No way! We made it to Norway!

Crossing the border into Norway was just as easy as entering all the other countries we've been to, except because it isn't in the EU, there was no blue sign with yellow stars on it to welcome us in!

We arrived at our Airbnb apartment in Oslo about 4 o’clock and by the time we’d unpacked and sorted ourselves out, it was time for dinner. Knowing how expensive eating out is going to be in Norway, we’d planned to cook whilst in Oslo. Luckily our apartment was very newly furbished and well appointed, once we’d worked out that the cutlery was hidden at the top of one of the drawers! The beds were comfy but really high, meaning H had to do a flying jump every night just to get onto hers!

H was extremely excited to discover Bluey of the television, which is apparently still funny and engaging even in Norwegian.

Ground Control to Majorstuen

Following some great advice from Frida about what to do in Oslo, we had picked an apartment in the Majorstuen area so we could easily get up to Holmenkollen, the ski jump nestled in the hills above Oslo. Although it is also easily accessible by train, we decided to drive up, as our apartment didn’t come with parking and the free overnight parking stopped at 9am. It was lucky we did, as we managed to find some car parks at the top with 48 hours free parking, which solved our problem with the car.

The ski jump in Oslo is incredible, it just sticks right up into the sky. It’s also really visible from the centre of the city, and being made of metal, it shines in the sunshine, like some sort of space oddity.

We wandered round the site, enjoying watching people practising nordic rollerskiing, which is like cross country skiing with poles to push you along, but on rollerskis. The museum is also well worth a visit, with some great interactive skiing games and a brilliant children’s play area, one of the best I’ve seen. The museum told the history of skiing in Norway, and how it became a key part of the Norwegian identity when they gained independence from Sweden. It also had a large feature on polar exploration, including Fridtjof Nansen’s expeditions to the North and South Poles which was really interesting.

We continued up the road to Skimore Oslo, a small ski area at the top of the hill. It was a nice area to walk around and see the ski runs and lifts in the summer.

We decided to have our picnic at a lovely little lake we’d spied on the drive up, however by the time we came back down it had become overcast and threatened to rain so reluctantly we retreated back to the car to eat. Here’s a picture James took when he went to collect the car a couple of days later.

As we were sitting there, we spied some gold sails poking out of the trees. This turned out to be an art museum called Roseslottet, which documents the Nazi occupation and persecution of Norwegian Jews. It was really informative and also worth stopping at.

After the helpful staff at Roseslottet showed us how to buy a 24 hour transport ticket using the Ruter app, we got the train from Frognerseteren to Majorstuen, a very picturesque half an hour ride back to town. While James made a quick stop back at the apartment, H and I found a playground with a massive climbing wall and a fun electronic game on a climbing frame where you could play pairs by hitting certain targets to see if you got the same pictures. It was good fun!

From there we took the T-bane to Jernbanetorget to visit Operahuset Oslo. Constructed in 2007, the most striking thing about the Opera House is that you can walk up on the roof for some lovely views out over Oslofjord. The only thing that was a bit odd was the fact that it wasn’t flat, but instead had various drainage channels or steps across the surface. Some were quite obvious but others were only about an inch high and quite hard to spot so you had to have your wits about you when looking at the view!

We then went for a quick walk round the harbour, past various floating sauna rooms on the water. The air smelt very fragrant from all the wood burning!

We took the number 15 tram back to our apartment and after dinner, headed to Frognerparken which was just down the road. This is a massive park with a great playground.

However, the main attraction for most people is the many statues by the artist Gustav Vigeland, including a statue-lined bridge, a big fountain and a monolith. We walked across the bridge, admiring the many figures, including a very angry baby, but turned back before visiting the monolith as H was very keen to go to the playground.

The next morning we took the tram back to the centre to look around the various buildings and parks. Oslo has some lovely buildings and open space, including the National Theatre and the Parliament building. From there, we walked back to the water, stopping to admire the Roosevelt statue and jump on some trampolines, before heading to the Nobel Museum.

While Alfred Nobel is famous for his many prizes, it is less well known that he invented dynamite. He made a lot of money as a result and when he died, with no wife or children, he stipulated that the interest from his wealth should be used to fund annual prizes in science, medicine, literature and peace. The rest of the prizes are awarded in Sweden, but the peace prize is awarded at the Town Hall in Oslo. The museum was very interesting, providing information about each of the Nobel Peace Prize winners, including Fridtjof Nansen, the explorer we’d read about the day before, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai.

We had our picnic lunch in a park outside the Nobel Museum, where we watched a man mow the lawn with the largest remote controlled lawnmower we’d ever seen! We then wandered back up to the Slottparken where H enjoyed watching the guards guarding the castle, before heading back to Frognerparken to check out the monolith we didn’t see properly the day before. It was a lovely warm day so we took the opportunity to sit on a bench and people watch for a while before heading back down to the playground again.

We were all pretty tired, so went back to the apartment for a rest and some dinner. On the way back, we decided to pop into a nearby bakery for some sweet treats. After paying full price for some pastries, we noticed a queue of people waiting for some paper bags behind the counter. It was then we remembered about the app, Too Good To Go, where you can pick up fresh food cheaply at the end of the day to save it being thrown away. When we got back to the apartment, we downloaded the app!

After dinner we headed back to the park again so Lou could go for a run and H could play again before bed. It was lovely to see the park so busy with families playing ball games, a group of people doing some kind of square dancing, and lots of runners keeping fit.

The next day, James went back up to Frognerseteren to collect the car while Lou and H went for a run in the park and a final stop at the playground, where H even managed to convince Lou to go down the bumpy slide with her!

We enjoyed our time in Oslo. It felt quite busy compared to other places we’d been, but the weather was lovely and it had a friendly, chilled feel to it. We were also grateful to be based near Frognerparken as that proved very helpful with a small child! The next step of our journey will take us north towards Trondheim.