We travelled to Oslo by train. It is probably the most comfortable train we have ever been on. The seats allow enough space to store our carry-on suitcases and/or our backpacks. The seats lean back but don’t interfere with the traveller behind. We have tables and there is WiFi although just now I can’t connect. The scenery is spectacular--snow covered mountains with lakes and waterfalls. There are also lots of tunnels and of course, rocks. We learned about the tunneling through the mountains to build roads and rail tracks. The passing scenery seems to get more pastoral the further we go but only about 3% of Norwegians are in agriculture.
Arriving in Oslo, we noted that change in atmosphere from Bergen which is smaller and calmer than Oslo. Maybe because Oslo is 4 times bigger than Bergen! Our hotel is fine, quite new, but not in the best part of town. They seem to be rebuilding on both sides of it. We feel safe because there are two of us and it is always daytime here. It is good that this is not the only part of town we will be in. George was heard (by me) to say, "The further we get from our hotel, the better this city looks."We had a stroll to the harbour and checked out the opera house which is built over the water. We think we will try to take in a concert on the 29 of July. It is an amazing building.
Day two was a day of walking. My legs are tired. We tried to visit the Parliament but Rick Steves was wrong about the time so we missed the tour. We will try again another day. Anyway, we went to a grand tour of City Hall. What an excellent guide and he told a great story of the murals. Wow, I wish I could paint like that. I don’t mean the Picasso-like look but the ideas expressed. The guide was so proud of Norway and the history. We stopped for coffee and a cinnamon bun. Then we had a tour of the Nobel Peace building. The guide started by saying that it was her pleasure to be our guide. Her English was good but she had some problems. She was talking about that Chinese fellow who got the award but is still in prison and can’t accept it. She said, “the Chinese don’t give a s__t about human rights.”. We chuckled with surprise but she went on with the tour with out a hitch. The inspiration room was certainly inspirational. There were photos of all the winners set on top of many small lights that appeared to grow in the pathway. It was cool to see Lester Pearson as one of the winners. We felt the Manitoba Museum for Human Rights has a similar feeling. We stopped to people watch and then walked on home.
Day two was a day of walking. My legs are tired. We tried to visit the Parliament but Rick Steves was wrong about the time so we missed the tour. We will try again another day. Anyway, we went to a grand tour of City Hall. What an excellent guide and he told a great story of the murals. Wow, I wish I could paint like that. I don’t mean the Picasso-like look but the ideas expressed. The guide was so proud of Norway and the history. We stopped for coffee and a cinnamon bun. Then we had a tour of the Nobel Peace building. The guide started by saying that it was her pleasure to be our guide. Her English was good but she had some problems. She was talking about that Chinese fellow who got the award but is still in prison and can’t accept it. She said, “the Chinese don’t give a s__t about human rights.”. We chuckled with surprise but she went on with the tour with out a hitch. The inspiration room was certainly inspirational. There were photos of all the winners set on top of many small lights that appeared to grow in the pathway. It was cool to see Lester Pearson as one of the winners. We felt the Manitoba Museum for Human Rights has a similar feeling. We stopped to people watch and then walked on home.
We noted that there are many large groups of young people together and then realized that the Norway Cup is on . It is an international youth soccer tournament with 30,000 participants. So what about that! A note: The Norwegian Kroner is 6 koner to 1 Canadian $ so I am way better at my 6 times table than I was.
Today was our first rainy day--yay for umbrellas. I did tramp through a puddle so my pantleg is wet. We got to Parliament in time for the tour today. Chatted with a family who live here--very confident kids and an opinionated father. He thinks Canadians are so nice. Our guide was OK but if I were Grant, I wouldn't give him top marks. The House was impressive and there was lots of interesting art. Norwegians seem to prefer nakedness in their sculptures. I had a relaxing people watching sit this afternoon while George went off to the Norwegian Resistance Museum. Then we had coffee and cinnamon buns at the Alfred cafe, We poked around in book stores and then came home to relax.
Hot day in July, Yay. We got a transit pass for this our last day so we can get around for 24 hours on trams and buses. The best part is that it will still work to get us to the train station tomorrow so we will not have to walk and pull our suitcases.. We will take the train to the airport for our flight to Berlin. I am so glad that cities are so well organized to get us around. Today we went to the Vking Ship Museum--a couple got on the bus and sat in front of us, both had maps and the maps were the same. They were having a grand time figuring out where they were going. Anyway the museum, Kulurhistorisk, showed three Viking ships that had been used a graves. The one I liked the best was the one that was used for two women--they must have been pretty important to get such an elaborate grave. They were buried with 6 horses, 2 dogs and 1 cow and lots of other stuff. I wonder what Vikings thought was in the afterlife. It didn't say if the animals were alive or not.at the time of burial. I thought Brennan from "Bones" would have loved to identify what the bones could tell.
We attended a cello/violin/piano concert at the opera house--very nice. I loved having another chance to be in that building. People were walking off the sloping roof into the fjord--kids were playing in the water and others were just sitting and enjoying the warm sun. For our final hurrah here, we took the tram to see Vigeland's sculptures at Frogner Park. He spent his life sculpting the circle of life and the relationships that are part of it. Some are quite unhappy. I needed to see a bit more joy. Anyway, it is a 75 acre park where Norwegians come to play.
And so good-bye to Norway. A wonderful place to visit and experience. Oh, a word we encountered here and in SA--it is "parkering". You will guess what it means--the opposite is "parkering forbudt" So there! Tomorrow to Berlin.
Today was our first rainy day--yay for umbrellas. I did tramp through a puddle so my pantleg is wet. We got to Parliament in time for the tour today. Chatted with a family who live here--very confident kids and an opinionated father. He thinks Canadians are so nice. Our guide was OK but if I were Grant, I wouldn't give him top marks. The House was impressive and there was lots of interesting art. Norwegians seem to prefer nakedness in their sculptures. I had a relaxing people watching sit this afternoon while George went off to the Norwegian Resistance Museum. Then we had coffee and cinnamon buns at the Alfred cafe, We poked around in book stores and then came home to relax.
Hot day in July, Yay. We got a transit pass for this our last day so we can get around for 24 hours on trams and buses. The best part is that it will still work to get us to the train station tomorrow so we will not have to walk and pull our suitcases.. We will take the train to the airport for our flight to Berlin. I am so glad that cities are so well organized to get us around. Today we went to the Vking Ship Museum--a couple got on the bus and sat in front of us, both had maps and the maps were the same. They were having a grand time figuring out where they were going. Anyway the museum, Kulurhistorisk, showed three Viking ships that had been used a graves. The one I liked the best was the one that was used for two women--they must have been pretty important to get such an elaborate grave. They were buried with 6 horses, 2 dogs and 1 cow and lots of other stuff. I wonder what Vikings thought was in the afterlife. It didn't say if the animals were alive or not.at the time of burial. I thought Brennan from "Bones" would have loved to identify what the bones could tell.
We attended a cello/violin/piano concert at the opera house--very nice. I loved having another chance to be in that building. People were walking off the sloping roof into the fjord--kids were playing in the water and others were just sitting and enjoying the warm sun. For our final hurrah here, we took the tram to see Vigeland's sculptures at Frogner Park. He spent his life sculpting the circle of life and the relationships that are part of it. Some are quite unhappy. I needed to see a bit more joy. Anyway, it is a 75 acre park where Norwegians come to play.
And so good-bye to Norway. A wonderful place to visit and experience. Oh, a word we encountered here and in SA--it is "parkering". You will guess what it means--the opposite is "parkering forbudt" So there! Tomorrow to Berlin.
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