With the long day yesterday, and the jet lag, we slept in today.
The plan for today was to walk around central/downtown Oslo, roughly following the self-guided walking tour in reverse.
Our first landmark was the Oslo Opera House, by the harbor, for a walk on the roof.
The view from up there was lovely, and the weather was perfect.
After completing the slanted circuit, we climbed down the other side and aimed for the harborwalk.
Across from the opera house, we encountered the KOK floating saunas. One of them was in use; a few brave women were taking turns jumping into the water, churning up the film of pollen on the surface.
Just past the sauna boats, there was a lively festival at the SALT village. We didn't investigate too closely, but did pass through the shirt art installation.
Vaguely reverse-continuing the walking tour, we meandered a few blocks inland, towards the Akershus Fortress.
After figuring out how to actually get inside the walls, we strolled around the maze of paths/stairs that winds in, around, and through the buildings.
The walkway along the ramparts affords a lovely view of the harbor. Also cannons.
Our ultimate goal was to find the Resistance Museum, tucked away somewhere in the fortress.
Eventually, we found the museum and settled in for some learning. It was somehow much larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside.
After spending an hour or so at the museum, we continued our patrol along the ramparts.
In the distance, Bohemian Rhapsody played on church bells, and a band started playing music somewhere inside the fortress.
Eventually, we headed downhill towards the... courtyard? area, where we found the source of the music: a small band played on a stage that was set for a much larger concert, presumably because tomorrow is Constitution Day?
We exited the fortress in the direction of Karl Johans gate and City Hall.
Not far from City Hall, our walking tour arrived at the Nobel Peace Center.
We browsed the gift shop, but opted not to invest another hour of the day reading curatorial materials.
Heading back past the City Hall, we sauntered along Karl Johans gate, where many of the top Things To See are located.
First up, the National Theater and the nearby park/plaza area.
Next on the tour, we have the Storting building, which is the seat of parliament.
We continued along the main pedestrian area through the city center, battling increasingly dense crowds.
Our last stop along Karl Johans gate was the Oslo Cathedral, which is within sight of the central train station.
Eventually, we made plans to grab burgers for dinner, at Illegal Burger. On the way, we visited the library.
Having satisfied our hunger, we hopped on the T-bane and sped over to Frogner Park, intent on seeing the Vigeland Sculpture installation.
The sculptures speak for themselves, I believe.
By the time we got back to the apartment, we'd walked over 20,000 steps today (according to multiple smartphones, at least).
Tomorrow, we're catching an early train towards Bergen, but touring the Norway in a Nutshell route along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment