Ireland day 1218. Tuesday 28 January 2025- Oslo Day 2

Today’s summary	Had breakfast at the hotel then caught the no 83 bus into Oslo to have a look at the sights. Visited (or saw) the Opera House, Munch museum, Deichman library, Oslo cathedral, Parliament buildings, Royal Palace, City Hall, Nobel Peace Prize museum and National Museum. Got the same bus back to the hotel at the end and ate in the hotel restaurant. Finished the day with a video call to Val.
Today’s weather	Damp with rain, heavy at times. Snow melting fast. Almost no wind. Appx 3c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Oslo city centre circular walk

Commentary

Today I decided to forego the sauna experience and spend the day taking a look at what downtown Oslo had to offer.

I started the day with breakfast in the hotel, then walked down to the nearby main road to catch a no 83 bus into town (they run every ten minutes and the journey is about 40 minutes). I’d done a bit of research beforehand so I had in my head a bit of an itinerary for once I got into the city.

The first stop was the Opera House. You can normally walk over its sloping roofs but today they were roped off on account of the snow and ice. Inside, it’s an impressive sight. Lots of light and air, and, of course, wood.

From there I went over to the central station and dropped into the tourist information centre. The helpful lady in there also suggested a few other places I should see. First of which was the Munch museum – just across the road, and which I had a good look around. Lots of light and air, again, and excellent views from the top floor. Plus, of course, the iconic “The Scream” painting – of which there are many versions. They are fragile with age so each one of three versions in the museum is displayed for just 30 minutes, in rotation.

My next stop – as recommended by the tourist office – was the public Deichman library. It goes without saying that it’s full of light and air, but it’s also just stunning in every respect. I think the Malahide library is good but this is just on another planet. I was so impressed that I paused in the cafe with a cup of tea, just to take in the atmosphere.

The main shopping area in Oslo is centred around Karl Johans Gate (a road not a portal!). I walked down that next – it’s smart and all the luxury brands are present in abundance. At the western end of the road is the Royal Palace, and on my way to take a look, I dropped into Oslo Cathedral (no mobile phones allowed so no photos) and admired the Parliament buildings from the outside.

The palace is impressive, on the top of a hill overlooking the city. A couple of cold-looking sentries were on guard outside, marching up and down militarily every few minutes.

The next stop was the waterfront, which offers impressive views of the Town Hall, a Battersea-like monolith which appears to be made of red bricks. As I was walking along the promenade, the lights came on and everything looked suitably wintry in the twinkling illumination.

Close to the Town Hall is the Nobel Peace Prize museum. The Peace Prize is awarded annually in Norway, unlike all the others which are awarded in Sweden. I would have liked to have gone in to look around but it was getting late and it was quite expensive.

But right behind the Nobel Museum is the National Museum – actually an art gallery rather than a museum. It’s open until 8pm on a Tuesday so I had plenty of time for a good look around.

It focuses on Norwegian art, though it does have some ancient Roman, Greek and Egyptian artefacts – and even the Mona Lisa! All are copies, however. But it does have Munch’s “The Scream” – unlike the Mona Lisa, it’s an original; just another one of the many versions Munch painted.

By this time my batteries were running low, so I recharged with some rather nice Gooseberry cordial in the Museum cafe before completing my circular city centre tour with a walk back down to the no 83 bus stop.

So a pretty full-on day. I rounded it all off with dinner of lamb chops (mmmm) in the hotel restaurant, then after a video call with Val – who spent the day skiing in a blizzard in Italy – got an early night.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Lots of wood and space in the Opera House	The Deichman library. Out-of-this-world

Oslo cathedral. Interested painting ceiling – looks very old	The parliament buildings, alongside Karls Johan gate

Standing to attention outside the Palace	Like something from “Game of Thrones”. In the National Museum

Oslo’s iconic building – the city hall