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Exploring Oslo: Day Three
22 June 2015
The journey home was a somber one, as I left the bright blue skies or Oslo, I landed under the gloomy glow of ol' Yorkshire. At least I took 3,000 photos.
Exploring Oslo: Day Two
12 June 2015
With a bright an early start, the first destination was the Universitetets Botaniske Hage Tøyenhagen, also known as the Botanical Gardens. The grounds were absolutely enormous which I loved, and it was a really challenge picking between 125 photos. I'm not much of a nature person but I do appreciate great scenery and beautiful greenery. I loved the hand-made sculptures of the maple seeds, also known as 'the helicopter leaves/seeds' in Yorkshire. Inside one building, there were some gigantic lily-pad-type plants which I was just drawn to. Their roots were over 20 meters long and I read the plants can hold the weight of a small baby!
The Nobel Peace Museum was incredibly inspiring. The ground floor had an exhibition showing off the work of Malala (who's book is amazing) and Kalala. Their ventures for peace and happiness among other humans helps you to appreciate those valuable humans in the world. Unfortunately the gift shop was way out of my budget and I lost my camera that morning. I also visited Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art (which you can see in the third cruise photo), a museum full of contemporary and artistic pieces - I spent way too long in there.
The Fjord cruise was on my to do list after the many hours spent revising Trip Advisor. The hour-long boat ride stopped near some of the islands in Oslo's centre and I slowly came to the conclusion I really want a boat. Not following the crowd or anything, but the idea of being able to float around wherever you desire seems like a great concept. The cruise-boat had two decks, so you were able to curl up cosy inside, or brave the windy water for a photo opportunity. I recommend this boat ride for anyone really wanting to get to know Oslo, you see plenty during the trip and can use the 24-hour public transport pass to ride as many times as you like!
The Royal Palace was another landmark I had previously spotted on Pinterest and knew had to be on my list. The building looked enormous in photos, but it's twice the size in person. The grounds were vast with open space and steps for tourists to walk around and explore. I also got to take a peak at the entrance of the University of Oslo which was a must. The architecture in the city is so exquisite and has a real, historic but old-school glamour to it.
Exploring Oslo: Day One
4 June 2015
Oslo, Norway
If you stalk me online, you may have seen countless tweets and Instagram posts of my trip to Oslo. I chose to visit Norway because I think it's a beautiful city to explore and really love. As much as I enjoy laying around on a beach with headphones in all day, I wanted to experience more of the world and Oslo happened to be one of my first choices. After arriving on Sunday night, I got an amazing night's sleep at the Anker hotel, which is only a few minutes from the city centre.
On Monday, the first place I visited was the Vigeland Park and Sculpture Museum. Despite only planning to spend an hour or so there, I ended up spending most of the day there as the weather was certainly on my side and made my camera very happy. The park was busy and full or people of ages enjoying every aspect of art and leisure.
I then headed to the pier and Oslo Central Station. The views from the pier were amazing, and watched the boats and enormous cruise ships sail by was magical. One thing I loved was the line of restaurants and food trucks, ice cream in Norway tastes 10 times better than it does over in the UK. The Central Station was a simple landmark but still one of my favourite. Despite the area being very small, I still feel like it capture that essence of New York City, even though Grand Central Terminal is on the other side of the globe. The station had a colour display outside, which isn't usually there, but really brightened up the area and weather.
The one place I was most excited about visiting was the Oslo Opera House after seeing so many photos through Pinterest and Tumblr during the research days. The architecture was outstanding on photos but doesn't capture the real magic the building omits. Not only is the the entire building and its grounds made out of solid white marble, but the Opera House sits on a coastline to an enormous lake that gives off the most amazing views. Upon arrival, there was a show about to start, so I got to see hundreds of people flood into the House in beautiful gowns and dresses. You are able to walk to the roof and take a look at the phenomenal architecture Oslo has to offer.
At the end of the day, I managed to squeeze in a trip to Akershus Fortress an enormous castle by the pier. The castle was originally built in the 1290s out of solid stone to protect Norway's capital city. The castle has also been used as a prison and still has government and military guards protecting the grounds. Unfortunately the price of going inside was a little above my budget, but my favourite moment from the Fortress was being escorted off the grounds by a military general after staying at the top of the tower past the closing time without realising! My first day in Oslo was full of laughs and plenty of photos, it was a real challenge not to post all 300 from day one!
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