The Short of It: One Day in OSLO

Oslo. A deep, thumping, primal desire to visit beat within me. It could be the 0.3% of Scandinavian blood in my hereditary line. Or it could be my obsession with the Viking era (and mostly the characters from the show on the History Channel) which compelled me to visit.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Iceland – where the price of just about everything froze me in my tracks way more than the infamous chilling temps. But I loved Iceland something fierce all the same. I didn’t know when I would be able to afford another full length adventure to Scandinavia. My assumption was probably never. However, as luck would have it, my husband and I embarked on a 12 hour layover on the way home from our honeymoon to the capital city of Norway as a compromise. This gave us about one day in Oslo to see the most of what the city has to offer.

I knew that the summer of 2018 would mean the end of long summers of international travels for a while.

We anticipated moving forward with doing other things like increasing our savings account and starting a family. Ending our trip with such a bucket list destination helped put me at peace with such a major shift in my life. In fact, being able to add many bucket list destinations in the form of long layovers has actually helped me. It makes me feel more comfortable reducing the rate at which I travel in grandiose fashion for a while. I’ve been able to see a lot of places in the world that would have otherwise only been dreams filed under “someday.”

Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum.

I’m obsessed with all things Viking. I won’t lie to you, this was largely instigated by the History Channel’s show, Vikings. For sure the story line and the sex appeal of so many of the characters draws me in. But it’s not just that. It’s their true depiction of the entire Viking way of life. Their government, their clothing, and especially their religious beliefs and culture fascinates me. Every winter I re-read Norse Mythology written by famed author Neil Gaiman.

Whenever there is a thunderstorm outside, I give a little wink to the small statue of Thor that I have in my room (pan to image of me creepily winking at an inanimate object). I’ve read books on the Vikings and seen many of the documentaries available. I’m enamored to say the least; I’m enthralled. I’d love to be able to time travel to a Viking holy ceremony. Or witness the building of one of their massive ships.

While I can’t literally time travel, the Viking Ship museum provided the second best way to take a look into the past at this civilization. From taking off in Santorini, to actually arriving at the museum at the start of our one day in Oslo, I was FULL of  eager energy. The phrase, “when the fuck are we going to get there!” definitely left my mouth more than once.

Upon arriving at the museum, I pushed wide eyed children and the elderly out of my way as I RAN to the entrance. Don’t judge me. I was showing an appreciation for the Viking culture. Do you think the actual  Vikings were polite and would just allow slow moving people to stand in the way of their endeavors? No, and I wasn’t about to either. It’s called cultural immersion, sweetie.

From first glance, the museum was everything I’d hoped it would be. My primary mission was to see the famed Viking ships, one of which is the Oseberg ship. This ship is one of the most well preserved and was discovered nearly in its entirety within a burial mound. On board the ship, during the unearthing, there were two female skeletons dressed in luxury garments indicating that at least one of the women was of high importance in society. Many of the types of commodities found on board the ship also support this theory. I cannot imagine the shock and awe of uncovering an entire and massive Viking ship during an excavation, but the thought makes me want to pee my pants, if only a little.

Once the ships entered my line of vision, I ran away from my map-faring, logic-using, plan-having husband who was moving too slowly for me. I couldn’t have any dead weight holding me back on this mission and thought it was best to leave him behind entirely, whatever the cost.

There are two staircases which lead you up to a platform where you can see the actual, resurrected Viking ships in their entirety. I noticed that people who were engaged in full on chatter upon entering the museum were stunned into silence as soon as they were in the presence of the ships. I didn’t cry, I did become teary eyed. The realization that I was actually seeing something that has been on my bucket list for so long was humbling.

You might not see the big deal if this museum is not on your list, but any traveler who has seen one of their “must sees” in real life knows this feeling. I’m a big believer that God makes most if not all opportunities possible for me, and the fact that He consistently thinks I’m worthy of seeing so many unimaginably remarkable experiences on my travels fills me with such gratitude.

I let myself become lost in my imagination. In my head I imagined the Vikings walking back and forth across the ship. I thought about their painted shields hanging off the sides of the boat, and pictured their loved ones saying goodbye before an arduous journey. And I envisioned the excitement they faced on their adventures and if they felt the same thumping in their heart as I did flying to Oslo to visit this very ship. I spent a good amount of time walking around the ships themselves, and I nearly had to be pried away to move onto the rest of the museum. But I came back several times smiling stupidly at the massive boats, like I do at the cheeses in the cheese aisle when I’m on a diet. “Funny seeing you here again…”

The rest of the museum displays various artifacts from within the ships such as grave gifts, religious pieces, and ordinary items such as cooking utensils. You can also see an immersive film about the Viking way of life three times every hour at the museum. I had waited so long to see this place, anticipating everything from my emotions at seeing the ships to which souvenirs I would buy, and I’m so entirely grateful that I had the experience. A perfectly intact Viking wagon and mast head decor are on display as well.

The Polar Fram Museum.

I’m a trip-tator, I admit it. That is to say, I become a ruthless dictator on vacation. I do not “roll with the punches.” I have little to no interest in hearing about how my travel buddies would do things if they conflict with how I would do things on our trip, but I’m working on it.

Therefore, when my husband said, “how about this place, the Polar Fram museum” I instantaneously felt myself panic as it wasn’t chiseled into my tediously planned agenda for our one day in Oslo. This was one of those museums that I really had zero interest in visiting, but left the experience thinking, “Thank GOD I didn’t miss that one.”

I’m a fan of immersive museums, and I can’t think of a better immersive experience than the Polar Fram Museum!

You could spend at least half, if not an entire day wandering around. Hell, I could live in the Polar Fram Museum – it’s that cool. (No pun intended.) The museum tells the story of Norwegian polar exploration and it’s just about impossible not to find it fascinating despite sounding horrendously niche.

The interior of the Fram is entirely intact and you can explore the whole thing – and it is GIGANTIC. You start by climbing on the deck of the ship and you’re free to check out every single nook and cranny within – from the bedrooms to the kitchen to the engine room and beyond. We spent so much time on board, and the ship and museum is decorated in such a painstakingly detailed manner that I actually felt as though we were transported to the arctic.

There are an impressive amount of artifacts both within and outside of the ship. It’s honestly dizzying, and you wind up spending so much time within that boat that you get a complete feel and understanding for how the explorers lived for months on end.

Outside the polar ship, you can explore what the polar region is like by venturing inside a model igloo and coming face to face with taxidermy wildlife. Around every corner of the museum there is something to climb, jump over, pull, push, and marvel at. This museum is way more than I expected and I cannot recommend it enough! If you only have one day in Oslo, this is a MUST experience if there ever was one!

Walking Tour in Oslo (Free).

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog (SO much more fun and disturbing than keeping up with the Kardouchians) than you know some of the dynamic between my husband and I. He LOVES walking tours. I believe he has taken some form of one in every place he’s ever visited and he is proud of this.

I like food tours and just eating food in general. I’m proud to say, as my husband has done with walking, I’ve eaten a lot of food in every place I’ve ever visited. Well, there was no food on this tour, not even a snack, so it’s already not a ten star experience as you might imagine.

I’ll keep it brief since there’s no, I want to reiterate, no food involved.

The tour was free of cost and the guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. We definitely got a better feel for the layout of the city and a lot of information on the culture and history of Oslo.

There were a lot of highlights such as walking down by the water to check out the boats, and seeing the Oslo Opera House. It rises out of the water like an iceberg – a really unique design and germane to this part of the world.

Click here for one of my other favorite cities…Athens!

I walked away from the lecture momentarily to throw my arms around the Henrik Ibsen statue and take selfies, much to the embarrassment of my husband and dismay of our guide. This seems really shocking given the state of the world from COVID19 happening right now.

Visiting city hall was interesting, which is not something that most people say when visiting a city hall. There is an amazing wooden mural depicting scenes from the Norse sagas outside. It was interesting to read the descriptions and give kudos to the unique artistry. (Here, have a kudo.)

We also passed the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo and it was inspiring to hear much of the history about the place. Obviously not interesting enough to remember any of it, as I haven’t written down anything that I learned. But, I remember in the moment being very compelled, and I don’t actually mean that sarcastically. Does this happen to anyone else on walking tours? As you’re hearing the guide you’re like THIS IS ALL AMAZING, YESSSS! As soon as you return home, you can’t remember a single thing he or she has taught you?

Let’s pause here to note that it was excruciatingly hot on this particular day. But we still decided that walking everywhere on our one day in Oslo was a shining idea. Even better, we had not slept in over 24 hours. On our arduous journey back to the center of town where we began, we passed a supermarket and hung out in the walk-in fridge for 20 minutes pretending that we were looking at prices of meat.

Outdoor Folk Museum.

By the time we’d gotten to this museum, it had been OVER 24 hours since we last slept. But my love of history and culture was getting me through just fine. My husband, however, was coming down with a vicious case of the “sleepies.”

Be prepared that if you only have one day in Oslo and want to visit this museum, you can spend the entire day here. Probably two days, as there is a massive amount to see. The Folk Museum is a HUGE open air space which was perfect for summer and enjoying the sunshine and oppressive blistering heat. Visiting in the summer offers the opportunity to see many of the animals, like horses and pigs. There are over 100 historical buildings and houses that you can visit and tour the inside of, and there are some costumed actors that walk around. With costumed actors, it’s sometimes fun to play “ghost, or real person?”

The vast variety of sites to see ensures that you are not standing shoulder to shoulder with many other tourists. It makes for a peaceful day of self exploration.The highlight, for me, was the 1200 year old stave church. As a matter of fact I literally ran uphill (which you all know I’d never do under any other circumstances – there is a Viking connection here) to get to it faster.

Stave churches are not ornate and elegant, but rather, wooden and hearken back to the medieval days.

It is believed that Stave churches were old Viking places of worship turned into Christian churches. Some also believe that they are constructed out of pieces of Viking ships as per their winged roofs. The one we visited reminded me a lot of an episode from Vikings (SEASON ONE, EPISODE EIGHT TO BE EXACT).

While there were Christian images all around, I kept imagining tall wooden statues of Odin and Thor. (Because I have an unhealthy obsession and I can’t just let things go and accept that this was a church and not a Viking pagan temple).

Following the Stave church, we sat and watched a performance of traditional folk song and dance. The lead performer stressed how important this type of art was to their culture. He explained how it goes back hundreds of years.

Naturally, Arthur took this opportunity to shit on the Norse culture and fell asleep several times right in front of the performers as we were sitting in the front row. He did his best impression of bobbing for apples with his eyes closed. I can’t tell you how happy I am that we were in the front row where the performers could all see this.

Egon Restaurant. (Cheap)

This restaurant is so nice (and reasonably located and cheapest in price) that we ate here twice. We spent both breakfast and lunch at the Egon restaurant near the main rail station. Food and drink in Oslo is expensive, it’s not a secret.

The all you can eat breakfast at Egon included a HUGE variety, including fruit smoothies. There was a mix of both traditional Norwegian and common breakfast foods. Eating so much definitely kept me full throughout the day. I don’t usually give out “travel tips.” But I’d say that coming here for breakfast – you get your bang for your buck.

Egon offers both indoor and outdoor seating, and during both meals the wait was not long at all. Part of the offerings included a Norwegian delicacy that I wasn’t entirely thrilled about. To me, smoked salmon is the quintessential Norwegian food. I wanted to like it so bad. I put it on my plate, onto my fork, onto my tongue and EVERYTHING… But I just couldn’t enjoy it. I like fish…I like sushi…and I like smokey flavors…why not smoked salmon? I guess I’ll never know. Anyone have an opinion on smoked salmon? Also, where do we stand on lox?

The Takeaway.

I was extremely sad to see our honeymoon in Greece ending. But knowing that we were off to see another country – even just on a layover before stopping home – provided a way to “ease into” ending our once in a lifetime adventure. I highly suggest adding shorter layovers to your journey. It’s a great way to get the most out of your trip by seeing more of the world! Tired as I may have been, I learned that adding a small layover is a cost effective way of seeing more of what the world has to offer.

Oslo holds tight to its history, while being one of the most forward thinking and progressive cities I’ve ever visited.

It’s clean, efficient, and friendly. It feels safe and there is no shortage of things to learn and see. While incredibly expensive, it’s a city that I felt definitely lives up to its “hype” and to all of my expectations. Oslo is a city where even I felt confident navigating (and I’m THE WORST at navigating.) To boot, I felt more than safe. Another perk – it is not a terribly large city. This makes it easy to explore if you only have one day in Oslo. Also, nature is easily accessible. One of my favorite moments was strolling by the seemingly endless fjord very early in the morning.

Looking back on my one day in Oslo, I feel bad that I made such a big deal about the importance of sticking to my plan when my husband suggested the walking tour and visiting the Polar Fram museum. One of those suggestions wound up being an opportunity I’m incredibly grateful to have had.

I panic about following my schedule because the likelihood of me ever returning to a place like Oslo is very slim. It’s important that I do my exploring effectively in the little time I have. I need to be sure that I get to see everything I want to see. Especially on this trip, where I had only about one day in Oslo. In order to make that happen, I still think it’s important to be well organized, planned, and scheduled.

However, I’m learning that it’s important to allow other people to have a voice on trips.

It’s important to be open to new ideas, the ideas of others which you never would have considered. Traveling as a couple or group means it is everyone’s experience. It is everyone’s only chance at checking items off a bucket list. It is everyone’s chance to make memories that are meaningful. Sometimes the old adage is right: at the end of our comfort zone lies our greatest opportunity for growth. Or in my case, new opportunities I would have never had.

Speaking of new experiences for me, check this out.