Day #163 - Oslo, Norway

Viking Ship Museum

Kon-Tiki Museum - outside sculpture

The Fountain in Vigeland Sculpture Park

The Monolith - Vigeland Sculpture Park

Munch Museum

Tuesday, August 24th

I stayed up really late last night working on my finances (I think better late at night generally). Because of this, I awoke about noon. Solid. I needed the sleep.

I had alot I wanted to do in Oslo today, so I headed out pretty quickly. I took the 30 minute train back into the city. I first walked down to the pier and took a boat over to an area with a few museums I wanted to see. The Vikingskiphuset (or Viking Ship Museum) was the first on the agenda. This place was built in 1936 and houses three 9th-century Viking burial ships discovered at the turn of the century in the nearby Oslo Fjord. These boats were found to have the bodies of Viking chieftains along with the many countless artifacts from that time. These ships constitue the largest Viking find ever recorded. I took some pictures of one of the ships and perused the gift shop to learn more.

Next I stopped by the Kon-Tiki Museum. I just went into the gift shop but was able to decipher what this was all about. This museum houses original vessels and artifacts from world famous Norwegian scientist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl. Kon Tiki was the name of the raft used in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian Islands. Basically, the premise of his journey was to show that the South American people could have made this same journey in pre-Columbian times with just the materials they had available to them.

I then got back onto the water shuttle and returned to the pier. I next took a long walk across town to Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Sculpture Park). This is an 80 acre park filled with 212 bronze and granite sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland. Visually impressive, the park's 2 biggest attractions are the 'The Fountain' (water fountain adorned with 60 bronze reliefs) and the 'The Monolith' (towers 46ft high and consists of 121 human figures rising toward the sky. This is meant to represent man's desire to become closer with the spiritual and divine. It portrays a feeling of togetherness as the figures embrace one another as they are carried to salvation). That's some heavy symbolism -- to me, it looked like naked stone sculptures entwined to form a tall column.

I next walked the complete length of the city from the Sculpture Park to the Munch Museum. By this time of the day, the place was closed - but I just wanted to do a fly-by. This museum honors Edvard Munch (1863-1944). He is the only Nordic painter whose influence is recognized on a global level. He is considered the 'father of Expressionism'. The finest hotel in Oslo - Hotel Continental - features a large collection of Munch paintings - which decorate the public areas.

I jumped back on the 30 minute return train to my airport hotel. Tomorrow I'll be heading to the other side of the country - Bergen, Norway. I'm fired up for this journey - I get to spend a few days in the fjords.