Oslo by train

My first taste of the Nordics came in August 1990. I spent three days in Oslo during a three-month backpacking odyssey through Europe. At the time, my travel companion, Dean Keiller, and I had just spent four days in Berlin. We stopped in Oslo from 13 to 16 August, while en route to Bergen, Norway’s largest coastal city.

After travelling for almost 24 hours from Hanover, we finally pulled into Oslo Central Station on the afternoon of Monday, 13 August. Getting there was half the fun. Along the way our train had been loaded onto several ferries, including one between Germany and Denmark, and another between Denmark and Sweden. 

While in Oslo, we based ourselves in a popular campground in the hillside suburb of Ekebergsletta. It was well maintained seasonal venue overlooking the city and its harbour. By day, the view was quaint enough. However, by night, the view was transformed by the city’s lights stretching into the distance. The image below, sourced from the web, provides an excellent feel for its location.

We walked into town each day via Ekeberg Park, a gentle hillside green space, filled with walking tracks and pathways. It took less than half an hour to reach the centre of town, although the city bus stopped directly outside the campground. Incredibly, the campground is still operating today, more than 35 years later. Dean and I had bought ourselves a compact pup tent a few weeks earlier in Eastern Europe. However, we discovered it wasn’t waterproof when overnight rain soaked us and our gear on our final night in town.

I loved Oslo. It was full of history, including relics from the Viking era, a civilisation that always captivated me as a child. None more so than the spectacular Viking ships on display in the Vikingskipshuset. Dean and I visited the museum on 15 August. This rather compact building is home to three meticulously restored 9th-century wooden boats, including the iconic Oseberg ship, the world’s best preserved Viking longship. It's the image that opens this blog post.

The boat was discovered buried in a grassy mound by a farmer in 1904. It features all the classic hallmarks of a Viking ship, including the high sweeping prow capped by a carved dragon’s head, and the wide shallow berth that vaguely resembles a fat bathtub. As a child, I recall being enthralled by the controversial Vinland Map, which depicts the coast of Newfoundland, and stories of Eric the Red,  discovering North America more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Seeing this magnificent vessel up close really brought these heroic feats to life. 

However, we started our busy schedule with a train up to Holmenkollen, home to the city’s iconic Olympic Ski Jumping facilities. It hosted events for the 1952 Winter Olympics. The site is dominated by the regulation-compliant run-in tower, a 56-metre ramp rising above the surrounding hillside. Its dramatic profile is visible from downtown Oslo, more than five kilometres away.

We viewed this impressive structure from the base of the hill and climbed its run-in tower to check out the stomach churning view from the starting blocks. The view from the top is truly terrifying! In Summer, the bowl-like landing zone is filled to create a temporary lake and a sound shell is installed on the lake’s far shore for hosting outdoor concerts. Fifteen years later, I rode the elevator again up to the starting blocks for another look with my parents. 

We then returned to town to visit Vikingskipshuset, and on to the Kon Tiki Museum, a purpose-built complex on the waterfront. Dean and I loved how each experience made history come alive. We then took a ferry back into downtown Oslo and walked more than 4 km back along the harbour to our campground. 

The previous day, our first full day in town was informally designated as a rest day after 1.5 days of continuous travel from Berlin. However, we did venture into town for a few hours mid afternoon to visit the grounds of the Royal Palace and explore the quirky Vigeland Sculpture Park. 

The park was something else. It contains more than 200 sculptures in granite, bronze, and wrought iron, including a massive carved stone pillar called The Monolith. This aptly named sculpture depicts 121 human figures clinging and writhing together in 17 metre tall column. The image above was pulled from the web says it all really.

My travel diary makes multiple references to the cost of living in Norway. The first of many price shocks occurred during our first afternoon in Oslo. We went to the Supermarket to stock up on some basic supplies, including breakfast and lunch essentials. The final tally at checkout stunned us both. For years afterwards, I’d tell people that Norway’s scenery frequently reminded me of New Zealand. As a result, while impressive, it wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Instead, I spent two weeks paying top dollar to enjoy something I could have done back home for half the price.

Soaking it up in Oslo

Most of the UK experienced record rainfall in June. Yorkshire alone experienced rainfall more than 300% above average. Across the North Sea, Oslo also reported a record month of rain since 1895 when records began. This Nordic city endured 223.9 mm of precipitation in June. Sadly, the rain continues to fall in Norway as we discovered last weekend, much to our dismay.

Garry and I joined my parents at the start of their Nordic tour for two days in Oslo. We arrived on Friday without incident, checking into our central city hotel shortly after 11:00pm. The weather dawned overcast but dry on Saturday morning. After a leisurely breakfast we selected the Munch Museum as our first tourist highlight of the day. Here we saw a pastel drawing of the Scream, a forlorn proxy for the famous oil painting stolen in 2004. The painting was recovered a year later and is currently undergoing restoration.


From here we made our way back into town, walking the length of Karl Johan Gate, considered the city's main street. Our walk took us past Oslo Cathedral and the national Parliament, before ending outside the Royal Palace which sits on a low hill overlooking the central city. We then made our way to the waterfront, encountering a second art exhibition; Steve Bloom: Spirit of the Wild. This is an outdoor display of more than 100 incredible wildlife photographs. Each giant image sits on its own display board, stacked like dominoes outside the Nobel Peace Centre.

We stopped for lunch at Aker Brygge, a new Darling Harbour style redevelopment of shops, restaurants and apartments. It was then on to Bygdøy by ferry to view the famous Gostad Viking ship, the Fram polar explorer and the original Kon-Tiki, balsa wood raft. I'd forgotten how grand Norway's nautical heritage really is.


Sunday was spent touring the Holmenkollen Ski Museum & Ski Jump Tower. The experience was made all the more surreal thanks to heavy cloud that periodically hid the jump tower from view. The starting platform sits 60 meters above the ground, a breath-taking 417 metres above sea-level. The view down the length of the jump ramp is nerve-racking to say the least.


As we left the hillside, the rain began to fall, slowly at first, but soon gathering pace. It never let up again until our departure. This made our final tourist adventure rather sodden. We caught a bus to the Norsk Folkemuseum, an open-air museum consisting of traditional houses from all over Norway. The 13th Century wooden Slav church was a definite highlight, while the rain gave us a sense of how harsh rural life really was 200 years ago.


The weekend ended on a slightly sour note. I accidentally left my camera in the bathroom at the hotel. A quick call yesterday confirmed that it hadn't been handed in. I've lost all my photos from the weekend with the exception of the image you see below. All other photos on this post came from my parents.


The large, bright Freia sign caught my eye on Saturday as we were returning from dinner. It sits atop a department store over looking the pedestrian mall running along Karl Johan Gate. It immoralises a local brand of chocolate. The company’s flagship product, Freia Melkesjoklade (Freia Milk Chocolate), has been a national favourite since 1906. Like so many domestic icons worldwide, Freia was sold to overseas interests in 1993. It's now part of the Kraft Food empire much like Vegemite in Australia.

Our flight home was also delayed three hours. At first the weekend looked as if it would end in the same disasterous manner as our trip to Geneva last year. However, our luggage was swiftly off the aircraft enabling us to dash for the last train into town. As we pulled in Paddington, our train was the only locomotive to be seen. The sight of a silent, empty Paddington was magic. It's moments like this that money can never buy.