I have SO much to report! First, Oslo is, surprisingly, even more attractive to me than Bergen was. I thought Bergen was what I sought in a town. Admittedly, it was a little small for my tastes, but I feared that Oslo, which doesn’t as often enjoy reports of “gem” status as Bergen does, would be ruined by being a bigger city. In actuality, it has pretty much everything Bergen has, only much more of it--and plenty of fresh Oslo awesomeness of its own. It doesn’t feel like a big, dirty city. The buildings are still quaint and not too tall (and almost never made of concrete). The people are similarly gracious and even more welcoming of outsiders (quite possibly because a much greater portion of the Oslo population consists of foreigners). Of course, there are more amenities and things to see. Best of all, the coolness spreads in every direction.
Growing up Canadian / American, I came to expect cities to have lively cores decreasing in awesomeness in direct proportion to the distance from their centers. New York is of course not like that, and probably neither are a handful of others. But every other city I’ve visited has been something of a one-trick show. Seattle, Portland, Denver, San Diego, everything in Southern California, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, Albuquerque, every major city in Texas, Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Omaha, Miami, Montreal, Quebec City, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Victoria . . . have I missed any? I can’t speak for Chicago, I haven’t been there since I was a kid. The point is, in Oslo, after I got to know the city center, I ventured outside it, walking all over the place. The coolness never stopped. I could walk for an hour and there was still cool shopping, beautiful architecture, and sweet-looking apartments. It’s very easy to love.
Speaking of love, Alissa made me promise before coming here that I wouldn’t come home and tell her that we needed to move to Norway.
Smart girl.
