December in Norway starts in Oslo

Development of the area around Bjørvika harbor is part of the city's
'Oslo as a fjord city' vision.

Oslo is the first stop on our recent trip to Norway. The city is all decked out for Christmas, and our hotel is just around the corner from the Spikersuppa Christmas market. On our first evening in town, we check out the festivities, then go in search of a restaurant that won't break the bank. Peppees Pizza, it is!

Oslo's Spikersuppa Christmas market features this Ferris wheel. 

Skaters enjoy the evening at Oslo's Christmas market. 

Some visitors to Oslo's Christmas market warm up around a firepit.

Oslo's historical Grand Hotel and the Parliament shine under a full moon.

Oslo receives one of its first snow falls of the season. 

I have two places on my list to visit on our second day here: Norsk Folkemusem and Vigelandsparken. It snowed overnight so we gingerly make our way to the bus and manage to visit both sites during the short daylight hours. 

Oslo's Norsk Folkemuseum contains Norway's largest collection
of Sami culture and artifacts. 

The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, Norsk Folkemuseum, invites visitors to step back in time to see how people lived from 600 years ago to the present. Exhibitions showcase the different regions of Norway and offer an entertaining history lesson. Permanent exhibits include Sami culture, folk arts and crafts, toys, costumes, and religious relics. Outdoors, the vast grounds of the museum contain nearly 160 buildings including shops, homes and farms. The highlight is the Gol Stave church, built around 1200, and moved to the museum grounds in 1907 when the collections of King Oscar II were incorporated into the Folkemuseum. We spend hours here, trudging through the snow and peeking into the ancient buildings. Our visit is topped off with a bowl of Norwegian fish soup at the café — the first of many bowls I'll enjoy in the upcoming weeks.  

This sled is part of the permanent collection at the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo.

Handmade trunks are exhibited at the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo.

The Countryside collection at the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo
includes dozens of buildings from different parts of Norway.

Built around 1200, the Gol Stave Church was faithfully
restored  to its original design before it was relocated
to the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo. It is part of the
collection of Oscar II, King of Sweden and Norway.

Snow has fallen on the Countryside at Oslo's Norsk Folkemuseum. 

Fortified with soup, we board a bus to Vigelandsparken, home to more than 200 bronze, iron, and granite sculptures created by the artist Gustav Vigeland. We enter the park by crossing The Bridge lined with 58 bronze sculptures of men, women, and children. We pass The Fountain, the earliest sculpture piece in the park. Since it's winter, the water isn't flowing, but we can still admire the six giants supporting the fountain base, and the 20 tree groups that represent man's relationship to nature. We then climb the stairs to the Monolith, a 17-meter-high pillar sculpted of one stone. Here, 121 human figures seem to cling and float together. According to the Vigeland Museum website, "The sculpture has been interpreted as a kind of vision of resurrection, and our longing and striving for spirituality." As a start to our Norway trip, the park portends many more moments of awe ahead.

Fifty-eight bronze sculptures by artist Gustav Vigeland
line the bridge in Oslo's Vigelandsparken.

Gustav Vigeland's Fountain is surrounded by 20 tree groups
in Oslo's Vigelandsparken.

On our last full day in Oslo we've signed up for a walking tour. Meeting at the tiger sculpture in front of the main train station, we embark on a two-hour guided stroll through the city where we see the city's oldest buildings and some of its newest architectural gems. We step inside City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony had taken place a few days before our visit. We hear about and see from afar the striking Opera House, and decide to return later in the afternoon to enjoy the sunset from its roof. 

The statue of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Oslo Harbor honors
the U.S. President for his kindness toward Norway and the
Norwegian royal family. FDR helped Queen Marthe and her
children (one of whom is Norway's current king) escape
the country when the Germans invaded in 1940. 

Oslo's Opera House was designed to look like a glacier rising from fjords.

The works of Edvard Munch, best known for his painting The Scream,
are housed in this museum which opened in 2021 in Oslo. The
museum has several versions of The Scream, but displays only
one at a time in order to protect them from light.

She Lies is a floating stainless steel and glass sculpture created by
Italian artist Monica Bonvicini. The sculpture is tethered to the
floor of the Oslo's Bjørvika Harbor, but turns and moves with the tides.

Our time in Oslo is too short to see everything we'd like to, but I suspect we'll return to Norway's capital city some day.

This gull seems to be enjoying a bird's eye view of Oslo
from the roof of the Opera House.

Sun sets over Oslo's Bjørvika harbor.

For more information, visit the Norsk Folkemuseum  and the Vigeland Museum websites.