14 | June | 2024 | Tales from the Hutt

Oslo Natural History Museum – aka – Naturhistorisk museum

Wednesday, 22-May-2024

After escaping from the defensive botanical garden, I finally laid siege to the heart of the castle and my intended destination for the day – the Oslo Natural History Museum.

The museum was split into two wings – Exhibitions on Zoology, and Exhibitions on Geology – so I took the museum in two stages. I explored one side, went to the nearby cafe for a coffee and pastry because this is Europe and I wanted a coffee and a pastry, and then explored the other side. It was, absolutely and totally, glorious.

I started in the Zoology hall, since left seemed like the correct direction to turn, and explored wonderous lands! I saw animals from ancient times, dinosaurs and sabertoothed tigers. I saw wonderous creatures from the rainforest, from Africa, and even from far off lands like North America and Greenland! It was honestly really fun, getting to see a different viewpoint on everything – much of it overlapped, but from slightly different perspectives.

I finished in the Geology hall – learning about how the planet formed, and more saliently about how Norway itself was populated by plant life, then submerged under tropical oceans, and then how it re-emerged back as dry land again, over the course of millions upon millions of years. There were displays on gemstones, and the wealth of Norway’s mountains… it was fun! Though I’ll admit, the seemingly-endless parade of subtly-different gemstones did overwhelm me, by the end…

One of the highlights, for me was the journal entries from an explorer-geologist-cartoonist, who did quick sketches of his team’s expedition to Svalbard… the cartoons are gloriously silly, and show a less-stifling side to adventures and expeditions that I haven’t really seen before.

100% worth seeing, especially all the fossils!

Wednesday, 22-May-2024

My first day in Oslo, I wandered.

My goal was the Oslo Natural History Museum, or the Naturhistorisk museum in the Norwegian parlance, but I wasn’t locked into getting there in any rush. Oslo was still new to me, and I was enjoying the opportunity to wander.

I’d had a coffee, sandwich, and smoothie earlier in the day and was feeling well fortified, so I set up directions on my phone, grabbed my satchel, and headed out the door.

Nearly to the museum, I realized that it was guarded by one of the most effective barriers in existence against a member of my family… a garden. An expansive garden, full of beautiful flowers and interesting greenhouses. Those clever devils, they knew how to distract me from my destination! How was our hero going to get past this blockade??

I mean, I wasn’t in a rush.

I got past the cleverly-placed blockade simply by walking something like 5 miles, wandering into every corner of the gardens that I could find. Through outdoor pathways, paved and gravel, I wandered and appreciated the views and the smells. Through greenhouses, I ogled massive lily pads and sweat in the heat of a simulated Arizona desert. I saw a pineapple, and the biggest pitchers I’ve ever seen on a pitcher plant.

It was awesome.