Dear Oslo,

We traveled thousands of miles with a backpack full of ramen noodles and instant pasta sides, packets of tuna and crackers and four baggies of Cheerios. We heard that if we didn’t bring our own food we would most likely starve, the purchase of both restaurant meals and groceries being cost prohibitive.

Yes, Oslo, you are an expensive city. The 19 minute train ride from the airport cost $45 for the three of us (and one of us was free). Our hostel, although of superb quality, was about $100, which is pricey for that genre.

I didn’t need another place to prove to me that expectations are everything. But the dire warnings of the expense of this city has me looking at a menu in a casual corner fish shop and thinking, $28 for fish and chips at the counter? What a deal! A $7 cappuccino at the mall? Let’s have two!

So, Oslo, either our doomsday-style ramen hoarding proved to be a bit over dramatic or you have tricked me out of years of miserly penny-pinching. Either way, let’s have dessert!