Oslo Adventures

I went away for another little trip last weekend, this time to Oslo for my friend Laura's 30th birthday, I had such an amazing time, we managed to cram in a lot of japes in just a couple of days!

First things first, we'd heard how expensive everything is in Norway, so we decided to stock up on Duty Free at the airport. Cue much bewilderment about what we were allowed to take with us. Turns out Norway is NOT part of the European Union. Who knew?? Fiercely independent, it turns out. This was good news for us.

I hadn't really done much research as it was quite a last minute thing, we had originally planned on going to Berlin, but the flights were too expensive. So I hadn't really realised how beautiful Norway is, I fell asleep on the plane and awoke to amazing icy vistas!

Birthday girl Laura

We got the train from the airport to Oslo Sentral, more beauty to feast our eyes upon. Snowy scenes! Our apartment was near the Opera House, which is an amazing building, I was very excited as you can see into the costume department and there were wigs and models aplenty.

Oslo sunset

There was a spectacular sunset across the water. Absolutely amazing. After finding the apartment, and spending around a thousand Krone on snacks, we found our way to Grunelökke, which is a cool, independent area in Olso. We went for cocktails and burritos, and immediately had to take a cavalier approach to spending, as it was too depressing to work out how much everything actually cost.

The next day we took the tram to Frogner Park to see the Vigeland sculptures. Everything has a bit of a retro, slightly 80s vibe to it, but the actual park is incredible, and we were super lucky that the weather was bob on, cold and clear and crisp.

Tram chums

Hands in the air like you just don't care

Vigeland sculptures

After checking out the sculptures we decided to walk to the museum quarter. It took quite a while, and we were all desperate for an open sandwich and a sit down by the time we got there.

Viking ship Museum

The Viking Ship Museum was brilliant, really interesting and a very cool building. We spent about an hour there before getting the bus back to Grunelökke to refuel. We got beer and burgers from a place called Munchies, which was absolute 100% hunk central. Ridiculous.

Show me you're tough.

Oslo Opera House

Egg custard of dreams

On sunday we went to try and find the Oslo flea market via a scamper up the Opera house building. Unfortunately we had to carry all our bags, which was a little arduous. The market wasn't quite where I expected it to  be, but we went to Godt Bröd bakery and coffee shop for the World's Most Amazing egg custard and cinnamon bun, which lifted our spirits into the sky! We found the flea market, but it was a bit disappointing, some great furniture, but that was just a pipe dream when flying with Ryan Air. We made our way to the bus station after a delicious hotdog. The bus journey to the airport was really beautiful, I wish we had more time (and money) to explore the countryside more! Can only imagine the wonder of Summer in Norway.

In summary: the men are insanely handsome, the dogs are amazing, and there's not a wallet in the world big enough for the amount of Krone you'll need. I would love to see more of Scandinavia!

Being Adventurous

This is a little illustration I'm thinking of making into Risograph printed posters.

I am a notoriously keen and intrepid adventurer. I like to be outside as much as possible, it's so good for the soul. I am the founder member of both The Nell's Angels and Adventure Club, dontcha know. I've done quite a bit of travelling and would love to do more in the future, Scandinavia is high on the list, and Russia too, the trans-Siberian railway is very appealing to me, I love trains…so many places I want to see and experience. I had a more modest micro-adventure yesterday though, I wanted to make the most of the sunny weather and felt I deserved a Monday off after working Saturday and running hard on Sunday. So off I went on Gino, my trusty steed, down the Transpennine Trail and Bridgewater canal. Just the thing to give the legs a stretch.

Transpennine trail.

Bridewater Canal, looking brilliantly British.

 Feeling rad in Rapha.

 Barefoot park times. Post mint Magnum.

Let's take this outside.

The rhododendrons were looking glorious.

Although I would like to see more of the world, I really love Britain and have many adventures brewing in my heart. I'd like to complete LEJOG, the CTC, take my bike to the Isle of Wight and cycle around the island, go to Brighton, Glasgow, go puffin spotting on the Farne Islands...you see the list of fun is never done. I'd also like to do a residency here or abroad, I need to get myself sorted and start applying for these things, otherwise nothing will happen! 

Ich bin ein Berliner!

Arf arf. I went to Berlin for a few days with my gentleman friend the other week and my oh my did I love it. A lot of my arty friends in Manchester have been and raved about the place, so I was very excited to see it for myself. I did a lot of sightseeing and walking, with many a pit stop for wurst and beer, an ideal holiday really!
One of my favourite places was a tiny museum I'd read about online, called the Büchstaben Museum, which was hyped as a typography museum, but was actually more like a sign graveyard. Either way, I loved it!







I'm now pondering my next trip and have been looking at the Russian Red Arrow train from Moscow to St Petersburg, can't beat a good train journey in my view. This old beauty even has its own theme music! What's your dream holiday?

It's a helluva town

IMG_1406
Originally uploaded by little nell smith

What can I say? New York was amazing, amazing! I flew First Class, gobbled much food, drank my own body weight in fine wines, stayed at the swanky Soho Grand, shopped shopped shopped, went on a helicopter ride over Manhattan, had my mind blown by the collection at MoMA, walked through Central Park, goggled at the Guggenheim, drank cocktails at the Rainbow Rooms, chomped a cheeseburger at the Union Square coffee shop and generally lived it up. The only disappointment in the tale is that we saw no
celebs until we were dining before our flight home, when we witnessed the massive horse-like visage of Piers Morgan. Yeah, great. Still, a roaring success, felt like I was away for 2 weeks rather than 2 nights!