Oslo, Norway - Day 2

The next morning, I had no idea what time zone I was in!  My head was swimming!  All I know was it was early in Oslo and I got about 7 hours of sleep, but something was just off.  It didn't matter, I had to shake it off as we had a full day ahead of us as we would be purchasing the Oslo pass and needed to hit several things to make it worth the price.  So, I know I needed to visit my old friend caffeine. 

Noah and I grabbed a piece of fruit and headed towards the subway.  It took us a few minutes to understand what ticket we should buy as the instructions were in Norwegian, but we finally got our tickets and just in time as the subway appeared as soon as we hit the bottom steps.  The subway in Oslo is open and very clean unlike the NYC subway.  Usually, in NYC you have to check around your seat as they are dirty and you can sit in nasty things!  In fact, I have seen things I hope never to see again, not so in Oslo; just a bright clean inviting experience.  Thanks, Oslo!

Street Scene

My first view of downtown Oslo was that it wasn't as crazy as other city centers which made it easy to maneuver.  I also soon realized that this was a biking city.  I have never seen so many people on bikes.  It's a good thing though as you get your exercise while helping out the environment.  I wonder how people deal with this in winter though.  I would think your butt would freeze to the seat in about 5 minutes after leaving the house. 

Besides not being crowded, downtown was very clean, though you would see graffiti here and there.  I don't understand the whole graffiti thing.  Let me deface my city with a tag nobody understands or cares to understand.  Why?  I hate seeing that it is becoming more common in Europe, still, Oslo was cleaner than NYC would ever be.

After we found the tourist information building, we bought our tickets and headed out to out first stop the Munch Museum.  I have to say I didn't know a lot about Munch except for his most famous piece The Scream or Skrik as it is known in Norway.  The Munch Museum is a throwback to the 1970's.  The building is a little outdated, but apparently they are building a new one.  There have been some arguments over the new space because the Munch estate wants every painting done by Munch put into the new space, even the ones in the National Gallery.  The National Gallery is not thrilled as they feel it brings in people and it may hurt their tourism.  Hopefully, it gets resolved soon and everyone gets a little chunk of the Munch, I know I would like one.  Apparently, so do other people as the painting keeps getting stolen!

We've All Had Days Like This!

I have to say after seeing the museum; I have a new appreciation for Munch.  Munch used a lot of the same themes and revisited many of his same pieces over and over which I found interesting.  A lot of his themes verged on the dark side dealing with death, sickness and loneliness but the different variations were interesting. 

After the Munch Museum, we decided it was time to visit the Nobel Peace Prize Center which was relatively new as it opened in 2005.  I didn't quite know what to expect from the Center as I would think it would be a difficult topic to cover.

The first room after you enter the center is a rotating exhibit.  During the time we were in Oslo, the exhibit was about poverty in four major areas of the world.  The exhibit was created by Jonas Bendiksen a photographer and was brought to life through his photographs.  Four different 10x10 rooms were constructed there the people whose stories were being told were displayed on the walls as the individuals spoke about their lives in poverty.  The four regions were Kibera, Africa, Caracas, Venezuela, Jakarta, Indonesia and Mumbai, India.

This exhibit is very powerful.  The 16 different stories are sad, shocking and at times infuriating.  These interviews were not easy to listen to.  Listening to these people's daily struggle to survive was unreal.  It isn't about gaining more material items, or fancy clothing, or the latest gadget.  It's about trying to find clean water, food and shelter.  One woman in Indonesian talks about her living space being a bench near the market of the neighborhood where she was raised.  There she is bringing up her son and during the day she leaves her son with various stall owners as she tries to make money to feed him.  You get the point.  These stories are brutal.  It is nearly impossible to not walk away from this exhibit with a new appreciation for your life.  Life is such a lottery.  Anyone of us could have been born into these circumstances.

Nobel Peace Center

To get through all the rooms and stories will take over an hour, but it is so worth it.  I really recommend watching all of the videos and really listening to the stories closely.  This was one of the most powerful and touching exhibits I have ever seen.  This alone was worth the admission.

The rest of the center is located on the second floor of the museum.   I have to be honest with you, without the exhibit downstairs, I don't know if this would be worth the $15.00 it was to get in.  There really isn't all that much to see or do within the center.   There is a wall with the history of the Nobel Peace prize, but I found it to be confusing and poorly executed.

There were two things that stood out on the 2nd floor and that was the magic book in the children's room and the room with the Nobel Peace Prize winners.  The room with the winners was really cool actually and the only room I really spent time in.  All of the winners' pictures are displayed on screens.  The screens are surrounded by colorful lights and ethereal sounds.  When you stand in front of one pf the displays, the screen of the person you are interested in learning more about changes and the history of the individual comes onto the screen, when you step away, their photo comes back.  Very clever and very well done!

Pretty much after that room, there wasn't anything else that really caught our attention.  So, we decided that it was time to hit the Norwegian Folk Museum (Norsk Folkenmuseum).  The Folk Museum is basically a set up of an old Norwegian village.

Choppy Seas on the Ferry Ride

Too get to the Folk Museum you have to take a bus which takes forever or brave the ferry.  The ferry in the long run is the quickest way as it is right by the Nobel Peace Center.  I hate deep water, I really do.  I also get seasick, I really do!  The idea of getting onto a ferry freaked me out!  But Noah told me I would be fine.  I had been on the Staten Island Ferry a few times and it wasn't so bad.  This was true, it was very big and after a while it seems as if you were riding a big subway.  I could do this.  My confidence left me as I spied a small dingy pulling up.  Okay, maybe a dingy is a little bit of an exaggeration, but this was the smallest ferry I had ever seen.  Doesn't Oslo have a rush hour? 

Noah told me it would be fine.  I doubted him, but the bus would take forever and we were meeting our host family for dinner that night and didn't have much time.  So, I stepped onto the dingy and we were on our way.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  The water looked choppy, but didn't toss us around too much.  Still, I couldn't wait to get off and ran to the front as soon as land was discovered.

Be prepared for a small hike as the museum is a distance away and mostly uphill.  When we got to the gate we were surprised to see that the place was rather empty.  It was an overcast day and there had been sprinkles here and there, but it wasn't bad weather.  Also, we were at the end of tourist season.  I didn't mind, I kind of enjoyed it being empty as it made it a little more authentic.

Grass on the Roof!!!

The Folk museum is a great idea.  The set up is pretty realistic except for a modern garbage can here or there.  There were even farm animals and people dressed up as villagers.  The first place we went into was a house where there was a women tending to a fire.  Noah wanted to know more about the history and asked if she spoke English in Norwegian.  She said of course.  Her English was spot on, in fact, she didn't sound Norwegian at all.  She confirmed this as she was from Minnesota.  It was a little odd walking through a Norwegian village only to meet one of the locals who happened to be American.  She had lived in Norway for 20 years, so I figured she had earned a spot to work there and she was a complete sweetheart, so I let it slide.

The highlight of the museum is the Stave (church).  It was pretty cool actually and apparently there is an exact replica in South Dakota in the Black Hills.  It really was very beautiful and the woodwork was amazing.  There we met a few "villagers" and again found them to be very friendly and accommodating.  They had no problem having their photos taken; they are probably used to it.  They even gave us genuine smiles, which surprised me.  Working at a place like that is sort of like being in a zoo and you would think they would be tired of the whole tourist thing by now.  Maybe they were new or maybe they are just less jaded then I would be.  I have done things like this in theatre.  Some I am not proud of; mostly children's theatre and there are photos that defiantly come back to haunt you.  

For me the Folk Museum was a success.  I would definitely recommend it if you are in Oslo.  The houses are pretty cool and I especially enjoyed the grass growing on the roofs of the houses, it never got old.  That and I am a sucker for animals which they had plenty of.  I especially liked the pigs, though they were tired and warm that day and were burrowed deep in the mud.

Taking a Breather

After the Folk Museum, we got onto the bus to spend the rest of the evening with our host family.  An interesting side note, the people in Norway are very interested in Americans and our view on our politics.  Every country I have visited has been this way and the people tend to like to ask a lot of questions.  It may have been magnified in Norway as we were staying with a Norwegian family.  It is always fascinating to me just how much other countries know about America. Originally, they had wanted us to speak at a local high school so that the students could ask questions about the US.  I almost wished it had happened as it would have been nice to clarify certain things and show that stereotypes do not represent a complete country. 

In all my travels, I have never been seen as an American.  I usually am asked if I am British, Irish or Canadian.  When I tell them I am American the response is either they are surprised as I don't seem "American" or that it is good thing that I am seen as British.  I don't agree, no offense to the Brits.  I am very proud to be American and am in no way ashamed of my nationality, though I am not happy with the things that are happening in the US at this time.  I see a great country that is at a pivotal point in its history.  We need to reevaluate many things that are happening within this country and strive to change them.  Though, there is so much wrong within the US at this time, there is also so much that is right as well; we just need to find a healthy balance.  Another point; if I don't seem like a stereotypical American I guarantee there are others who also pass as Non-Americans who are.  If you are looking for the stereotypes of any culture you will find them. 

Anyway, sorry for the tangent, but it was a huge part of the trip and I actually enjoyed these conversations as I learned more about the Norwegians and I hope they learned more about us as well.