Oslo, Norway

We are about to embark on the Norwegian leg of our epic Scandinavian cruise. Having visited Sweden, Finland and Denmark we are starting to develop some understanding of this region of the world but, rather than having satisfied our quest for knowledge, it has really just piqued our interest further and added to the long list of topics we'd love to gain a greater understanding of. Norway will prove to be the same - so little time and so much to learn!

Over the course of the last week or so, during lectures and tours, we have heard many references to the Ice Age, Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Viking Age, Middle Ages, etc. etc. Unfortunately, I will never remember all the facts associated with the references but I do know that people started inhabiting Norway after the Ice Age, in around 9000BC.

The Vikings are a big part of Norway's history. The Viking Age was from the mid-700s AD to 1050 AD, and during this time, the Vikings raided various places including Ireland, France, England and Scotland, travelling by the extremely fast ocean-going ships they created. Although they were known largely for being ruthless barbarians they had many talents including craftsmanship, trading and administration, all of which contributed to their warrior endeavours.

The Vikings ended up founding a few different cities, including Normandy and Dublin and, as previously mentioned, also moved as far east as what is now called Istanbul. However, the Viking Age ended when Harald Hardrada unsuccessfully attempted to conquer England in 1066.

Between the Viking Age and the early 1900s, Norway was impacted by the Black Death in 1349, which killed nearly a third of the population in one year, plus many invasions and 'unions' with other Scandinavian countries, prior to achieving full independence in 1905 when Haakon VII was crowned the King of Norway.

In the meantime, Norway's prosperity has fluctuated significantly over the years. I had always assumed it to be a relatively wealthy country but that hasn't always been the case. In fact, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe until the discovery of oil in the North Sea in the 1960s, which, ultimately, propelled it into fourth position on the list of richest countries in the world. With very little arable land (around only 3% of the total Norwegian land mass) the country has relied heavily on fishing, predominantly Herrings., to drive the economy but, apparently, Herrings are very fickle fish and can't be relied upon to turn up with any regularity. Good thing they found oil then!

What I found fascinating is that all of Norway's surplus revenue from oil is held in an investment fund, which exists, in a very basic nutshell, to assist the country to navigate the anticipated decline of the oil industry in coming years. The exception being 3% of funds which are being directed to Ukraine to assist in their war efforts. (I hope this is correct - I haven't had time to actually fact-check the details.) Regardless, it shows a bit of forethought.

Anyway, back to our time in Norway and, in particular, Oslo....

We have a busy day with back-to-back tours scheduled. Firstly we are off to cover 'Oslo Highlights & Vigeland Park' with no real idea what this actually encompasses, however, again we are in for an unexpected treat as we head out, by bus, through the streets of Oslo whilst our very knowledgeable and passionate guide explains the city sights as we whizz by. Oh well, we can come back to them later. In the meantime we head towards Holmenkollbakken...I know, we had no idea either but, as it turns out, Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jump used during the the 1952 Winter Olympics and that continues to host major ski jumping competitions to this day. It was actually quite impressive (I can not even begin to imagine launching myself down that slope, or any slope for that matter) and not something we would do if not for it being included in this tour.

On the way back down from the mountain, and as we make our way to Vigeland Park, we are given a potted history of Oslo and its many attractions including the Oslo Opera House and the Munch Museum, both of which we are interested in seeing/visiting but will not have time today unfortunately. We don't sail until lunchtime tomorrow, so plan to visit the Opera House in the morning and the Munch Museum when we return to Oslo for a night before flying out to Frankfurt, Singapore and, ultimately, home in a few weeks.

In the meantime, let's concentrate on Vigeland Sculpture Park which, as it turns out, has become one of the highlights of our trip so far.

With more than 200 sculptures created between 1924 and 1944 by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigaland,it is the largest installation of sculptures by one person, in one place, anywhere in the world.

The largest, a 15m high monolith composed of 121 human figures was sculpted 'in-situ' and is absolutely astounding....

Vigeland's sculptures depict various stages of human life and relationships. The most photographed in the park is 'Angry Boy' but all were snap worthy:

Anyway, I literally have hundreds of photos, none of which do Vigeland Park justice but I couldn't recommend a visit more highly!

After this, it's back to the ship for a quick lunch (the first where it's been warm enough to sit out on the deck) prior to our next tour...

This time we are off on a walking tour of the city with a stop at 'Viking Planet'! Yes, the Vikings have made their way to the 21st century in all their 3D glory and we virtually experience a voyage and bloodthirsty battle from the safety of our cinema-style, moving chairs, complete with virtual reality goggles. It sounds tacky (and it was) but it was also fun and, surprisingly, informative. Although I was a little concerned that, having survived around 10 days at sea without any motion sickness so speak off, these rocking, rolling chairs were going to bring on some nasty consequences.

Prior to our visit to Viking Plant, we set off on foot to explore Oslo and, yes, I have a new favourite city to join my already long list of favourite cities.

Oslo is the capital of Norway and is consistently ranked amongst the top cities in which to live and I can understand why. The population is around 700,000 and there is a wonderful mix of old and new architecture. Additionally, there is very little homelessness or evidence of hardship in the city, mostly due to the fact it's simply too cold for the homeless to withstand the winters.

Over the afternoon and following morning before the ship sails, we visit the city centre including Parliament and the Royal Palace, the area of Thief Islet (originally a poor industrial area where thieves were hung but now a beautiful new office/residential area with oodles of cafes, shops and restaurants).

We learnt many facts on each but I'm very keen to get this blog out so won't list them now.

And just to round things out we did make it out again the following morning to explore the exterior of the Opera House, which is just begging to be climbed all over, which we did.

After a rousing welcome back onboard...

It's time to put the feet up and enjoy the sail out from Oslo towards the port of Stavanger.

Oslo, we will be back!