Oslo sightseeing

In a heat wave summer of 2018, I spent a day and a half in Oslo. After arriving around midday on Saturday, I had visited the Opera House in the afternoon. On Sunday, I had spent the morning exploring the Barcode project, which showcased some impressive architectural buildings. The afternoon I explored other areas of Oslo, as well as visiting the Viking Ship museum.

The viking ship museum is located in the Bygdøy Peninsula. From the City Hall pier in Pipervika, you can catch a ferry to Bygdøy if you are coming from Oslo city center. Designed by architect Arnstein Arnsberg, the museum was completed in 1957. The museum has the world's best preserved Viking ships with some unique artefacts from the ships.

There was also a very cool light projected film on the curved ceilings and walls every hour. It showed life onboard the ships and the Vikings journeys across the seas. If you are not interested in the boats, it's still worth coming just for the film and taking the short ferry ride.

The Osberg Ship was found at the Osberg farm in Slagen in Vestfold county in 1903. The ship was built around AD 820 in western Norway. The ship also served as a grave for two prominent women in AD 834. Built in oak, the ship measures 22 metres in length and 5 metres wide.

The Gokstad ship was found at the Gokstad farm in Sandar in Vestfold county in 1880. The ship was built in AD 890 and was also used as a grave for a local chieftain in around AD 900. Built in oak, the ship measures 24 metres in length and 5 metres in width. The Gokstad ship was built as an ocean vessel that could have sailed as far as Iceland.

Since 1947, the city of Oslo has annually given London a Christmas tree every December. The tree stands in London's Trafalgar square, as a token of Norwegian gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during the Second World War.

The Astrup Fearnley Musuem is a private museum for contemporary art. It houses the Astrup Fearnley collection, one of Norway's most important and extensive private collections. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the building consists of three pavilions under one big glass sail. It is appropriately located in modern Tjuvholmen, overlooking the Oslo fjord.

Over 20 different architects contributed in designing the buildings in the modern neighborhood of Tjuvholmen. In this islet, you will see contemporary apartment living blocks, outdoor areas to relax, restaurants, and a city beach. Because there was a heat wave in Oslo when I was visiting, the area was packed with people enjoying the hot weather.

Oslo Cathedral dates from 1697 and was previously called Our Saviour's Church. It is the main church for the Church of Norway Diocese of Oslo. The ceiling murals were painted by Hugo Lous Mohr between 1936 and 1950.