Solo in Oslo: Day 1

On Thursday night I flew from Charleroi, Belgium to Oslo, Norway for my first solo trip (ever). Norway has always been high on my list of places to see because I do happen to have some Norwegian blood. Even though my ties to Norway end (in a direct way) a few generations back, I feel very lucky to have been in a place where my relatives once lived. The low-fare flights from Belgium to Oslo were too good to pass up, so I booked a 2-day trip and decided to try this whole solo travel thing. I have a ridiculous amount of pictures to share, so I’ll split my Oslo post in half according to each day. I hope you enjoy!

I arrived in Oslo on Thursday night (technically Friday morning) at midnight. My Air BnB host was wonderful enough to offer to pick me up so that I wouldn’t have to navigate public transport for the first time in a new city so late. The next morning, I was up and at the train by 8:30 and got into the city centre by 9.

My Air BnB was in Haslum, a disrtict in the municipality of Bærum, about 20 minutes out of central Oslo.

I had preplanned my entire trip and Friday’s itinerary was packed with the most sites and activities since this was my only full day in the city. My first stop was the Oslo Opera House, a modern building right on the Oslo Fjord with free views from the roof. I didn’t go up, though, because you literally walk onto the roof (you can see how it’s sloped) and the wet snow made things a bit too slippery for my taste.

I then visited Akershus Fortress, which began construction in 1299 under King Håkon V and was completed in the 1300s. It’s location, at a peak of land on the edge of the Fjord, was a strategic choice as the Fortress had to withstand a number of sieges. The Akershus Castle, within the Fortress, was later modernized by King Christian IV into Renaissance style and became his royal residence. The Castle was closed on Friday, but was going to be open the next day; I’ll write about my walkthrough in the next post.

Literally a 'fortress' enclosing both the Castle and other smaller buildings. 

Inside: the outer wall is to the left and the buildings to the right.

When you’re travelling alone, selfies become a shameless reality.

Next, I walked along Karl Johans gate, a central street in Oslo, toward the Royal Palace and saw a few more sights along the way.

A note on some photos: it was snowing wet, heavy snow consistently;  so, some photos will feature lovely lens water spots.

The Biathlon World Championships were in town, so there was a line of booths selling food, sweets, and souvenirs along a portion of Karl Johans gate.

Pictured below, respectively, are the Oslo Parliament building, the National Theatre, and – finally – the Royal Palace.

Oslo Parliament

National Theatre

Royal Palace

Following my walk to the Palace I headed toward City Hall to catch a bus to Bygdøy – where the bulk of Oslo’s must-see museums are. Beginning in April you can take a ferry to Bygdøy, so unfortunately I had to settle for a bus this time.

City Hall

20 minutes later I hopped off at the Viking Ship Museum. This museum came up every single time I Googled something along the lines of “things to see in Oslo”, so I knew I’d have to make the time to visit. This stop was well worth it. I always find myself slowly becoming slightly underwhelmed when I walk around museums, but once I stop to really think about what it is I’m looking at everything becomes much more exciting. Once I really began to look, it registered: “holy crap, that’s an actual Viking ship that was used by actual Vikings.”

Actual Viking ship used by actual Vikings.

A very intricate, detailed wooden sled that would have been used by the Vikings to transport anything from food to textiles.

There were 3 ships in the museum: the first one pictured, the one above, and the one below.

My second museum stop was the Norwegian Folk Museum. This museum was right up my alley because it was much more interactive. For those of you reading from back home – think Fort Edmonton Park. The Folk Museum is an open air museum that allows you to revisit Norway at points in time anywhere from “living in a log hut” days to “little house on the prairie” days. 

An example of what I mean by "little house on the prairie" days.

On the left: Stave Church - ca 1200.

Stave Church

Inside Stave Church: you can see an altar and pillars.

These huts had various uses, from small residences to storage.

Now we're getting into the "retro" area of the Folk Museum.

There was a house where each floor represented a different era of interior design trends. 

My last stop in Bygdøy was the Fram Museum, which also came very highly recommended. Fram is the strongest wooden ship ever built and still holds the records for sailing farthest north and farthest south. At the museum you can actually go on board the ship and see how the crew lived while exploring the coldest and most dangerous places on earth - the Arctic and the Antarctic. More recently, in 2013, the Gjøa building was added on featuring Gjøa, the first ship to navigate the whole of the Northwest Passage.

Fram

On board the Fram.

Below deck on the Fram.

An exhibit with various documents and maps either from on board the Fram or about its expeditions.

Gjøa

Before losing daylight I made sure to take a bus to Vigeland Park. An intriguing, but quite strange, park filled with various sculptures. To put it straight: the park was filled with a bunch of bronze, granite, and cast iron nude people in weird poses.

I would love to come back and see this park when it’s green.

Almost all of the museums on my list closed at 4, but the National Art Gallery was open until 6 – so I made sure to hit Bygdøy first to be safe. Luckily, I did still have time to squeeze in an hour at the National Gallery back near the city centre. The National Gallery is most famous for it’s Edvard Munch exhibit featuring “The Scream”.

The Gallery numbered it's different rooms and exhibits, taking you through different eras of work, making the flow of people very efficient.

This room had art supplies ready at your disposal to use for a recreation of this sculpture. There were two people drawing when I walked in. If I had more time, I would've given it a go. It's always nice to revisit my years of art class.

And here it is, "The Scream"!

Another one of Munch's works that caught my eye.

Overview of the Edvard Munch exhibit.

After the Gallery closed I ordered some takeout from a Thai place called The Rice Bowl and headed back to Haslum. I managed to see so much in a very short period of time and felt very accomplished. I guess one of the big benefits of solo travel is that you can do exactly what you want to do without having to think twice. I was able to move as quickly or slowly as I wanted without feeling like I was rushing or slowing someone else down. But, the downsides include having to ask strangers to take pictures for you and eating alone at Burger King...

To wrap it up, my first day in Oslo was successful, eventful, and jam-packed; so, I took my time a little more during day 2. Saturday featured a long walk, more nature (including the Oslo Fjord), and some classically cute Norwegian houses that I’ll share in my next post.

Until then, thanks for reading!

- Alexandra