Meng's Travels: Oslo in 2016

I last visited Oslo in 2011. My impression was that it was a clean and friendly city. Back then I bought an Oslo card, which allowed me to go to all the museums and ride public transportation free. I highly recommend this because the museums are awesome. The two I remember are the Kon-Tiki and Viking Ship Museums. This time I only went only to the National Gallery, where I saw Edvard Munch's famous "Scream" painting.

On my way to Bergen to Krakow, I decided to stop again in Oslo for a couple of nights. I booked a hotel room that is very close to The Royal Palace and Karl Johans Gate, which is a popular pedestrian mall from the Oslo Central Train station to the Royal Palace. Many tourists and locals come here but there are also a lot of shops and activities along the side streets.

On my first day here, I took a walk down the Karl Johans Gate and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and the park near the palace. It's a Sunday and there were a lot of people here.

Park along Karl Johans Gate

The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Hall. You can walk on the roof.

Norwegians love statues and they are everywhere

Smarthotel, where I stayed for 2 nights

The King's Palace, at one end of Karl Johans Gate

I tried to look for the Nobel Peace Center but was unsuccessful. I finally walked to Greenland, an area just behind the Central Railway Station. This is where a lot of the immigrants from Asian, Middle East, and Africa reside. It's kind of a ghetto but lately has seen a lot of interest from younger Norwegians because it's so close to the city and real-estate there is probably much cheaper than other parts of the city. I found a restaurant to my liking. It was a Pakistani restaurant, serving dishes that are quite similar to Indian food. I had Tikka Masala chicken with rice and nan. It was good.

The next day I realized that the Nobel Peace Center is actually quite close to the hotel. I found it and memories started to come back of the harbor area. It's where I took the ferry to the museums five years ago. Unfortunately, the Center is closed on Mondays.

I walked around the city for a few more hours because taking the NSB local train to the airport for my flight to Krakow. The fare was 92 Norwegian Kroners. The weather was nice that day and I walked behind the Karl Johans Gate area and found some interesting looking shops.