Oslo, Norway

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I start off this European adventure not knowing what to expect. I decided to go somewhere different this year, and with great anticipation I chose Scandinavia. I have never been to Scandinavia before, and I am eager to arrive and get my trip started. Norway would be my first stop and is famous for its breathtaking Fjords and Viking heritage.

I arrive at the airport, and off I go. I had already exchanged currency before I left the states, so I was good to go and ready for my adventure to start. I find the train station to take me to the center of town, and the journey begins. Once there, I walk out of the train station into the main area, and my next task at hand is to find my hostel. I look around at the common area, and notice that people are congregating there, so I thought this might be a place to come back too and just hang out if I find the time. There was this large tiger statue right outside of the train station that many were taking photos of. I thought is was funny, for on the back side of the statue it was quite shiny. Many rubbed certain spots I am assuming for good luck. Anyway, off on my journey I went.

I find my hostel with little trouble. My hostel was a small hostel with a nice atmosphere located in the centre of Oslo. They were roughly a three minute walk from the train station. I normally try to book a hostel very near the train station on my first leg of my trip where I can get settled and situated with traveling. It helps to relieve the stress of having to spend much time walking around searching to find the hostel. Believe it or not, this can be quite stressful, and exhausting while lugging around the backpack and day bag. After a few days, you do get somewhat used to this; at least you deal with it. Anyway, I check in, clean up a bit, and on the streets I go. I decide to walk around first to get the lay of the land. I start down on street that was somewhat populated with people/tourists. I see far off in the distance what appears to be a castle, so I walk in that direction. The closer I get, I notice it most likely is the kings palace. While walking, I notice on my left hand side an interesting architecture. It was built out of wood, and it was big letters that spelled OSLO with the S and L painted in bright colors. Lots of folks taking pictures there, and I was fortunate enough to capture one without any people in front of it.

I decided to journey down the street this OSLO architecture was on. After walking for a few minutes, I was at the water. There were activities going on, and many tour boats that would take you out to view the Fjords. A Fjord is referred to as a wide range of waterways. The oldest settlements in the area surrounding the Oslo Fjords date from the Stone Age and the Bronze Age. It was here on the eastern and western shores that three of the best preserved Viking ships were unearthed. I knew I wanted to go out and visit the Fjords, and actually had booked a Fjord tour to take me out, so I would wait until then to look around in this part of the city. Back to the main street I go towards the King's Royal Palace.

After walking a bit, I make it to my destination, the Royal Palace. The Royal Palace is situated on a rise, the Bellevue, at one end of Oslo’s main thoroughfare, Karl Johans gate. The Royal Palace is one of the country’s most important buildings. Building activities commenced in 1824, and the foundation stone was laid by King Carl Johan on 1 October 1825. The Royal Palace is owned by the state and placed at the disposal of the Head of State. It is where the daily work of the monarchy is conducted and where the King and Queen live. It is where the King presides over the Council of State, grants audiences, and holds official dinners. Foreign heads of state who visit Oslo stay at the Palace. Most of the members of the Royal Court have their workplace here.

I walk completely around this structure viewing the beauty, and once back around, I stop to ask someone to take a picture of me with the Royal Guard. That is at most times a weird feeling, for here I am smiling like everything, and the guard has the stone cold look on their face. I guess they do not know what us silly tourists may be up to, and have to be alert at all times. I respect that. Off I go back towards the main part of town. After walking around the city area a little more, I retire to my hostel to rest up. The next day would be eventful, and I was getting a bit tired.

After a goods nights sleep, I awake to the excitement of exploring the city and going on a Fjord tour. I was full of anticipation. I decided to do a free city walking tour to get a feel of the city from the eyes of a local. This would help me to get more comfortable just walking around, as certain sights will begin to look familiar. The tour guide was very friendly, and she walked us around and explained a good deal about the history, all while she navigated us to different landmarks. We walked by the Oslo opera house, and this was a magnificent sight to see. It really was a beautiful structure.

As it was getting close to time for my Fjord tour, I make my way to the docks. I ask and receive directions as to where the loading point was, and I make my way to get in line. Time to board, and once on the boat, I secure a seat that will allow me a good view. After a little bit of a wait, the ship takes off. This Oslo Fjord tour is a two hour cruise from the city. As you ride around the water, you get to listen to commentary from an onboard guide to learn about Oslo and the nature and countryside that surrounds it. We enter into the Fjords, and I am just amazed at the beauty. We passed through sheltered sounds, and were winding around small islands speckled with summer vacation homes. It was pretty neat to see these little houses just side by side. They look like little tree houses to me, but they were on the water. There were families in some, and people in others just entertaining and having a nice relaxing time. Seemed very peaceful. Many just smiled and waved as our boat went by. My feeling is that they get so many tourists, that this is just common to them. We ride around for the allotted time, and we make our way back to the docks.

As I had such a wonderful time on this Fjord tour, I decided I wanted to see more, and that I wanted to go to the Viking museum. As I have not purchased this tour yet, I make my way to a kiosk selling tickets to different tours, find a good time, and purchase the ticket and boarding pass. Now, I just have to await until my boarding time. I walk around and see what all activities are going on around the docks. It was actually quite crowded, as there were several tents and events going on. Anyway, the ferry would depart from the harbor to Bygdoy, and I would have the option to go to the Viking museum or Tiki museum if I decided to do so.

This actually was a ferry that took you to the area where the museums were located, and it was not necessarily a tour. We rode around a bit, and then was taken to a drop off point were we could walk around and explore, or to go to a museum. We were allotted a certain amount of time, which was in my opinion quite a nice amount of time to explore, so I decided to make my way to the Viking museum. I followed the masses, as I was a little unsure as to where I was going, but eventually I made it to my destination.

The Viking Ship Museum presents Viking ship discoveries from Gokstad, Oseberg and Tune as well as other finds from Viking tombs around the Oslo Fjord. The museum displays the world's two best-preserved wooden Viking ships built in the 9th century, as well as small boats, sledges, a cart with exceptional ornamentation, implements, tools, harness, textiles and household utensils. The museum is most famous for the completely whole Oseberg ship, excavated from the largest known ship burial in the world. They lay for over a thousand years before discovery, and two of the three ships were very well preserved. Amazing!

When I enter, I can see one of the preserved ships off in the distance. I make my way there, and you are able to climb up a set of stairs where you can have a bit of an overhead view of the ship. This put it in perspective for me, as far as what a Viking ship really looked like. I have had these thoughts in my head, but now I have really saw one with my own eyes. Just the sheer manual labor it would take to row one of these would be quite extensive. Based on the number of oars that each boat could house, I believe the capacity was around thirty men or so. I just can't even imagine having to row and row and row. How exhausting, but each person would depend on the other to pull the load, so there would not be much of a choice. Anyway, both of the preserved ships were quite large in size, and you could walk around and have a good look. I was actually amazed at how well preserved given the amount of time they have been buried. In other areas of the museum were several artifacts found, and many were found on board the two ships as they were believed to be used as burial ships for prominent people in the Oslo Fjord area. When they were found, one of the ships had two women skeletons on board. One was a queen, and the other was her slave believed to be sacrificed to join her in the afterlife. One ship had a mans skeleton aboard that was believed to be a mighty warrior along with some of the artifacts. Of course these skeletons were not still there, and I am not certain as to where they were buried after the fact.

After staying for quite a while, I decide to explore a bit. I depart this museum, and I walk towards the Tiki museum. I thought it was quite close, and in retrospect, it probably was, however I felt I walked a good bit to get there. Once I did arrive, I made the choice to not go in, for I would be limited on time to really look around and enjoy due to me spending quite a lot of time in the Viking museum. I was okay with this, as I wanted to just look around the surrounding area, and take it all in. I stayed thirty minutes or so, and I had to make my way back to the docks to assure I caught the ferry back to my original starting point. I make it back and wait a short time for the ferry, board and back we go.

I spend the rest of the evening walking around the dock area, as well as walking up and down Karl Johans gate. I did make it back to the opera house in the evening, and I walked up to the top, which was quite an incline, and took in the beauty of Oslo. What beauty to behold, and I was literally pinching myself thinking where I was at, and how lucky I was to be there. I make my way back down, and have one last gaze at the Oslo sky line. I knew tomorrow would be a busy day, as I had to catch a bus to Stockholm. Two days were not really enough time to take in everything that Oslo has to offer, however I was very happy that I had this allotted time to see everything that I was able to squeeze in. Oslo would be a place that I would definitely like to return to some day.

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Comments

[Susana Mason]

Norway
I found your blog online and loved that you went to Oslo. I lived in the extreme north of Norway (Hammerfest) as an exchange student a "few" years ago. I have also traveled to Oslo and one of my host sisters, Erna, lives in Oslo with her family. I remember the places you visited and you are correct, 2 days is not enough time to spend there. If you ever get back, go to Vigeland Museum Park. It's my absolute favorite place to visit in Oslo. Gustov Vigeland created these statues that are so articulate and amazing. There is a website on the park that's worth looking over. I'll try to read more of your blogs. Susan Mason