At the time, it seemed like Oslo was pretty small for a capital city but now that I am thinking back on my time there, there was actually a good bit to do and see. One of the most interesting things is the new Oslo opera house, which is this huge white stone and glass structure that cost over a billion dollars to build. It was directly beside our hotel (hooray for staying with my mom). I walked over there and checked it out while she was in her sessions. If you ever go there, take your sunglasses. Oslo is not a sunny city and it was quite overcast the day I was there, but I still think I would have been blinded had I not brought my sunglasses. The stone is texturized and all of the surfaces are slanted, so you can walk around on the building and even walk all the way to the top. I saw one lady with a stroller that was making me a nervous wreck, but it was remarkably easy to walk around.
the Oslo opera house
walking on the opera house
at the top of the opera house
Some other sights that I saw on my own were the National Gallery and the National Historical Museum. I was surprised, not only did the National Gallery have a good deal of quite interesting Norwegian art, there was a small, but impressive collection by extraordinarily famous artists such as Munch (of course), Manet, Gauguin, Monet, El Greco (my favorite!), Rodin (a cast of The Thinker), Degas (sculpture and paintings), Van Gogh (a self-portrait), and Picasso (from the blue period, pre-cubist, which is my favorite anyway)… and I am sure there were others I will think I should have mentioned. It would have been art lovers heaven had there been functioning air conditioning.
The history museum was right next door and it had an interesting collection of carved wooden objects (doors to stave churches, etc.) from medieval Norway and metal and glass items from graves. In my opinion, the historical collection paled in comparison to the awesome art deco building that housed it. There were so many amazing details like this door:
a door at the Historisk Museum
After my mom’s conference was over we were able to do some more sight-seeing our last afternoon in Oslo. We took a ferry to the Viking Ship Museum, which gave us an opportunity to see a little of Oslo by boat.
Oslo from the ferry
Seeing Viking ships was the #1 thing on my list to do in Oslo. While it is a little bit of a hike to get over to the museum, it was worth it. There are 3 ships that were found as part of burials. I don’t know why, but I expected them to be smaller, so I was pretty impressed with the exhibit. The museum is designed well, so you can climb stairs and look down on the ships, as well, and see the interiors.
a viking ship
Now, picture you are a Viking. What is the most terrifying thing you can put on the front of your boat? Apparently, this Chester-like creature:
a viking Chester
The Norwegian Cultural Museum was very near the Viking Ship Museum, so we went there as well. I am glad we did, although I was completely exhausted at the time. The have some meh exhibits about traditional textiles and pottery (my mom liked this part a lot, I should say…) but the really cool stuff was the traditional buildings that were relocated there from around Norway. They are made of wood, often have grass roofs, and many have beautiful paintings on all the surfaces inside. The most impressive one was the stave church. Most of the few surviving stave churches are in rather remote areas, so this one that had been relocated and preserved was the only chance we had to see one. It was amazing.
a medieval Norwegian stave church
inside a traditional Norwegian house
The last thing we did was go walk around the fortress that looks over Oslo. It was 10PM, but still really light and terribly windy. The view of the city was great, though.
view of Oslo from the fortress
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So, you can check out my Oslo Set on flickr to see more pictures from my trip… my mom petting goats, the painting inside traditional buildings, the historical museum, more of the opera house and viking ships, etc. I will probably be adding to the set soon, too. |
This past weekend was really nice in spite of the cold. We met my family in Asheville to enjoy the fall color in the mountains and go to the craft fair (yay for pottery!). Even though it was cold, we had a good time. We bought some Christmas presents, went for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and visited the Biltmore Estate. Aaron had never been there, so we did the house tour, the wine tasting, and even visited what was left of the gardens. I haven’t been taking that many photos lately because I have been so busy, but I brought a couple of cameras with me for the weekend, so here are some of the non-film ones:
