14 « July « 2009

Archive for July 14th, 2009

In and around Oslo, Norway.

It has been a long time since we returned from our trip to Oslo and I apologise for the time it’s taken to deal with the photos and type this post. I’m still not completely up to date with the processing but there’s enough for a post. The first post about Oslo can be found HERE.

We park our late 60’s Cadillac DeVille convertible and gaze down on Oslo.

That photo was obviously taken from Holmenkollen, the place made famous by ski-jumping. When we were there in May you could still find patches of snow but the old wooden ski-jump had been torn down and construction of the new one was well advanced. The rest of the area was getting ready for the Russ parties that were soon to take place. There’s a hotel up there where you can get a drink/meal overlooking the same view as the photo.

One trip we took was to the Hadeland glassworks, perhaps an hour’s drive from Oslo.

Velkom to ze glassverks!

This, as you would expect, is a large factory producing various goods made from glass. You can get tours of the factory including an opportunity to blow your own glass. Outside there are various shops and cafes. We bought a small glass viking – natch!

Panorama of the visitors display area

Man attacks vase with giant scissors!

M sucking poison from glassblowers right leg

Another trip out was to Baerums Verk, an old settlement along a river historically used for production of iron & steel (in small quantities) and now turned by an enterprising developer into a shopping-cum-tourist place.

The waterfall at Baerums Verk

Michael & son showing off their chess skills (again)

Zosia hugs piglets

I think these two trips, along with Orscarsborg, were the only times we wandered outside of Oslo. If you need to prioritise, Oscarsborg was by far the best trip, lets give it 8/10. The glassworks was about a 5 and Baerums perhaps a 4 although they are all welcome diversions if you have time and need to get out of town. There are more exciting trips to be had out from Oslo but not many of them are shortish day trips.

Within Oslo itself, we spent a couple of days – one mainly in the museum quarter and the other in the town centre.

There’s a lump of rock that sticks out into Oslo fjord just to the left of the town centre called Bygdøy. This is a very pleasant green area containing the King’s summer palace, numerous museums and what I’m sure are some very expensive private houses. It is somewhere one could easily spend a very enjoyable day. We visited four museums on this ‘island’:

The Viking ship museum, containing three ships and a few bits and bobs of general Viking interest (but no horned helmets!). (look how excited everyone is!)

Entrance to the Viking ship museum

A kosher Viking ship

Not exactly well appointed on deck

The Kon-Tiki museum, housing the rafts and other things from Thor Heyadahl’s mucking around across the Pacific.

The incredibly boring Kon-Tiki “raft of twigs”

The Fram museum, dedicated to (and containing) the ship Fram used by assorted Norwegian explorers including Amundsen. An extremely strong wooden ship, said to have travelled the farthest north and the farthest south.

The less boring “Fram”

Captain Ahab and first mate on the lookout for whales!

And finally the museum of cultural history. If you’ve ever wondered how to mow your roof, this is the place to come.

The Norsk Folkemuseum is Norway’s largest museum of cultural history. With collections from around the country, the museum shows how people lived in Norway from 1500 to the present.

The more than 150 buildings in the Open-Air Museum represent different regions in Norway, different time periods, as well as differences between town and country, and social classes. The Gol Stave Church dating from 1200 is one of five medieval buildings at the museum. The contemporary history is enlightened through exhibitions and documentation projects focusing especially on children, youth and the multicultural population. Permanent indoor exhibitions include folk art, folk costumes, toys and Sami culture. There is also a variety of temporary exhibitions and audience programs all year round.