Norweigan Wood (This bird has flown)

I'm back in the comforts of the 'bucks at 64th and Granville today after getting back last night at 11 from a 23 hour transit from Hamar. I have now sworn to avoid any and all american airlines if I can help it. We flew United last night and it was the stinkiest, rudest, and most apathetic service I've ever experienced. Now, mind you we had been flying most of the day and we would've been grumpy in the best of circumstances, this was horrific. Anyways, let's back up....

I left Stockholm and made my way back to Copenhagen for another stay at the Danhostel Copenhagen City Hostel, where I'd been frowned on last time for my disregard of the check out policies and the check in girl reiterated the 9am check out and I assured her I was privy. I came into the room to find a 50 something American guy who introduced himself as Phil. Phil was from Modesto, CA and had basically been traveling for a couple years. He was a photographer who had sold the house and all and had been traveling all over the world. He explained that he was starting to run out of his money, so he was thinking about going back home and working again and he expounded this elaborate scheme of how he was going to make a half million.....OK dude. I'm sure there are people who do that all the time, but I just think, work your ass off and make money. If there is a get rich quick scheme, I don't want any part of it. I want to feel as if I've EARNED my money. That's why I never play the lottery....enough about Phil.

I had an early night in Copenhagen and woke up the next morning and made my way to the airport for my flight to Oslo. I arrived in Oslo and the airport is about 60 km from town, so hopped on the train and 40 minutes later I was there. Norway struck me as a little less english friendly. There wasn't as many fluently english speaking people it seemed and the Norwegian language was a little less accessible than Swedish or Danish. This was the first time I had to bail and ask for help when it came to transportation to the hostel. I had the vague instructions from my Lonely Planet book and the Oslo Haraldsheim hostel itself and I realized that I could take a tram, train, or bus, but I couldn't figure out where to start. I ended up at the tourist information desk (I had to take a number, which was refreshing to know that I wasn't the only one with Oslo negotiation problems) and they instructed me to take bus 31 to Synsenstressett. OK....So then I walk away figuring that I've ascertained all of the info that I need. But then things start occurring to me and I then go through a series of quests to answer them....here's how the next half an hour in my head went:

How much does the bus cost? A ticket. How much does a ticket cost? 20 Kr. Where do I buy the ticket? A ticket machine Where's the machine? Over there. Do they take visa? No. So now where can I buy a ticket with a visa? 7 - 11. Has my bus now left since I've figuring all of this out? Yes. When does the next bus come? Every 15 minutes. Do I buy a 24 hr ticket or just one? 24 hour, the hostel isn't downtown. Do I show the driver the ticket? No. What are all those people doing? Validating their ticket in the machine on the bus. Should I do the same? Yes. Did I stamp it in the right place? Hopefully. The next station is Synsen, is this my stop? No, Synsenstressett is. Which way is north? Guess....that way.....nope that way....nope.....that way......wow Norway is sure hilly....is this Haraldsheim street.....nope.....is this a street.....yup.....where IS this place.....oh jesus, thank god.....I'm here.

Oh to be a traveller.

Oslo is an amazing city and it would take me a week to try and see everything. It was way more spread out than Copenhagen and even Stockholm. It is also THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITY IN THE WORLD!!!!! More than Tokyo or Dubai or London. A coffee is $7 Canadian. I was already on a budget so I had to be super savvy. I found a little pocketbook called Streetwise, which was basically a backpackers guide to Oslo and it literally saved my ass in this town. It got me cheap food, drinks, and attractions, the highlight being seeing all of the amazing works of Edvard Munch including The Scream. I was aware of the Scream but his other works are so amazing and I promised myself to add some Munch to my collection when I got home.

The next day I went back to the airport in Oslo, this time catching a train that only took 19 minutes and was super nice. When I got off the train and showed the trainmaster my Scanrail pass, he told me that the Scanrail didn't work for this train and that I had to pay. How much??? 160 Kr.....basically $30 Canadian to essentially take the skytrain.....AWESOME!

I met "Jaan" from the Hamar festival at the airport and we waited for the Soustreamers to arrive. They never showed on the Copenhagen flight they were supposed to. We waited for the next one. Nothing. Jaan suggested that we leave and that they could catch the train to Hamar. I assured him that they would rather get on a flight and go home if there was no one here for them. We waited a little longer. Sure enough, they showed. I was so excited to see them. I had been basically alone for a week without really seeing anyone I knew, so it was great. I think I also was now ready to experience Scandinavia with others and especially my musical brothers and sisters. They were obviously pretty beat and didn't quite share my enthusiasm, but I think they were happy.....if only not to have to get on another airplane.

Norway and especially where we were going looks a lot like BC. In fact it looks IDENTICAL to the interior. The landscapes basically dictate the industries, similar to here in BC: forestry, mining, and agriculture. We showed up at the hotel in Hamar which was about 6 km from the city center. The hotel was really nice, even by European standards, but any hotel was pretty much the Four Seasons for me after spending a week "roughing it" in the hostels. I decided to immediately go for a run into town. I figured that 6km there and 6 km back was the perfect afternoon jog. I left the hotel on the road to town with an immediate ascent for about 2 km. Then it started descending with no trace of the town in site. So, I just kept on.....and on....and further descending.....and descending.....and descending.....there was still no trace of the town in sight, although I figured I hadn't really hit 6 km yet, but I started to think, "jeez, I'm gonna have to go all this way back! And ascending!!!!" It seemed as if the town would never appear and at one point I thought of turning back. The machoness in me however would not let me turn around without being able to give the boys a description, no matter how brief, of the town. In other words, I couldn't go back with my tail between my legs; I said I was going into town and sure as hell, I WAS GOING INTO TOWN!!! I did and eventually made it back up the treacherous hills to the hotel. It was actually not too bad and I felt that it helped with the training (countdown to marathon....4 weeks).

The town of Hamar is a quaint beach community built into the side of a hill (refer to last paragraph). That's how the tourist info description began and it's pretty accurate. It's on the edge of lake Mjyosk?? I think, which is the largest lake in Norway. After my run, we organized and went into town to watch the DIO (yes, Ronnie James Dio of Black Sabbath fame) and Norwegian black metal band Satyricon. When we got there, Satyricon refused to go on because they weren't able to fly their banner because Dio's stuff was too far forward. Dio refused to move their stuff. Satyricon went home. I was expecting the crowd to go a little ballistic but they were surprisingly well behaved. There was a little electricity in the air though. This IS the home of Black Metal, which is probably the closest thing that one can get to Satanism. Norwegian bands like Mayhem are doing jail time for murder and mutilation of their fellow band members, although willing participants in these "sacrifices". Timmy and Darren did notice a weird "vibe" though and everyone kinda watched each others back a bit. Don't get me wrong, Oslo is a very multicultural place, but like most small towns, there is a bit of a hillbilly element...especially at a metal show.

We ended up at a little pub after and it was a great hang, even meeting some of the local musicians. We were then told that there was a concert going on over at the festival headquarters on the second floor that's worth checking out. We walked in a saw these guys in ties and suits playing weird keyboards and laptops and punk pick bass and drums and thought, "okay eurotrash whatever music".....but then we listened and these guys were GREAT! They were a Norwegian band called Wibutti. Turns out that Brad actually remembered that he owned a album of theirs that Dylan V. S. recommended.

The next day we had to play a corporate thing at the hotel at night, but otherwise, we had the day off. I went into Hamar and explored the town a bit. As usual, I went for a coffee. Now, my coffee is a Vanilla Americano with cream. Hard to find in Europe, so I usually settle for a Latte and sometimes I can get vanilla for it. I walked into this coffee shop in Hamar and I knew I was in the right place. Don't get me wrong, the coffee in Europe is amazing, but the barista skills are generally poor; not this place. When I got to the counter, this cute tattoo covered girl asks what I would like:

Vanilla Americano, Large, Take Away, extra hot water but with room for cream.

She looked at me as if to say, "Thank God, finally someone who's a fu^&in coffee drinker!!!"

She explained that she had lived in Anacortes, Washington for 7 years and knew by my order that I was not a Norwegian man. We hit it off instantly and I made a new friend thanks to a coffee order.

We played the corporate thing that night and it was funny. I guess this company had been getting a traditional Norwegian band for all of their past years conferences and Thomerik (the man) explained that we were the first modern band to ever play for them. Well, like I said, it was funny because they proceeded to polka dance to songs like Black Market and Sex Machine....classic.

We also met a couple of the Tower of Power guys, as they were playing the festival that night. Brad even knew the trumpet who was once a student of his while he was at North Texas State. They were really great and friendly as most great musicians are.

The next day was the festival gig. After my coffee at my favorite place, we had to play at 1 o clock and 6 o clock and although the crowds were not that great, the band was on FIRE!!!! Everyone came to cut these Norwegians a new....well, you get the picture. Not to brag, but it was awesome and those who were there will be talking about our performance for a while I suspect.

We were then brought out to a very old.....16th century.....maybe earlier.....house and ruins on the lake and served a candlelight dinner. It was so beautiful and so much fun hanging with my friends and colleagues. Darren even got naked and jumped in the lake. Seriously.

After that we went back to the festival and the little pub. When I got back to the hotel, I realized that this had been one of the best days of my life. It was perfect ending to my trip and the proper "exhale" of the last 4 years that I needed. I now realize the things I will do in this the next chapter of my life. I will always look back at these 10 days as an important part of my life. Okay, now I'm officially broke and I have to start paying down the visa. Off to the PNE.....