices or are free on entry, like many others in Europe.

Norway has beautiful wild scenery - slightly over 5 million people live in a country 385,000km² large. Compare that to Singapore's 5.3 million in 710 km² of land. There's so much natural beauty in Norway, right alongside developed cities like Oslo, you could live and work in the urban area and take the afternoon to go hike on a hill.

And then of course there's always the happiness that comes with sudden and unexpected snow showers.

So you know, even if you've forgotten to change currencies and find yourself with pounds instead of kronor in Norway, I can safely say that there's every possibility that there's free stuff that you're really going to enjoy anyway :)

What's your favourite season?