Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers.
Oslo is considered a global city and ranked "Beta World City" in studies performed by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi Magazine. For several years, Oslo has been listed as one of the most expensive cities in the world along with such other global cities as Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen, Paris, and Tokyo. In 2009, however, Oslo regained its status as the world's most expensive city. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo 2nd after Tokyo. As of 2010 the metropolitan area of Oslo has a population of 1,442,318. The population currently increases at record rates, making it the fastest growing city in Europe.
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So, D and I left our house at 2:00 am on Saturday and drove up to Rome in the dark, where we left our car in a paid lot and took our direct flight to Norway. Ryanair offers cheap flights from Ciampino airport and we got two round-trip tickets for about 80 euro, which was a steal of a deal! :)
Heading to the train station from Rygge Airport to travel the one hour into Oslo!
Neat wood carving in front of a house by the Rygge train station.
D waiting for the train. Temp. about -3 C!
Farm house along the train route into Oslo - so much of the land in Norway is rural, forested, or agricultural. It's so beautiful!
First glimpse of the head of the Oslo "fjord" (not a real fjord, but sort of shaped like one).
A neat tree...
On the train into Oslo! YAY VACATION!
Snow-covered bridge from mainland to a small island in Oslo fjord.
First stop after dropping our things off at our hotel in the city - D found a record shop! Vintage stuff, and tons of Norwegian specialties - awesome! All very expensive, of course...
Outside Oslo Central Station we came upon a St. Patrick's Day parade in the making. Lots of Irish wolfhounds and the band was just about to come out here to lead the people down Karl Johans Gate, the main street in Oslo.
Without fail some of the BEST Indian food D or I have ever had. Jaipur Indian Restaurant on Karl Johans Gate. And very expensive!!!
Looking down Karl Johans Gate towards the Palace of Norway's very popular and much-loved king and queen, and the crown prince and princess! Norway was our first monarchy!
Loving on the Norwegian Zamboni machine at the ice skating rink, yo.
NationalTeatret, the main square of Oslo, main transportation point (behind this building), and just in front of the Palace.
Catching him off-guard by the Tourist Information office.
Very cute tea shop and "kaffe" house just down the street from our hotel.
Angry Birds soda! And 32.00 Norwegian kroner is the equivalent of just over $5.
In the morning we made our way to the Edvard Munch museum. Edvard Munch is the artist who painted "The Scream". We had hoped to see it here, but it had been temporarily moved to a new exhibit in the Norwegian National Gallery, so we missed it on this trip. Either way, the museum and Munch's other works are fantastic! I really like many of the Norwegian artists!
Another painting by Edvard Munch.
Oslo's Viking Ship Museum, on the island of Bygdøy outside the city.
Front of a Viking ship found in a burial mound, dating to something like 1,000 BC. After death, Vikings buried the dead with everything they'd need in death, including horses and dogs, food, gold coins, jewelry, sometimes furniture, and obviously modes of transportation. Many of these burial mounds were later robbed, but the robbers mainly took the jewelry and coins. Most everything left was undisturbed until many of these locations were uncovered by farmers plowing their fields.
The ONLY known Viking wagon in existence. Pretty cool!
The carvings on this ship and its low sides indicate that it was not used for sailing long distances and that it couldn't withstand rough seas. This was likely a pleasure ship used by the wealthy for leisure rides.
Carved dragon or dog's head from a ship.
A Viking sled!
Shoes dating to the 1,000s AD.
Norway has this thing with trolls, which freaks me out. I don't know if they're considered lucky or what, but they're everywhere... Many of them are fashioned with rabbit, reindeer, or elk fur "hair".
Instead of taking the bus from the Viking Ship Museum to the Kon-Tiki Museum, D and I walked through a residential neighborhood and looked at some of the old Norwegian houses. I want to live here!
Love the sloping roofs of Norwegian houses - very much a necessary thing with this much snow!
Looking towards Oslo's city center from Bygdøy, across the frozen salt water of the Oslo fjord.
Haha! Mini icebergs floating in the fjord!
Marriage is silly, folks! :)
The Stave Church, dating back to something like 1200 AD, currently on Oslo's Norwegian Folk Museum grounds. I think all the wood used in construction is oiled with something, maybe fat mixed with soot or tar of some kind to keep snow and moisture from rotting it. It turns the wood black and smells very strong.
Mini example of the floating raft used by Thor Heyerdahl to partially circumnavigate the globe in the 1970s at the Kon-Tiki Museum. There is a movie about this journey entitled Kon-Tiki which came out in 2012. Super neat story!
Norwegian Folk Museum offers examples of Norwegian architecture and life throughout the ages. This was a farm field with buildings in the 1500s-style.
D checking out the carvings and unique wood building techniques of one house.
D couldn't figure out why the buildings were so elevated. We thought perhaps it was to house livestock underneath the main floor like in many other countries, but now I'm wondering if it just wasn't because the snow gets so high. :)
My salmon with dill and boiled potatoes, with a side of vegetables and fennel. NOM!
D's reindeer "cakes" with a Norwegian mushroom sauce and creamed sweet potatoes. I couldn't eat this as the reindeer cakes had breadcrumbs in them, but I was told they were delicious. :)
Heading up to the Holmenkollen Ski Museum and Ski Jump Tower, with Oslo behind us.
Goofing off by the Ski Museum
I am definitely not interested in skiing enough to count hurtling myself off this thing as one of my "bucket list" experiences...
We both loved all the pines around Norway! That was one of my favorite parts of this trip!
Checking out some skis at the Ski Museum
Aww!
Oh yay!
Looking down to Oslo and the fjord from the top of the ski jump tower.
We found a Vietnamese restaurant! Hai Cafe was delicious!
Fun looking at a menu in Vietnamese and Norse. I think we understood Vietnamese much better!
Hahahahaha - NO THANKS.
D enjoying goi cuon.
Hue-style spicy soup for me!
D's pho tai nam.
Heading up to Oslo Vinterpark in Tryvann to go nighttime skiing.
Sunset on our last day in Norway. :(
At the Vinterpark!
Before injury brave-face photo - haha!
D got me into a pair of skis!
D is an avid rollerblader, and as the boots for both blading and skiing are similar, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he's excellent on a set of skis as well!
One last picture of snow on my boots!
Leaving Oslo on the train to head back to Rygge and back home to Napoli at 7:00 am. We will miss you, Oslo! Thank you for such a wonderful, relaxing time! :)
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