EXPLORING OSLO

Day 193

Oslo, Norway, Scandinavia

Today we crammed in as much as we possibly could so we could see the beautiful Oslo in all it's element...so we went to see Edvard Munch's museet which was WONDERFUL! I love this painter..he's Norway's most famous painter but he's also one of my favourites...and always was, but now he definately is. His works are so much better when you see them close up.

It was really funny though because while we were there the fire alarm went off!!! The security at his museet was so amazingly secure!! They had a robbery there in 2002 and obviously don't want anything to happen again! Whatever happened at that robbery was severe because it damaged his most famous works, 'The Scream' and so we only saw the pastel.

One thing i've noticed since seeing all my favourite painters works..is that they did numerous sketchings and paintings on the same theme..in different mediums. It makes sense to do that..but i never really connected that fact that they would be all displayed..so we got to see his pastel of The Scream which was great. But that's now why i love Edvard Munch's work.

I love the way he uses colour..his portraits are amazing and it's almost like you can see what he is feeling while he is painting them. So much passion in his work..and so much love while he is doing it..don't quite know what it is..but i felt really compelled in the museum just to STAY there!!! It was so funny too..because just as we were absorbed in looking at his work..and it was deathly silent...a beep from Alena came on the mobile. It scared everyone..my beeps are so loud! haha Had to laugh!

That was one museum that we went to..and to make the most of the Oslo card that we bought, for 110 Norwegian Kroner each, we decided to go and see as many as we could.

So we went off to the Viking Museum and saw 3 Viking ships...it was incredible because they've been restored back to the original and you can just imagine the vikings..about 30 of them..sitting in the boats rowing for all glory! They were so well preserved because they were later used as burial ships for wealthy and the viking captains. So interesting.

One thing that got me..was the fact that they said the vikings came from Scandinavia! And Scandinavia included Norway, Sweden and Denmark...i wondered what happened to Finland...i thought that was part of Scandinavia too!!!???

I'll have to check that..perhaps it was when Russia took over Finland..so it never became part of Scandinavia...don't know...but would like to know! I know Sweden 'owned' Norway and Denmark at one time..and so maybe that was it.....

These countries in Europe have such a deep history.....trying to work out where it all fits will take forever i'm sure........

Australia such a simple country! With a simple history. And stands on it's own..with no one trying to take it over (except the Japanese when they tried to get into Darwin!)

And then we saw the Contiki Museum...which has the reed boat that the 4 norwegians and 1 swedish guy built to sail from South America (peru) to Easter Islands to prove that people did come from South America and settle in Easter Islands. Remember all the coverage on this in the late 70's? We saw a film explaining it all..and the original boat and all the photos..fasincating!

We also saw the Fram Museum (Norway has a LOT of museums! Museets they call them!) This was a polar explorer ship and we went over that and looked at all the footage..

We also went to another one that had a film about the polar explorers..

Gosh it was a great day. Getting to the museums was fun too because they were all on a separate island so we had to catch a ferry there..and the Oslo harbour is so spectacular! Mountains peeking in the backdrop...and the boats..and the water...so glorious.

Norway is SO pretty.....our first impression of Oslo was the tourist thing..bad signage etc..but when you really look at the heart..the harbour..there is SO much that is wonderful about the place!

Ended up stopping off at a cafe and having norwegian fare for dinner....wrap things...filled with pesto type stuff..yummy....

Off to Bergen tomorrow!! A LONG day...12 hours......

And looking forward to it too because it's meant to be one of the most spectacular train journeys in the world!