Oslo, Norway: Vikings, Deceiving Exchange Rate and Filipino Hospitability

Gilbert, a college friend has been inviting me visit Oslo since he moved there with his family. Norway is one of the most expensive countries in Europe but we had no idea how expensive it is until we were there. The exchange rate between PLN to NOK is 1:2 and the fact that Poland is one of the cheapest countries in Europe, it made us scratched our heads and wondered.

As soon as we landed at the airport, that’s when everything made sense. Most of the prices starts at least 100 NOK. At the central station, you need pay 20 NOK or 10 PLN to use the toilet while in Warsaw, it’s just 1 or 2 PLN if I’m not mistaken. We were a little shocked at first but whatever, we’re already there. Besides, we stayed at Gilbert’s place so it’s less expense for us.

For tourists, it’s really an expensive city to visit but if you lived there together with your family, you’ll definitely get what you paid for. The benefits are really great. You can google it yourself if you’re interested moving to the north.

In order to save, we bought the Oslo Pass which entitled us to take on public transport and most of the museums for free. And indeed we did. And if you’re planning to eat in a good restaurant for a cheaper price, forget it. We found food trucks in front of the city hall and we settled there for our lunch.

I didn’t do any research and I was surprised that Oslo has many interesting museums, especially maritime museums. And of course, you don’t want to miss the Vikings’ Museum. You’ll see the relics of the actual boats they’ve been using for centuries and it’s totally amazing. Another museum that caught my attention was the Kon-Tiki Museum. It’s about an expedition led by a Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, who proved that the first Polynesian settlers were coming from South America by sailing from Peru to Polynesia on a raft. I recommend watching the movie about it, it’s fascinating.

However, our trip to Oslo would not have been awesome if not for the hospitality of Gilbert and Jenny and their cute baby Oli. We were grateful for letting us stay in their house for a couple of days and for the delicious meals for without it, we would have been broke. 😀 (Just kidding!) Also to all the friendly Filipinos we’ve met there and the fun Polish guy, Michael, TUSEN TAKK! 😉