February 2018
After landing in Oslo on Friday afternoon, I walked to the Opera house. The unique design allows visitors to walk up the sloped roof for views of the city and the fjord.
On Saturday, I walked around Oslo to see some of the historic highlights. First stop was Akershus Fortress, a medieval castle used for years as a military base. Nearby I saw City Hall, then walked to Slottsparken, a large park that surrounds the Royal Palace. After noon, I took the subway to Frogner Park to see the Vigeland sculpture park.
I bought the Oslo city pass and took the bus to tour museums on the Bygdøy peninsula. I saw first the Kon-Tiki museum, with the balsa wood raft that explorers sailed from Peru to Polynesia. Nearby, the Fram museum showed Norway's history of arctic expedition with intact ships that visitors can explore. I also visited the Viking Ship museum and the Norwegian Folk museum, which has a huge open-air collection of medieval buildings.
First thing in the morning I took a train west to Myrdal, then transferred to the scenic Flåm railway. This section of track is the steepest friction-drive railway in Europe. After a short visit in Flåm, I took a cruise through Aurlandsfjord and Nærøfjord. Cloudy skies cleared and sunlight reflected off the water and the snowy mountains. The cruise ended in Gudvangen, then I took a bus to Voss and boarded a train to Bergen. I had a few hours to walk around and eat dinner, then took the night train all the way back to Oslo.
In Norway, breakfast tends to be fairly light, like a small pastry and a coffee. I loved the brunost, a sweet brown cheese made by boiling down milk and whey. Dinners were much heartier. I ate reindeer burgers, and my favorite was the fischsuppe (fish soup) from Vulcanfisk in Oslo's Mathallen (food hall). I also tried a Norwegian pølse, which is similar to a hot dog.
Not pictured: people trying to speak to me in Norwegian.
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© 2018 Will Krieger