After leaving my Flash Pack trip, it was time to explore Oslo on my own. I know most people suggest taking the train between Bergen and Oslo, but two things made me decide on a flight. 1) I didn't have the time to spend on the train even if it is beautiful. 2) When I booked my flight on United using miles, I found that flights from Bergen to Oslo and Oslo to Stockholm could be added for only $20 each. You honestly can't beat that so I decided flying was the best option.
I took the bus from the airport into town, which dropped me off somewhat close to my AirBNB. I decided to rent a room in someone's condo instead of getting my own hotel room. The Scandinavian region is somewhat expensive. Coming from DC, I actually wasn't too surprised by the pricing. I would probably pay about the same amount for hotels, meals, and alcohol in DC. Nevertheless, I was trying to save money and decided to try the rent a room option. It allowed me to stay closer to town and also interact more with locals. My host was a nice mother with her 8 year old son. The room was nicely off to the side so it was mostly separated from the rest of the condo. There was only one bathroom, but I never had a problem with that. I was able to talk with her throughout the stay and get to know her a little. She also provided a few ideas on places to visit and where to eat.
On day 1, I got in during the afternoon and just explored on foot for awhile. To get to the harbor, I cut through the palace gardens (Slottsparken) and right next to the palace. It is incredible how little security there is around the palace. I am used to DC standards where you can't get anywhere near the White House. The garden area was beautiful and I loved walking through here daily and even spending some time reading near the pond. The Aker Brygge area is a lively area with restaurants and museums. There were also endless ice cream/gelato stands along the pier. I think I tried ice cream from at least 3 of them. I enjoyed a nice dinner and called it an early night so I was prepared for full days of fun.
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| The palace |
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| Akershus Fort |
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| Great spot to enjoy ice cream |
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| Yep, people were swimming and sunbathing everywhere. It looked like fun. |
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| Parliament |
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| I love the "Fearless Girl" which is in support of women in leadership positions, the empowerment of young women, women's education, gender equality, the reduction of prejudice in the work place through eduction, equal pay, and the general well-being of women. Live Fearlessly! |
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Cause nothing beats a big sign for Norway's chocolate
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Day 2: My whole goal for the morning was to get my Oslo Pass. Given what I wanted to see, it made sense for me to get it. On the way to get the pass, I stumbled upon the start of the
Oslo free walking tour. So I decided to join it and learn more about the city. I still think this is the best thing to do in every city. It gives you a good understanding of the history of the city, country, and things to see while you are there. The tour was wonderful and provided lots of fun facts about Oslo like did you know that FDR has a statue overlooking the harbor because he backed the courageous Norwegians during WWII. It also explains the unique history that Norway had with Denmark and Sweden.
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| Oslo is nicknamed "Tigerstaden" (The Tiger City) based on a poem from 1870 describing a fight between a horse (safe countryside) and a tiger (dangerous city). |
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| FDR overlooking the Harbor |
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| He has a pretty awesome view |
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| Small things you learn on a walking tour, City Hall actually has a relief of a prostitute. Sadly I can't remember the story behind why it is there. |
After the free walking tour, it was finally time to buy the Oslo pass near the train station. I wish I had stopped to think about the timeframe I would be using it. I bought the 48 hour thinking that I needed two days, but it was already almost 1:30pm and I was flying out the next day in the afternoon so the 24 hour pass would have worked fine for me. At least I was able to hand it off to a nice lady to use for part of her trip.
I went to explore the Opera House and took the opportunity to walk on the roof. It was designed this way and you can actually watch a movie while sitting on the roof. It has a great location looking out over the water and the iceberg floating statue. It was also a cheap place to grab a sandwich and overlook the water.
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| Opera house |
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| Hanging out on the roof of the Opera House |
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| The Iceberg moves with the tides |
Then it was off to explore Akershus Fortress. I started with the military museum, which I mostly just walked through quickly. There was limited English in this museum so it was mostly just looking at the different artillery. The Resistance Museum was the highlight of Akershus Fortress for me. It was a well done museum describing the Norwegian resistance during German occupation in WWII. I found it fascinating to learn what Norway did to make Germany's life a little harder during the war. I highly recommend visiting here. The rest of the Fortress is beautiful to walk around and even more amazing when you think how long ago it was built.
The Nobel Peace Prize museum was next on my list. I started to explore on my own and then ran into the English tour and joined them. It was interesting to hear how the Nobel prizes were started and the life of Albert Noble. He had over 355 patents including dynamite. His family produced armaments used in war. In 1888, his brother died and a French newspaper erroneously published the obituary for Alfred that condemned him for his invention of dynamite, which was a way to kill more people faster. Alfred was upset about his reputation and in his will, he specified that the majority of his fortune should be divided into five parts and be used for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Hence the creation of the Nobel prizes. The museum in Oslo only covers the peace prize while the museum in Stockholm covers all of the prizes. It was a well done museum and I enjoyed reading about the past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. It also had great free wifi, if you need to connect with home.
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| iPads showing data on the different Nobel Peace Prize winners. It was a very soothing room. |
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| I found this poster interesting and worth the read. |
By this time, the museums were starting to close so I decided to take the tram to Frogner Park, which houses the Vigeland installations. The Vigeland installation consists of 212 bronze and granite sculptures designed by Gustav Vigeland. They are all humans in different poses. One of the most famous is the Angry Boy, which is basically a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. There is also the monolith plateau showing 36 groups of figures representing a "circle of life" theme. These were very interestingly posed statues. In the center is the monolith, which is one piece of stone with many humans carved into it. It kind of reminded me of a totem pole but with humans modeled into it instead of animal. I really enjoy the park atmosphere. It was another beautiful day in Oslo and everyone was outside laying on the grass, playing games, and just being happy. I highly recommend going down into the garden by the end of the bridge further from the monolith. It is a cute area with statues of babies playing and overlooks a small water area. It is a great spot to enjoy a snack or read a book.
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| Angry Boy |
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| The perfect reading spot |
Day 3 was my last attempt to hit everything I wanted in the city. I think 3 full days would be perfect in Oslo to see everything you want without overwhelming yourself. My goal was to explore the museums on Bydgoy including the Viking Museum, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, the Fram Museum, and the Kon-Tiki Museum. I need to get these all done by 1pm so I could get back to the condo to pick up my luggage and head to the airport. It was a lot to get done, but I was thrilled I got it all done and was still able to hit City Hall on the way back to the condo.
The Viking Museum was really interesting. The Vikings created burial mounds for significant people where the person or people were laid in the ship with lots of items to help them in the afterworld. The museum had several well preserved ships on display along with artifacts and information about the Vikings lifestyle.
The Cultural History open air museum consisted of housing or buildings from different periods in Norwegian history. There was a mix of farmhouses, a Stave church, and other aspects of life from around Norway. I learned a lot about Norwegian culture and how it varies across the country. It was also nice to have a guide in the Stave church to give more details on religion in Norway.
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| So much grass on the roofs |
The Fram Museum shows the history of Norwegian polar explorers. It includes the Fram and Gjoa vessels that were used in polar expeditions. If you visit here, start with the video on the bottom floor to learn more about the Norwegian explorers before wandering around the museum.
The Kon-Tiki Museum was a lot of fun. I wasn't exactly sure what I was walking into but thoroughly enjoyed it. The museum contains the balsa raft and information about the journey that Thor Heyerdahl and his crew of 5 men took across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia in 1947 to show that early South American civilization could have reached Polynesian with seafaring vessels. It is impressive to see the raft that they survived on for 101 days and proved that it could be done. Definitely worth a visit and it is even kid friendly.
I didn't get a chance to visit the Norwegian Maritime Museum, but it is on my list for next time. But by not going to that museum, I was able to get back in time to visit City Hall before going to grab my luggage. City Hall is known for its beautiful artwork on the inside and outside. I was able to look at the outdoor art earlier in the trip, but I wanted to get inside. The artwork is beautiful and I appreciated the explanation of the different rooms.
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| Not a bad view from City Hall |
The trip back to the airport was easy on the train. I enjoyed Oslo. It sadly followed up my amazing time in Bergen, but I still had fun exploring the museums and the culture of the city. I thought 3 days was the perfect length to explore. It was a wonderful time to be in Norway. It was sunny and warm the whole time and everyone was outside enjoying it. I can't wait to get back to Norway to explore more of the country, although to be honest, I will spend more time in the mountains and fjords than cities.
