“There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.” – Sir Rannulph Fiennes
(I might have to include another packing post for this one, because I did do this Nordic trip with only a backpack to survive the cold, but that’s a story for another time).
Last post in the Nordic Adventure series! I decided to not post a boring “we flew back home” post so here’s the final one about our amazing day in Oslo.
My friend and I both had several things we wanted to see. So early in the morning we got up and set out in the snow and cold to go see the sights!
We went to the central station to grab a bus heading over towards the Viking Ship Museum. Now, during the summer I think there’s a ferry, but the winter it’s the bus or walking…and it would be a long walk…in the cold. So the bus it was.
As far as public transport, Oslo had a very nice one and it was easy to keep track of where we were going and get off at the right stop. No worries on confusion there!
We stopped at the Viking Ship Museum right as it opened. We went inside and got to survey the ships, which was amazing. They’re quite impressive to see in person!
I thought the museum was a bit small overall. Other than the ships and a few artifacts, there’s not really a lot there. I’d been hoping for more about Viking history and such, but this isn’t really the museum for that I guess. So just be warned, it’s a place that won’t take you more than an hour. Unless you’re just a really dedicated photographer who needs to take lots of different shots of the ships.
Next we headed over to the Fram Museum, a collection of exhibits about the polar ice ships. We stopped for some coffee at a convenience store and then headed on our way. There was still so much to see!
The Fram Museum is one of my favorite museums in the world. It was interesting, well-laid out, interactive, and informative. You were able to board one of the boats, and go through a polar simulator, see what pulling a sled would feel like, and so much more. My friend and I had a great time there and learned a lot too.
It’s a really well done museum, and I highly recommend it if you’re in Oslo.
After that we boarded the bus again and headed towards downtown to see the National Gallery. This was our final goal for the day.
We stopped for lunch in a pizza place. It had pretty good food and we enjoyed having a warm meal before heading towards the museum.
Our luck was that the museum was free on the first Thursday of the month, which that happened to be. So we got to go see everything without paying a cent (or a crown I suppose). So keep that in mind anyone in town on the first Thursday!
We enjoyed the artwork before stopping by for a picture of The Scream, which the gallery is most famous for having.
Afterwards my friend wanted to seek out a metal shop she’d heard about online. I still don’t understand exactly what she wanted to see there, but something. I waited for her outside, and then we headed to our Airbnb for a break from the cold. I think that day we walked almost ten miles all in all. So we needed it.
Our flight was early the next morning, so what both of us really needed was food and caffeine and then a good night’s rest.
We walked to a popular neighborhood our host had pointed out. Apparently there was a coffee shop there that was supposed to be world famous. It’s called Tim Wendelboe. People apparently came from the United States just to try it. So we grabbed a cup.
If my friend had been more into coffee I probably would have insisted on a tasting, but she just wanted her own drink, so we settled for that. As I’m not a connoisseur of coffee I cannot really speak to if it was worth a trip to Oslo by itself or not, but it did taste very good and seemed very rich and flavorful. If you’re a coffee guru feel free to check the link out!
After getting our drinks we headed off in search of a restaurant.
We ran into a pub that looked like it had quite a few people in it.
I had a chicken stew type dish. It was decent, but I had problems with it because the chicken was still on the bone…in the stew…so it was hard to see where the bones were. So, not my favorite meal, but still filling and hearty.
We filled up and then headed back for some rest. It was tough saying goodbye to these beautiful countries, but we had a good time, and I’d just have to hope maybe someday I could come back and see some more!
Nordic Adventure Other Posts:
To Roam the Roads of Lands Remote 