Quest to buy Coffee...

Since arriving in Norway i have had a strong craving for coffee, ideally a starbucks caramel macchiato but as Norway doesnt have starbucks i am forced to find a cheap alternative.A very good friend of mine, Ørjan told me about a scheme that statoil petrol stations have here, where you buy a coffee cup more like a thermos for 145kr which you can then fill up for free for the rest of the year. this to me sounded like the perfect idea, and yes i hear you asking why don't i just buy a kettle, coffee, some milk and make it myself? well the answer to that is i am a cheap lazy student who cant afford that! so i asked Ørjan to help me search the internets for a statoil station near me, unfortunately there wasn't one within walking distance, but i was not discouraged. I figured i have a monthly buss/bybanen pass now which means i can travel for free so i might as well make use of it. I decided to find a statoil long the bybanen route, lo and behold there was one just a short walk according to googlemaps from the stop Danmarksplass , a mere 5 bybanen stops from me, it is also a 20min walk from danmarksplass to the university an early morning plan was forming! so off i go to find this statoil in the hopes that it will fulfil my coffee craving.

just as i reach the bybanen stop the bybanen is pulling away, i could walk a little further and catch a bus but like i said i am lazy so i settle down on the benches at the stop, I am glad i bought my ipod with me as Bayside and Brand New accompany me as i wait. I am joined at the stop by two smartly dressed mormon men laughing and joking with each other, thankfully they must have thought i was too engrossed in my music to try and convert me, that or my soul is just far too gone to be saved!The journey on the Bybanen is lovely, it's a clear day and i love being able to watch the beautiful mountains, covered in a sea of green trees and quaint old wooden houses perching precariously on the edges, go by.
So the bybanen stops at Danmarksplass, i jump off confidently and start walking like i know where i am going. I don't! I think i walked for at least 20 minutes untill i realised i had gone wrong somewhere. I didn't mind too much, as it was a beautiful walk and i made friends with a gorgeous kitty who let me scratch her belly untill she saw her owner who put her gorgeousness to shame ;) she didn't let me get a good photo of her, and i thought it would be a bit weird if i took a picture of her owner ;)

Once i realised i had gone the wrong way i turned around and walked back to Danmarksplass i figured the other way must be right. wrong!! I walked aimlessly for half an hour enjoying the scenery and trying hard not to get run over by cyclists. I had pretty much giving up all hope of finding a statoil untill at last in the distance i saw the long saught after orange and blue statoil sign!! I had finally found one!! as i hurried towards it i started to recognise my surroundings had i been here already?? and thats when i noticed the busstop! yes you guessed it the bus which i could have caught instead of waiting for the bybanen would have dropped me off right next to thw statoil doh!Oh well at least i know for next time, into the statoil i headed and straight over to the coffee machine, seeing no mention of the refillable coffee cups i panic slightly all this way for nothing??? but then i asked the man behind the cash desk who just pointed behind me to the HUGE tower of refillable coffee cups!! woops hehe!
The cups are all black and grey with different road signs on them, i considered getting the
sign but then i thought that might be a bit silly ;) so i went for the moose/raindeer sign as i felt that was a lot more scandinavian themed. I hand over my 145kr and the cashier kindly offers to rinse the cup out for me.For my first coffee i chose a mocha with milk and sugar, it's nice and hot and stays that way thanks to the thermos, it also keeps the heat inside so the cup doesnt get too hot to hold. the taste is slightly bitter and a tad artificially sweet, but it is a great hit of caffine just what i needed.
I thanked the cashier, popped over the road and managed to jump on the number 20 bus almost straight away which took me home to Fantoft.
a very successful trip me thinks!
me enjoying my new cup!

an afterthought: i bet this cup would be great to store soup in during the cold winter months!