Last Cruise Stop: Oslo Norway (June 8, 2008)

Someone once described the city of Oslo as “aggressively ugly”. After the other cities we’ve recently visited, I have to agree. Not that it is a bad place to visit, just architecturally ugly by comparison. By contrast coming in and out of Oslo by boat through the fjords makes it beautiful. There were many sailboats, beaches and beautiful homes dotting the coast and the islands, which more than compensated.


We did take the ferry boat across the fjord and see the famous Viking Ship Museum. The condition of these 1,000 year-old ships and artifacts are amazing. What is surprising is the level of detailed carving work done on all of the wood items. The museum has more than just the original ships, but also houses artifacts found in the ship-graves including carved wood sleds, wagons, cooking tools and other domestic items.

Walking around within Oslo, is a bit like walking around Des Moines. Other than the one Askershus fortress, and the many statues of naked people there isn’t much that would place you in Europe if you woke up here. However the many old ships, the harbor and the fjords make it interesting. It’s too bad we couldn’t spend more time to explore Norway, I’d love to go north and see Bergen and beyond. We heard that Oslo is also a very expensive city. It was recently voted as the most expensive city in all the word, surpassing even Tokyo and London on the recent survey. But with all the shops closed on Sunday, we really never noticed.

The pictures of Oslo, Norway can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbroberg/sets/72157605516549081/show/