There aren’t really beaches at all way up here. At least not in the way that Americans think of beaches. The “beaches” are areas of rock and gravel that are next to water. The only reason I even try to describe them as beaches is because of their proximity to water.
The cute girl at the tourism information place told me to go to a nice fish restaurant in the east part of town. But I lost the map almost as quickly as I got it, and ended up just wandering around the east side of Oslo looking lost. Instead of finding the place, I saw a ferry terminal, and noticed the ferry coming from an island not very far away. Primed for a Norwegian adventure, I paid for a ticket and took the next boat out to the island. It ended up being just a small holiday island for city dwellers to hang out at in the summer. The island was too small for cars or buildings, and thankfully there were neither. Just families laying around, people sunbathing, eating ice cream and staring out into the sea. Just my kind of place.
I stayed there most of the afternoon, eating ice cream, visiting the ruins of the 12 century monastery on the inside of the island, laying on the “beach”. It was good to find a respite from the city – especially considering how expensive Norway is (22% sales tax ya’ll, no joke).
I came back to the ship around five to play a short set for departure. I’ve got the rest of the night off.
David J. Hahn
David J. Hahn is a Broadway conductor and keyboard player. He co-founded MusicianWages.com with Cameron Mizell in 2008. Visit his new project, Songwriter.fm and sign up for his songwriting newsletter.
hey david, was that oslo? there are a few sandy(ish) places.. but you’ve got to know where they are! i went to Huk beach and Paradise beach…having been shown around by a local… surprising how hot the summer sun is there at that lattitude too