We didn’t sleep as long as we expected to, so we got organized and decided to talk a little walk around the area to look around before breakfast.
We had central Oslo to ourselves – the sun was coming up and the temperature was just on the border between cold and cool. We chose streets at random, enjoying the architecture and empty streets, and found ourselves near the cathedral. It was a simpler structure compared to the others we’d seen on this trip, and of course this early it was all locked up so we would have to wait for later to go inside.
Oslo station was a very modern station that did have a couple of people walking around, and some shops were open so that people could stock their backpacks before catching a long distance train ride. We knew that we’d be back here tomorrow morning to do just that.
It was about time for our hotel breakfast, and we went next door as they had some sort of agreement with a restaurant called Egon. It was a pretty big restaurant, designed to resemble the interior of a train which was fitting as it was right next to the station. They had prepared a breakfast buffet that was quite good – I liked the melon/passionfruit yogurt, and plenty of eggs, cold cuts, cheeses and mushrooms. The coffee was only so-so.
After breakfast it was time to explore the city, and the size of it made it easy to do on foot. We started out heading towards the waterfront, and walked past buildings right on the water that seemed like they were either rental cabins or small restaurants – it wasn’t very clear. At the end of the waterfront was a giant cruise ship docked, and we could hear announcements inside rallying the troops for a shore excursion.
From there we passed through the fortress grounds, along the back way to get to the city hall, which was unfortunately under renovation at the time. Mostly there was no people – a few bikers or joggers but all the sightseeing spots were available for us to enjoy on our own.
Eventually we stumbled on the main thoroughfare called Karl Johan Gate, which connected the downtown with the royal palace on the hill. The palace was also undergoing renovations on one side, but it was disguised well enough that I didn’t notice at first. There were royal guards here and there, moving their heads back and forth to watch for attackers and to stave off boredom, I guess. We walked to the back of the palace which is located inside a large, well-cared for park, and took a break on a bench. Kuniko was impressed that all the benches were perfectly clean – something hard to find in the last three countries that we had visited.
As we walked back along Karl Johan Gate we started to see a few more people out and about, and the stylish cafes and restaurants were opening up for breakfast business.
By the time we reached the Oslo Opera House there were buses of tourists and one more super-size cruise ship was moving in to dock. The design of the opera house is unique in that anyone can just walk up the sloping roof and climb to the top of the building, and continue over to the other side. The steps were a little scary for Kuniko and she was worried about falling, kind of like when we visited the Batu Caves back in Malaysia. Next to the opera house was a giant temporary structure that was used for a Red Bull cliff diving event that was coming up.
We squeezed through lots of Chinese tourist groups and then found our way to the Edvard Munch museum, the artist famous for “The Scream” paintings. I had been able to buy tickets online, so we just had to wait for a bit outside before they let us in, and everyone was eager to rush to see The Scream.
Since The Scream is a series of paintings, they have the most famous three of them for viewing, and to limit their exposure each one is displayed for only 90 minutes at a time. Then it is covered and the next one is revealed. While we were there we saw two of the three, a black and white version that I liked quite a bit, and one of the colored versions. This system took visitors by surprise and I think the staff members who worked in that area must have had to answer lots of questions all day long.
But there was much more to Munch than just The Scream. There were some dramatic works – some huge in scale – that I had never seen before and the design and layout of the museum was exceptional. Kuniko and I took our time here and really enjoyed the museum. We even got a Scream keychain for our Christmas tree.
By this time we were getting our appetite back, so we walked across town to our lunch restaurant pick. The sun was really shining now, and despite the cool temperature Kuniko was worried about the sun on her scalp. She pulled her cardigan over her head and was looking like a babushka. Earlier in the trip we had seen a shop called “How to Babushka” and we loved the name – Kuniko was doing it in real life.
The restaurant we targeted, Kaffistova, was closed when we arrived. Once again the Google maps application had opening hours that were not correct – this was a recurring theme on this trip. We had to kill 20 minutes so we went to a nearby park and relaxed on a (clean) bench in the shade of the trees.
Once it was time we went back to the restaurant, and we were the first customers. The staff sat us down and gave us menus, but after we translated them using our phones and made our decisions, the staff apologized and said that they were the incorrect menus. She gave us some lunch menus that were in English, so much easier.
Our first choice, the moose patties, was apparently going to take a long time, so we just ordered fish soup to share, with a glass of Prosecco and a local beer. As we waited a huge group of Korean tourists came in, part of a bus tour apparently. They all settled in and suddenly we were in a crowded restaurant. We were lucky to get our fish soup before the group ordered – and the soup was really good!
The restaurant staff were clearly overwhelmed by the tour group so we decided to leave and get some more food somewhere else. Next we went to Dovrehallen, and on the 2nd floor of this historic building we found a guy looking exactly like Rasputin waiting around with no customers at all.
It was a really cool restaurant and interior, and the background music was an eclectic selection of American soul music from the 60s. We had fried halibut and local beer, and a great pickle salad that I want to try to make sometime. Rasputin was a friendly guy, maybe because he was so lonely, and we talked about weather. It almost sounded like he was complaining about the heat – this is the coolest we’ve felt in six months, dude!
Later we walked around some more, there was a big demonstration supporting Ukraine, complete with some people stepping on the Russian flag and making angry speeches (in Norwegian?) Around the city we saw a lot of Palestine flags as well, so the city seemed pretty active in political issues. Also in the city we found a chain coffee place called Hakone Coffee. Hakone is a city in Japan, and I remember finding Oslo Coffee in Tokyo and Kobe, so it was an odd mirror moment. And Hakone Coffee had a pretty long line, too.
All this walking around, eating and drinking had us a little tired, so we headed back to the hotel to rest, take a nap, and do some journaling. But soon enough we were thinking about getting some more food. This time we went to a restaurant that was a tiny bit unconventional, a local place focused exclusively on pork.
Kuniko had a giant pork knuckle with garlic veggies and mustard potatoes. I had a pulled pork dish that had tasty mashed potatoes, and we washed it down with Voss Pale Ale and some house red wine. We got a nice table outside without reservations – yes! – and we saw an Asian lady sit nearby all alone and power down a plate of pork. It must be tough to travel and eat alone – it is harder to try many dishes. At another table we heard lots of Americans talking… we saw a lot of Americans and Chinese in Oslo.
Afterwards we walked back towards the central station, now the streets were packed with tourists. It was hard to reconcile this situation with the empty streets we had enjoyed earlier that morning. We decided to have one more cocktail at an outdoor cafe before heading back to bed, and so we sat in the main square not far from the giant tiger statue. Kuniko had a Bellini and I had a gin and tonic – but they weren’t all that special. It seemed like the bartender was new and so I guess he was a little nervous.
We turned in to bed a little early this time because we knew we had a very early train ride the next day. Oslo was a lot of fun, and we felt like we had seen all we wanted to see.
