Part two of my trip was Oslo. For the first, and probably last time, I managed to get front row seats on the flight. I didn’t notice until I looked on my ticket whilst I was getting on the plane, only to realise that the flight was three quarters full, so I had to put my bag in the luggage compartment in row 8 then make my way back to row 1, trying to get past a lot of unimpressed Scandanavians who were boarding the flight. That was not fun.
I arrived there at 10.30am, put my stuff in the lockers at the station and went to the
Royal Palace and the Opera House. Looking at the tourist map, it looked like the sculpture park was within walking distance of the Palace, which I soon learnt was not. With help from Google Maps, it took me little over an hour to find it. The park in itself is really nice, and it helped that the weather was amazing, but of course there was A LOT of tourists, and I really do mean a lot. After this I went back down to central Oslo, checked into Oslo Central Hostel and then went to the Fjord area. The weather was so nice so I walked along the harbor and found a food truck where I got my dinner. I found a really nice spot and realised that I hadn’t booked a long enough holiday, then stayed there until the sun started to set.
The weather the next day wasn’t the best so I went to get the
ferry to the museums. The Viking Museum I found was a lot more interesting than the Vasa Museum; there were a lot of original artifacts from the ships, and it was also interesting to learn about how they are preserved as they are now trying to stop the ships and artifacts from eroding from the inside out. After this I went to the Holocaust Center, and didn’t actually realise the extent of which Norway was controlled by Nazi Germany. For learning experience, this was easily one of the best World War II museums I have seen, despite it being mostly in Norweigan. After, I got horrendously lost on the way back to the ferry, but did manage it back in one piece.
I chose to go to the Nobel Peace Center as it really seems to be a big thing in Scandinavia. I only really spent time in the part about the most recent awards, but I think Malala has inspired me to get off my arse and do something, as there’s millions of people around the world who don’t receive an education, and millions more who don’t receive more than a basic education.
The guy on the reception desk recommended a coffee shop called Fulgen, which had the best cappuccino that I’ve had in my life. I went there as well the next day with a woman who I was sharing a room with before I flew back to London.
I’d say that Oslo is a really nice city, but after a day and a half I did run out of things to do and see. Like Stockholm, I didn’t really spend that much money, and I spent the last of it at the airport.