On August 14, 2007 we traveled from St. Petersburg to Oslo. Bruce took this picture from his plane seat as we approached the Helsinki airport. Here we could just about see the top of the world. (One could readily imagine the North Pole not too, too far away...)
Friday, November 30, 2007
Norway Bound-On Top of the World
On August 14, 2007 we traveled from St. Petersburg to Oslo. Bruce took this picture from his plane seat as we approached the Helsinki airport. Here we could just about see the top of the world. (One could readily imagine the North Pole not too, too far away...)
Norway-Oslo Airport Train to the City
Here's Bruce with our bags ready to jump on the fast train that will take us from the Oslo airport to the heart of the city. So sorry this picture is fuzzy. I am not sure how this happened but at least you can see the clean and shiny place. Wow. It was great to be out of the grit of St. Petersburg. This was August 14.Oslo Airport Gardermoen is 50 km (31 miles) north of the city. Keep in mind that a kilometer = .621 miles. It was really hard for me to do the calculations in my head all the time so I just doubled the number and we always got there faster than I had imagined.
Also you need to know that one US Dollar = 5.49 Norway Kroner. The train ride was $137 Kroner or about $25 USD each. This was just the first time we experienced Norwegian sticker shock. We knew this would be the case so we were ready for it.
Norway-Olso Harbor at Night
A few hours after we arrived on August 14, we walked from our hotel to the Oslo harbor. This scene is why so many tourist find their way here in the summer. The tall ships are elegant, the water is pristine and in this place on the globe we found this light at 10 pm. Nice.
Norway-Dinner in Oslo
Remember that we had just come from St. Petersburg. I was yearning for something lovely to eat and drink. About five blocks from our hotel we found this sweet wine bar which is a part of a restaurant where we later had a meal.You can see that I'm having a Chardonnay and Bruce was trying a Pinot Noir. The shock was we ordered asparagus that cost $30 USD and the fish dish was $60. After 4 glasses of wine at $20 USD each we were full and happy and had left plenty of cash in this place. Actually, it was fine. They deserved it. It was all perfect.
Norway-Walk to the Laundry
We had plenty of dirty clothes. Our guide book, Lonely Planet, listed a laundry that was about 20 blocks from the hotel. With the address and a map I took off to find this place that would make me feel so much better. It was raining. On my walk I did get lost but found help from a local. He said he was sorry that we had rain and also was sorry that Oslo's summer was over. Remember, it was August 14. He was right that it did not look like summer that day.I was only three doors away from my laundry when I found this darling shop. Can you believe that the owner's name sounds like the English word, winter. I told him that he must be the favorite place during the long dark days of Norway's winter. He smiled and said, "of course."
By the way, when we first arrived in Norway I would ask people if they spoke English. Quickly I learned that they all speak English and I was insulting them to ask this question. There are only 4.7 million Norwegians. Imagine if they only spoke Norwegian? They wouldn't have many people to talk to. Norway is smaller than New York City, LA, Chicago, Houston or Philadelphia.
Norway-Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel is famous. We are in the restaurant and these are its real windows facing the central street of Oslo's historic downtown. We stepped in to get out of the rain and it proved to be a great place to sit out the cloudburst.
Norway-Grand Hotel Trompe l'oeil
While sitting in the same seat from which we took a picture of the real windows at the Grand Hotel, we took this picture of the opposite wall. It is painted to "reflect" the real windows. The trompe l'oeil is executed as if the date were 1920. The chef and wait staff are really real.
Norway-Oslo Charms
This is a side street we discovered while exploring the city. This ally cafe was not serving outside since it was raining off and on.
Norway-National Museum Munch
This is a picture of a postcard since we were not allowed to take pictures at the National Museum. The painter of The Scream, Edvard Munch, is Norway's most famous painter and many of his pieces are in this museum.You might remember that in 1994 and in 2004 paintings by Munch were stolen. The 1994 thieves were caught and the paintings retrieved. The 2004 creeps are still at large and the painting still missing.
Norway-Oslo Bikes
The city leaders in Oslo are trying to get people to ride bikes. It's not working.
Norway-Oslo Palace
The Norwegian 1814 constitution transformed Norway from being an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy.This means that the King has mainly symbolic power while the prime minister and law makers are elected democratically.
This is the King's home which you can see is built on a rising slope and it is is just a couple of blocks from the center of the city.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Door With Iron
This door looks strong and like you would have to be invited to get in. I think the ironwork is fabulous. This door could be three or four hundred years old.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Bruce on Break
Guess Bruce is resting during our self-guided tour of the Norsk Folkemuseum.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Upscale Home
This is a rich guy's house. That is not the rich guy, that is Bruce.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Traditional Home
This looks comfy but it is very small compared to the way we live today.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Roof Up Close
This is a sod roof. You can see there is a wood roof, edged with stones then filled with sod that produces grass and flowers. Too cute. But I read that cooking in a home with a sod roof requires that the cook keep an umbrella over her food preparations. This keeps the dirt that falls from the roof from spoiling your dish.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Street
Notice the stone foundations. That's Bruce but I have no clue what he is doing.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Windows
Yes, there is grass growing on this roof but I wanted you to see these sweet windows. We went inside these old homes and everything is wood and so small. Low ceilings, small rooms and tiny windows made it easier to keep warm. Makes sense.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Tile Roof
I just love this tile roof.
The buildings at the Norsk Folkemuseum make it easy for visitors to see how the Norwegian people lived and worked prior to the industrial revolution.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Stave Church
Wikipedia says, "Religion in Norway is overwhelmingly Protestant (Evangelical-Lutheran) with 82.9% belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway. Early Norwegians, like all of the peoples of Scandinavia, were pagans believing in Norse mythology; the Sámi having a shamanistic religion. Due to the efforts of Christian missionaries, Norway was gradually Christianised in a process starting at approximately 1000 AD and which was substantially finished by 1150AD. Prior to the Reformation, Norwegians were part of the Catholic Church with the conversion to Protestantism occurring in 1536."Wooden, or Stave Churches, were built as Norwegians became Christians.
Norway-Bruce Having Fun
Bruce was having a good time talking to the docent at the Stave Church. I thought he looked so handsome I just cropped out the docent.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Docent
Here's Bruce with the docent at the Gol Stave Church which was moved to the Norsk Folkemuseum so that tourists could see a stave church up close and personal without leaving the greater Oslo area.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Stave Church Entrance
Jorgen H. Jensenius, a local architect who specializes in surveying and researching medieval wooden churches writes at stavechurch.org. His homepage is titled, Medieval Wooden Churches in Norway. He says that, "10th-century missionaries to Norway concerned themselves with establishing chapels, churches and other ecclesiastical centers." In other places I read that there were over 1,000 wooden, or Stave church buildings, but today there are only 28 left in the country.Since missionaries came into Norway from Europe, it is assumed that, "the wooden churches of Norway from medieval times are a complicated mixture of different European and Middle Eastern traditions, together with the older local building practices of Norway."
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Stave Inside
The Lord's Supper is depicted with oil on wood. This work was done in 1216 if I read my Norwegian correctly. Really.I was trying to find the date and could only find information about this Stave Church on web sites that are written in Norwegian.
Norway-Oslo Norsk Folkemuseum Stave Roof
So charming. When I look at this picture I think that the craftsmen who created this roof were hoping that this place would bring our thoughts to God. The detail and precision seem respectful. What do you think?
Norway-Finally Our Own Car
Here is Bruce with the lovely young man at the Hertz rental counter in the Oslo train station. He was so darling and he told us we must come back to Norway in the winter and visit his home town which is in the northern part of the country. I said it must be really cold and he said yes it is cold but it is beyond-imagination-beautiful. OK. Just because of him we just might go to Norway in the winter next time we're on one of those around the world trips.It is now August 17 and for our entire around-the-word trip, which started on July 20, we had traveled via planes, trains, taxis, boats, buses, pedi-cabs, private cars driven by chauffeurs, moving sidewalks and on foot. This was to be our only road trip with a rent car and of course the reason was to get out of the city and into the glorious countryside of one of the world's most spectacular places. So here we go. The inspiration for this came from Anthony Ham, co-author of our guide book, Lonely Planet. He said, "I'd start off in Oslo then drive the southern coast to Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger and on to Bergen."
We were happy to get the car and to be free to go and do and stop or not stop. We had no hotel reservations which was fine except we did end up with one bad room. Oh well, one out of five wasn't so terrible.
Norway-Road Trip Stop One Arendal
Arendal was our first stop on our road trip out of Oslo. It is about 160 miles from Oslo and we took the exit off the main road just to see what we would find in this little town. Well, it turned out to be the ideal that one holds in the mind about a Norwegian coastal town. You can see its big blue harbor surrounded by strongly constructed commercial buildings and homes.According to one web site, "The most glorious period of the town history was during the sailing ships era, in the 18th and 19th century. It was at one time one of the largest and most important towns in Norway. Its wealth was based on shipping, with the surrounding iron ore mining, iron works and timber providing the most important trade."
Norway-Arendal Harbor Visit
Here's Bruce chatting with the bartender. She does this job in the evening and during the day she takes care of senior citizens who are ill or home-bound.The Arendal habor is so beautiful at this moment in time that we thought we might find a real estate agent.
Norway-Windshield Bridge
Norway has spent big bucks to make it possible for its 4.7 million people to drive around the country.You can see a tiny patch of blue sky in the upper right of the picture and that made us happy. Bruce didn't feel well and insisted on driving because the roads were narrow and I think we forgot to make me an official driver on the rent car.
Norway-Windshield Tunnel
The tunnels in Norway are nice and clean and well-lighted. We lost count of the number of tunnels we went through but Bruce said the trip would have been impossible without them.
Norway-Tunnels and Waterfalls
There are 900 tunnels to help people get around what is a mountainous terrain and there are waterfalls around every bend. These granite mountains must have been hard to blast through but the Norwegians are tough and good with dynamite. The tunnels along with the ferries make the flow of goods and people efficient.The Nazis occupied Norway for five years and I am standing near a monument that described a battle fought and lost here by the Norwegians.
Norway-First Fjord
Here I am when I saw my first Norwegian fjord. Bruce stopped the car because I was dying to see it. We were too far away to get a good fjord picture but is one coming up so just hold on to your hat.
Norway-Ferry Travel
Here we are on the ferry from Stavanger to Alvestad on the road to Bergen for the second night of our five-day road trip in Norway.Ferries are important here because there is so much water. In case you are wondering how much water there really is, I'll tell you that there is 15,626 miles of coastline. And keep in mind that this is just the Western side of the country as the Eastern border is shared primarily with Sweden then there is a bit of shared border with Finland and Russia.
This ferry is large and had a cafeteria plus a children's movie room. It was raining or we would have taken more pictures. Remember, it is August 17 and summer is over.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Norway-The Perfect Fjord Photo
Geirangerfjord captured by Frédéric de Goldschmidt and posted with permission for us to use at Wikipedia. Thanks Frederic. This is what a fjord picture should look like. Love the snow on top of the mountains, too.A fjord is a narrow inlet or estuary between cliffs or steep slopes. And, Merriam Webster says an estuary is a water passage where the tide meets a river current; especially: an arm of the sea at the lower end of a river.
This means that each fjord has a sea opening but also a river feeding into it. Norway has one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world, and some 50,000 islands off the much indented coastline.
Our guide book, Lonely Planet, has an article written by National Geographic that says it selected the Norwegian Fjords as the world's best travel destination ahead of the Alps, the Galapagos Islands and the Great Barrier Reef.
Norway-The Flag
This came to be the flag of Norway in 1821. The colors copy free countries in the 19th century, like Great Britain, France and the United States. The cross is borrowed from Denmark and Sweden.
Norway-Bergen's White Lady Sightseeing Ship
Well I broke my rule. That rule is, don't go on a bus or a boat trip if I can't tell the driver to take me home right now. I was so excited to see more fjords, I mean the ones that you see in the guide books, when the tourist office suggested we take this four-hour tour we did it even though it meant I had to break my rule.We did meet a sweet Italian couple and Bruce bought us a bottle of wine. However, it was so boring I would never recommend this trip even though it is very popular. I guess it is popular because it departs from the very busy Bergen harbor where all of us suckers are hanging around.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Norway-White Lady
We took this ship to get up close and personal with the fjords. This cruise goes out of Bergen's harbor.
Norway-Bergen Harbor Commercial Row
This is probably the most photographed street in all of Norway. I am standing on the cobblestone and happy I have on good walking shoes.
Norway-Bergen Harbor Row
Our guide book, Lonely Planet says, "Bergen's oldest and most enchanting quarter runs along the eastern shore of Vagen Harbour. Once a major commercial center for northern Europe the long parallel rows of buildings with stacked-stone foundations and reconstructed rought-plank construction run back form gabled fronts facing the wharf."
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