I love Norway! It’s our first country; we saw two cities, and it’s beautiful. Both Bergen and Oslo are a wonderful combination of art and nature which makes the cities beautiful and alive. From city parks to mountains with scattered trails with sculptures, the creativity and cultural appreciation of the Norwegian people is highly noted. What else is there to do when it’s cold and snowy, but to create.
Let’s go back in time a bit, to the journey between two cities. Spending 7 hours on a train is exciting and exhausting. With any kind of travel. It takes a tole on you. But in this one trip I have come to enjoy traveling by train the most. Easy to get on, timely departures, you don’t have t controls the vehicle so it leave time for other things. You can get up and walk around. Most trains now have free wifi. And most fun of all, experiencing the country side; getting to see a snapshot of the country and its different regions.
To get from Bergen to Oslo we traveled through mountain towns that looked to be very small, flushing on the recreation of winter sports. Nearing the arctic circle at 200 meters above sea level, theirs snow! And much of it. The drifts looked to be up to a meter and a half high in some towns. I truly hate being cold, but this looks fun. In three or four towns we saw people getting around on skis. I’ve not seen true purpose for cross country skiing until now. Small handfuls of people were getting on and off the train to enjoy the recreation. Maybe, just maybe when I move to Colorado this fall I’ll learn to love the cold for all of the activities it brings that summer just can’t touch. My one regret of this trip is that we did not plan time to see the fjords. With mountains this beautiful, the cliffs must be even more spectacular! I suppose that will be left to another trip along with the northern lights and the arctic circle.
After arriving in Oslo we found our way to our hosts home. We used air b&b to find lodging for our time here. It was a really nice time. After this fist stay, I highly recommend it for future travelers and many occasions. The apartment was small a 1×1 with a loft that was for us. Comfortable and hospitable, our host Boa and his girlfriend made us dinner the first night and shared all he had. We talked about life and told us of a few places to see. He hold us of a park just down the road that has a beautiful view of the city. Since it doesn’t get dark till nearly 10 pm this far north, we set out to find this park. To our surprise it was a steep incline and many steps up to where we could see the city, only lined by small lights at our feet. But the hike was worth it. You could see so much of down town Oslo and the harbors that surround. We decided we would have to come back during the day to see the rest of the park. It was obvious there was more to see; it was just very dark.
The city was beautiful! Many modern buildings mixed among the historic, the royal palace being the center of it all. With gardens open to the public and tours of the palace itself, it is unique to any other in Europe. Green and lush we’re the gardens, full of small ponds, strangely friendly birds and beautiful flowers. The tulips and daffodils were bigger and brighter than I’ve ever seen. It was like this in every small park we happened to find. There were sculptures of new and old and several self guided tours of history and art throughout the city.
Tuesday the 17th of May was their national day. We spent it like a local. Bought flags! We watched the children parade through town up to the palace to see the king. Then we found the barracks from their independence war. Many people were gathered there relaxing and enjoying the sunny weather, though not warm by my standards, and views of the city and harbor. Catered meals and shops provided refreshments. When hunger finely set in after all the excitement we headed back to the house to make some lunch.
“Nutella” sandwiches will be our staple. Unable to find peanut-butter, we found what we now actually think is whipped chocolate-hazelnut icing as a replacement. Hopefully once the holiday is over we’ll find a real grocery store that will have peanut-butter for us.
After lunch we wandered back to the park from our first night. Another climb, my legs are still stiff from the hiking in Bergen. But this is beautiful. And we’ll come home more fit than when we left. I’m starting to see why so many Americans are over weight and Europeans are not. They walk so much more than Americans and many of their towns are in mountains or hilly regions. But I digress.
This park was awesome! It was full of trails and landings to see the city. It was an old park; created a century ago for people to find refuge from hustle of the city. And it’s still extremely popular today after some changes. A museum took it over and placed some 20 sculptures and other artistic pieces throughout the trails. There are posts teaching about archeological finds in the area from prehistoric times; the ice age, Stone Age, and the Iron Age. The sculptures are modern; some beautiful, some questionable, and all are intriguing. My favorite being based off “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, it’s a rectangle on posts looking into the woods In which participants are to scream into the wilderness to rid themselves of the anxiety of the modern world. Fitting perfectly with the reason the park was originally created and the reason why I seek out nature and it’s beauty, this piece is wonderful. (Our pictures screaming are above.)
Our next couple days in Oslo were full of walking around the city trying, and failing sometimes, to find the museums we wanted to see. We found a farm owned by the royal family to raise organic, grass fed milk cows. The cows roamed rolling green pastures . An extremely long walking, running, bike path that looped both harbors of the city that was used by hundreds of people. We never found the end. It was too long. By Thursday we eventually found the Viking museum and the Nordic folk museum. Both really cool and fun to explore. If it weren’t for grave robbers, we would know so much more about the Vikings. I did learn that the thunder god, Thor, from the marvel comics originated from the main Viking god. I’m excited to look into the legions of Odis and Thor when I have a little more free time.
Overall the city of Oslo has been wonderful. I am really impressed with the cities was of combining nature, government, culture and recreation. And I hope to return one day.
Until next time
~ DreamofParadise
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