Picture Time!!

Ok so it's been raining and shitty out the past two days, but I wanted to take some pictures anyway just to get something up here. So here goes.

Karl Johan's Gate

So first is Karl Johan's Gate which is like the main strip in Oslo leading from the central train station to the Royal Palace which you can see in the distance.

Royal Palace

Pretty sweet, although the eponymous Karl Johan was a Swedish king who ruled during the foreign occupation of Norway and wasn't terribly fond of the concept of Norwegian independence. Nevertheless, the palace today houses the current king and queen and the street is the central point of the city. Tourist traps include an obligatory Hard Rock Cafe, numerous trinket shops, and these guys...

Guy who has a really shitty job

Yes, it seems like there is some sort of cruel European based organization which encourages people to dress up as ancient soldiers or pretend to be golden statues, blah blah blah... profit! Needless to say he was obviously smoking and possibly using several other drugs in order to make it through the day without trying to kill himself with his cardboard axe. But I digress.

One sweet thing lining the side of Karl Johan's Gate is the Eidsvolls plass known as the "National Mall" of Norway.

Mmmm, it's nice but not quite the same scale (everything smaller in Europe). One thing that I guess it does have over the Mall is that body of water in the middle known as the Spikersuppa which during the winters they turn into an ice skating rink. That's pretty rad and I most definitely look forward to it.

Time to stop for now, but before I go I want to say that I passed Level 1 of the CFA so I am fucking awesome! Lastly, I signed a contract for a permanent apartment which entails a post in and of itself.