20260414 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 30/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 30/32 – Oslo Touring

After yesterday's early start and seven hours on the train (and perhaps partly due to the two large beers with dinner), we were whipped last night and in bed by 9:00. The squishy European bed swallowed us up, and we slept until our 6:30 alarm. Not knowing how slow breakfast would be, we wanted to be sure we had plenty of time this morning.

It turned out that the breakfast buffet was quick and good, so we had a little over an hour to relax in the room before beginning our tour day in Oslo. We met everyone in the lobby before boarding the buses. 

The lobby was...let's call it quirky

Speaking of that, we had two buses, each with around 25 guests. It appears the 120 number floated earlier was inflated, as there are about 50 of us on this post-cruise extension. We boarded the buses and headed toward Vigeland Park.

Akershus Fortress from 1299

Fish Market

Munch Museum, dedicated to the life and work of the artist, Edvard Munch

Bjørvika neighborhood, dubbed the Barcode Project

Akrobaten Pedestrian Bridge

We caught a glimpse of the Royal Palace - more later

Victoria Terrasse

We arrived at Vigeland Park. Vigeland Park (Vigelandsparken) is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist, featuring over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, arranged along an 850-meter axis. The main parts include the Main Gate, the Bridge with the Children’s Playground, the Fountain, the Monolith Plateau, and the Wheel of Life.

The Main Gate: The entrance from Kirkeveien, featuring granite pillars and wrought-iron gates designed in 1928, with smaller pedestrian gates decorated with dragon motifs.

Vigeland designed and built nearly everything in the park, including the gates

Vigeland even designed his own statue - it was completed after his death

The Bridge: A 100-meter-long, 15-meter-wide bridge leading to the fountain, containing 58 bronze sculptures, including the famous Angry Boy (Sinnataggen) and Woman and Man embracing.

These two concrete sculptures were at the start of the bridge.

You want to take photos of all the sculptures, but there are so many that you just have to pick and choose.

They have so much emotion

A look ahead, down the bridge

The motion in some was amazing

Angry Boy, one of the most famous works

Arlona, capturing images

The Giggling Boy

Nailed it

The Fountain (Fontenen): Surrounded by 60 bronze reliefs and a black and white granite mosaic, the fountain features figures climbing into trees, symbolizing the cycle of life.

The cycle of life starts with childhood

It moves into relationships and young love

Adulthood and responsibilities

Boredom and disillusionment

Holding on to life

Arriving at the end and death

The Monolith Plateau: An elevated platform containing 36 granite groups surrounding the main attraction: the 17-meter-tall Monolith, carved from a single block of stone, representing 121 human figures rising toward the sky.

The sculptures cover all ages

The Wheel of Life (Livshjulet): A sculpture at the end of the park showing people intertwined in a circle, symbolizing eternity.

A sundial with the zodiac in relief around the base

The Wheel of Life

With our visit to Vigeland Park at the end, we boarded the bus to head to our next stop, the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Fram Museum.

Passing the royal summer home

The Kon-Tiki museum shows Thor Heyerdahl's work from his first journey to Fatu Hiva, to the voyages with Kon-Tiki, Ra, Ra II, and Tigris, as well as the expeditions to Galàpagos, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), and Tùcume in Peru. The original Kon-Tiki and Ra II rafts are on display here.

A replica of the figures from Easter Island

The actual Kon-Tiki that sailed 101 days across the Pacific Ocean, from Peru to Polynesia, to prove that ancient South Americans could have settled the Pacific islands

Six people lived in this small vessel for 101 days

Underneath Kon-Tiki with a whale shark for reference

Ra II, the ship Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 57 days to prove that ancient Mediterranean/African cultures could have reached the Americas using papyrus boats

Actual Easter Island artifacts

The 1950 documentary about Kon-Tiki won an Academy Award

We walked across the parking lot to the Fram Museum. The Fram Museum tells the story of Norwegian polar exploration. It was built around the Fram, a ship that was used in expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions by the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup, Oscar Wisting, and Roald Amundsen between 1893 and 1912.

You can go onto and into the ship, exploring below deck to get a sense of what life was like onboard

An underground walkway leads to another building featuring more exhibits.

A replica of the N24/N25 aircraft that attempted the first flight to the North Pole, but crashed

 After 2.5 weeks of forming a runway on the ice, N25 flew again with all six explorers, bringing them home

Gjøa was the first vessel to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage between 1903 and 1906, led by Roald Amundsen

This is the original ship

Polar Arlona

The five members of the team who reached the South Pole in 1911: Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Sverre Hassel, Oscar Wisting, and Helmer Hanssen

War Sailors Monument

It honors the Norwegian merchant sailors who served during World War II

Bygdøynes Light

Sjøblomst, which translates to "Sea Flower"

This was the final stop on our tour today. We returned to the hotel and then went for a walk on our own in Oslo.

University Aula (Domus Media), the oldest building of the University of Oslo - the auditoriums on Viking Octantis and Polaris are designed after this building

Ludvig Holberg statue, next to the National Theater

National Theatre (Nationaltheatret)

Approaching the Royal Palace

The Royal Palace was built between 1825 and 1849

Equestrian Statue of King Charles XIV John

Looking back at downtown Oslo

Historical Museum (Kulturhistorisk Museum), 1904

National Gallery building, 1882

Headquarters for the Oslo Medical Society, 1826

An interesting building sculpture

Oslo Cathedral, 1697, with several renovations

The royal box pew bearing the monogram of King Haakon VII

Christian IV Monument - statue depicts the king pointing to the ground, referring to the moment he decided to rebuild the city after a major fire in 1624, famously declaring "Here the city is to be"

 The iconic Freia chocolate advertisement sign and clock, 1925

Our late lunch / early dinner venue - Olivia

Doing my duty, having a local Oslo beer

It was 3:30 when we finished eating. We figured we wouldn't want dinner, so we stopped at a store and grabbed some Freia chocolates, some chips, and caffeine-free Coke Zero. With snacks in hand, we returned to the room.

We had to do a little repacking for tomorrow. With our bags set for the flights tomorrow, we showered, nibbled a bit, and relaxed. Tomorrow will be a long day. We don't leave the hotel until 10:00 am for our 1:30-ish flight to JFK. We have a four-hour layover before our flight to Orlando, arriving tomorrow night just after 11:00 pm. That will get us home close to 1:00 am Thursday morning. We love long travel days. (sarcasm)