Today on the blog: Oslo, Norway.
I know I have really been bad about posting lately, but I promise to be better in 2017! :)
So first, let me explain why Oslo was on our list of places to go. In the summer, Thomas Rhett (my FAVORITE country singer) announced his European Tour. Most of his concerts were on weekdays, which just wasn't feasible - but his concert in Oslo was on a Saturday night.. perfect! We bought our plane tickets a week or so later and then Mr. Rhett goes and cancels his Oslo concert. I was furious with him for doing that, but what can you do!
Oslo is most often known for being the most expensive city in Europe (and Norway's capital). Some also like to say it is the most expensive city in the world, but it is not. While I will agree with the fact that it is more expensive than other places we have been, it is still doable. We just didn't go out for a steak and a bottle of wine in Oslo, because that would have been expensive! If you eat and drink reasonably (which meant not drinking at all!) it is really affordable. Alcohol is extremely expensive in Norway!
We stayed in a hotel near the Royal Palace, and the location was perfect! We arrived at our hotel about an hour after we landed and went to sleep!
A Nordic breakfast.
*IF you are not planning a trip to Oslo, skip over this paragraph. It may bore you.*
At breakfast we contemplated on whether or not to buy the Oslo Pass - it is about $40 USD per person for 24 hours. The Oslo Pass gives you access to 30+ museums and attractions, free city transportation, free walking tours, and discounts at restaurants. There are a few other perks that come with it depending on how long you buy it for. Here is my truly honest opinion about it - usually we wouldn't buy something like this. We typically don't like to use the city transportation, and we typically don't visit many museums. However, we wanted to visit a few museums in Oslo, and we would need the public transportation to get there. So we picked out 4 museums to ensure we got our money's worth. All in all, I do actually find this *expensive* city pass worth it, if and only if, you plan on going to at least 3 museums and riding public transportation.
Walking to the bus stop meant walking by The Royal Palace.
A beautiful sunny day in the bitter cold Oslo. :)
The first museum on our list was The Viking Ship Museum.
The Viking Ship Museum is home to 3 large ships that were found buried in Viking Tombs near the Oslo Fjord. They are considered to be the world's best-preserved Viking ships.
The first ship - The Oseberg. It was amazing!
The Tune ship
The Gokstad ship
It was awesome to see these GIANT Viking ships being preserved so well.
After we were finished, Blake went to the coat room to retrieve our coats. He came back with only his! He then informed me mine was gone. The museum isn't very big, and we were there only a few minutes after it opened so there weren't many people in there. We asked at the front desk, and we spoke with security - both were incredibly NOT helpful. My coat was a nice long North Face that was not cheap...but it was gone, and there was not a darn thing we could do about it. So we Blake made the most of it!
**Not So Fun Fact** I have repurchased a new coat now...but it took me about 23 tries before the right one arrived at my door. The good news - I love it more than I ever loved my old coat. :)
Next up: The Kon-Tiki Museum
I had no previous knowledge of what Kon-Tiki was, but boy did this museum BLOW me away! It was amazing and quite frankly one of the best museums I have been too. Kon-Tiki was an exhibition planned and executed by Thor Heyerdahl. The Kon-Tiki raft on display in the museum is the original raft that Thor built and sailed across the Pacific Ocean with. Truly amazing!
The Kon-Tiki
It was incredibly hard to get a good picture of it!
The Kon-Tiki by Getty Images
The Kon-Tiki features a few other exhibits on adventures' in Thor's life.
We ate bread, salami and cheese for lunch that we picked up at the grocery store! We also got attacked by birds and I ran...I am pretty sure Blake didn't even know I could run so fast.
The Fram Museum was next. This is said to be one of the best museums in Oslo.
The Fram by Frammuseet
Fram is the strongest wooden ship ever built, and still holds the records for sailing farthest north and farthest south. You can board the ship which was a lot of fun! BUT... I have to disagree with this museum being the best! The reading was treacherous and it was unclear where to even begin. The ship was fun, but other than that I was NOT a fan. Now, TripAdvisor will tell you differently and you might even disagree with me too. But that is okay :).
We rode the bus back to the city centre. The three museums above are all on 'Museum Peninsula'. Before we headed back we caught a glimpse of the beauty that is Norway.
The next museum (and last) was the Nobel Peace Center.
The Nobel Peace Center by Nobels Fredssenter
The Nobel Peace Prize museum features a changing exhibit of one of the past Peace Prize winners, in addition to exhibitions relating to war, peace and conflict resolution. The Peace Prize laureates are all presented on digital screens in the Nobel Field.
The Nobel Field
President Obama
Aung San Suu Kyi, an incredibly inspirational woman and laureate. I studied her in my Woman, Power & Persuasion class in college.
The Nobel Peace Prize museum was incredibly interesting and I do recommend a visit. However, I wish they explained the history of the Nobel Peace Prize itself and how it came to be. They really only focus on who has been a recipient.
Blake sharing his coat :) oh and The Royal Palace.
We headed back to the hotel so we Blake could warm up!
We cheated and went to The Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. But our Oslo Pass gave us 20% off and we got to eat American food. So a win-win for everyone!
Yep, I got nachos. #ThatsAGiven
After dinner we perused the Oslo Christmas Market (this picture was taken the next day in the light) - because I was too cold the night before. :) It was nice, but Germany's are better. I may be biased on that, but who cares you should agree with me!
Sunday was cold and rainy. Poor Blake! We survived though.
We went to The Vigeland Park, which is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist. Gustav Vigeland created more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron.
I was kind of fascinated!
After exploring the sculptures, we explored the park.
The Oslo Opera
Oslo streets
All roads lead to the Palace... not really, but this one did :)
Parliament
Oslo streets
We were lucky enough to catch the changing of the guards!
We enjoyed Oslo! We would love to have been able to visit Bergen or a city surrounded by more fjords (I blame Thomas), but that is what the future is for. My new dream vacation is a Fjords Cruise. :) There is so much more to see in Oslo, but we had limited time and limited coats.
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