We were naturally delighted to be greeted by clear blue skies this morning as we left our charming flat in the Fredensborg neighborhood. The plan today was to prioritize the outdoor sites and visit the indoor museums if the sky opened up.
The Vigelandsparken is a large park containing over 200 granite, bronze and wrought iron sculptures crafted by Gustav Vigeland. The fountain is the oldest monument but the Monolith is the most impressive.
The Monolith stands 17 meters tall (55 feet) and shows 121 intertwined figures of different ages and genders. They appear to be struggling to reach higher, perhaps seeking a spiritual balm for daily, mortal difficulties.
There are also dozens of granite statues surrounding the monolith plateau and are each unique in the story that they tell.
There are also wrought iron gates around the park/sculptures that are part of the artwork to see as well.
The second day of our hop-on-hop-off tour bus pass gave us the chance to finish the circuit around the city.
The kids enjoyed sitting up front on the upper deck. Suaram noted that it was a bit strange sitting on the driver’s side. Dad reminded her that she will soon be getting more time on that side as she begins driver training on the road this summer. It’s difficult to believe that she is turning 16 this fall!
The Historical Museum was Mom’s top destination for the day because it contains many of the Viking exhibits which will be housed in the permanent Viking museum which reopens next year. Their collection is extensive and there are a number of interesting and unique items on display.
This helmet was pierced in two places. Historians believe that Vikings buried their fallen warriors with their armor and weapons but deliberately destroyed them during the funeral. Despite what Looney Tunes and Carl Emil Doepler would have us believe, Viking horned helmets never existed. They were 18th century creations of European writers.
The museum staff were eager to allow the kids the opportunity to try on replicas of the Viking helmet, sword and shield. They were “heavier than they looked!”
We also got to see the serpent head from the prow of the famous Oseberg Viking ship. It has never been displayed since its discovery in 1904 because it was considered too delicate but it is currently being shown as the centerpiece of a Norse Mythology exhibit. We took a picture with the replica.
The family has learned that Dad seems to be slowly turning into Grandpa Ed as every item and display case needs thorough examination. The kids are required to provide Dad with 3 facts from their visit which would be new/unknown to him. Today, they succeeded but it was not an easy challenge for them.
The next museum choice was CreeperKitty who had also chosen a museum about Vikings but this one was much more commercial and electronic. In fact, Dad found zero display cases but lots of touch screens.
The kids claimed it was “very” informative and engaging. There was also a virtual reality movie which gave us a chance to experience the feeling of being on a Viking ship which comes under attack from flying flaming arrows. There was a selfie room with costumes that was fun and several timelines giving info about the 350 years of Viking dominance.
Toaster_ham chose the Paradox Museum as his choice for today. This is a museum of illusions and we all had a lot more fun than expected. Some of the exhibits were familiar to us (i.e. optical illusions, etc.) but some were truly novel.
Toaster_ham got to be the “big” kid today!
For dinner we took the recommendation of the VR movie attendant. He was born in Florida, moved to Iceland when he was 10 and now lives in Norway. He recommended a place called Asia in the trendy Aykr Brygge area of Oslo.
The food was amazing and the area was hopping for 630pm on a Thursday. It seems good weather brings people out in Oslo, maybe in part because it’s still early in the good weather part of the year. To these Californias it felt chilly but shorts and t shirts and outdoor dining was everywhere today.
Our last stop of the day was Brian’s pick. A quick walk to the end of the waterfront brought us to the Astrop Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. Like many others, the container for the art is Art itself with an award winning architecture design.
We had seen its sweeping roofline from afar a couple of times but we’re glad to see it up close to finish off our day.
5 Adventures Together 