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The first two things I noticed as we were pulling along the quay near Akerhus Slott, were this 'sailing ship' looking for its sails and the huge Italian cruise ship pulling up right in front of us. And the latter was not alone; there would be two more in port. The next thing I did was to go to the tourist office right near the dock and buy us the 'transit tickets' (not the Oslo Pass). The tickets are good for the trams, busses and boats around Oslo. |
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Our friends Mike and Jessica joined us to explore the city and our plan was to take the tram first to see the statues at Vigalandsparken. When we arrived we saw several tour busses there already and Italian was heard all around us. But the place is unbelievable. The main circle is in the distance, but there are bronze statues by the artist all along the boulevard. Gustav Vigeland was born in 1869 in the south-coast town of Mandal in Norway. He loved to show his works as nudes in various poses representing human life on earth. After looking at a few nudes, you get used to the idea. |
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Surrounding this fountain are twenty bronzes, trees with scenes depicting the struggles of life, such as these children trying to get away from a rat. Below the trees are smaller plagues. One showed the 'until death do us part'. |
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There are some wrought iron gates with more nude ladies. But the one that got my attention was this bronze of a man apparently fighting with four small children. It was violent but dramatic. Notice the little guy crying. |
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We took the same tram back to the harbor and boarded a ferry to Bygdoy, the peninsula where we would find the Viking Museum. On display are a number of ancient wooden vessels used a thousand years ago to ply the oceans, raid western Europe and transport the bounty. |
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What great woodworking!!! Instead of the ferry back into town, we took a bus. It dropped us off at the Grand Hotel on Karl Johans Gate, the main street in Oslo, a great street for pigeons and people watching. |
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Our last stop was the fortress, the Akerhus Slott. A few blocks walking brought us to the stables and then inside the main parts of the castle. We encountered a guard, who nodded silently when I asked if I could take his picture, and after a view of the harbor, we ended inside this courtyard. |
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Suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by more guards. It was a formality, a changing of some sort, but while I was hiding behind some guns (a safe place, I figured), the other threesome had to jump out of the way to be prevented from being attacked. |
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Enough of that. Let's get back to the ship. It departs at 17:00 (five pm) and tomorrow will be our last day at sea. After that it is Amsterdam, our final distination in Europe. |
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| To top of the page | To Amsterdam |
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