The Nordic Lands - Day Nine

Viking

WE'VE found people who enjoy going to museums as much as we do, so we take a bus to the Viking Ship Museum together, which consists of three gigantic boats and a number of smaller Viking artefacts. We like it so much that we spend a lot of time at the tiny gift shop afterwards, where we have to prevent Sofia from buying a tiny and very overpriced drinking horn. She concedes that it's not worth it, but I have a strong feeling she'll never forget about that horn.


IN the Historical and Folk Museums we see even more horns - all heavy and decorated and beautiful, so we feel justified in our choice to reject the tiny plastic one. The Folk Museum also contains a number of traditional wooden houses, which seem lovely until you step inside and immediately think you're about to die because the teetering old house is collapsing.

EVERYONE is very interested and knowledgeable about British politics at the moment, so discussing the extent to which the tories have screwed up keeps us entertained on the way to the National Gallery. I stare at the iPhones which double as audio guides nestled in a glass-like simulated womb as they charge. I learn more about art movements and find another sculpture that I quickly become obsessed with.

WITH the other girls in the hostel, we head to Punjab Tandoori, which I also become obsessed with. So delicious! So amazing! So cheap! It's the first time I've ever 'gone out for an Indian' and actually enjoyed it.

We walk slowly along the river to Club Bla and the 'penis swan' on the river, laughing at both the ridiculousness of it and kangaroos for not being able to walk backwards (we made an Australian friend. We're learning facts about marsupials).
Our subsequent night out is as eventful as most. We drink expensive cocktails, then head back to the roof of our hostel to find cheaper drinks with every other student in Oslo. We bond and look out over the city, doing ridiculous dares and trying to outdrink Sofia (she's Mexican. Apparently the the thing about them being obsessed with tequila is not a lie). Austin takes us to a weird club where we dance to swing music on a chequered floor. It turns out that, as Norway is so small, it's not difficult to find someone who knows The Wombats, so I'm currently being treated to the story behind 'Isabel'. It all sounds like a mess.

I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching people walk the streets, uninhibited after doing something momentous and reckless. It's like Tori Wranes says - our true selves come out at night. Or in this case after no sleep and a lot of alcohol. The night and dawn after experiencing strange things and strange rules are one of the world's 'hot pockets', as she calls them - 'generous in its embrace of the quirky' - where we are ourselves.