Wasa Crackers Are Norwegian?!?

Apparently, arriving in Oslo on a Thursday is not a good idea because nothing is open, so I had to manage the first 24 hours fueled by little more than a red bull and some (evidently Norwegian) Wasa crackers. I definitely did not enjoy the hostel I stayed at here (loud upstairs neighbors with a habit of dropping things, hot rooms, and only one bathroom) and as a result I spent as much time in the city and as little in my room as possible. As I was only in Oslo for essentially 2 days, I hopped on the big red tour bus and saw a quick overview of the city before deciding where I would allocate my time. I spent a whole morning museum-hopping in the north of the city, visiting a Viking Ship museum and a Cultural/Norse History museum. The Viking Ship museum was small, but really interesting. There were 2 full sized Viking ships there as well as a small burial ship (Vikings buried their dead at sea) and a lot of Viking paraphernalia. One of the coolest artifacts that they had in my opinion was an original boat ornament in the shape of a serpent. These were often used to decorate the bow and stern of the ship. The detail was incredible and after a little research I learned that they are a reference to an Old Norse tale about a monsterous sea serpent known as Midgardsorm who was said to be large enough to encircle the globe.

            The other museum I went to was primarily an open-air museum consisting of old buildings. There was an entirely recreated Old Norse village complete with English townhouses for rich Brits in town for the hunt, several apothecaries and a local craft house with woodwork and pottery. There was also an ancient Norse church. The structure itself was beautiful and apparently its one of only 28 remaining examples of this type of Norse architecture. A fun fact about the church is that both crosses and dragonheads are carved into the steeples of the church to represent both Christianity and Old Norse Mythology (it is considered “safer” this way).

            I also visited a park known as Vigiland Sculpture Park, named after the artist who placed the hundreds of sculptures there. Aside from the fact that this is easily one of the most beautiful parks I have been to in Europe, the statues were absolutely stunning. They depict various stages of the circle of life, from birth to death, and the most striking thing about them, aside from the clear artistic credibility, is how astoundingly dynamic many of the poses are. You begin your walk through the park at a beautiful gate, from which you can see the park’s crowning jewel, a stunning fountain in front of a massive pillar. You walk slowly alone a bridge, flanked on both sides by statues depicting men women and children dancing, fighting, playing, and merely standing. As you approach the fountain, you can see that four male statues sink under the weight of the bowl on top spouting water and the surrounding figures are all people, carved into stone trees. Proceeding past the fountain, you climb an impossible number of steps to the giant pillar and surrounding pensive statues. Upon closer inspection, it becomes that the pillar is in fact made of hundreds of people, carved into the stone. Men, women and children of all ages stacked upon and entangled with each other. It is haunting, evocative and beautiful.