The next day we visited the Nobel Peace Museum, which was amazing. We learnt about the various Peace prize winners over the years, and the history of how it came about. It was a moving and thought provoking place. I was interested to read about the 2023 winner, Narges Mohammadi, and Iranian woman who is in prison for championing women’s rights in Iran.
After that we went on a sailing boat cruise around the Oslo fjord, it was very beautiful, a sunny day, and on the boat we had food and drinks, the table next to us (a work team) drinking several bottles of wine as well as shots and beers – I thought those days were over. 😊
When we returned we took a tram to the Edvard Munch museum (famous for ‘the Scream’), but there were so many other interesting works, including amazing woodcut prints and sculptures. The views from the top of the museum building were spectacular, where you could see people below lounging in the park in the sun on a lawn beach on the harbour. It was a lovely day.
The next day we took the bus to the Kon Tiki Museum and saw the original Kon Tiki raft built and used by Thor Hyerdahl and his crew to cross the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia. It was truly remarkable to see how small the raft was, and how vulnerable they were on that craft for 101 days. This is something that has captivated me since I was very young and first learned about this voyage, so seeing the actual raft was awe inspiring. There was also another raft he used to show that ancient people had crossed the Atlantic, called the Ra II, also very impressive. What an amazing man, who proved that ancient people had crossed the seas in similar craft to trade and meet with others. We then went to the Fram Museum ( all part of the same combined ticket) which was about Amundsen’s expedition to the North and South Poles. It was quite interactive and you could walk around in replicas of the captain’s cabin on the ship. There were heaps of things to engage kids as well.
We took the ferry back to Oslo, then took a tram to Frogner Park and Vigeland Park.
Wow!
This park is just awesome, it is a huge space (45 hectares) with beautiful gardens, paths and water features as well as sculptures. I can’t describe how amazing it was. There are 200+ sculptures by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) – all of people. Men, women, children, babies. They represent all facets of human existence, and human bodies in all shapes, ages and configurations. The statues are naked and depict sadness, joy, grief, play, anger, love, compassion, and every other part of the human condition you can imagine. In some cases bodies are intertwined and contorted, in others they are alone seemingly in thought. They are both beautiful and thought provoking. Some are cast in bronze, others are carved in stone. They are all extraordinary, especially the fountain and the monolith. It was a wonderful experience and I recommend anyone coming to Oslo, be sure to go there, and it’s free. You can walk around for hours admiring the sculptures and enjoying the magnificent parklands. Be sure to bring some water to drink if it’s a warm day, as there was nowhere around to buy drinks.
Our travels 