Aurora Hunting: Exploring Oslo - The Attractions

• Introduction 
• Getting to Oslo 
• Exploring Oslo - The Attractions 
• Exploring Oslo - The Hotels (Radisson Blu Plaza Oslo & Doubletree by Hilton Oslo City Center) 
• Oslo to Tromso on SAS
• The Hunt
• Exploring Tromso
• Review of City Living Apartments, Tromso
• Tromso to Oslo on SAS
• Oslo to Doha
• Exploring Doha & Review of Ramada Encore Doha
• Doha to Kuala Lumpur with a visit to the Oryx Lounge
• Conclusion

 _________________________________________________________________________________

It was still bright and sunny when we were done with the hotel check-in and a quick shower at about 4pm. Despite being somewhat tired from the flight, it was time to head out and explore the city. We just walked and walked while enjoying the great weather and beautiful architecture. We made our way from our hotel near the main train station all the way to the water front area of Aker Brygge.

City Hall

Walls of Akershus Fortress

Nobel Peace Center

Akker Byggre

Boats at Aker Brygge

National Theater

Parliament Building

After a good night's rest, we spent the following day exploring Vigeland Park and the numerous museums around Oslo. For those who are interested in the museums, we strongly recommend buying the Oslo Pass as the pass includes the entrance fees for most of the museums and transportation on the trams, bus and subway.


Vigeland Park, featuring some rather interesting sculptures:

 

 I enjoyed the exhibits at the Nobel Peace Center where they feature info on the Nobel Peace prize and past winners:

Folk Museum featuring real size houses and structures:

Viking Museum featuring 3 excavated viking ships:

The Fram Museum featuring the story of Norwegian polar expeditions and the actual ship called Fram used by Nansen to explore the North pole:

The Kontiki Museum featuring the adventures of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl:

By now we were dead tired and most of the museums were already closed. Our final stop for the day was the architecturally unique Oslo Opera House. It features direct walkways to the roof!

View from on top

After a much needed nap, we headed back to the Aker Brygge for some seafood at D/S Louise restaurant thanks for strong recommendations from Kyo of sqtalk. We both shared an order of the fish soup as a starter. Lydia had the mussels and I just had to try the whale steak since it's pretty rare anywhere else. The serving of mussels were huge - there must have at least been 40-50 mussels! Best of all, there were cooked perfectly and super tasty. The whale steak had a texture like a real steak but with the taste similar to tuna. It didn't quite stand out but no regrets ordering it. 

We had a couple of hours the next morning before our flight to Tromso so just continue to see some of the sites we missed out. Nothing was open that early so we were limited to just viewing from outside.

Royal Palace

Interesting looking arts piece

National Cathedral