Oslo, Norway
Vigeland Sculpture Park
We had exceptionally good weather while in Oslo. We were actually here looking for the ‘Angry Baby’ and found out this place was very interesting. The sculptures were excellent and took you through the human emotions of life from birth through death.
Viking Ship Museum
We took the ferry over to Bygdoy (about 15 minutes). The Viking Museum was easily accessible via the ferry boat on the city waterside, with just a short walk to the museum from the docking point on the other side of the bay.
The Viking Ship Museum contained 3 ancient Viking ships over 1100 yrs old along with multiple artifacts found with them. Only place where you can see a real viking ship from the 900s. The museum was not big, which made it very manageable.
The Norwegian Folkesmuseum
We walked about 5 minutes from the Viking Ship museum to the Norwegian Folk Museum. The museum was an outdoor collection of historic buildings and villages. It showed how Norwegians used to live from medieval times until quite recently.
Really interesting and well presented collection that gave a sense of life in rural Norway through the years. Don’t miss the awesome Stave Church.
The Royal Palace
Beautiful palace and grounds. Changing of the guard takes place at 1:30 every afternoon. There is no gender requirement for being a guard.
The mounted guards lead a parade of marching guards and a full band up the Karl Johans Gate from Akershus Fortress to the palace. Once they reach the front of the palace, they perform a little concert and go through their military routine.
One of the guards passed out. Amazing how they can stay so official looking despite the sun beaming down and dozens of people taking photos of their every move.
The weather was beautiful when we visited. Lots of people were basking in the sun.
National Museum
We wanted to see Edvard Munch ‘The Scream’. If you are a Munch fan, you are in for a treat as a lot of his works are here. The Scream is obviously a hugely famous work of art and it was great to see it up close.
