We spent last night on a ferry between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea – first on the Kattegat Strait and then the Skagerrak Strait. About 7am we made our way into the Oslo-fjord for the remaining three hours until we docked. This was our first – but not last – Norway fjord for this trip. Surrounded on both sides with rolling hills and dotted with towns onshore and islands in the water, it was a pleasant entry to a new country.
We continue to get forecasts of rain so our plans are flexible to let us grab outdoor activities while we can. The skies were blue and sunny when we disembarked so we made our first stop the award winning architecture of the Oslo Opera House. It’s gorgeous to look at and a great example of not having to choose between a public plaza and a building – this is both.
The surface seems to come from the end of the fjord like a glacier – made from Norwegian white granite and Italian Carrera marble
The surface is sloped but not steep and it’s textured and interspersed with ridges for traction. The main entrance hall rises in glass and provides a nice backrest for local Oslo residents enjoying the early summer sunshine.
There is cool art all around so we took some artistic photos of our own. The second one with a little cleanup help from the photos app to get rid of everyone but us.
Next we headed to walk from the Central Station up to the Royal Palace along the Karl Johans Gate. It’s essentially Oslo’s version of the Champs Elysees – a long Main Street which is lined with neoclassical buildings and acts as the center of national celebrations.
We couldn’t go in the castle today – it’s closed until later in the month but we enjoyed walking around. Other than a few King’s guards stationed around it felt like we could just knock on the front door and invite ourselves to tea.
After we checked into our apartment, made a grocery run (Mom) and checked out the local park (kids) we started looking for dinner options. All the things we read recommended we try the Mathallen food hall which isn’t too far away, but it was closing in 30 minutes so we needed a different option. So we found Oslo Street Food. It turned out to be a locals hangout with about 20 food stands all with different cuisines. It was a nice size crowd, a DJ spinning good tunes and of course ice cream. No complaints from us and one of those very cool local spots we happen upon from time to time that makes traveling so fun.
5 Adventures Together 