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Romodessey

Oslo - 7-9 July

NORWAY | Saturday, 16 August 2008 | Views [892]

view from on top of the opera house

view from on top of the opera house

Arrival & Accommodations

It was grey and rainy for most of the train trip from Stockholm so not too much to say about it. There was some obligatory pretty scenery, of course. Seemed typically Swedish – birch/fir forests, fields and farmhouses and lakes, of course. Towards the end, when it started to get more Norwegian – there were all these darn tunnels (one is 11km long) getting in the way of my photography!


On arrival to Oslo station it was actually surprisingly easy to locate both the info centre and my hostel (Sentrum pensjonat). The guy at reception asked me if i was here for the Bruce Springsteen concert that night (ah, no i answered politely – even though i do actually like some of the Boss's songs thanks to my old Palmie flatmates) – had no idea he was still touring! Found out later that one of my roommates was going – she was a true groupie, had been to 300 of so of his concerts and she was following him around on tour. she would've been in her 40's but stayed out later than me every night!


The hostel (hotel-style) was far nicer than i expected. It was great to have a mere 5 beds in the room again! Though we did have to make a 2 flights of stairs pilgrimage to the showers (of which there were only about 6 for what i assumed was the whole hostel). The first shower i took there almost killed me – it was like standing in the path of a fire-fighter's hose!


Headed out to get some dinner (the most expensive Burger King i will ever eat – 79nkk for a whopper and hamburger) then came back to my room – to find...2 new arrivals, none other than Mike and Derek who had also been roomies in Stockholm. There were hundreds of beds in the place and they end up IN THE SAME room as me. I am now thoroughly convinced that the world is SMALL. We had a good laugh about it and they assured me they were not stalking me. Found out that both of them were heading into post-grad study – one physics and one maths. The guys regaled me with their plans of world domination and retiring at 30 – you know just like all the other mathematicians and physicists in the world.


Had a precursory look around town (which thankfully was smaller than the map made it look) and then turned in.

day 1 – 8/7

Headed out to Oslo's Brygdoy peninsula (where all the big museums are at) on the ferry. Realised while i was trapped in the line for the ferry that i should have bought an Oslo Pass (one of those tourist passes that all cities seem to have which are predominantly not worth getting) as the museums (there were about 5 i wanted to go to) were much more expensive than i had thought – not to mention the public transport! The American cruise tourists next to me in line were in the same boat too (pun) and we all bitched about it together.

Ended up going to only 2 museums – the viking ship museum and the Con Tiki museum (as in the Thor Hyderdal expedition NOT the tour company). Both were quite good – i felt like i acquired at least some new knowledge.


The viking ship museum had 3 examples of actual viking ships (from around 600-800 AD) that had been used in burial mounds for the upper echelons of Viking Society. Back in the day they used to bury people with all the things they might need in the afterlife – including servants, horses, dogs, food, tools and fine jewelry. Bugger being someone's slave in Viking times! i felt really sorry for all the horses too – amazing just how much they could fit in a viking war boat.


All the items in the graves were freakishly well preserved, despite all the grave-robbing that had taken place over the centuries (most of the valuables had been pilfered), thanks to the clay they had used to seal up the mounds. You can see examples of elaborately-decorated carved chests, leather bridles, dog collars and even shoes.

The viking carvings (on pretty much everything they used), work tools, jewelery and the boats, carts and sleds blew my mind. It's amazing to see how much technology and talent these guys had so many years ago! Their lifestyles and how far they managed to travel fascinated me as well.


The Con Tiki museum was interesting too – it was all about Thor Heyderdal this amazing Norweigan amateur (he was a zoologist by training) archaeologist/adventurer/cultural advocate. He is famous for testing his archaeological theories himself. He led several expeditions in various ancient style rafts (one made of reeds) to prove the types of journeys and interactions that ancient peoples could have made/had. I learnt about the Con Tiki, where Thor was trying to prove that the Polynesians could have come from South America rather than Asia, in 4th form social studies. Incredibly, he and 4 other guys, set off from the Sth American coast in a simple South American Indian style raft, and not only survived 140 days at sea but actually arrived on an island in the South Pacific just by drifting on the currents.


The guy is incredible – he kept on leading expeditions and studying archeology right up til his 70's and ended up having a role in the united nations (i think that's the right organisation), my memory is a little hazy on the facts) as an advocate for cultural rights (the guy didn't believe in barriers between different “peoples”). It makes you feel as if you've done nothing with your life and makes you want to rush right out and do some good deeds.


Later that evening i checked out the new opera house with Derek and Mike. It is a true architectural marvel – a huge ultra-ultra-modern white structure right on the waterfront. I swear, with all the angles and ramps the building has it is a skateboarder's wet dream.


To top off the evening the 3 of us decided to sample some “traditional Norwegian cuisine” from the diner-style restaurant underneath our hostel. I had meatballs (Friskeller), spuds and mushy peas for 79 kroner. Was ok but it tasted somewhat 'microwave-mealish' – later i found out why when i found the exact same meal at the supermarket in the heat'n'eat meals section!!! LoL – guess you kind of expect to get ripped off as a tourist sometimes.


day2 – 9/7

Still had my transport pass so i decided to head up to the highest point for a view over Oslo. Took the tram up to Frognerseteren. The view was nice (you could see out over the fjord and pretty forested hills) but the huge fir trees kind of obscured most of the city (not too much of a shame though cos i didn't actually think too much of Oslo city anyway). Stopped off quickly at the ski museum – Holmenkollen to awe at the ski jump there ( it had been put up for the winter olympics and is mega-steep) before heading back into the city for the famed Frognerpark.


Frognerpark was absolutely gorgeous – jampacked with perfectly-manicured, architecturally-landscaped gardens and lawns, and beautiful Norwegians of course. Right in the middle of it is Vigeland Sculpture Park. To quote Lonely Planet's description, the sculpture park is “a processional walkway lined with statues of screaming babies, entwined lovers and other naughty people leading to a giant phallus”. The statues are really really lifelike and were definitely the highlight of my trip to Oslo – the only downside was the myriads of bus-tripping tourists falling over themselves to try and get the best pose with the statues. Nothing like random tourists contaminating your photos (really i'm just jealous of their cool photo ideas).


Some other nice places i visited:

  • the Askerhus Fortress (located right on the coastline with stunning vistas over the water – great place to be on a nice sunny afternoon)

  • the Peace Museum (the price stopped me from going in but they have an awesome gift shop and had a very thought-provoking photographic display of the lifestyle of an Amazonian Indian tribe).

 

 

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