EuroTrip - Day 11 (continued)

One Night at Oslo Station - Part 2

I know now that 1am is too early to call off a day in a city like Oslo. And if you happen to stay in the Oslo Station, then you are bound to be proven wrong. The night starts at 1am here when the station closes.

Yes, you heard it right. The Oslo central station closes at 1am. They shut everything close and literally evacuate the station building, we got lucky again for the second time in one day when a police officer offered to guide us out.

So 1am and a new city. No place to stay for atleast 3 hours. The police officer had advised us to go to some 7eleven shop and kill our time there. The youthful adventurous spirit in us could not accept such a mundane suggestion so we decided to explore the city (Earlier in the day, the tourist information officer had told her that Oslo is as safe a city as any other city in Europe and she felt totally safe being out on the road in night).

The fluet player was playing melodious tunes at some distance. We headed towards the University as that place was abuzz with activities when we had crossed it the last time.

And that was the start of the night. Parties were on a full swing. People were coming in and out of the bars and the streets looked alive. A couple of girls were out on the roads laughing and chatting. As we moved closer, the scene looked to change. The girls had suspicious styles and movements, were soliciting guys. Things became a bit clear, they were actually prostitutes. They were accompanied by some guys who were either doing pimping or selling drugs.

Around the time we had reached the 7eleven shop, there were some commotion on the street and police arrived immediately. Somebody was down on the road so everybody rushed that side. Our adventurous spirit had its first hit for the night and we decided to play safe and leave that place. On reaching the station back, we realized that most of the tourists had left the stairs outside the station and it was really deserted now. There were some people random looking guys making rounds and the prostitutes had reached this place too. So we had lost one more shelter.

After a brief meeting (yes, we are managers afterall) we decided to pay heed to the police man's advice and headed to the 7eleven (to take shelter this time). As this shop was on the same square as where the guy was found and police was making inquiries.

We explained our situation to the guy manning the outlet and asked for his permission to stay there for around two and half hours. He readily agreed for the same. Only issue he mentioned was that his shop did not have any seating arrangement so we would have to stay standing the whole durations. Beggars may not be chooser and so we decided to stay up and standing for the remaining of the night.

But the adventure was far from being over. The shop is open round the clock, so customers of all kinds of keep coming. For many of them, three Indians standing in the corner of the shop was something of an unusual display. Still, it was a very insignificant thing to the activities around so they did not bother much. There was a atm machine there (in the shop. There are many such small banks in shops in this part of world) too so many people made visits for withdrawing cash too.

As the night progressed, we saw many interesting people coming in and going out. There was a black girl (most probably from the same gang that we had met outside) who did not know how to use the coffee machine. She tried every combination on coffee machine to make her coffee. Then there was the drug peddler who was scared of the sudden arrival of the police all around. The police also came inside to ask about the video footage of the cctv camera that is put close to the gate of the shop as well as to record the statement of the guy manning the shop. The drug peddler went away and then came back, this time with a girl. Most probably he had sold off his stuff (he had offered to sell us the stuff too. Later he apologized before leaving the shop) and was now about to make good of the remaining night. He withdrew some money and gave to the girl. Then they went back. Around 3:30 the shop started to fill up the stock. The news paper also arrived by now.

Standing at these hours of the night was not an easy job. You fight with not just your sleep but also tiredness. And then because of the circumstances, we were fighting our fears too (we too get scared at times). Somehow in the company of three, we were able to do it. As the clock hit 4am, we decided to start off for the station. We thanked the guy at the shop and then proceeded to the station.

Because of the hope that things were going be good again, we could ignore the troubles on the road. With fast paced steps we reached the station. And yes, it was open. The night's fun was about to end. We entered the station and thanked god for having survived the night. Station was warmer and cleaner. We wouldn't have minded even if it was not so. We had around two hours before our train for Bergen. So we slept on the station. There could not be a better ending for such a long day.

What a night it was!! Some things can not be imagined. In a similar way, they can not be described too. I guess today it was one such night.