A sunny weekend in Oslo

A sunny weekend in Oslo

A week ago I had visitors: not only Michiel, but his mum, sister and sister’s boyfriend came to Oslo! The weather has been really sad and grey this winter, I was really getting fed up of all the grey low clouds. I was so excited when the weather forecast showed sun for this weekend: excellent!

Michiel and his mum arrived on Friday afternoon, and we went to visit the Viking Ship Museum that I hadn’t been to yet. I really enjoyed it, very impressive to see the big ships and I loved the way they made the museums – it’s almost like a church. And the shadows were the best…

The Viking Ship Museum - loved the shadows

Viking Ship Panorama

After we were done at the museum, we walked to Paradisbukta where we enjoyed the sunshine and did some people (and dog) watching…

Michiel and his mum at Paradisbukta

Michiel and his mum at Paradisbukta

We watched ferries go by, and people with dogs

We walked along the fields, I really love how you can feel like you’re taking a walk in the countryside at Bygdøy, while actually you’re in central Oslo. So pretty…

I love how you can feel like you're taking a walk in the countryside at Bygdøy, while you're actually in central Oslo

Jessica and Sander arrived later in the evening. On Saturday we got up early, as we had a lot planned for the day! We started at my favourite place: Vigelandsparken. Never fails to impress. I have been there so many times now, but I still discover new details and I never get bored. And it looks extra good with blue skies and sunshine!

Vigelandsparken

Vigelandsparken - I have visited many time but I still discover new details and still get impressed

My favourite sculpture: the dancing girl with the wild hair

The most famous sculpture in the park, the angry baby

We then walked to the Royal Palace, and continued into the city centre.

In front of the Royal Palace

Of course we visit the Opera building, where you can walk on the roof. It’s such an amazing building, inside and outside.

Starting to climb the roof of the Opera

Jess and Sander on the roof of the Opera

View from the Opera - what a beautiful day!

There was still a thin layer of ice on the fjord… and a lot of cranes surrounding the Opera, as they’re building a new library and a new Munch museum next to the Opera.

The Opera - plus a lot of cranes as they are building a new library and a new Munch museum next to the Opera

Portrait in front of the Opera

Near the Opera there’s a new art project: wooden A-frames based on the structures they dry (stock)fish on in Northern Norway. Some of them had sounds of whales and dolphins coming out of them. Quite cool!

A frame art near the Opera

We continued to Akershus fortress…

Akershus Festning

And then the murals inside the City Hall, always impressive. And free to visit!

Michiel in front of one of the many murals inside Oslo city hall

Jess took a photo of us :)

More murals and more Michiel :D

Oslo City Hall

I love this mural, it continues even on the ceiling

We walked around Tjuvholmen, had a very nice lunch there, and then took a bus to visit the waterfall in Akerselva.

All of us in front of the waterfall at Akerselva

From there we followed the river to Mathallen where we had some drinks in Smelteverken, “the longest bar in Scandinavia”. Afterwards we walked back into town again, where we had dinner. And walked home. We walked almost 20 km that day!! And we managed to see everything that Michiel has seen on all his visits combined PLUS some places that he hadn’t seen yet (Akershus fortress, and the city hall murals). Not bad for one day!

They left the next morning, when the weather also decided to turn grey. Never mind, we had made the most of the sunshine!

2 thoughts on “A sunny weekend in Oslo

  1. Hei Hanneke,

    I am still checking your great blog every couple of weeks/months. 🙂

    As it happens, I have been in Oslo the same Saturday morning and also the Saturday one week earlier (actually I was participating in a NORCOWE Workshop in Bergen during the week but flew to Oslo and then took the train to Bergen as it was much cheaper than flying directly to Bergen).
    That incredibly nice sunny Saturday morning I also went up early and walked around the city centre (Karl Johans gate, Slott, Uranienborg, Aker Brygge, Akershus, Opera). We might have met there unknowingly, I was at Akershus around 11:00 and passed the Opera around 11:30. 😉

    Anyway, it was such a beautiful morning in a very nice city. In contrast, the Saturday before it was grey and dark with a little snow. At that time I also visited the amazing Vigelandsparken and took a lot of pictures with the beautiful statues. With blue sky and sunshine like in your pictures they look even more impressive. I had only 3 hours of daylight left that day and also took a short ride with the T-bane up to Sognsvann watching all the people skiing there.

    Bergen was great as well (with surprisingly cold and sunny weather) and I also stayed two days doing “trugetur” in snowy Geilo which was another highlight. 🙂

    Greetings from Oldenburg
    Björn

  2. Hello Björn,

    So nice to hear from you! I also check your website from time to time – fantastic frosty winter pictures!

    That’s so funny you were here that same weekend. I guess we were a bit behind you, we were at the Opera by 12:30 and Akershus an hourly later. Glad you got to see Oslo with blue skies and sunshine, so much nicer than all that grey weather that you have also experienced. Great you got sunshine in Bergen 😀 trugetur in Geilo sounds amazing, I hope you will share some photos 🙂

    I guess you’re not in Oslo anytime soon, but would have been happy to meet for a cup of coffee or a walk around Oslo next time! But I’m not here for that much longer, I’m actually moving back to the Netherlands this summer (after more than 13 years away!) – so perhaps I’ll actually pass through Oldenburg one day 😀

    All the best,
    Hanneke

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