Oslo, Norway

Tuesday May 13

After a good night's sleep we opened the curtains to see what the day was like, and although not sunny it was bright and clear. This was ideal for admiring the scenery as we cruised up the Oslo fjord and docked very close to the city centre about 10am. We met the others soon after and headed off to explore Oslo.

Our ship docked next door to Akershus Fort

Our first stop was City Hall, which has incredible wooden carvings on either side of the front walls as you enter the main doors, and then inside on the walls of the main auditorium are huge murals depicting various aspects of Norway's history and culture.

The mural inside City Hall

The quickest way to reach the museums we wanted to visit was to catch a ferry which took us across Oslo harbour to the suburb of Bygdoy which had some lovely homes right on the water. It was only a short walk to the Viking Ships museum which contains 3 ships used for burying the chief and his possessions so he had everything with him for entering the after life. They are all about 1100 years old and have been preserved by the clay and dirt that they were buried under.

Burgess & Pat, Noelle and Linda & Bill on the ferry

Al with the Oseberg ship

Another short walk took us to the Kon-Tiki museum which contained the balsa raft Thor Heyerdahl sailed across the Pacific Ocean on in 1947 as well as the reed boat Ra ll (the first attempt didn't quite make it) which he sailed across the Atlantic ocean on in 1969. This year is the centenary of Heyerdahl's birth so the Norwegians are making the most of this milestone.

Next door was the Fram museum which contains the polar ship Fram. This ship was built in the late 1800s and was used by Fridjof Nansen to explore the North Pole while Roald Amundsen used it on his 1911 expedition to the South Pole. It made you realise what intrepid explorers they were and the hardships they had to endure using very low tech materials in extreme conditions.

We were planning to visit the Vigeland Sculpture Park but on our way in the bus it started to rain heavily so we abandoned those plans and decided to visit the fortress next to the ship. The only disappointment was that by the time we got to Norway's Resistance museum within the fort it was closed for the day, but we still got great views over the city as we explored these fortifications. There were some quirky sculptures within the fort which had nothing to do with a fort, but it was a great space for these sculptures!

Al, Bill and Noelle with Oslo behind us

 

We completed our day of Oslo museums with a quick visit to the Nobel Peace Centre which contained information about Alfred Nobel, the peace prize laureates and their work. I thought this German cartoon about Chancellor Willy Brandt (Google him if you don't know who he is) was very clever, and a good way to conclude our visit to the Peace Centre and Oslo.

 

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