Oslo

By leannemareeblogNovember 17, 2016

We up this morning to clear skies and a temperate day. Perfect weather to celebrate Dawn’s 52nd birthday. After another generous breakfast, we hit the city by foot. We first walked to the Akershus Fortress, a medieval castle built to protect the city of Oslo. Home to the ancient King Haakon and also used as a prison.

Really interesting to walk around, with great views over the city. Underfoot was really slippery from the rain last night and the overnight subzero temperatures. We had to walk really carefully and slipped around a lot. I saw one of my favourite statues ever. It is of a one legged soldier returning from the war, and is entitled Glory days. The detail is incredible and it is so poignant. His worldy possessions in bags around his neck, and his crutches covered in strips of cloth.

From there we walked to the Akerbrygge area, the harbour and more exclusive living areas. By then we were quite chills and Dawn’s feet were freezing so we popped into a cafe for a coffee. I had a latte, served in the most bizarre cup….well a bowl actually…see for yourself in the pics. We had a good few chuckles over this one.

The next stop in our Oslo adventure today was the Nobel Peace Prize centre. As before, a brilliant visit. Fantastic and very informative exhibition on a laureate named Carl von Ossietzky (3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938). He was a German pacifist and the received the 1936 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the German re armament. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931 after publishing details of Germany’s violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe, and training pilots in the Soviet Union. I had never heard of him, so I had a great history lesson.

A second exhibition was on Tunisia and the start of the Arab spring, serious food for thought when considered from the perspective of peace initiatives. The are so many parallels to be made with the state of the world today. The disenchantment of the people seen in Brexit, the election of Trump, refugee crises in Europe, Syria and our own simmering unrest at home. I actually am chilled at the consequences that this could have for the world.

From there we headed off to the Vigeland Sculpture park. Our adventure today included riding the trams without payment. By accident in the main, and then deliberately with every intention to pay. Firstly, I have to say that the Tram drivers in Oslo are the most miserable and surly people that we have come accross in Norway. So we finally figured out the destination, the route and the tram number needed, but nowhere did we see a ticket office or vending machine. We jumped on Tram No. 12 and I dutifully went to pay. The female driver snarls at me that she does not sell tickets on board and we have to buy them before we board. So I apologised and called Dawn so that we could get off. But the happy-snaps driver just pulls off and we can’t get off. So nervously we rode to the next stop and then got off. We walked a way along the tram tracks, but could not find a vending machine anywhere. Time for a plan to be made….

So we simply boarded the next tram and pulled the same stunt. Once again I went to driver and asked to pay, you can’t , says grumpy guts. So I explained that we could not find a place to buy tickets. She told me to buy one when we got off. Okay then fine….so we rode the trams, twice- without payment, and got to our destination!!

We walked throught the Vigeland Statue Park. The Vigeland Park is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist.The unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland’s lifework with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. We had to catch a tram back to the city, we bought our tickets and the only vending machine we found all day. Although we did not validate them, but at least we paid😳.

We then did a spot of retail therapy at one of the malls, but there really is nothing to buy and it is frightfully expensive here. For lunch today we had a tomato soup and shared a toasted sandwich, with a coffee and a coke zero, the total cost = R650.

After shopping we went to a great restaurant down the road from our hotel for Dawn’s birthday dinner. I had a scallop starter and a crab starter as my dinner. Dawn had a gourmet burger. My dessert was an apple strudel and Dawn had ice cream. We walked home and it was seriously chilly. Now its time for bed.

Enjoy the pics….