Scandinavia Trip: Day 10 – Oslo to Copenhagen

July 05, 2023

On our last day in Oslo, we made a visit to the Museum of Cultural History (or the Folkemuseum for short). I had initially added it to my list of things to see because it has a beautiful stave church from around 1200 CE. I have been burning to visit a proper Norwegian stave church, as we had initially planned to call on May in her home in central Norway – not too far away from several very famous ones.

Nevertheless, the Folkemuseum has many more attractions than the stave church. Much like the Skansen in Stockholm, it houses numerous traditional buildings from around the country, which usually comprise farmsteads, granaries, and dwellings. We even caught a performance of traditional Norwegian songs and dances put on by costumed museum employees.

Due to mine and Johnny’s flights, however, we had to cut our visit short at around two hours and returned to May’s for a quick lunch of baguettes and pancakes. Leaving quite hurriedly, we headed to the airport. While Johnny was flying back to China, I was on my way to Copenhagen. We had heard news that a storm was approaching Scandinavia that had already wreaked havoc in western Europe, but we both managed to outfly it. Indeed, when I got to Copenhagen it was very sunny.

By now, I have become an old hand at navigating new public transport systems. Having downloaded the application in advance, I bought tickets on my phone while waiting for the metro, and after I boarded it, I put away my passport and took out my camera, sunglasses, and sunscreen. I left the metro at Christianshavn, which is where the beautiful Church of Our Saviour is located. The building has an unusual spiral roof that points upwards to a golden globe; it is definitely one of the most interesting buildings I have seen on this trip so far.

From Christianshavn, I continued towards the centre, going as far as the Playhouse on the water. Copenhagen seemed like a very cozy city then. Unlike in Stockholm, pedestrians are not on the lowest rung of the food chain, which can be ascertained from the fact that even cyclists have to stop for the pedestrian green light. Green lights for pedestrians also seem to have very short waits in general. Outside of this pet obsession, I noticed that Copenhagen is a very musical city. I heard live music almost everywhere, from a jazz performance near Nyhavn to a Caribbean concert by the river.

By the time I had reached the Playhouse, however, the sun had definitively been blocked out by clouds and the wind had grown stronger. Storm Poly seemed to have finally reached Copenhagen, bringing on a premature night and the threat of rain. As soon as I realised that the sun would not come out again, I decided to call it a day and went over to my hotel.