Our final stop in Norway is in Oslo where we will spend two days exploring like Vikings! Surprise, Oslo is on a fjord. Population is 750,000 making it the largest city in Norway. The city was named Christiania in 1624 for the King at the time and until 1877 when they changed the spelling to Kristiania until 1925 at which time it was renamed Oslo. Another bit of history, the Nazis occupied Norway from 1940 to 1945. This memorial sculpture shows the hammer of Thor smashing a swastika.

In the morning, I wandered around the city close to where the ship docked. The Opera House is spectacular – meant to look like a glacier. You can climb up to the top and have a great view of the harbor and city.

Our bus tour takes us around the city past beautiful homes built in the 1800’s after a fire (finally of brick and mortar!), The Nobel Peace Center, the Fort Akershus Fortress (circa 1800), the Royal Palace (1848), Norwegian parliament and on to Frogner Park where we take a stroll through the Vigeland Sculpture Park. We hear a lot of the history of Oslo and Norway. The two most famous artists of Oslo is Vigeland and Munch. You’ll know their art when you see it.

The Vigeland Sculpture Park is the most visited place in Norway. The sculpture’s are amazing and each has a story of its own. The fountain and obelisk are also beyond what you can imagine. No picture will give you the sense you have walking among these incredible sculptures. Vigeland carved these out of bronze and marble. He had 14 staff who helped him lift, move around and then transport to their place in this park. Definitely worth a trip to Oslo. Never seen this amount of sculptures in one place. I think they said 212.

We leave the park and the bus drives up the mountain, zig-zagging up the lined streets, the suburbs. These homes were built when a sanatorium for TB was built and a railroad took people up to the area. People started building their homes along the railroad. It is quite dense with homes. The road takes us to the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. An iconic ski jump because it is so close to Oslo; you can see it on the mountain side from the city center. It is not the highest but an incredible ski jump built 10 years ago and is made of 10,000 tones of steel. Impressive. People are down on the track below, training on roller skis. The tour guide tells us that skiing is everyone in Oslo’s sport. BTW The 1952 Olympics were held in Oslo.

Back on the ship, we relax and enjoy the evening. The next morning we head out on our own, enjoying walking around the city. The main attraction today is the Munch Museum. A very nice museum to explore along with seeing famous works of Munch. He gave over 26,000 pieces of art to the city. You’ll know this one – The Scream.

Or maybe this one – Vampyre.

After the museum stop, we head to the shopping district. It is Saturday and there are bands marching up Karl Johans Gate street. The National Cathedral is along this street facing the Grand Plaza with the King Christian statue. Nice to see such a vibrant, clean city environment.

We have lunch at the Cathedral Cafe. I had to take a picture of this woman and a couple of men city near us because they could my relatives. Yes, beer is available as well as ashtrays! The people in the shops continue to speak to us in Norwegian until we say English, please.

Our final spin around the city is on a Hop on Hop off bus. This time, besides all the places we already went, we go to the peninsula where all the museums are located. Beautiful area with homes and the museums. A marina is on one side as we are leaving before entering a tunnel under the fjord to get back to the city center.

Other sites of interest, floating saunas you can rent and jump in the cold water and warm up in the sauna. The marching bands were fun. Boats everywhere.

This is a city where you could spend more than two days! Sailing away overnight to Alborg, Denmark.