Expensive Oslo
Trip Start
May 01, 2007
1
77
80
Trip End
Ongoing
Oslo,
Oslo,
Norway
Saturday, May 24, 2008
We had a short look around that afternoon, taking in the city centre and just taking a general look around. It was cold, so opted for a bite to eat before calling it a day. Already we were finding Norway really expensive and knew we had to watch our spending!
The next morning we had an earlier rise, grabbed some breaky from a small store and headed to the Edward Munch Museum. This was something Stace and realyl been looking forward to. I didn't know much about Munch, but once I left I was very impressed, and it is definitly one of the best art exhibitions I've seen. Edward Munch's most famous piece is 'The Scream'. This painting was stolen a few years back and only in the months before we visited was returned to display after a long restoration period
01 - Modern Oslo
. So we were extremely lucky to actually see the original! His 'Madonna' is also quite famous and very impressive. We found the security at the museum very tight, I'm guessing as a result of the theft!That afternoon we checked out the Royal Palace, and then the Town Hall, before hopping a boat over to the Viking Ship Museum, to check out the centuries old Viking Ships. The ships were found in the hills around Oslo around 150 years ago, and date back to AD800. I found it fascinating that the Vikings journeyed over the Atlantic in similar boats. The ones in the museum were apparently more for ceremonies than journeying. They are spectacular ships and were well worth the look.
After a short spot of rain we decided to head to the Frogner Park, where there are some really wacked out sculptures by the artist Gustav Vigeland. There a bit hard to explain, so just check out the photos! They were very impressive, like nothing I've ever seen. The park itself is amazing too. But the sculptures are the drawcard, and I don't think I'll see anything like it again. This was a good 'free' thing to do in Oslo. We even bummed a free tram ride back to town.
Our last activity for the day was a visit to the Nobel Peace Center, where we learnt all about Nobel Peace winners and Al Gore. This was very interesting. We closed the evening with a trip up to the Akershus Castle, which gave great views over Oslo. The castle itself was great, in good location overlooking the harbour. So we found ourselves having a really good day of sightseeing around Oslo, after originally thinking there wasn't much to do. Oslo was nice, with some great architecture, and beautiful sights. The cost of everything was a bit depressing however! I was expecting it to be like Stockholm. Oslo wasn't like Stockholm. It was rougher. More expensive, but perhaps a little bit more interesting.
