The vicking who?!?!

Let's stop it with these stories!!! This way of thinking, considering people as a whole...that's why you might end up traveling during January to Norway and imagine you 're gonna run into a sad country, with this cold gray weather...where the winter takes you waaaayyy below zero. You might be thinking: "This people must be pretty pissed off with this surroundings so much in a gray scale for a long period of the year?!?!"
But then you land...and just outside the freaking Torp airport (you can reach the city from here thanks to the Torpekspressen for "only" 25 euros), you get that typical sound of silence, that white, soft, blinding silence just the snow knows how to produce.Then you take a look around you, and you understand that everything is moving at the proper speed for such a mood. To warm up a bit, you walk into those sweet cafes, where the light is always the element making it happen.Groups of girls around the tables, enjoying their evening and having a blast, maybe some fire down there in the corner. And still...you look outside and it's all so soft! Outside as inside. But the best part still has to come! Hope to run into some locals and get to spend some times with them and it'll be the time of your life! Inside some cozy walls they know how to relax, and how to make you feel home. With their melody called Norwegian, they fill the rooms with music. What these guys are basically able to do, is to turn a tough situation in terms of environment...into a soft pleasure...as pleasant as the view you get every time you look out of the window.
As I usually do for my low budget trips, I contacted few people from the CouchSurfing community, and eventually I ended up sleeping over two of them...Daniel and Mari. Daniel lives in a sweet area called Tøyen, next to the multicultural area of Grønland (if you want spend some time into a cozy cafe, listen to some good music and taste great food...I really recommend you to visit Dattera til Hagen). Here is easy to run into old factory buildings turned into condos, and view from your window tall chimneys once part of an industrial structure. Just 10 minutes away (walking distance) is Oslo S, the heart of the city, where Karl Johans gate starts to end up right below tha king palace. From here, then, is easy to reach the famous Aker Brygge...suggestive during the winter, going off in the summer thanks to its many bars an restaurants with open air seats.
Mari, on her side, lives in the University campus, just a stop away from Majorstuen. Here is where lots of students hang out in the many cafes and club, maybe after a nice barbeque in the world famouse Vigeland park surrounded by the amazing sculptures the artist, giving the name to the park, produced during his productive life.
If you want to have a look at the city from a different angle, in a privileged area filled with charming houses deeped in the unspoiled Norwegian nature, then your just few minutes away by train from Holmenkollen, where you have the chance to admire one of the structures Norwegians are proud the most...the sky jump tower.
Last but not least, if your in Oslo, you have to take a walk around Grünerløkka. For dining or just enjoy the happiness of the area this is the place to go. One place i really recommend to have a delicious meal in a friendly atmosphere is Delicatessen, a tapas bar where is possible to taste Spanish dishes followed by some great wine, right next to the river crossing the city. And when your done with your food, don't forget to have fun over the Nomaden, probably the coolest club in town for quality music lovers.