We spent one week in Norway outside of Oslo, by way of the ferry from Copenhagen. A week of hiking, emerald hunting, and museums, not to mention views for days. And yes, it was too cold to swim.

The Ferry

We love to take the overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo and back. The views are delightful. We had some bumpy seas on the way, and sleeping in bunk beds in a small cabin as 5 people was an experience not to be forgotten!

North of Oslo – Forest & Emeralds

One of the most fun spots near our rental was recommended to us by our host, the Ole Jørgen Bjørnstad Smaragdgruvene – Byrud gård – an old emerald mine where you can both explore the mines but also search for emeralds along the banks of the Mjøsa fjord lake. Sometimes people find big emeralds. We didn’t find big ones, instead we found dozens and dozens of small ones.

An example of emeralds we found embedded in rock.

There were kittens at the farm next to our rental. Died of cuteness.

Kistefos Museum

This was a museum I had heard a lot about, so we took a drive one day to see it. The sculpture park was so amazing, with great work from Kusama, Raddum, Eliasson, Kapoor, Botero, to name just a few.

  • “Octopus” Bjarne Melgaard
  • “Teddy – Beast of the Hedonic Treadmill” Fredrik Raddum
  • “Tumbling Tacks”Oldenburg & van Bruggen

Tønnerudtangen

We found this place because I was looking for interesting spots to look for fossils. Its a small park along the water, where there are fossils embedded in the banks of Randsfjorden, nearby the Kistefos Museum. We loved exploring around here, and did find fossils, too.

Oslo Opera House

One of the first sights of Oslo from the ferry is the Opera House, and its architecture always amazes. We had to take the walk up the sloping roof, especially on the bright and sunny day we were there.

Akershus Fortress

We happened to be at the fortress on a day that they were holding a ceremony for the queen’s birthday (Queen Sonja). That meant they were shooting the cannons – we stayed to watch!

Eating in Oslo

A couple good spots we tried – Talormade donuts, a great ramen at Koie Ramen Munch, and later Gamle Raadhus Restaurant, a Norwegian restaurant in a beautiful 17th century building.