I had planned to go to Oslo for Easter weekend from Vancouver. I have a recent history of travelling abroad for four day long weekends from Vancouver. I can travel to Europe over a four day long weekend and get two to three days in a city. Perfect for a city break. I’ve done this in Valetta, Riga, Sophia, and Copenhagen in Europe; and Panama City, San Salvador, Mexico City, and Playa Del Carmen in North America. Oslo seemed like a great place to spend the weekend. Subtracting the flight time, I would have two and a half days in Oslo. Great…except, something came up at work, and a couple of days before I left I discovered I would have to be at work a day early. I could have cancelled my trip, but I was so excited to go, that I thought, “Why not?” It seemed like a challenge. Would I enjoy a trip that was so far for such a short time? So I flew to Oslo (via London), spent one day in Oslo, and flew back to Vancouver. And it was great.
I had a very pleasant, short layover in London on the way there and got out of the airport for a few hours to see ‘Little Venice‘ and then I took a short flight to Norway and landed in Oslo just after midnight.
Norway Flag and partial map
Norway and Oslo are not ‘off the beaten path’, but for those of you who are cartographically challenged, Norway is the first on the far left of the vertical triad of Norway, Sweden, and Finland and Oslo is down near the bottom. It is famous for its fjords, stunning arctic landscapes in the North, trolls, and concept of Koselig (effectively the concept of coziness and warmth in a social and natural setting). Did I experience any of these things? No! But I did have a great day in Oslo, and I look forward to returning to Norway to see more.
On to the day…
Landing in Oslo
I arrived so late on Friday night that it was just after midnight and, hence, Saturday morning. I would be leaving at 5am Sunday morning. I walked up to the immigration guy in his booth at the airport and expected he would stamp me in without question, as most countries in Europe do; but he did have questions.
“What is the purpose of your trip?” He asked.
“Tourism,” I responded.
“How long will you stay?” He asked without looking at me.
“I leave tomorrow morning,” I replied.
He looked at me. “You are coming for only one day?”
“Yes. It was supposed to be longer, but I have to be at work. I thought I would come anyway.”
“You live in London?” He inquired.
“No. Vancouver. Canada.”
At this point, he put my passport down and sat upright. He had several more questions, but I explained to him that this is the kind of crazy travel that I do and, finally, I heard the ker-chunk of the passport stamp, and he said in a deadpan delivery, “Enjoy your day in Oslo.”
Getting in as late as I did, the train was no longer running, and I had to take a taxi to my hostel. It wasn’t $100 CDN, but it was close. (I was supposed to have arrived earlier but my flight out of London was delayed. If you are going to Oslo, try to arrive at an hour when public transport is still possible.)
I stayed at the K7 hostel, which seemed like the best budget option in the centre. I paid for a private room over a dorm though, which I was glad about, given how later I was arriving and how early I would wake up. By the time I got to sleep it was 2am. I set my alarm for 5:00am.
K7 Hostel
Early Morning at the Opera House
I woke up after three hours sleep questioning my life choices, made myself a coffee in the hostel kitchen, and headed out for a walk.
It was brisk, quiet, and beautiful. I went out to see the thing in Oslo that I was most excited to see, the Oslo Opera House. Built-in 2007 and designed by Snøhetta, it is a stunning, angular, white marble structure, right on the edge of the harbour and designed to look like a giant iceberg. It’s beautiful just in its own right; just to look at it from its different angles. What makes it spectacular though is that it is not just to be used as an opera house, but as a structure that also functions as a public space, meaning that people are allowed and encouraged to walk on the building and to use its sloping sides for recreation, for reflection, and as a spot from which to enjoy the view of the water. First thing in the morning I had it all to myself, which was great, however, I better appreciated it when I went back in the afternoon and saw it when it was covered with people. I love the idea that it’s a beautiful building, but it’s also made to be a part of the landscape like a public square.
Other than the Opera House, that morning I just generally walked around Oslo and looked at the streets and the beautiful buildings. It was very quiet, but it was very sunny and cold and the buildings were colourful and beautiful and there were numerous statues that I could look at. Nothing not much was open at that point, I did manage to get a sandwich from a convenience store, which was not inexpensive, but reasonably priced and gave me enough fuel to start my day. (Lots of photos here, but the writing continues.)
colourful buildings on a quiet Saturday morning
more sights of very early morning in Central Oslo
Viegland Park
After I was finished my walk around the city centre, I continued walking in the direction of Vigeland Park. On the way, I passed a flea market that was just setting up, which was nice for a quick browse. It was a long walk to the park, but it took me through several more residential neighbourhoods and was very pretty.
Vigeland Park is a park that is filled with sculptures of one artist: Gustav Vigeland. The sculptures are weird. I don’t really know how else to say it. I mean, they’re well done, and they are distinctive in their style – a style that I don’t really have language to describe, but they’re weird. They are all sculptures of people in various stages of life and activity: fighting and running and aging and posing in weird positions…there’s a tower of people piled on top of one another and people on each other’s backs. Probably the most famous is the angry baby statue, which apparently is good luck if you touch its hand (I cannot attest to this as I do not like babies), and a man attacked by babies and violently trying to shake them off, which is probably what I would look like if I were ever asked to babysit. (Don’t ask me to babysit.)
The park would certainly be more picturesque in the summer; at the time that I was there it was April, and the trees hadn’t really started growing leaves and the grass was partially still covered with snow. It was still nice for a stroll.
Back in Central Oslo
I hopped on a tram to head back to the city centre. I wandered around some more, looking at notable buildings and checking out streets.
Then I was hungry again. This would be, as it turns out, the only sit-down meal that I had in Oslo. I just had too much to do, and I didn’t have time to spend it eating food. (I did, somehow, find time to smoke four cigars. Priorities.) I found a cafe near the harbour and got a table outside. It was a sunny day; it wasn’t warm but with a coat and a scarf it was lovely to sit outside and have a bit of pumpkin soup with a cigar and a cup of coffee.
A Gallery and A Museum
Refuelled, it was time for museums. I went first to the Astrud Feamley Museum, specifically because I love modern art and I knew that they had some Damien Hirst pieces there. It was a great museum small enough to navigate the short period of time with lots of weird and wonderful modern art I really enjoyed it.
About a two-minute walk away is the National Museum, which is also excellent. It’s quite a bit larger and it has a wonderful display of modern art from both Norwegian and international artists, as well as more historical items. I didn’t linger too long in either museum, but I enjoyed my visits.
More excellent art at the National Museum
I enjoyed walking along the harbour as well seeing so many people out sitting outside enjoying meals and drinks in the sunshine.
Koselig in action?
I also noticed the saunas floating in the fjord. I had investigated renting one of them before I went to Oslo, but I decided against it because (1) too expensive; (2) it doesn’t seem like something that I would want to do with such a short period of time. But if you’re there for longer, they look fantastic. You rent your own sauna and you just sit out there floating in the fjord enjoying the heat and then you plunge into the water and do it all over again. If you’re the sort of person who likes to travel with friends (I am not that sort of person) this might be for you.
Smoking Cigars in Oslo
It was around this time that I popped in the only cigar store that I saw in central Oslo, which was Augusto Cigars. It’s a very good cigar store; the proprietor clearly takes tobacco very seriously and had a great selection. I bought a few cigars, but the main reason that I went there was that I had read that they had a smoking lounge. They do, but it was only available for members.
Augusto Cigars
As far as I could tell the smoking laws in Oslo were quite strict. You really can’t smoke inside anywhere; the outdoor smoking laws, however, I couldn’t quite figure out. Some places allowed smoking outside which is why I was able to smoke my cigar with my soup over lunch, but many did not. Although the man didn’t let me smoke in his establishment, he did recommend a place that I could go later and smoke which I did.
A Dame in Damstredet
From there I walked to a different area of the city, around Damstredet and Telthusbakken. I did that because one I love to walk through the city and see the sites that I can see and because the areas those streets specifically are known for having old beautiful and colourfully painted wooden houses from the early 19th century. It was charming. The houses are brightly painted and wooden, set closely together on cobbles streets. They are adorable. Again, they would have been more adorable had it been summer or springtime with leaves and plants out in full bloom, but I really enjoyed the walk in the area nevertheless.
I strolled through a cemetery, and then meandered my way back to central Oslo, walking along streets with lots of appealing cafes, restaurants, and shops, with people out enjoying the day.
modern buildings
A bar I visited and one of the few murals I saw
Oslo Evening
I will say that at this point I was very tired. I had slept little on the flight coming to Oslo, I had slept only about three hours in my room before I went out, and I had walked at this point about 25 kilometres. If I had more time in Oslo, there are more things that I would have done. There’s a tremendous number of museums there (unfortunately the one with the Viking ship that I most wanted to see was closed at the time), and I certainly could have done everything that I did at a slower pace. But the only thing that I really left off the table being in Oslo for such a short time was that I didn’t get to go on one of the fjord cruises to see the water. But there’s always next time.
I spent much of the evening in a bar smoking cigars. The man at the cigar store had recommended a bar called Dr. Jekyll’s Pub. It’s quite pleasant inside and allows cigar smoking on it nice back patio that is sheltered from the wind, heated, and welcoming. When I sat down there other people out there enjoying cigars. I chatted with the bartender and then preceded to chat with the other people (all locals to Oslo) out there smoking. It was a very relaxing way to end the day.
It was dark by the time that I left. I got a falafel from a local shop my dinner and walked around a little bit more (ok, about 5 km more) in the dark and then taking one final view at the Opera House, which really is just stunning, and then I went back to my hostel room and went to bed. By the time the day was over I walked over 30 kilometres and seen many of the highlights of the city.
While there are a lot of sights to see in Oslo, there really is just a lot of joy from walking around and taking in the vibe on the streets. I’ll go back to Oslo because I want to see more of Norway but all-in-all, I was happy with my ~30 hours spent in the city.
(If you’ve just stumbled on this post and don’t know me: my name is Dale.)
Leaving Oslo
The next morning, at about 4am, I took the train back to the airport, which was cheap and efficient. When I was going through immigration at the airport, I found myself standing in the queue in front of the same man who had stamped my passport when I entered Oslo. I walked up to the counter.
“Hello. I remember you,” I said.
He looked at me and said, still deadpan, “And I remember you. How was your day in Oslo?”
“Fantastic. I can’t wait to come back.”
He stamped my passport with something that approached a smile and wordlessly handed it back to me. It was the perfect bookend to my trip.
Of course, my trip wasn’t entirely over; I still had a long layover in London on Easter Sunday ahead of me…