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| Askerhus Fortress |
As we woke, we were still in the North Sea, approaching today's stop in Oslo. I chose to walk on the upper deck today and enjoyed our smooth sail up the Oslofjord through the suburbs and into the city itself. Cruise ships here dock within an easy walk of the city center. Immediately across the dock from our balcony is the Askerhus Slott (Castle), described in the guidebook as a "medieval castle from the 13th century remodeled in the late 17th century to Renaissance style." There is an entire complex of wonderful buildings set on a rise surrounded by a stone wall.
After breakfast, Mike opted to rest while I walked into the city. I followed the paths through the Askerhus grounds with its big trees and lush grass lawns. Positioned as a fortress at the head of the fjord to guard Oslo, building began in 1299. Today it serves as an administrative center for Norway's armed forces. Several buildings are used as museums, some are still defense department installations and some halls are used for state functions. There is renovation work going on now, soldiers in battle gear come and go, and palace guards drill and man (or woman) their posts at key spots. Overall it has the feel of a park, a kind of peaceful public space, adorned with sculpture and flowers like other such shady spots throughout the city.
I came across an odd situation in a small park centered around a beautiful fountain at the edge of the Askerhus grounds. Three police officers on horseback had surrounded two people with packs who appeared to have been sleeping there. The people were pulling everything out of their packs for examination by two of the officers while the third held the horses. Two young officers on bicycles joined the scene. I'm not sure what it was all about, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be the two fellows who were being scrutinized.
Wandering through the city for a couple of hours, I found myself taking pictures everywhere. Attempting to find a good place to buy gifts, I stopped in a department store where a young woman at the information desk pointed me to the main thoroughfare, Karl Johans Gate (Street). She actually printed me a Google map to show me where I could find shops selling souvenirs. Her directions were good and I found just what I needed at a little shop below the cathedral. The street is a wide pedestrian walkway crossed by motor traffic on the side streets. All up and down the street, mimes painted gold or silver, costumed as Elvis Presley or a knight in armor competed for tourist's coins with someone dressed as Mickey Mouse. A second "Mickey" with his head off, was having a rest and chat on one of the side streets.
I fell in love with Oslo just walking and shooting photos. Its buildings are really interesting, in every style. I've come to understand there is a Norwegian appreciation for architectural embellishment. Flowers hang from lampposts and rise in great mounds from planters. Oslo is also the ideal destination for a museum lover. There are many museums here, including one we passed that has the world's largest collection of mini-bottles. Most are more traditional, showcasing art (like Edvard Munch's work), history (the Norwegian Resistance Museum) and culture (Eidsvoll Manor where the Norwegian constitution was written). The city streets are themselves a sort of museum, with an obvious love of sculpture visible on almost every block. All this was shown off against a perfect backdrop, today's sunny blue skies filled with puffy white clouds.
I came back to the ship to join Mike for lunch on the pool deck so that we'd be ready for our afternoon tour. We sat next to a lovely couple from Colorado, veteran travelers who shared some of their experiences with us. He is retired from the army and she had worked on military bases, so Mike traded army talk with them when we weren't quizzing them about other cruises they've enjoyed and what they like about the various ships they've sailed on, like the Queen Mary. As we've found each day, these were people we had not even seen before during the cruise. While this isn't a big ship, it's big enough that we're continuously meeting someone new. Last night our next door neighbor greeted us as we came out of the restaurant and invited us to come to his large suite for a glass of wine and conversation with another couple. While we had not seen him before, he had seen us and wanted to have us over. We enjoyed the visit and loved having a chance to see what the really big suites are like, too.
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| Oslo Opera House |
After our lunch, we headed off on the coach for our tour. Our tour guide, Heinz, was a delight right from the start with his droll delivery and caustic sense of humor. Our first quick stop was on another part of the harbor to snap a few shots of Oslo's Opera House, opened in 2008. I had read that it is the only opera house in the world which allows people to walk on its roof and I had wondered about that distinction. It is truly an unusual and very beautiful building, almost a plaza itself, as its white marble design has wide graceful ramps that surround the building and lead, in fact, up to its roof. Like the Sydney Opera House, it sits right on the waterfront, in this case overlooking the fjord and a sculpture of glass panes that resembles a sailboat. The entire scene is breathtaking and the entire area around it is being developed into what is intended to be the entertainment center of the city.
We drove through beautiful neighborhoods, going past the Parliament Building, the spot where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, the embassies of other countries, including the U.S. embassy which looks, unfortunately, like a grim prison. Our first official destination was the Viking Ships Museum across the fjord in an area called Bygdoy which our guide said is known as the museum peninsula. We passed an unusual exhibit near our destination, the Norsk Folkemuseum, an open air museum set in a park in which more than 150 buildings from all over Norway are on display.
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| Viking Ships Museum |
The Viking Ships Museum, a part of the University of Oslo's Museum of Cultural History, is a fascinating place, one which we had far too little time to fully appreciate.. In a building laid out like a cross are three thousand-year-old Viking ships, two of which are whole and in great shape because they were buried in clay that preserved them. The third ship is less well-preserved, but displayed so that it's easier to see how these ships were made. One nugget of information was learning that Vikings began the tradition of calling the two sides of a ship port and starboard. These early sailors always landed the boat so that the rudder, or "steering board" was on the side away from the dock (port) so that the bottom of the board would be in deeper water. Our visit whetted an appetite to learn more about the Vikings and their history.
Our next stop was at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, an amazing structure high above the city. The current jump was opened in 2010, but there has been something of the sort in this spot since the late 19th century. We had a quick photo stop and a brief glance at the nearby stave church before heading back down the mountain.
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| Vigeland Park |
Our final destination for the afternoon was the amazing Vigeland Park. This huge park is home to the sculpture of Gustav Vigeland. His 212 sculptures are placed around the grounds, depicting humanity in all its forms. The artist began work on the park in 1924 and most of the pieces were installed by 1950, seven years after Vigeland died. The latest installation was made in 1988. From the main entrance to the final sculpture, called "Wheel of Life" at the top end, the park gently rolls uphill. Pieces are placed strategically throughout, interspersed with walking paths, trees and rose gardens. The sculptures are placed in many ways, including in a huge fountain, and a 56-foot tall monolith, along a bridge and on a series of terraces. There are alleys of trees criss-crossing the entire huge park area. There is a small lake with resident ducks, as well as a public swimming pool on a hill overlooking it all. It is truly an astonishing display of sculpture in bronze and stone, one that rivals those seen in Athens and Rome. Vigeland's vision as an artist was obviously complex and not always comprehensible to visitors. I heard more than one person say "I don't get it," but I found the work very interesting and wished for more time to take it all in.
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| Vigeland Fountain |
Our drive back solidified my desire to come back to Oslo. One could spend an entire week in just this one Norwegian city and still not explore all that is worth seeing and doing here. I feel once again as if I've had a sort of traveler's smorgasbord of scenic appetizers and must come back later to savor the full flavor of all that is available to enjoy.
We are back aboard the ship for now, too satiated with today's experiences to take advantage of the minutes left with another trip into the city. Thus I'm resting my tired feet writing this entry before going to dinner and relaxing for the evening. We sail tonight and will be on the water all day tomorrow, heading for Copenhagen and the end of our memorable trip to Norway. Some of the passengers are staying aboard for an additional week, sailing up through the Baltic to St. Petersburg. I envy them that trip as it is one we enjoyed years ago on a Windstar ship, but I'm also ready to go home, taking so many great memories with us.
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| Oslo Domkirke |
Photos by Mike Lumpkin and Lee Armstrong
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