WEEK 3 IN OSLO - ALEX

October 28 to November 3, 2024 – The Big Dark Begins

During the previous weekend (October 27) Norwegian daylight savings occurred. Just like in the US this time of year we fell back, bringing us morning light and evening darkness an hour earlier. This became noticeable during the week since Morgan was no longer beating the sun back to the apartment after work. By the end of the week sunrise was at 7:45 and sunset at 4:15.

Despite the disappearing daylight the weather over the past week was quite nice. Dry and sunny with temperatures pushing 50 degrees it was a nice week to get outside. Morgan’s coworkers have even been commenting that the past few weeks have been unseasonably pleasant. We hope to make the most of it, since Morgan has also been told, November is the worst month to be in Norway.

Photo taken from the same location on Vetakollen overlooking Oslo. Left is from 10/20 and right is from 11/1.

Immigration News

Although our visa application has been approved, we still needed to schedule an appointment and meet with the Police when we arrived in Norway. On Thursday we had our meetings, separate but at the same time, so that we could be fingerprinted, photographed, and asked questions about our visa application and intentions independently. Alex had a very casual conversation whereas Morgan was thoroughly questioned regarding details of our lease, length of stay in the country, and employment status. We passed this step and will receive our resident cards either by mail or pick them up in the next 20 business days. We both received contradictory information and follow up emails about this, despite explicitly requesting to pick them up when asked how we wanted to receive them, hopefully this final step goes smoothly. Alex also received his social security number and can start the process of getting a bank account, registering our address with the post, etc. Morgan’s number wasn’t ready yet and we will have to wait a couple weeks to start these processes for her.

Morgan standing outside our the police station before our visa appointment.

Morgan Buys a Bike

After a week of listening to Alex talk about the magic of Nordmarka, Morgan caved and purchased a bike for herself. We look forward to maximizing the number of rides we are able to get in over the next couple of weeks provided we are blessed with cooperating weather. Following our immigration appointment, Alex led Morgan on an early afternoon midweek ride for an hour introduction to the gravel roads of Nordmarka. Over the weekend we also enjoyed a long ride together that was highlighted by coffee and cake around a fire at a local farm, one of the many cafes throughout the woods.

Morgan taking her new bike for a spin through Nordmarka.

In addition to the joint rides Alex continues to get out on the bike during the week. His weekly total was 190km, including lots of time spent on new trails or segments that he didn’t ride during the previous week. Lucky for him, there are still hundreds of new miles yet to be explored throughout Nordmarka.

Clockwise from upper left: Alex enjoying cake and coffee at Bjornholt, stopping for a photo next to lake, Morgan riding next to another lake, Morgan resting at an overlook, another Nordmarka lake.

 DNT Huts

As we made mention of in last week’s blog the woods are filled with cabins and huts providing services from serving food, to offering accommodations, or both. Some of the huts are private, but a lot of them are part of a nationwide system called DNT. A member based organization, DNT is the outdoor organization in Norway. DNT is responsible for marking the majority of trails that crisscross the country, operate almost 600 overnight cabins, and provide a number of other services. Cabin accommodations range from a small shack without running water or electricity to a full service, staffed lodge with over a hundred beds that serves three course dinners. Unless staffed or given a special status, typically the result of proximity to city centers, sleeping cabins are locked with a universal key. Once a member you can pick up a key for a small deposit giving you access to hundreds of cabins throughout the country.

Last week we became DNT members. This gives us access to the cabins, the key, and most importantly provides us with some much needed Norwegian street cred. Upon becoming members we quickly made plans for our first hut trip to Fjellvang, a 14 person cabin complete with power, wood burning stoves, and nearby running water. Sleeping accommodations were tight with everyone sharing the same room, but we had great company with our 12 other companions. We met some nice Norwegians who showed us the ins and outs of cabin etiquette and made friends with a group of internationals. We also witnessed our first Norwegian snowfall.

Clockwise from upper left: Outside of Fjellvang, the kitchen equipped with electric stove and oven, the sleeping quarters we shared with 12 others, Morgan next to our bed setup.

Fjellvang is accessible by many different modes of transportation. Alex biked there earlier in the week on a scouting mission. There are also a number of hiking and skiing trails that could take you there by foot. We opted for a multi-faceted approach that included a bus, commuter train, and a 1.5 mile hike. The stop on the commuter rail line is mostly for the purpose of outdoor recreation. All in all it was an hour and half journey from our apartment. This made it easy to fit in the overnight trip around a long Saturday morning bike ride and a Sunday afternoon relaxing.

Left: Morgan on the trail next to where we got off the train

Right: Alex pointing out our destination on the DNT sign.

Other Highlights

On Tuesday we went to a women’s soccer match between Norway and Albania. It was a qualifying match for a larger European tournament, and based on the final score our guess is that goal differential is an important tiebreaker. The final score was Norway 9 – Albania 0, which made for the most exciting soccer game either one of us has attended.

View from our seats for the Norway vs Albania soccer match.

Morgan was responsible for bringing cake to her coworkers this week. Cake is a catch all term for any sweet treat and she made kanelboller or cinnamon rolls in English. Bringing in cake is a shared responsibility between her team of 12 people. The rest of the year has been spoken for, so Morgan is off the hook until 2025.

Morgan preparing kanelboller in our apartment.