Oslo Day 2 and 3

Apologies for the late entry. Got distracted by too many things including sales, shopping, celebrations and not forgetting to mention the free treat. Thanks again Ww.

Warning: long post ahead.

Oslo Day 2

Our first stop for the day was to Vigeland Sculpture Park. This cute little bear here was actually on the divider of the road and not part of the park. Saw him while making our way from the metro station.

Tadah! It's just weird how the scenery look nicer in photos. I think with all the heat and sun, I couldn't fully appreciate it till I looked back at the photos. This park has collection of bronze and granite sculptures by the famous Gustav Vigeland.

As the name suggests, there's sculptures everywhere. From bronze to marble, adults to children. There's various poses as well, from level of imitation of 1 till 10 (where you'll have to break a few bones or twist a few joints before you can achieve it). I stopped at level 1. Haha. I really liked the sculpture of the father holding his son's hand. Just warms your heart doesn't it?

The famous Angry Boy.

Groupie. The sculpture above is at imitation level 10. To decrease the level, the 2 person imitating can do it flat on the ground instead. Hahaha. Any takers? The reward is to get a nice photo shot.

There were more sculptures made from stone and marble further up. All of them were of naked humans. Some were just weird.

The Monolith - 14.12 metres high sculpture of 121 human bodies. It represents man's desire to become closer to spiritual and divine.

I love how green the grass was and how nice the photos turned out.

It's only in Europe that you can see people sunbathing, not at the beach, but at the parks. We tried to appreciate the experience, but concluded that it wasn't meant for us.

The Wheel of Life - the symbol of eternity. Man's journey from cradle to grave.

Next, we headed off to the Vigeland Museum dedicated to the sculptor and his works.

Inside, there were so many smaller versions of the sculptures seen at the park made from clay. There were other sculptures of heads made by Vigeland himself of people who were close to him. It was mentioned that initially he needed human models but as he got familiar with the structure of the human body, he started working without one.

Human model for the Angry Boy.....just trying to pull your leg.

The Nobel Peace Centre

It was a museum dedicated to all the Nobel Peace winners, chosen by the committee here in Oslo. We watched the screening of the life stories of previous winners, but somebody fell asleep. Hahaha. Got to write something on a leaf and hang it on the tree of life.

That's mine. Obviously. My deepest secret written on the back. So, if you want to find out what it is, visit the Nobel Peace Centre at Oslo. Hahahahaa.

When there's a mirror, there's always people who can't resist to take a few more photos. Haih...I think they should start charging. 1 shot, 100 kroners.

Island hopping!

We took the ferry to Bygdoy, which is another island to visit 2 other famous museums.

It was just a short ride, around 15 minutes.

Lunch for me was Norwegian sausage with prawn salad and pancake. AL had a really big ice cream coated with chocolate. No wonder it was called Lion.

Kon Tiki museum

Initially, I thought I wouldn't like this museum at all as I don't even know what was it about. Then, I found out it was about the famous Kon-Tiki Expedition which proved that the migration of human from South America to the island out in the Pacific ocean was possible. What really interest me was the exhibition on Easter island.

Geographically speaking, Easter Island is the most isolated place in the world. Yet, it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. The head and neck only statues are called Moai, which are used to worship ancestors by the people. If only I could visit the island myself one day.

Saw this shark below the musem as well.

FRAM museum

Just opposite was the FRAM museum, a museum dedicated to the polar ship FRAM. It was built in 1892 and is the world's strongest wooden ship which has sailed furthest to the North and South. We got to go into the ship itself to explore the interior. This was one of the time when I was glad that I am short as the ceilings were quite low.

I have no steering licence. Have you bought your life insurance? Wait a minute, this rhymes.

Back to mainland

The biggest Dalmation I've seen in my life. His owner was already big sized.

Dinner was at a restaurant around Johans gate. Y3 tried deer meat which she said was not bad but had quite a strong smell. It was served with red berries which were quite sour. Other food tried were salmon, seafood platter and prawns. Delicious!

The Parliament building - The lion above me was carved by prisoners.

The Grand Hotel - The balcony right above the Grand Hotel sign is where the winners of the Nobel Peace prize greet the public on the night of the award.

Since I can't afford to collect t-shirts from all Hardrock cafe I've come across, I'm collecting photos of them. They're everywhere! Frankly speaking, I've never found out what they offer in there.

The National Theatre

The Royal Palace - I was seriously hoping that it wouldn't disappoint me like what the palace up Akershus fortress did and it didn't. Too bad we were too tired by that time and didn't any nearer to it.

That concludes Day 2. Ready for more? Read on.

Oslo Day 3

I want to say that this 2.5 hours cruise with free traditional Norwegian prawn buffet which was included in my Oslo 72 hrs pass was the highlight of my trip.

Imagine, free flow of prawns and the cost of this cruise was even more expensive than the Oslo pass itself. If you could see the fresh red prawns and taste how sweet they were. There was live commentary on the attractions which we went past but being me, I was more interested in what I had for lunch in front of me. Hahahaha. So, I can't comment much.

Picture of the 2 of us before they started the buffet.

The first time I've tasted such sweet and fresh prawns with the eggs still intact. They tasted sweet too.

A long time ago, the government didn't allow people to build houses on these island, but as time went by, the temporary camps erected for fishing became wooden shades and slowly it transformed into houses. From that point onwards, the government revised their regulation provided that they adhere to the colour coding. I think it's something like one of the islands were only allowed yellow and red, and another green and red.

Private lighthouse. People do rent it to hold weddings and parties. Apparently it needs to be booked 10 years in advance. Anyone planning to get married in 10 years time? Book now.

Back to dry land

The National Museum - there are 4 versions of 'The Scream' by Edward Munch in Norway. One was kept here, another 2 at the Munch Museum and 1 more belongs to a private collector. We decided to come here as it was much nearer to where we were going next. I think this is the only museum where only 50% were paintings and the rest were sculptures.

Photos were not allowed so this was taken from wikipedia. I must say that the painting was about 55cm by 30 cm and the real thing was more impressive. Too bad I didn't get the chance to see the other 2 at the Munch Museum.

Holmenkollen - whoever has not attempt to ski jump at Holmenkollen will never consider his quest to jump the most challenging ski tower to be complete.

Too bad the ski museum and jump tower was closed and construction was going on to built the new higher jump tower in preparation for 2011 Nordic skiing World Championship. We went to the visitor centre and a really helpful staff spent a lot of time explaining how the place has evolved. I was amazed at how much improvement in the height and ski jumping technique been over the years. Out of all the jumping styles, I really liked the Telemarkstil as the landing is just so elegant and classy.

Back to Bygdoy island

I really wanted to visit the Viking Ship Museum and the Norwegian Folk Museum that I made a radical decision to catch the ferry at 3.40pm and the closing time for both museums was at 5pm. What a rush but it was worth it.

Viking Ship Museum - I was impressed by how well preserved the ships were, how funny looking the leather boots were, how big the combs were and how much the design reminds me of wood carvings from Thailand. We only had 20 minutes in there, but it was enough for us.

We then quickly made our way to the Norwegian Folk Museum. I didn't realise how big this museum was till I got there. There were so many indoor and outdoor things to see and I really regreted that we didn't have sufficient time there.

So many types of dolls on display. Couldn't find a Malaysian one though.

Waaah, reminds me so much of my childhood. I want to play with paper dolls again!

Tiny crockeries. Wonder who can use them and they look so fragile.

Such tiny dressed and I bet they're more expensive than mine.

That is a posh looking rocking horse. The one I use to own was just made from rattan.

From houses with grass on the roof to different types of piggy banks. Too bad we had limited time. I would love to spend my whole day here.

The Gol Stave Church from 1200 AD was shown on the map. Thinking it could be seen easily from outside as the museum was closed, we made our way around it. To our disappointment, we could only see the entrance....

And a glimps of it behind those trees. So sad!

Our last ferry ride back to mainland.

Dinner was at our favourite pub again! Had cod fish and salmon and both were still delicious! Food here is quite healthy and in big portion.

The last place we visited:

Opera House - it is the most expensive architecture in Oslo. What I can remember from the commentary while I was on the cruise was, if you were skate boarding, you could skate board all the way up from below the water to the top. That was very true as there were few steps and it was inclination all the way up and down. Quite dangerous to go at night as there were uneven grounds everywhere.

View from the top. So beautiful. It started drizzling so we decided to retire for the night.

Last photo of Oslo, right outside the main train station before we made our way home the next morning.

Oslo, such nice weather, so tourist friendly, so many different things to do and see, but all good things come to an end. Highly recommended to visit with parents as the transportation is really good and there is not much walking to do. Just bear in mind the higher cost of living and try not to go in winter.

Next post: Cadbury Chocolate Factory...yay!