OSLO 2015

As I've already told many of you, my camera died on our first day in Oslo, meaning that I got very few photos.  But I did get some and have a few things to tell you about Oslo.

To the right is an enormous Norwegian flag -- nearly two stories high -- that hung in the atrium of our hotel.  It felt symbolic in a way -- in the Spring, Oslo is big, bright, capacious and colourful, just like the flag.

Below is the steeple of the Oslo Cathedral, conveniently located right up the street from our hotel.  The interior was lovely -- very serene, and compared to many European cathedrals, relatively unadorned.


The Cathedral dates from 1697, but was rebuilt in the mid-ninetheenth century.  It has a lovely, quiet courtyard along one side, with several restaurants.  We had our last meal in Oslo at one of them.

Another building of interest is Oslo's City Hall.  It's relatively new -- it opened in 1950 -- and is built entirely from Norwegian materials.  All the interior art -- and there's a lot of it:  murals and tapestries galore -- was created by Norwegian artists.  City Hall is also where my camera started misbehaving, so I only got a few photos.  Luckily, one of them is of the mural of Oslo's patron saint, St. Hallvard.

St. Hallvard died in 1043 AD, trying to save a pregnant woman being attacked by -- as the caption near the mural tells us -- "three thugs."  Hallvard got the woman into a boat, but the attackers shot three arrows, killing them both.  Ashamed by what they had done, the attachers tried to hide their crime by tying the bodies to a millstone and sinking it in the harbour.  Miraculously, the millstone floated to the surface.  In the mural, you can see the boat, the millstone, the arrows and the naked pregnant woman.  This is what I love -- can you think of another public building that features a naked pregnant woman?

The Norwegian National Ballet and Opera House is easily the city's most spectacular building.  It is designed to look like it's rising out of the water, is enormous and meant to be walked on.  You can climb all over it -  day or night -- and from the top there are great views of the city.  The tiny people walking on it will give you some idea of the scale.

These three photos give a small sense of three outstanding characteristics of the city:  It's spaciousness, it's many statues, and it's focus on the water.

Oslo is a roomy, sprawling city --  This pedestrian steer was very open early on a weekday morning, but on  a warm Spring Saturday it was wall to wall people.  At the far end is the Royal Palace.  We were there in mid-May and the lilacs -- of which there were many -- were in bloom and the streets were lined with stone planters filled with matching purple pansies.

You also can't help but notice the enormous number of sculptures that seem to be everywhere -- in fountains, in alcoves, in parks, and on corners.  Pretty much everywhere you look.  This is one of the few I managed to photograph.  I have no idea who the subject is, but he seems calmly resigned to his fate as a seagull perch.

Oslo is a coastal city and oriented toward the water.  This is my only shot of the harbour.

I visited many interesting places in Oslo, and felt quite naked without my camera.  The loss was most painful at Vigeland Park, a massive outdoor green space dedicated to the works of Gustav Vigeland, Norway's most famous sculptor.  These were fascinating, beautiful and full of life.  Vigeland was especially good at depicting the expressions of children and I'm sorry I can't share them with you.

I'll not torment you with the list of places I visited but can't show you.  Suffice it to say, Oslo is a fascinating city with lots to see.

Jan