Familien Griffin

....that is how they list Family Guy on the Norwegian cable networks. They also love Katy Perry here, I think I hear California Gurls at least once a day. Oslo is an awesome walking city, small with lots of greenery.

So besides moving into my new apartment and filming a poorly oriented video tour, I also ventured out into the Nordmarka for the first time. One my co-workers told me that the best part about Oslo is what it offers as far as nearby outdoor activities. He was correct. This really is the ideal city layout for me, from my apartment door to the Sognsvann and surrounding woodlands is a 25 minutes metro ride.

The above shots are the Sognsvann and the surrounding trail, a very popular destination when the weather is as idyllic as it was this past weekend. Literally about 150 yards from the metro stop. While the pictures don't show it, there were actually a lot of people there and I was eager to try and do a little off the beaten path exploring. Lucky for me there are literally dozens of trails branching off of the lake and deep into the woods, some better marked than others, but all awesome. These trails take you past several other lakes and their interconnecting rivers, nearby marshes, cliff faces and waterfalls.

Nerd alert: when I spotted that rock wall in the last picture the first thing that came to mind was, "Moria...You fear to go into those mines." Moving on...

Every once in a while I would see a small tent camp off the trail and I'm pretty sure that you are allowed to camp just about anywhere you find a spot. Also popular is berry picking.

Wild raspberries and blueberries, smaller than what you'd find in the grocery store but oh so tasty and sweet. There were also plenty of wild mushrooms growing, but I didn't think it smart to tempt fate so early in my stay.

Had lamb for dinner from the nearby Halal store which is pretty affordable and tasty, cooking for oneself is most definitely the way to eating while living in this city. Lastly, the video game selection here is piss poor and expensive as hell. New releases are about $85-$100. I call shenanigans.