Oslo was not on my original plan as my went purpose of going to Norway was to escape to the mountains. However, thanks to my Norwegian friends whom I met in singapore while they were on their university exchange programme, they invited me to stay with them in Oslo. Karoliina from Finland also joined me on this weekend trip, so we had a reunion in Oslo and I was sow happy to meet up with my friends again, some of whom had stayed in singapore for only one semester so they were back in Norway since Christmas last year.

Instead of the big, crowded city that I had envisioned, Oslo is surprisingly not so crowded and one can escape to the countryside easily as it is surrounded by amazing fjords and the sea. Oslo only has a population of 640000 and has a good network of public transport system which includes trams, metro, commuter trains, buses, ferries. Thanks to #visitoslo which provided me with a 72h city pass which allowed me to discover many of the city’s attractions for free and public transportation was also included. The Oslo city pass comes in three categories – 24h, 48h and 72h depending on your length of stay in Oslo.

Some of the sights that I visited in Oslo include the Opera house, National theatre, the royal palace where you can witness the changing of guards everyday at 130pm, the main shopping street of Johan gate, the artsy district of Tjuvholmen along the waterfront, Akershus fortress, Vigeland sculpture park and Holmenkollen ski jump. The architecture in Oslo has a mixture of Scandic and modern design.