An afternoon in Oslo, Norway

We docked around 8 a.m. and had a full 12 hours in port today. We were in Oslo many years ago when Ronnie was still working at Company and I was just tagging along. Since we didn't have an excursion planned for today, we decided to stay on board this morning and then get out for a bit after lunch.

Oslo is a huge city and without specific plans, we weren’t going to see much on foot. So we decided to just take a Hop on/Hop off bus from the cruise terminal. By doing this, we would be able see a lot more of the city while listening to a pre-recorded "city tour" as we rode. 

There was a large tent set up in the port for cruise passengers to shop and buy souvenirs, so while waiting on the bus I did a little browsing. It had pretty much every Nordic-related souvenir one might think of, and probably some you couldn’t. For instance, when was the last time you saw whale sausage at your local grocery? Or moose or reindeer sausage? I briefly considered getting a pair of Viking socks for Henry (Ronnie nixed it).  Or perhaps one might need a few additions to their troll collection? We also chatted with a couple of our favorite crew members while waiting on the bus.

 

Viking socks

whale sausage

Norway - a troll collectors paradise

 

Kelly (Peru) & Marko (Serbia)

But back to Oslo. It is Norway’s capital, as well as its largest city. It boasts world class museums, galleries, high end restaurants, a huge opera house and a thriving night life. It’s the oldest of the Scandinavian capitals, its first settlements having been built 1,000 years ago. We passed by the Royal Palace with machine gun carrying officers stationed at each gate. The Oslo Opera House is the cities undisputed cultural highlight. It was an incredible sight to see people walking up and down its sloped marble roof as we passed by. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the bus in lots of traffic and unable to get up and snap a picture.

There were LOTS of people out – walking, biking, sunning/swimming, eating, sightseeing, etc. The high was 76 today, a little warmer than we’ve seen so far. I was amazed to see how many bicycles and electric scooters were on the road. Many streets have no bike lanes so the bicycles share the central part of the road with huge city and tour buses and cars. 

Since we needed to watch our time, we decided to only get off at Vigeland City Park. This park is home to over 200 life-size sculptures by artist Gustav Vigeland. Oslo. The statues are huge in size and there’s no admission to get in (however $2 to use the restroom). Ha! Of course I took plenty of pictures there - some I would be embarrassed to photograph, much less put on the blog. But I’ll post enough to give you a good idea of what the park is like.

 

entrance to Vige City Park

bronze statues line both sides of the long walkway

 

bronze statues on either side leading up to stone statues at the top (see in distance)

 

 

 

large fountain surrounded by more bronze works

makes a nice big bird bath

 

 

the one in the middle is the central and tallest sculpture

the Monolith - 52.7 feet tall

From the internet regarding the tall structure above "The sculpture depicts 121 human figures clinging and floating together. There's women and men of different ages, and the top of the Monolith is crowned with children. The sculpture has been interpreted as a kind of vision of resurrection, and our longing and striving for spirituality."

 

Here is more info on this place: https://vigeland.museum.no/en/vigelandpark

 

sunset as we departed Oslo