Day 2 Oslo

 After pigging out at one of the best breakfast buffets I've ever seen, I was out of the hotel before 9am to find the tourist information office. Always find these the best places for up to date info. I bought a 48hr City Pass which cost about £50. I'm sure many of you are familiar with these passes which allow free entry to the majority of museums and places of interest. You need to do your research first to make sure you want to visit the museums on the list and that they are open on the days you are there.

All the museums I wanted to visit were on the list although most were closed on a Monday which was today. The tourist office gave me a list of which ones were open today plus there was a two hour guided tour of part of the city later in the day. The pass also gave me free transport on the buses so I was ready to go.

It took a while for me to find the right bus stop but once I did all was well. I travelled onto the island of Bygdoy where I first went to the Fram museum and the Polar exhibition. 

Roald Amundsen was one of the great polar explorers. He was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage, the first to reach the South Pole, a navigator of the Northwest Passage, the first to fly over the North Pole and across the Arctic Ocean.  Two of his boats had been restored and were on display.

This boat is Gjoa and was used by Amundsen to steer a passage through the islands of northern Canada connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, known as the Northwest Passage.

This is on board the Ship Fram which he used for his trip to Antarctica. I couldn't get a photo of the whole ship but I could go onboard this one.

 I liked the sound effect of the ocean and the projection of the waves onto the walls of the museum.

Before embarking on the expedition Amundsen spent time with the Inuits to learn how they dealt with the cold and the snow and ice. He learnt how to build an igloo, which dogs were best for pulling the sledges, how to fish for food, the best clothes to wear so he was as prepared as he could be for the treacherous conditions that lay ahead. 

Wooden beater  for snow removal and knife made from reindeer horn for cutting snow.

Caribou hide anorak and polar bear trousers.

Across the road from the Fram Museum was the Kon-Tiki museum

In 1947 Thor Heyerdahl and his crew of 5 men sailed on this balsa wood raft across the Pacific ocean from Peru to Polynesia  to show that people from early South American civilisations could have reached Polynesian islands on seafaring vessels. The voyage of 8000 km lasted as planned 101 days and took place in the South-East tradewinds with the aid of wind patterns and ocean currents.

Most experts predicted failure and certain death. After a couple of days at sea they realised the raft would stay afloat but they didn't know for how long. Experienced sailors had predicted that the ropes would holding the raft together would last for only 14 days as the friction would chew the ropes apart. But after 14 days the ropes were still holding. After several weeks they found out that the ropes had carved grooves in the soft balsa wood, thus protecting them. 

The film about the Kon-Tiki expedition was awarded an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1951. 

 

 In 1970 Heyerdahl travelled across the Atlantic from Morocco to Barbados in a reed boat, a distance of 6100 km. He wanted to show that there was a connection between the cultures that emerged in Peru and Egypt 3000 years ago. They both had a number of similarities. Both cultures built pyramids, were familiar with the art of writing, worshipped the sun and mummified their dead. They also both sailed reed boats. Heyerdahl showed that reed boats could use the favourable wind patterns and ocean currents on the North-East tradewinds, 

There was a lot of snow and ice around this part of Oslo wheareas in the centre it had all been cleared away.

The buses ran back into the centre every 10 minutes so it wasn't long before I made my way back to the City Centre and the Munch Museum. I unfortunately changed the settings on my camera without realising so only have black and white photos of the Museum. The building was impressive and apparently controversial. Munch died in 1944 leaving much of his work to the city of Oslo in the hope that the occupying forces at that time would not get their hands on his work and destroy it. This new museum opened in 2021. 

I only know Edward Munch because of his painting 'The Scream' (of which I took a diabolical photo!) so I was interested to see other pieces of his work. 

I did find much of his work disturbing as a great deal of it dealt with themes of sickness and death, loneliness and anxiety, love and jealousy.

The Sick Child

Alpha's Despair

I did find other paintings that were not so depressing.

Workers in Snow

Elm Forest in Spring

Galloping Horse

The Girls on the Bridge

He also did a number of wood prints in his later life.

I took these clearer photos of his work in the National Gallery which I visited the following day. Munch painted many versions of 'The Scream' and 'The Girls on the Bridge'.  

I had lunch in the museum which was and looked delicious. A smoked salmon smorgasbord.

Outside the Museum is this huge sculpture is called 'The Mother' and is part of Oslo's City art collection. Throughout the city there are numerous sculptures. This one is by the water's edge.

In the water, Oslofjord, is another impressive sculpture. This is 'She Lies' by Monica Bonvicini. The artwork floats on a concrete platform tethered to the harbour floor which allows it to turn and move based on the tides and currents. 

After a short rest I joined a 2 hour city tour as part of my City Pass. I was pleased that the guide showed us parts of the city that I wouldn't have found. Although I was the only English tourist on the tour - others from France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, it was conducted in English. The building here was a large events arena built with 300,000 bricks as at the time of its construction, the population of Oslo was 300,000.

Another city sculpture of divers going into the Akerselve River which runs through the city.

An early evening view of the Munch Museum. It was 7pm by the time the guided tour finished. I was so cold and hungry. Determined not to end up in McDonald's I went down by the Fjord where I had noticed that there were a number of eating establishments there. I went into a gastropub and ordered the salmon dish which was good, Not really sure what it was served with - it looked like a lime foam but it was ok. It cost about £25 plus £10 for a glass of wine. Eating out here is not cheap.