it costs how much?

forget tokyo...this place is the most expensive city/country ever. it is just unreal how expensive everything is. toll free phone calls cost almost a dollar. a small bottle of water is 3 dollars. i think they have special equipment set up so your bank account is debited by just walking down the street. it is insane. and the eurail pass is a scam, compared to the austrail and japanrail passes i have already used on my trip. i booked a trip from oslo to bergen, via flam and a fjord (that will make more sense later), by train, train, boat, bus, train, and train. anyway, in australia and japan, i just showed my pass and that was it. here, i had to pay $70 for that trip, just in reservation/seat fees. the girl at the counter said, 'oh, the eurail pass just lets you get on the train. if you want a seat, you have to reserve it and that costs money.' and it's not optional...for some trains, it's mandatory that you reserve a seat.

anyway, after having to borrow money from the driver in moscow to pay for my laundry, then having the people at the airport try to tell me my ticket was no good because i hadn't paid enough for it or something, i finally got out of moscow. my flight was to zurich, then a 5-1/2 hour layover then a flight to oslo. that's like flying from new york to minneapolis via houston or something. but flying into and out of zurich was really pretty. i'm looking forward to going back to switzerland in a week or so. and flying into norway was really beautiful too. the weather was clear and warm...in fact, it's about 80 degrees, much warmer than it usually gets here, they said. the airport is all glass and metal, with hardwood floors...it's like a big mountain lodge with planes parked at it. i got on a train into town and found a youth hostel (almost $40!!), then walked around town some. oslo only has 500,000 people, and it's pretty compact. there's a harbor and great public transportation, and some museums. there are a lot of people out and about, enjoying the weather i'm sure. in moscow the sun went down at 10pm and came up at 5am...this is even farther north, so the days will be even longer, i'm sure.

so tomorrow i'll just walk around and see museums and whatever else. then friday morning i will get on a train heading west...the route between here and bergen, norway's second largest city - a 7 hour ride if done uninterrupted - is supposed to be one of the most beautiful rail trips in the world. i'll get off halfway and take another train down the mountains to a little town called flam (no, i don't know where flim is). that is on the tip of a fjord, where i'll get on a boat and head to another town, then get on a bus to voss. from there i'll complete the train trip to bergen. unfortunately, all trains on saturday are cancelled, so i have to turn around and bring the night train back to oslo. i'm looking forward to the scenery though.