Scandinavia ’25 – Day Ten

Finally, a little sleep in this morning… probably the best 😴 of the trip! We weren’t on the streets of Oslo ‘til almost 8:00 AM, after Janie prepped coffees and breakfast. Before departure we completed an important piece of business, downloading and activating Oslo City Passes (covering all attractions / transportation needs). Easy and economical!

It was a short walk to Akershus Fortress, which would take up the bulk of our morning. The site opens early, but Museums inside are, like Stockholm & Copenhagen, 10:00 AM starts. Thus, we explored the many picturesque cobbled streets and cannoned ramparts of the fort prior to opening. The backdrop was as though it was a layered painting, as one stone structure met the next. Quiet, beautiful start to the day.

We visited three distinct Museums this morning in Akershus Fortress. I’ll list each here and with a quick note;

Our first stop of the day was at Norway’s Home Front Museum. Like stops in Amsterdam and Copenhagen, the Norwegians have also created a space where the era of Nazi Occupation can be critically reviewed and remembered. This museum was a gem, with lots of artefacts and excellent descriptions on those that cooperated, and those that resisted!

The magnificent, beautifully furnished halls of Akershus Castle are a backdrop for government functions. The halls are used for receptions, government dinners, state visits and other important occasions. Period rooms, quality workmanship in wood, brick and stone, and an amazing setting. Worth the look!

The Armed Forces Museum offered a century and a ½ overview of Norwegian conflict, conquest, loss, & service. General impression – Norwegians demonstrate that they believe war sucks, peace requires work, and you need the right motivation, tools, and skills to be successful. But they don’t believe peace can happen without having a strong defence, a lesson they certainly learned in the interwar years. With displays that dug into Cold War, UN Peacekeeping and through to involvement with the war in Ukraine, the Norwegians are proud of the contributions made by those in her service.

Trying to eliminate a few steps, we adjusted the itinerary a bit, forgoing a walk to Vippa Street Food and heading to the ferry pier. We struck a great line of food trucks there and enjoyed delicious sandwiches, serving the Original Chivito… ciabatta bread, garlic dressing, salad, fresh paprika, chimichurri, cheese, ham, fresh onions, tomato. 😋

After some doubt, we looked for images and nailed down the Bygdøy Ferry. Just off Oslo, Bygdøy Island is home to multiple museums and using the ferry is a great opportunity to see Oslo and the surrounding islands from the water. Service runs every 20 minutes, and the cost was covered in the Oslo Pass!

Our first stop on Bygdøy Island was the Fram Museum (Frammuseet). That proved a bit of a surprise… boats in buildings have been a theme this trip. The Fram Museum is highly regarded for its in-depth look at Norwegian polar exploration, particularly the expeditions of Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen. Cudos in regard to the immersive experience, including the ability to go aboard the actual Fram ship and explore its decks and cabins. Educational, engaging, and lots of interactive elements (Janie loved the 3D float plane cinema) with some real science integrated in exploration of one of the last frontiers… the Arctic and Antarctic regions!

Our last stop on the island was going to be a quick trip through the Kon-Tiki Museum. The museum shares the neat story of the 1947 expedition / experiment of a group of “modern day” explorers who journeyed by raft from South America to the Polynesian islands. The story hooked us with its challenge to old theories, the fundraising connection to one of the invited explorers, Knut Haugland (WWII Hero – Heavy Water Plant saboteur), and now we need to check out the 1950 award winning documentary by the lead explorer, Thor Heyerdahl. Not just a story of grit, the expedition made waves in many ways of thinking.

After a short breather back at the apartment, we made our way to the Opera House area of the pier to one last visit for the day… Munch. You’ll best know Edvard Munch as the creator of his most famous painting “The Scream” 😱! However, that’s selling his collection at the Munch short. We experienced floors of artwork, themes including Sickness, Love, Mental Health, Aging, Nature and Death. He was both talented and prolific.

We did see “The Scream”… or actually multiple examinations of the painting. Uniquely (we’ve never seen this before) every 1/2 hr a version of the painting is closed (by slowly sliding shutters) and another revealed. Real sense of drama in a packed room. One of the few evening hour openings of interest to us (and apparently many others) and we took full advantage of our Oslo Pass to make it happen.

This night it was home for a meal of our making and connecting with the kids to make sure all is good. Might as well tell them in person we are spending their inheritance. Another big day tomorrow… so it was to bed as soon as it got dark enough (roughly 10:30 PM).

… Scandinavia ’25 – Day Eleven