These posts are, obviously, not being written every night like with past vacations due to a combo of being so tired and busy. (The first couple of nights, I took 4pm naps because it was so darn dark outside.)
Although I booked my flights at the end of April and had until early November to plan for this trip, I found myself scrambling at the last minute to figure out my itinerary before ultimately deciding to get multi-day city passes that include admission to plenty of museums and unlimited public transportation. They might seem pricey, but if you're like me and like getting a lot done and speeding through things, you can easily make the passes pay for themselves. The only downside was that most museums are closed on Mondays, so there were many that I didn't get to see.
On another note, one (kinda) strategy that worked great for outbound flight was only getting two hours of sleep the night before and then taking an over-the-counter sleeping pill. Usually, I find long flights unbearable but I slept the majority of the five hour flight from LAX to Newark and the eight-hour flight from Newark to Oslo. This backfired a bit when I took the pill half an hour before my flight was supposed to depart and then my flight was delayed half an hour. I was so groggy before boarding, I thought I might pass out like a narcoleptic. But I digress.
Oslo was a great start and was a bit slower, better easing me into the trip - with less action than Helsinki and Stockholm. Also, I wasn't able to see everything I wanted to, since many museums were closed on Mondays.
Here's some walking around pictures:
I started at Popsenteret, a pop museum that explored Norwegian pop music. Although I can't name any Norwegian musicians, it was an interesting, interactive museum. |
| Super excited when I heard Take on Me and saw the music video playing. Apparently A-Ha is Norwegian! |
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| When you put your head in the egg-shaped things, it plays music from up and coming Norwegian musicians. |
There was this one room that allows you to have the rock star experience. You walk in and are greeted by a cheering crowd.
This was my favorite part of the museum. There's a room where you can select different decades and the lights in the room change to give the feel of that decade. The pictures on the table change (and there's movement), the posters, windows, wallpaper, and the couch all change too.
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| I think this is the '90s. |
After this was a nice, long walk through the park and to the Munch Museum. Edvard Munch is big in Norway - their international airport is named after him. If you don't know who he is, you have to know his most famous painting The Scream.
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The painting version of The Scream pictured here was at the National Gallery in Oslo, but I didn't have a chance to go there. There was a poster-like version at the Munch Museum that, according to Wikipedia, was stolen (and recovered) ten years ago.
At The Munch Museum, you had to go through a metal detector and weren't allowed to have liquids or bags. But it was a pretty small and I sped through it a couple of times. I actually exited and thought it was by accident, since it was so small, so I had to go through the metal detector again and took a look but nope.. I'd seen everything. The current exhibit was comparing Munch's work with Vigeland's. Vigeland is a famous Norwegian sculptor - a couple of days later, I went to a park that had a bunch of his statues and there was a museum too (but closed when I went).
Took a walk and found my way to the Natural History Museum - it was kinda boring.. they're pretty much all the same.
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| Looks like Ikea |
Since I've always lived in LA, I'm especially enamored by evidence of seasons other than summer, so I heavily admired the foliage in Oslo.
I also saw some interesting street art.
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| This one is nice but.. |
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| .. this one is not. |
Took a 4pm nap, woke up and explored the malls. There's a lot in the area.
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| I have no idea what the face on these diamonds is. Also, the first of many, many, many H&Ms I saw on the trip. |
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| Super excited to see a bunch of Christmas decorations being sold. |
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| Interesting chairs |
End of post for the first day. This was kinda boring, but the next day is more interesting. Lots of boat museums!
