6/26/2011

Today I participated in a tour of Oslo.  It was quite speedy and didn’t have too much time to explore.  That’s means that I’ll just have to go back!  It was a great tour though.  We saw some major sights in Oslo while getting acquainted with the city.  Taking a bus from Blindern Dormitory, we headed to Holmenkollen to see the ski jump.  My was it big! It’s a huge, silver structure that reaches into the sky.  We didn’t have time to go up into the tower to see how high it gets, but I can imagine it would be nerve-wracking standing up at the top, let alone heading straight down it.  

After Holmenkollen, we went to the peninsula of Bygdoy where we went to the Viking Ship museum.  The building holds two complete and one partial ship.  They have incredible construction and detail.  I was amazed at how well the ships had been preserved (in blue clay) and much detail was incorporated.  Of course there was the amazing scroll at the bow of the ship but there was also a dragon border as well.  At the museum, there were also bones of two women and one man who had been found with the ships.  The ships had been incorporated as part of the burial.

 

We drove along the marina and saw good views of the Oslo Fjord (which is not technically a fjord) and stopped to take in the new opera house.  Unfortunately there was construction all around it, but it was still amazing.  The building was made to look like an iceberg jutting out of the water.  It was also fun to see people walking all over the roof.  

After driving along Karl Johans Gate (the main and expensive part of town), the last stop took us to Vigeland Park.  Here, there are an incredible number of statues.  What I really loved is that the artist decided not to give names to the majority of his creations.  Instead, you are supposed to decide what the statue means to you.  I definitely plan on returning to the park not only to take more time to view the art, but also to bring a picnic.  There are vast amounts of grass and trees and walking trails.  It’s a wonderful place.