27,703 steps: A Sunday stroll around Oslo.

I arrive in Oslo by bus from Gothenburg, where I had spent the afternoon the day before. It was Midsommer and quiet, the city seemingly devoid of inhabitants.

It’s a warm and sunny Saturday afternoon in Oslo when we arrive. There’s not a cloud in the sky. I take a Bolt to the apartment and Andre meets me on the ground floor. He shows me how to use the fob to get into the courtyard and then the building and walks me to the third floor apartment. None of the doors are marked and he points out the doormat to indicate which apartment it is.

Inside, it’s beautiful. He tells me it’s a pretty traditional layout, with plaster moulding lining the ceiling and light wood floors. He tells me it’s very German if I’ve ever been.

He shows me around, I ask him how to use the washing machine. I ask if there are places to swim and he tells me yes, nearby. I need only head out to the main road and take a right to reach a public swimming area. He also tells me that I can take a ferry to Hovedøya where there’s a public beach on the far side.

I want to go for a swim immediately, but I’m still tired from the lack of sleep on my kayaking camping trip and decide to take a nap before dinner.

For my first meal in Oslo, I head to Hyde, around the corner from my apartment. It feels like a local hangout, set slightly below street level, with the door open and packed tables. I’m the first to be seated at the bar, but it fills up quickly. The waitress is from Colombia and we chat briefly about the country. She offers me a glass of champagne. I decline at first and then think again. I’ll be doing the pairing, but a glass of champagne feels like the right way to start off the meal.

After dinner I decide to take a walk. The sun doesn’t set until almost 22h30 and there’s plenty of light left in the day. I intend to make it to the harbor, but don’t quite make it that far. I head home and fall asleep on the couch, Netflix on in the background.

I wake to overcast skies; rain is forecast for later in the day. I wash up and decide to walk north to a bakery in the borough of Sagene with great reviews for coffee and a pastry.

I follow the main road north until I reach a park and turn off to take a smaller side street that leads to Iladalen park. I cut through and take the stairs on the northern side to Stockfleths gate and round the corner to Mjøl Bakeri.

I purchase some baked goods and a flat white and arrange myself on an outdoor bench. A pair of cyclists arrives and leave their bikes unattended next to me as they purchase coffee and sandwiches and return to have their late afternoon repast.

After my coffee I check the map and decide to walk back along the Akerselva river. Parks run alongside it and soon I find myself in Myraløkka Vøyenparken, headed south.

I pass waterfalls and cafes and restaurants as I descend back towards the city center through Aamodt Bru Kuba park. I’m amazed at how green and pleasant the stroll is. I had little inkling of what to expect from Oslo, and I continue to be very pleasantly surprised.

Crossing the Aamodt Bru I enter the home stretch of parks before I reach Mathallen, a food hall recommended to me by Jo. It’s just about to open and I walk past the various restaurants and shops as they prepare to open. I’m not yet hungry and browse the stalls and make note of places I want to come back to try out.

Leaving Mathallen I head south along a street that runs to the west of my apartment, past a gas station in search of Nektar, a wine bar I’ve decided to check out later in the week. There’s a plate of local cheese and honey from Oslo on the menu I’m eager to sample alongside the biodynamic wine list.

Passing the restaurant I stumble upon Damstredet. On Google maps it’s listed as a ‘notable street’ and I take the detour to climb its cobblestoned lane and admire the wooden houses that line the street.

I walk down a set of stairs that mark the midpoint of the short street and find myself close to my apartment. I decide to stop in to drop off my baked goods and take a rest. I don’t really have any plans for the rest of the day and consider taking a nap if it rains.

In the afternoon, I decide to take a walk to the harbor, something I had planned to do the day before before being sidetracked. The day remains overcast, but the rain seems to be holding off.

I head south and then turn right on Karl Johans Street, distracted by the shops and the sight of The Royal Palace in the distance.

I think that I’ll head in that diirection for a while before turning back south to the harbor, but end up walking all the way to the palace. I just miss the changing of the guard, and watch a company of soliders march across the front of the palace to a gate on the side.

I follow and head to the entrance of the palace. A short line of people waits to enter. A sign tells me that a limited number of visitor tickets are available on Ticketmaster with a link to order.

I check the map on my phone and see that there’s a sculpture park a few blocks to the northwest of the palace. Curiosity gets the better of me and I delay turning south to the harbor to have a look, walking along a boulevard lined with beautiful buildings to The Vigeland Park.

Just inside the park I cross a bridge lined with sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. The park itself is his life’s work, comprised of the bridge, a fountain, and a monolith.

On the far side of the bridge I have views of the fountain, the monolith seemingly to rise from out of it. The water cascading from the bowl of the fountain seems to mimic the shape of the forms that hold it up. The figures around it sit under trees with trunks that also seem to descend like the tendrils of water from the fountain.

At the Monolith I pause to admire the gates and the figures that have been wrought upon the doors before climbing the steps to the base of the sculpture itself, a tower of figures reaching towards the sky.

Past the Monolith I walk to the The Wheel Of Life, the last sculpture at the northwest edge of the park. Turning back I look over the park and the path I trod. It’s a beautiful open space within the city.

At the end of the park I finally turn south to head towards the water, walking through a small neighborhood before crossing the highway to the penninsula of Bygdøy. I’ve decided to walk to the Fram Museum to see the ship that Amundsen sailed through the Northwest passage and which brought him to Antarctica on his successful expedition to be the first to set foot on the South Pole.

On the peninsula I pass various museums and farms. There’s walking paths and huge fields and I’m amazed at how much space there is in the city for such huge parks and fields.

At the Norwegian Maritime Museum I purchase a combined ticket to visit the maritime museum, the Fram museum, and the Kon Tiki museum. The Maritime Museum has beautiful models of various ships strewn throughout its exhibition space. In the basement there’s a demonstration of shipbuilding and on the top flor there’s a lot of space given to children to explore and play act life on the docks and on exploration ships.

Leaving the Maritime Museum I head to the Fram and am immediately struck by how much larger the ship is than in my mind’s eye. I’m amazed that we’re allowed to board it and walk inside, past cabins that housed Amundsen and Hanssen and his crew of polar explorers.

It’s almost overwhelming being on board after reading about their exploits and the history of the Fram. Having just visited the Ross Sea following in the wake of Amundsen and Scott, and having stepped foot into Scott’s and Shackleton’s huts on that trip, I feel like a final piece of the puzzle has just snapped into place.

Inside, I take photos of artifacts arranged on board and am initially suprised by the lack of windows on board. Thinking about the intended use of the ship, however, I can understand why certain design decisions were made.

It’s surprisingly spactious on board, and I chuckle when I see a dartboard arranged on the wall of one of the cabins. Having read about how the hull design caused a lot of rocking in heavy seas.

Outside the ship, walkways line the museum on two levels showing additional artifacts. Seeeing a bunch of enamel plates and mugs, I decide that I’ll purchase a replica in the gift shop if they have them.

On the walls of the museum video projections cycle between rough seas and storms and beautiful days sailing through the pack ice. On board sometimes it almost feels as though the ship is rocking when the projections shift to stormy seas.

A sign points to an exhibition of Nansen photographs and I head underground to another wing of the museum. A cutaway of N25, a plane flown by Amundsen in an attempt to fly to the North Pole. A woman ushers me into a theater for a 4D experience that recreates the attempt, the chairs lifting and tilting with the movement of the aircraft on-screen.

Another, smaller, polar ship is contained in the wing and I board it to check out the interior, quickly wrapping up so that I can visit the Kon Tiki before the museum closes.

Outside the Kon Tiki museum is a replica of one of the moai of Easter Island. It’s a striking reminder of the time I spent there. Inside, the centerpiece is Thor Heyerdahl’s ship that he used to sail from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. I don’t remember when I first learned about this voyage, but it’s something I had read about at a young age, perhaps within the pages of National Geographic, which no doubt fueling my desire to visit Rapa Nui.

Checking the time, I see that a ferry back to the city center is to leave shortly from the pier behind the Fram Museum. I see the ferry approach just as I arrive and board almost immediately. I head to the bow so that I can watch our progress as we sail from the museum towards city hall, past the Astrup Fearnley Museum Of Modern Art and the Akershus Fortress.

Alighting from the ferry I walk around City Hall to admire the architecture and the detailing before walking back towards Karl Johans Gate, bringing me back to where I began my detour.

I stop at Paradis for an ice cream, noticing that they have Dubai chocolate. Ever since my neice brought some to the Maldives I feel like I’ve seen it everywhere. I take a photo to send to our group chat.

The rain that has threatened to fall all day starts to wash the city streets. I wander north back towards my apartment and stop at Koie Ramen for dinner. There’s a line outside but there are spots at the counter for one and I am ushered in quickly. The ramen is very good, a perfect meal on this blustery evening, and I let myself sink into the bowl before, feel the hot broth warm my body, my legs relax. 🇳🇴