Day 14 – Oslo, Norway

Day 14 – Oslo, Norway

We arrived in Oslo before sunrise.  It was cold and overcast and we had a short amount of time to explore the city.  Our ship docked immediately across from the iconic Oslo library and it was a short walk to the main station, where we were able to board a tram to the most famous sculpture garden in Norway – by Vigeland.  The extensive grounds and hundreds of sculptures, including the central obelisk made of human figures, were impressive.  However, the impassive faces and smooth, unadorned or unaccented granite figures were almost unbearably severe.  There were notable exceptions, including the “angry boy” and the woman carrying two children on her back, that expressed emotions and human-ness.  Perhaps the limited/repressed emotions of many sculptures represent a certain reserved nature of the Norwegian people?

Another tram ride took us back to the central area where we toured the city hall.  This has an unexpected and wholly captivating interior with both expansive public spaces and cozy meeting rooms.  As the site of the Nobel peace prize ceremony, it is widely known.  At Ben’s insistence we walked up and through the Akkers Fortress and back through the old town to the harbor.  We walked “over” (literally) the opera house, enjoying views of the harbor.  And our time was up – frustratingly so.  We were not able to visit the viking ship museum and the folk museum, both across the harbor and not easily accessed by bus or tram.

We sailed slowly through the Oslo Fjord, enjoying many views of the city spread across many peninsulas and islands.  It felt a bit like Puget Sound, with ferries traversing in seemingly all directions – and the weather being quite like the Seattle area.  It appeared that Oslo residents routinely commute to the city center or other islands via ferry.  This fjord is wide and relatively shallow, unlike the fjords on Norway’s west coast, and every island seemed to have dwellings – some exuberantly cute.


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