Oslo

We arrived at the Oslo campground in late afternoon. It had just stopped raining so we could put up our tent. The one good thing about the windy weather in Scandinavia is that the ground dries soon after the rain because the wind acts just like a blow-drier. Marko and I went for a run and we planned to cook something for dinner in the evening and buy beer at the camp shop. But we discovered that they don’t sell alcohol after 8:00 PM in Norway so we were out of luck as far as beer was concerned. They sell beer and cider in supermarkets while wine and hard liquor can only be purchased from specialized shops. This reminded me of South Africa, except there only wine is sold in supermarkets.


Oslo is a fairly small city, just twice the size of Ljubljana. We could take in most of it by walking. A few sights were farther out so we did ride on a boat to see some restored Viking ships (yes, more Viking ships!). They also have a Metro train which we rode to the Holmenkollen ski jump. It is situated on a hill high above the Oslo fjord, visible from everywhere, and interestingly they built the Metro to reach all the way up there.


Having only seen the Slovenian ski jump at Planica in my life, I assumed that all ski jumps were built into natural mountains. So when I saw the Holmenkollen, which is a steel construction sticking high up into the sky, I was amazed. We went up to the top where the ski jumpers take off so I was able to see the same view that they see just before they jump: the entire city with the fjord below. Looking across at other hills in the vicinity, what do they have there? More ski jumps! It is as if every hill has a ski jump and no wonder the Norwegians are among the top ski jumpers in the world.


Interestingly enough, I believe that soccer is their second strongest sport, at least it seemed that way because we saw soccer fields and soccer matches almost everywhere we went. The kindergartens have miniature soccer fields and school age children who were on their summer vacations seemed to be in soccer camps. While the current Norwegian soccer team isn’t highly successful (they didn’t qualify for the last 3 world soccer championships) I am waiting to see what will happen in a few years when the younger generation grows up.


Another sight a tourist couldn’t possibly miss in Oslo is everything related to the Nobel prize, so we visited the town hall where the peace prize is presented each year and there is also a related museum. The museum mostly focuses on Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian who received the Nobel peace prize for his work with refugees.