Oslo: The Most Expensive City in the World

My sister Angela and I traveled to Oslo, Norway for the weekend during her visit to Europe.  Angela's high school friend Charolette has lived in Norway for the past seven years so was our personal tour guide during the trip.  November is the worst month to visit Norway due to the short days and gloomy cold weather, but we figured we never would get another chance to travel to Oslo so wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

Oslo was recently ranked as the most expensive city in the world in a survey conducted by UBS.  Zurich and Tokyo were the second and third most expensive cities.  London came in at number 10.  Our first stop when we got there was for a small plate of nachos, two glasses of wine, and a Coke which produced a bit of shock when our bill was the equivalent of $65 USD.  Oil was discovered in Norway about 40 years ago turning Oslo into an affluent and prosperous city.  Taxes are extremely high especially on goods where the government wants to control consumption such as alcohol and on imports to promote the purchase of local products making the city very expensive.  The trade-off is great wages and very low unemployment for Oslo's residents. 

The city is very compact and easily walkable.  Everything in the city seemed so new and modern compared to London.  Despite the rainy and cold weather, we did a lot of walking to check out the various areas of the city.  My favorite stop was the Vigeland Sculpture Park.  Other than that, most of our time was spent eating the local cuisine.  We had some really fabulous food in Norway.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Our first taste of brown cheese - kind of like a sweet Velveeta

Vigeland Sculpture Park - amazing

Ang with our fabulous hostess Charolette

The rain finally stopped and out came a rainbow!

Autumn Visitors

It has been awhile since I have posted anything on here so thought I would try to get caught up today.  We have been busy entertaining our first London visitors.  My cousin Mandy came the last week in October and then my sister Angela was here in early November.  It was SO NICE having company during the week while David was busy at work.  Being a stay-at-home mom is fun, but I definitely miss the regular adult interaction.

During Mandy's visit, we were extremely busy being London tourists.  We took a day trip to Stonehenge, Windsor, and Bath, visited the Tower of London, went to a champagne tea followed by a West End musical, took a ride on the London Eye, toured Parliament, ate fish & chips, etc.  Mandy and I have been travel partners since 2004 with countless fun vacation memories together (Paris, Barcelona, Ireland, multiple Vegas trips, Napa Valley and San Fran, Nashville, and many more) so it was great to continue our adventures here in London.  I also enjoyed the time we had to just catch up every afternoon during Colin's nap.  Minus seeing a dead rat on the street by Victoria station that we are still traumatized by, I think she enjoyed her time in London!

Ang's visit was much more laid back due to her being six months pregnant during her visit.  We had been to London together before at the start of our European travels after I graduated college in 2003, so she had checked many of the London must-sees off her list then.  She mostly just wanted to spend time hanging out with her buddy Colin.  Colin had such a great time with his Aunt "Ansh."  We did do a few touristy things including a tour of Kensington Palace, trip to Hyde Park, champagne tea (where I got to drink the pregnant lady's champagne!), musical, and Harry Potter walking tour (which proved we know absolutely nothing about Harry Potter).  We also took a weekend trip to Oslo, Norway which I will write a separate post on.  I loved having my little sister here.  We text non-stop during the week, but it was great to spend some time with her in person.  I can't wait for Christmas to be here so I can see her again and then just six weeks after that I will be flying back to the U.S. again to meet my new nephew!

Here are some pictures from Mandy and Ang's visits.

Cousins at Windsor Castle

Stonehenge - Colin was not impressed

(Roman) Baths in Bath

View from the London Eye

Sisters in front of Tower Bridge

End of the Harry Potter tour and the only stop we recognized

Colin & Ang at Kensington Palace