Provided by:
Borgny
Join the tour and learn about Oslo when you sit on the bus. Press "DOWNLOAD" and "START" to open the map.
To find more content and listen to free audio guides, download the Voice of Norway app.
Can you see the white building rising out of the sea in the innermost part of the bay? It is the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, and it is actually the only opera house in the world where you can walk on the roof. You can jump and dance ballet too, or sing opera if you want. Opera is like a play where they sing all the text, even when they talk together. The performances are usually very dramatic and the singers and ballet dancers have the most beautiful costumes you can imagine. Can you sing opera? I can!
Hello again! Did you know that Edvard Munch was a very famous artist from Norway? He painted a hugely famous painting called "The Scream". It is so special! In the painting you see a person screaming very loudly, and the background is full of strange colors and shapes. Munch painted it to show his feelings. Some say it's about being afraid of the unknown and being without family and friends. The picture actually hangs in the Edvard Munch museum behind the buildings facing the fjord. It's amazing how art can make us feel things, isn't it? Can you scream like the person in the picture?
Put on your life jacket! Now we are actually driving over a river. You can't see it and you can't hear it, but it's there. It is called Akerselva and is probably the world's most beautiful river. It flows under the road we are driving on now and further out into the fjord. The river is so beautiful! It runs almost through the whole of Oslo and has been here for many thousands of years. It has actually been here long before humans came to Norway. Dad says that the river allowed the people to fish for salmon and get water for their farms. Then the plants grew and the people and animals got food and drink. If we didn't have water, we wouldn't have plants, animals or people. Perhaps people would not have lived in Oslo if Akerselva had not been here. Later, humans learned to control the water so they could build factories all along the river. Imagine that! The river gave life to Oslo, it gave people a job and a place to live. Akerselva is absolutely fantastic!