Oslo (reprise)

Another day in Oslo!

Originally when planning the trip, we had another big hike that we wanted to do. But when it came time to figure out the detailed itinerary, I couldn’t figure out how to make everything work. So something had to go. And it was the hike. But that then left us with an extra day, which we ended up deciding to spend in Oslo.

It worked out well. There were a couple of things that hadn’t really fit in on our first few days in the city. Particularly, the Opera House. I had heard amazing things about it and we wanted to try to take a tour of it but they just weren’t offering them when we were there at the beginning of our trip. But there was one scheduled for our last day in Oslo. Also, we hadn’t really been able to fit the sculpture park in, so this extra day was perfect for that.

We started with the sculpture park, Vigeland Park. It’s the largest sculpture park created by one artist, with about 200 sculptures and took about 10 years to build. It was quite impressive, especially since there was both stone & metal statues. We had a nice sunny morning for our visit so walking through the park was quite enjoyable.

Then, we headed off to the Opera House. It was built about 10 years ago and it is an impressive building. First, you can walk on the roof. And I don’t mean there’s a balcony that you can go out on. Each side of the roof slopes right down to the ground, essentially creating a ramp to get up to a flatter area at the top of the building. It was so neat to walk up and look out over the water - though it was a bit windy. After we toured the outside, we went inside to wait for our tour. Our guide was a wealth of information about the building, telling us all sorts of interesting facts like how the inside is built in a way that dampens sound in the theatre, itself, and how the roof actually also doubles as an outdoor theatre (current record for the largest crowd - Justin Bieber.) We also got to see a little bit of a rehearsal for an upcoming production plus tour through the back-of-house. The building is absolutely incredible, I’m so glad we were able to fit it in.

We still had some time left in the afternoon and I was ready for a hot drink but we had trouble finding something. EDP was sure he had seen a nice place not too far from the Opera House but we couldn’t find it and ended up walking in a pretty big circle before we settled on something. I’d say it was a good way to see the neighbourhood but we had already seen it fairly thoroughly. It worked out in the end, though. The place we finally ended up at had lovely hot chocolate and I had the largest and tastiest Boston Cream donut I’d ever had. Then it was back to the hotel to get properly packed for the flights home before one last dinner in the city.

Just as with our flights in, EDP and I were flying back to different cities. My flight was the earlier flight, leaving Oslo at 7am for Copenhagen before going on to Toronto. EDP had more time with a 10am flight for Frankfurt but figured if I was getting up at 4 to leave for my flight, he might as well just go with me. We made it to the airport with no trouble although I did have trouble getting checked in. Neither of us were able to check in online but I also wasn’t able to check in at the kiosk at the airport. But, I did end up getting my boarding passes and security was relatively easy to get through. Then, it was just a matter of flying. My flights went well, aside from having the woman in the seat in front of me constantly ramming her seat into my knees (PSA: You don’t need to recline your seat on a plane. It seriously cuts down on the space the person behind you has. Don’t be a jerk - only recline when you’re sleeping and for the love of all that’s holy, if you are reclined, put your seat upright when people are eating. This ends my PSA.) EDP’s flight to SFO had a bit more exciting with someone being arrested when they landed.

So now we’re home - I have about 4 loads of laundry to do and 1300 photos to sort through (and major confession - I’m still not done with the photos from when my sister & I went to Scotland & Rome last spring nor have I even looked at the photos from when EDP & I went to Côte d'Azur last fall. Oops!) It was a wonderful trip; our time in Bergen & Oslo was delightful and the hiking was incredible, even if my knees didn’t really appreciate it.