Oslo

One of the coolest cities I've been to

By Michael Wilson

September 23^rd, 2015

Opera house

Our first destination was the Oslo Opera House, which hosts Operas (obviously) as well as ballet and concerts etc. The architecture of the building is pretty striking. It’s uber modern and has clean lines. I was amazed by how calm the area was, people were exploring the area in their own time at their own pace.

The inside is a beautiful wooden interior which adds to the buildings beauty. We spent quite a bit of time in the area, walking around and to the top of it to enjoy the views.

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Sørengkaia

Moving on from the Opera house, we thought we’d explore one of the open water baths. Walking through a brand new housing complex past some nice looking buildings we arrived at the ‘bath’. Oslo isn’t known for it’s warm weather so they’re obviously hardy people to get in that water!

Once again the area was serene, with hardly a sound to be heard above the noise of the aves in the open water. There were a few people sat down looking across the water and relaxing.

Aker brygge

Our next destination was the main marina to explore the numerous boats. The walk there was lovely as it was an unexpectedly sunny day.

Astrup Fearnley Museet

While spending time around the marina, we could see a stunning wooden building in the distance and just had to get a closer look. We eventually discovered it was the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art. The building was glistening in the sunshine and numerous people were down by the waterside catching up with friends, soaking up the rays.

There’s also a tall viewing elevator next to the museum which grants you some impressive views across what is a relatively short (in terms of building height) city.

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The elevator provides some lovely views of Oslo but I was more interested in the structure of what we were going up in

This part of the city felt really modern and it looks like it’s developing at some pace. There’s new buildings going up all over the city and the housing in this area looked brand new and very desirable.

The Royal Palace

You can’t visit Oslo and not pass the royal palace. There’s some amazing views leading up to the palace and I was amazed that both times were were there it was pretty much empty.

Oslo has a population of just over 600,000 and has loads of space, which meant nowhere really gets busy compared to other cities in Europe.

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Frognerparken

A short walk from the palace is the beautiful Frogner Park, which is heavily influenced by the work of the sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Wherever you are in the park your bound to see at least one of his pieces. The main piece in the centre of the park consists of hundreds of bodies clambering over each other to get to the top. It reminded me of something from Dante’s Inferno.

It’s a lovely place to explore and was once again a popular place for the locals to catch up with friends and family.

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Oslo is the land of the troll and the tourist shops make everyone aware of that!

Nationaltheatret

It was time to go home but not before seeing one more awesome place. The Nationaltheatret station we were leaving from was an industrial masterpiece. I love underground architecture and Oslo didn’t disappoint.

On the whole, I really enjoyed being in the city. Yes it’s expensive for things like food and drink, but money is meant for spending and I could live with the prices. We had some great nights out, the city is beautiful from the older very grand areas in the west, to the modern cool areas down by the water. The people are were really friendly and seemed effortlessly cool.

The main thing I loved about the city was just how peaceful it was. We were never in a rush and the ‘busiest’ places we visited were relatively quiet compared to some other cities I’ve visited. Get yourself to Oslo, you won’t be disappointed.