9 december 2018
During the last break from classes I spent four days wandering around Oslo. Despite it being between 20 and 30 degrees the whole time and the sun setting at 3:30 I saw a lot and had a good time.
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning I went to the airport for a 9:00 flight to Oslo. After a short fight and a bus ride of about equal length I made it to the Airbnb around 12:00.
I spent a little time unpacking and reorganizing and then walked to the National Gallery to look at some art. There was a special exhibition on Harald Sohlberg entitled Infinite Landscapes. His paintings were dramatic landscapes without any people putting focus on the environment. I especially loved the peaceful and quiet feeling the snow-covered houses gave off. There was also a piece on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago that I remember seeing a few years ago and really liking.
The rest of the museum goes through different time periods of art with conveniently colored coded walls that match the map. It wasn’t very big but had a nice selection of paintings and a few sculptures. I spent a couple hours at the National Gallery before going to grab some dinner.
Norway is expensive and ordering food is my least favorite thing to do while traveling because I hate when people have to switch to English for me, so I averaged one meal a day in Norway. The first day was some very expensive ramen. Despite it only being about 4:00 it was already dark outside.
I don’t like flying and all the Dramamine makes me really tired so I was ready for bed at about 3:00 pm. Since I was barely awake and everything was closing, I walked back to the Airbnb after dinner and called it a night. On the way I passed this building with a giraffe with ET’s head painted on the side. I didn’t get a picture but here’s screenshot from Google maps. He also made it into my sketchbook.
Being so tired I passed out at 6:00 pm, slept until about 9:00 pm, fell back asleep at midnight, and woke up the next morning at 8:00 am.
Thursday
While it was Thanksgiving back home it was just a regular Thursday in Oslo. I walked to the Natural History museum (and saw a cat on the way) around 10:00 am and since it was Thursday admissions happened to be free which was a nice surprise. The only downside was it was full of small children in reflective vests so I felt bad standing in front of the displays because I was blocking the view. I always like seeing the displays of Nordic animals because they’re so different to the plains animals shown in Iowa. The display on Svalbard was particularly cool because it’s so different and such a unique region. There were also displays on various regions of the world and a room going through the evolution of animals.
The museum is located in a park of sorts with gardens and other buildings. I walked through the gardens which I’m sure look better when it’s not late November and went into the palm house to warm up a little before walking around some more.
Then it was time to walk to the Oslo Opera House to watch the sun set. The building is relatively new and has a very modern style. There is a ramp going up the side so people can stand on the roof and see the water and the city. I know all these pictures look pretty much the same, but everything was so pretty I couldn't decide.
Friday
I woke up Friday with the intention of going to the Viking Ship Museum. On the way over I transferred to the wrong bus and ended up at City Hall. It looked cool so I spent close to two hours walking along the coast.
Once I was sufficiently cold I walked back to the bus stop and got on the bus going in the right direction. The Viking Ship Museum houses three well preserved burial ships and some additional artifacts. I’m always blown away thinking about how much history things in a museum have existed through and the people who created and used them.
To keep with the ship theme I walked to the Fram Museum which claims it’s the best museum in Norway. The museum is dedicated to polar exploration and houses the Gjøa–the first ship to go through the Northwest Passage–and Fram–another historical Norwegian polar ship–along with displays telling the stories of those who successfully and unsuccessfully navigated the Northwest Passage and other parts of the arctic. I’m not sure if it’s the best museum in Norway but I definitely learned a lot on topics I didn’t know about ,and being able to go through the ships was pretty cool. Explorer Roald Amundsen stood out as the first person to fly over the North Pole, go to the South Pole, reach both poles, and traverse the Northwest Passage. It made me feel bad for thinking the 25-degree weather in Oslo was cold. I also really liked the old maps, postcards, and stamps.
I had planned on going to a Colombian restaurant I had passed earlier for dinner. But they weren’t open despite their hours saying they would be so I went to a grocery store and grabbed some stuff to make sandwiches. I spent the rest of the night warming up and doing some drawing.
Saturday
On Saturday morning I checked out and then took a bus over to the Vigeland Park. The park is full of statues created by Gustav Vigeland, a Norwegian sculptor. Despite the cold the park still had a decent amount of people walking their dogs, running, and looking at the sculptures.
After a couple hours I took a bus to the Historical Museum since the Viking Ship Museum ticket gave free entry. They had exhibits about various regions of the world and time periods in history. I liked looking at the coin collection and seeing what people found important enough to put on money. I also completely fell in love with Norwegian kroner while in Norway. Being in Europe has made me realize just how boring U.S. banknotes are.
I liked that the museum included North and South America in their Americas display and it was cool to see what other countries deemed the important parts of the culture to display. There was a surprising amount of ofrendas and it made me think of when my graphic design class was trying to explain Dia de los Muertos to our professor and ended up having to ask if he’d seen Coco. He had and that cleared things up.
After the museum it was onto Oslo Central Station for a train ride to the airport and then a flight back to Copenhagen.