A Trip to Oslo... Part 2!

Hello again and welcome to the second part of our trip to Oslo back in October! It took a bit longer than we wanted to get this up due to exam prep for Norwegian class, but now we are done and ready to tell our story! Last time, we left you with our time at Vigelandsparken and some very tasty burritos for dinner. Now it’s time to pick up where we left off and complete the Oslo saga.

Tuesday, October 11th

Tuesday morning, we had a bit of a later start after we stayed up late talking and playing games the night before, but we were on a mission to catch the water taxi over to the Fram Museum, which was all about Arctic exploration conducted by the Norwegians and included actual ships which you could walk around. Unfortunately, our late start left us with only an hour before the museum would close, so we decided to put it off for a day and head to some other museums and attractions in the downtown area instead. First, we hit up the Nobel Peace Prize Museum, which was literally steps away from where we were at the main harbour. It was a shorter but interactive museum, which discussed Alfred Nobel, the creation of the Peace Prize, its importance, and the many amazing individuals who have been awarded the prize since its creation. We also got to see a real Nobel Peace Prize medal, which was a moment to remember. Before we left the museum, we perused the gift shop, and ended up leaving with an elephant stuffed-animal, who is now named Alfred after Alfred Nobel himself. Maybe our elephant will win a Peace Prize one day in his honour, who knows?

Anyway, after the Peace Prize Museum, we toured around city hall which was essentially right next door to the Peace Prize Museum and got some essential photos. At this point, we were quite hungry and decided to check out this Indian restaurant near our hostel. We arrived at the busiest time of day apparently because there were no tables available and a huge line had formed in front of the food counter. This huge line told us that this place must be good though. However, a group left and one of the staff put a couple tables together to make room for us. The food was very cheap for Oslo, with an curry of chicken curry coming in at less than 100Kr (~ $13CAD) which is nearly impossible to come by in Oslo. We stressfully ordered a chicken curry, butter chicken, a samosa, and the group split an order of naan, and WOW it was good food. It was a great meal with great portions, and the cost didn’t make our wallets cry. 

Once fed and satisfied, we decided that we would spend the evening at the National Museum, a giant art and fashion museum which was house to many famous works of art, most notably Munch’s “The Scream.” We were all feeling a bit “museum’d out” so we only made it through the first floor and part of the second but what we managed to see was good! From royal gowns and old Norwegian telephone booths to renaissance paintings, a wall of colourful fabric balls and a naked man dancing to pop music (don’t ask), we saw a lot of really cool 2D and 3D art (amazing sculptures as well). We’ll include a couple of our favourites which we remembered to photograph; there were many favourites but we didn’t think to take many photos. Before we decided to call it a day at the museum, we hunted down “The Scream.” It was extremely cool to see in person and we couldn’t help taking a screaming selfie for the memories. We left the museum and ended the night at a sports bar nearby which was streaming a PSG match that night. Unfortunately, PSG did not take home the win which left our Frenchman friend, Paul, feeling quite butthurt, but it made for a good laugh.

Wednesday October 12th

Our last full day in Oslo had arrived, but it did not start exactly as we had planned. Today was the day we had allotted for water taxiing to the Fram museum, so we all got up earlier than the day before and walked to the harbour to catch a water taxi. However, to our dismay, we found out at our arrival that the water taxis had stopped running for the season and we would need to ride the bus to the museum. I (Anna) got yelled at by a Norwegian man for poking around to try to find the water taxi office and it really shook me up. I was already feeling some unfocussed anxiety that day, and that encounter mixed with the unexpected change of plans sent me a bit over the edge and I began to feel flustered and distressed. We decided that the two of us would just spend the day together in the downtown area and take things slow while the others went to the Fram museum. 

Although it was unfortunate to miss out on such an interesting museum experience, it was ultimately for the best as we sat in the sun on the Oslo University campus and watched the birds and people as they went by, and then went for an awesome bread bowl lunch. Sometimes travelling and being abroad can be stressful and overwhelming, but I think that taking a step back and doing a more calming and relaxed activity as we did can be helpful! We had a lovely day together, and after lunch we walked back to the city centre through the royal grounds. There, we came across a little walking area lined with with colourful sculptures and decided to check it out. They were fun to look at and each sculpture had their own personality. We found out once we reached the end that the sculptures were depictions of children’s drawings which we thought was a fun concept! It also made some of the sculptures make a bit more sense when imagining them from the mind of a child.

We finished our afternoon together by popping into Sports Outlet, our favourite store in Norway due to their cheap prices on expensive sports and outdoor gear. I was on the hunt for a winter jacket and managed to find the perfect one which I wear basically everyday now. We also both left with matching wool sweaters, the only difference being their colour. Oh! And at last, Steve managed to find a new flannel at a very good price, so we both left feeling quite satisfied with our Oslo mementos. 

When we got back to the hostel, we found out that one of our friends was feeling very sick and had not much enjoyed their time at the Fram museum… We had plans to go to a student bar and see some of our friend Thomas’ friends who were also on exchange but in Oslo, but me and our friends decided to hang back because of how we were feeling (me mentally tired and them physically ill). We had a nice time together despite missing out on the student bar, and the others had a great time buying 30Kr glasses of wine which is an amazing liquor price for Norway! The student bar was extremely tiny, and it was very hard to move around in there, but the liquor price made it worth it for the couple of hours spent there. Upon the rest of the group's return, we headed to bed in anticipation for checking out the next morning.

Thursday, October 13th

At long last and unfortunately, our last day in Oslo had arrived. We packed up and checked out at 11am and headed out into the city one last time, with the goal of climbing the Opera House since it is an iconic tourist activity in Oslo. Sadly, we did not luck out with the weather, as it was quite windy and rainy on top of the Opera House and our friend Thomas was quite impressed with us for deciding to go up anyway (sorry, Thomas). We also went inside the main area of the Opera House which displayed very cool architecture and a glowing wall before deciding to move along with our day. After the Opera House, we sought refuge from the weather in a coffee shop nearby and took quizzes to determine which Roman and Greek god we would be, as well as sorting ourselves into Harry Potter houses. Before we left for the train station, we grabbed Pad Thai for lunch and picked up a couple snacks from the grocery store to get us through the seven-hour ride back to Bergen. It was a long ride back, but we kept ourselves entertained and had the pleasure of sitting adjacent to a very cute dog for the whole time. Around midnight, we were finally back at Fantoft in our apartment and ready for a long night of sleep.

On top of the Oslo Opera House!

The group in a collective food coma after some seriously good Pad Thai and spring rolls.

Overall, it was a super fun trip with lots of laughter, culture, and memories to keep with us as we look back on our time in Oslo. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our time in the big capital city, and now that our Norwegian exam is over and done with, we’ll try to get some more posts about our October activities in general, as well as a post about Anna's mom's visit to Norway!

Thank you as always for reading and keeping up with our adventures in Norway, see you next time,

Ha det bra! :)