One Short Day!

Sunday is the "day of rest" in Norway.  Many stores and places are closed (expect a few grocery stores and movie theatres) which creates an almost Ghost Town effect over Norway.


So this was a perfect opportunity for ISS to send us on a bus tour.


During the early afternoon, we left on a bus tour around Oslo.  During this time, we saw Vigeland Sculpture Garden at Frogner Park, Holemkollbakken, the Viking Ship Museum and the award winning new Opera House.  I took over 300 pictures.  It was a good day.

The bus! We chose the English language tour

The first place was the infamous Vigeland Sculpture Garden at Frogner Park.  The Garden comprises numerous statues that represent various figures in abstract ways, such as a man warding off a horde of babies.  There is also a fountain and monolith.

Frogner Park in the Vigeland Sculpture Garden...What a lovely day it was.

The place was super clean and very chill--we planned on coming back doing homework with the numerous sunbathers.  Mr. Gustav Vigeland, although crazy, did an amazing job with his artwork.

The infamous crying baby statue

Meg på en statue!

After that we went to ski heaven at the Holemkollbakken which is a massive ski jump in Oslo that has hosted many ski competitions.  Although not a skier, the architecture was beyond belief and I think we should mattress slide down it.

After that our tour guide lead us to the famous Viking Ship Museum near Bygdøy.  Now, by this point we were so tired, hungry and thirsty that we didn't really pay attention and just wandered and took pictures...however, it was still a lot of fun and it was nice to get some of the touristy stuff out of the way so we can slowly start the Norwegian metamorphosis and blend in with the Oslo natives....


It was awesome to finally see all of these infamous viking ships, especially since my friends and I learned about so many of them last fall in our Viking class at UND.  We finally put a ship to the name!

We ended the 4 hour long tour at the new opera house that was built in 2008.  The building won numerous awards for the design--which I guess is suppose to be like a glacier coming down into the water.

Det Nye Operhuset

It was a perfect end to a perfect tour...expect for all of the awkward ledges that seem to pop out of nowhere on the building...so many rolling tourists that day.

"One short day
In the Emerald City

One short day:
In the Emerald City
One short day
Full of so much to do
Ev'ry way
That you look in the city
There's something exquisite
You'll want to visit
Before the day's through

There are buildings tall as Quoxwood trees!

Dress salons!
Libraries!
Palaces!
Museums!

A hundred strong
There are wonders like I've never seen


It's all grand
It is all green!

And I think we've found the place where we belong!
I wanna be
In this hoi polloi!

So I'll be back for good someday

To make my life and make my way

But for today, we'll wander and enjoy:

One short day
In the Emerald City
One short day
To have a lifetime of fun
One short day

And we're warning the city
Now that we're in here
You'll know we've been here

Before we are done!"
~One Short Day, Wicked, Stepen Schwartz