So, Glasgow has two airports. I mean, Leipzig has two airports: one for the real planes, one for the discount airlines. So why wouldn't Glasgow? It makes me wonder if there isn't another one in Edinburgh hiding out somewhere around Stirling, or maybe under the Firth of Forth. At any rate, Ryanair does NOT fly out of Glasgow Airport, but out of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (it sounds more important despite the fact that 1) it is not in Glasgow and 2) it is dinky, but does a lot of cargo runs. So we get to Glasgow with plenty of time to catch our flight to Oslo, Norway for our after-semester vacation. Plenty of time, that is, if Ryanair flew out of Glasgow Airport. But, like I said, it doesn't. Sooooo... the only way we could possibly make it there (and not have to either spend $2000 on new tickets or deal with me being in an awfully bad mood) was to take a cab. There is no direct transfer from airport to airport (why would there be? I mean, if there were, it would be too easy for a country that prides itself on its queues), so we could either spend an hour and a half taking buses and trains, or we could book it in a taxi that will cost us our first born child. Well, who needs kids?
The taxi driver was awfully nice, even went as far as to notice my grumpy pout and mention that this happens all the time, even to locals. And what's more, he gets us to the airport right as they were getting ready to close check-in, speeding and running red lights the whole way. Very New York City. And yes, I feel awfully foolish that i didn't look it up before we got there. Shut-up, Jonmikel.
And thus begins our journey to Norway. We decided on Norway for the snow and the Northern Lights, the former being the clincher, and latter just a passing hope. But we get there without further incident, except that Jonmikel's throat is sore and he may have to resort to gestures soon. Scottish pedestrians seems to enjoy hacking up a virus du jour onto passers-by. At any rate, we see our very last sunset for almost a week on the bus from the Oslo Sandefjord-Torp Airport (there are two airports in Olso, also, which I did look up before I left). It's actually one of the most beautiful sunsets (especially for one at 3 pm) I have ever seen, including some I saw over the African plains and the open ocean. It stretching across the entire sky, interrupted by small mountains here and there, and some of those broad pines that Norway is so famous for. It's cloudy, but it only adds to the blaze as we say good-bye to the sun (we're heading up well north of the Arctic Circle tomorrow in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights).
As we wander the city, all dolled-up for Christmas, looking for food, we discover something that makes our stomachs queezy: the world's most expensive food. Oslo is heralded the world over for being one of the most expensive cities in the world, and indeed the cheapest things we can find within walking distance of our hotel is a pizza place, where a pizza and a beer each set us back approximately $50. Small beers, mind you. We vow to stick to 7/11s (there is one on every block, sometimes more than one) from now on. What does set a mood, though, is the fact that everything is set up for the handing out of the Nobel Prize on Monday to Al Gore, who actually here in town as I speak. Explains why a hotel room was hard to find. We meander past Gore's hotel, but he fails to make an appearance. Off saving the environment in his big, expensive, well-lit from every angle, energy-wasting hotel. But I digress.
Oslo itself is a big mess of public transportation. Buses, taxis, trains and trams all plunge forward together on the same roads and tracks, which become awfully crowded when you add hundreds of pedestrians into the mix; but people seem amiable enough, and you hear no car horns whatsoever in the city center. Drivers are patient and alert, and pedestrians seem, on the whole, care free.
And what's more, it COLD. Not cold-cold, but cold enough that I can imagine the smell of snow in the wind, and the drops of precipitation that I can see falling in headlights ALMOST looks solid, slushy at the very least.
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