Day 18: Oslo to Gothenburg, cloud/sun 17°

I’d Like to See More…

Presently sitting on the train to Gothenburg, Sweden after almost three days in Oslo and I’m trying to write this post as we rumble along. We picked up the 14:15 train after having figured out the online/app processes for using our Eurail passes. We are using these passes for the first time though they have been around forever (only available for purchase outside the EU). We decided to keep it simple for this part of the trip.

So what have we been up to the last couple of days? In short, lots!

Yesterday we were up and moving in decent time. All ready to go when I opened the blinds and discovered rain falling. Not in the forecast, but it looked to be almost over. We had plans to ride various forms of the Oslo transit system, and we stuck with that plan, but changed destinations which proved to be a good decision.

First things first, breakfast at McDonalds.😅 Definitely not something either of us ever do at home, but using the philosophy of, when in Scandinavia cheaper is better, we lowered our standards a little.🤣 It’s difficult to mess up an egg muffin, and the Oslo outlet has a barista so AM could get a decent latte. The operator was very kind and filled up my amazing hot drink container that Erin gave me with hot water so that I could make my own tea. I can then carry it with me for the morning. Though I have limited experience, I’ve found McDonalds to be generally better in the EU than in N America as they seem better tailored to the local population. In 2022 when walking with Rob in Itsly, a last chance location for breakfast one morning was a McDonalds, and it carried super fresh pastries the same as in the local bars.

Over breakfast we decided that the first half of the day would be spent wandering several museums. Norway has a very long history of sea exploration and there are two wonderful museums in Oslo that present this history extremely well.

The first is the Fram Museum which covers most of the Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. These include many efforts to find and transit the NW Passage. Having read so many accounts of these various expeditions I knew that I was going to be in for a special experience. Unsurprisingly, AM enjoyed it as well because of the many interactions detailed with the Inuit in Northern Canada.

The museum is broken into two main sections, the first being the Gjøa section based on the sailing ship of the same name. This section covers the various expeditions undertaken by various explorers from many countries; Amundsen, Henry Larson, Maud and many others, including the fateful Franklin expedition.

It boggles the mind how anyone could make this journey in such a small ship/boat, and survive. Apparently when they had completed the passage the leader with a small number of the crew still had to walk across some 1200 km of ice and snow (and back) to get to the nearest telegraph at a US Army outpost in order to notify a newspaper in London that they had succeeded. The Army commander decided that because American equipment would be used to transmit this huge accomplishment that he could send the story wherever he choose. So it went to a newspaper in Seattle and the huge fee for the exclusive story was never paid to the explorer by the press in London. A significant financial blow.

The second section is dedicated to the Norwegian explorers and their efforts in the Fram which is strongest wooden ship ever built. It broke all previous records to the north and south poles. Designed to winter in the ice packs, it was bigger and more elaborately designed than the Gjøa.

This ship was used by Nansen and also Roald Amundsen for their expeditions.

Some interior photos;

From the Fram museum we walked across the street to the…,

Yup. The actual Kon-tiki raft is housed here. Mandatory reading in school, this story captured my imagination. I probably enjoyed this book more than any other required reading in high school. What wasn’t to like?😂

And if this wasn’t enough,,,

The Ra and Ra II were both there. Reed boats that traversed the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean to prove early movement of civilizations could have occurred in this manner. A lot of so called experts in the last century were proven wrong by Hreyerdalh.

Both were excellent museum experiences that I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys this type of thing. AM who is not typically a museum enthusiast really enjoyed the experience as well.

The weather had cleared up and there was even some sun. Our 24 hour transit passes provided full access to the excellent ferry system, meaning we could visit many of the small islands in the fiord just off Oslo. Seeing as we had missed our fiord travel, this was as close as we would get…this trip.

We both felt that this experience felt a lot like home. Still, there were some nice moments.

Last night we went out for a nice dinner.

This morning we got ourselves ready to travel before taking a walk through another part of the city, a new section. So much building is underway.

Now just into Sweden we have left Norway behind for now. We really only sampled Oslo, and it grew on me through the three days. We definitely would like to come back to experience the central and particularly the coastal portions of the country. There are many ways to do this with a combination of trains and ferries and perhaps even a vehicle of some sort. Time will tell if we return. Many travel options and choices lay ahead!!

That’s about it for now. Very curious about what awaits us in Gothenburg!

Geoff 🇸🇪 🚊🍻