December 22nd to December 24th, 2017
Oslo is further south from Narvik as we head down to Copenhagen and Stockholm over the next week. The trip in from the airport to the city was a surprise; our first really high-speed train trip.
Oslo is a town best seen by walking and we have covered a lot on foot. Yesterday was different, heading out in a guided tour with a masters student who is studying Norwegian Cultural history. We explored sculpture gardens, visited Nansen and Amundsen’s Fram. Fram was always going to be emotional for me since she played such a huge part in the exploration of both the Arctic and the Antarctic. Somehow we ended up on another tour, courtesy of our guide who asked us to stay for one more museum visit, this one is personal favorite: the Viking Museum.
Norwegians and Swedes are big on recycling. Hence it was no surprise to see the size of the spoons they give you for the sundaes at Burger King Apparently people take them home and use them for shoveling snow…
Everywhere you go in Norway, you realise that this is a country that enshrines Nordic beauty, from tall, blonde athletic people to mountains and spectacular architecture.
Then there are the trolls …
They are everywhere, poking out from behind shelves in shops. I think it is a running joke that the rest of Europe just doesn’t get. The trolls also have a predilection for sharp objects; you never see them without weapons as you can see in the photo below. Scary… I am just going to put this aspect of Nordic culture down to experience…
The Rockweather Collaboration 