So my wife and I just got back from our honeymoon in Norway and I wanted to write a bit about it. It was a lot of fun and we have a lot of great experiences to remember now. There was so much we didn’t get a chance to do, so we definitely want to go back at some point to try to visit what we missed.
Oslo
Oslo is a bustling city center; not the sort of place I’m usually interested in. However, there are a lot of great museums that you can get to really easily via their great public transportation system.
Nobel Peace Center
This was one of the first stops on our trip. Every year, the museum updates its exhibit for the current Nobel Peace Prize winner. In 2019, that winner was Abiy Ahmed Ali, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, for his work on resolving the border conflict with Eritrea. I learned a lot about the situation there and why his work has been important. The exhibit also features art and information about the region – it was extremely educational.
Upstairs, they have the previous year’s exhibit. The winners in 2018 were Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their work in ending sexual violence as a weapon of war. This was a hard exhibit to walk through.
Along with the previous exhibit, there’s a hall with every Peace Prize winner and a description of why they won and a quote from them. The hall is dark, with lights forming a path, and the winners aren’t in chronological order, you can explore them pretty freely.
What I really loved about the Nobel Peace Center is what I love about the Prize itself: there are some really terrible things happening out in the world, and seeing the people fighting against it gives me some small amount of hope.
Astrup Fearnley Museum
Next stop was the Astrup Fearnley Museum, a private art museum with some really interesting artwork; stuff ranging from morbid (a cow and calf split in half, in formaldehyde tanks) to bizarre to funny (a steel plate with “HOLE IN HEAD” spray painted on it). Fun to walk through.
Akershus Fortress
A military fortress from the middle ages. You can get some pretty amazing views of the city from the walls.
Trondheim
We left Oslo by train, and after a 7-hour ride, we arrived in Trondheim. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of time here, so we only got a short time to visit one museum…
Rockheim
This is a museum about the history of Norwegian music. The exhibits are interactive and a lot of fun. We only had a short 45 minutes here. They recommend an hour and a half. We think we could have spent 2-3 hours here easily.
Fjords Cruise
Up next was a two-day cruise along the fjords with a stop in between.
The Fjords
The fjords are really beautiful from sea. It was cold, but worth heading out regularly to get some photos.
Lofotr Viking Museum
During the cruise, we stopped at the Lofotr Viking Museum, housed in a recreation of the largest longhouse ever discovered. Here, we got to experience a Viking feast, hosted by the lord and lady of the house. There was a sacrifice to the gods (some flammable liquid tossed into the fire), a little music, and a nice show. It was a lot of fun, and the meal was great.
Most of the longhouse has exhibits with various Viking tools and artwork.
Tromsø
The largest city in the arctic circle in Norway (third largest in the world). I think the highest temperature we had here was -4°C (24.8°F). This was where we were really excited to be.
Northern Lights Chase
The highlight of our trip, and our guide for this was really great. He’s the sort of person who, despite having done this for years, gets excited like it’s his first time when he sees the aurora. He had great tips for how to set up your camera and even had spare tripods for us to borrow. Also, fun fact: batteries don’t like the cold. It got down to -7 °C, and the battery stopped supplying a charge to my camera. I had to warm it up several times to get a few minutes at a time.
Our trip here was via Tromso Friluftsenter, and if you ever want to go see the northern lights in the arctic circle, I can wholeheartedly recommend them. The owner has some land with a lavvu (a Sami structure) they use for the groups, where they had a fire going, along with coffee, tea, and cake. (They apparently have parties there, too.)
What I’ve learned about the aurora is that what you see in pictures is brighter than what you see with your eyes because they’re longer exposures, however it’s when the aurora gets active and moves in the sky that it gets really exciting, and photos can’t capture that. It’s really special to be able to see it yourself, so if you ever have an opportunity, take it.
Also, phone cameras are incredibly good at taking aurora photos now. Crazy.
Reindeer Sledding
The next day, we rode out to a small camp where a Sámi family keeps a reindeer herd. We learned a lot about the Sámi on this trip. Reindeer herding is a traditional Sámi occupation, though only a small amount of Sámi actually do it. All reindeer herding in Nordic countries is legally reserved for the Sámi people, so pretty much every reindeer you see is owned by a Sámi.
Reindeer are smaller than I thought, but they’re cute and some can be very friendly. My wife got to take a reindeer out to our sled, and then we went on a short trip out into a valley before coming back.
After the reindeer sledding, we came back and got a warm meal, then it was back in the bus for the trip back to Tromsø.
Oslo, Part 2
After Tromsø, it was back to Oslo for a few more days. We visited Bygdøy, which is called “Museum Island” because of all the museums there.
Viking Ship Museum
The Vikingskiphuset (literally translated “The Viking Ship House”) has three Viking ships on display, as well as a lot of artifacts. The ships here were found in burial mounds, and although they had been looted during the Viking Age, they still had well-preserved fabric and tools.
The Vikings believed you’d need ships, tools, and food in the afterlife, so these mounds had sleds, axes, beds, baskets for food, and animals. These were also mounds for some very prominent people; one was buried with 12 horses.
Norwegian Folk Museum
The folk museum had houses and structures from much of Norwegian history. During World War II, Nazi troops burned much of the housing that existed, and the variety of houses that existed prior were replaced with standardized, generic structures during reconstruction. The museum preserves the history and variety that was lost.
The most interesting structure here is the Stave Church, moved in the 1880’s and rebuilt. I just love the architecture, both inside and out.
There were also some indoor exhibits, including a large exhibit about the Sámi people – their culture, history, fight for rights, and modern Sámi in society.
Food
We tried to stick to more traditional Norwegian food during our trip. We ate a lot of salmon. We also got to try reindeer, fish soup, and raspeballer (Norwegian potato dumplings), and brunost – brown cheese.
We also discovered a new favorite candy: Stratos. It’s chocolate with air bubbles in it (I don’t know how else to describe it) and it’s delicious.
Television
We made it a point to watch some local TV while we were in Norway. We watched a miniseries titled Magnus about a portal that opens to the world of the trolls, and a few that come through. It’s funny and bizarre (and has won some awards).
There was also a lot of American TV over there. Watched some Whose Line, Futurama, Family Guy, and other random shows that were on (all with Norwegian subtitles, of course).
“No kidding with my nose”
Not a perfect translation.
There were a few ads that were hilarious. Our favorite being this one for a licorice drop.
Miscellaneous
