Timo, mój znajomy z Belgii, odwiedził mnie na trzy dni w kwietniu i nie tylko była to świetna okazja do spotkania po latach ale również motywacja do zobaczenia bardziej turystycznych miejsc czy muzeów. Osobiście bardzo miło wspominam te odwiedziny, a poniżej możecie poczytać trochę o tym jakie wrażenie wywarło Oslo na nim.
O zwiedzeniu Oslo w dwa dni przeczytacie też w poście Oslo w 48 godzin, czyli coś dla krótkoterminowych gości.
Day I - Getting familiar
After a few hours of flight, the low altitude and the rough landscape give away that we are almost landing. It is noon. I can't wait to go to Oslo, but first I will arrive at Rygge airport, which is still about 50 minutes away from the capital of Norway. I followed the flow of people and decided to take the bus, while I also could have chosen the train.
When informing at the helpdesk where to exchange my money into norwegian crowns, the woman informs me that there is no need to exchange any money. Everything can be paid by card. And so it was. At the bus a retour ticket appeared to be less expensive than two one way tickets and costed me 230 NOK. Paid by card
When entering the city an array of small tall buildings welcomes me, a.k.a 'the barcode'. As an architecture lover this is an appealing welcome. Upon arrival my host during my stay, Natalia, waited for me together with a friend. So it happened that for my first steps in discovering Oslo I already had a couple of good guides.
Our first appointment was the opera house which was only a short walking distance away. The modern building at the seaside provided a beautiful interior and a first toilet break. Long slopes guide you in a walk to the top of the building so you can enjoy the view.
However Oslo is expensive, supermarkets are quite reasonable in price. After the opera and passing the grave of painter Edvard Munch we chose to prepare our dinner and discussed how the evening would look like.
A unique aspect of the city is that, although being the capital, it is surrounded by woods and other nature. I bought a 24 hour bus ticket and we went to a nice frozen lake near the forest where during summer and spring the Norwegians love to wander around or run. In winter time they apperantly Cross Country Ski in the area. For us it was a walk and a suitable moment to chat and realise how tranquil and peaceful this capital actually is.
As Thursday appears to be the most suitable day of the week for people younger than the age of twentythree to go out, I couldn't say no to a Norwegian Party. Dancing on both international as well as local songs from the sixties I maybe enjoyed the most observing the Norwegians in their behavior and appearance. Quite tall people with relatively long, blonde and straight hair only coming loose when alcohol starts to flow in the evening.
A good filled day and a nice first impression of this city in the north.
Day II - Discovering Oslo
Trying to get some benefits from my 24 hour transportation ticket, the wisest thing to start the day with (after breakfast etc.) was choosing to visit a peninsula in the south-west of Oslo which otherwise would have been too time consuming to reach on foot. The area contains many musea and houses for the wealthy. Or should I say, houses for the common people? As almost the whole population seems enjoy a decent standard of living. The musea we chose to visit were the folk museum and the museum Fram.
The folk museum houses a lot of objects proper to the Norwegian culture during different time periods. Although sometimes only in Norwegian, everything is provided with well explained information. Also the garden is nice to go to. One of the houses there had thirteen rooms furnished according to different time periods. It gives you an insight in how scandinavian design developped throughout the years. Another interesting building on the territory is a twelfth century church on the hill. Don't forget to look inside: It has a nice painting of 'the last supper' on the wall above the altar.
Next, the Fram museum! Did you know the Norwegians were the first to reach the southpole?
The ship Fram, which was used by Amundsen and his crew to get to the Antarctic forms the heart of the museum. Moreover, the triangular prism shaped museum was litteraly built around it !
I would say: Stand at the helm and breath the history!
In the order to profit even further of my 24 hour transportation ticket the next stop was Holmenkollbakken, a ski jump which was used for the 1952 Olympic winter games.
Very nice for people like me who never saw a skijump, but I think there do exist some larger ones..
We tried to squeeze the last bits out of my lovely 24 hour transportation ticket and used it to go towards and away from the Vigeland Sculpture Park.This park is as well something you should visit when going to Oslo I think. It basically contains a lot of well crafted sculptures based on human postures by Gustav Vigeland.
A dinner with pancakes & brown cheese. Some like it, some don't. Let 's say it was a very interesting tasting cheese.
Day III - Further exploring the city
Now I'm on my own. I walk down from the river Akerselva towards the area near Bla. The river is quite wild with a sequence of waterfalls. A nice walk. Some pictures. Around Bla, which is the name of a pub if I'm not mistaken, the creative youth appears to be indulged in graffiti art. Some really well done pieces decorate the building facades.
It is time to enjoy some more musea. With an only 30 NOK musea ticket you can enter several musea out of a list during the whole day. You can buy the ticket in any of the musea. I decided to visit three of them.
The National Gallery had a really interesting collection of artworks, mainly paintings. I have never heard something about Norwegian painters (except Munch) during art history classes, but they seemed to have quite a number of gifted artists. One painting you off course have to see when you enter the museum is 'The Scream' by Edvard Munch. Munch made four similar paintings. One of them was sold in auction for about 120 million dollars.
The museum of decorative arts and design was certainly worth the visit for those who like scandinavian design (I do). I didn't have a lot of time though, to observe everything. An other reason to go back..
The third museum I did was the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Even if I would say that I am quite open for different types of art, their current exhibition was not really my cup of tea.
I think contemporary and modern art lovers should rather go to the Astrup Fearnley muesum which has a very interesting architecture as well. I didn't enter, partially due to a lack of time. Be aware what you can expect, they have artworks by Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst.
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The verdict about my visit would be that it was a wonderful first date with Oslo and I wouldn't mind to see her again.
Cheers !
- I'm sorry if mistakes in my English bothered you. I'm not a native speaker -
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