Trip Notes, Chapter#13, The Holocaust Center, Oslo, Norway

We wanted to visit the Holocaust Center, Oslo in our second day. I’ve visited Dachau   and Terezin concentration camps, I was wondering to see a different side, too. This museum well worth to visit.

The museum is located in the Bygdoy Peninsula, we went there by bus and walked through its lovely neighborhood, it is in a nice setting.

At the entrance, receptionist Lady gave us tablet devices and explained how to use them in the museum. The center focuses on themes relating to the Holocaust, genocide in general and living conditions for minorities. The center has an exhibition on the Holocaust, with focus on the fate of Norwegian Jews during the 2nd World War.  Most of the exhibits were in Norwegian, we followed instructions from tablets with English translations but not everything, we missed some other important issues that they are in Norwegian language. I think more English translations on the exhibits could be better to have more information.  To read all of those cruelty from another point of view was so touchy. 

I especially spent  time, to read “teddy bear” and “avoided deportation” stories.

I recommend visiting this place to learn more about the role of Scandinavia during WWII which is mostly not well known. 

This wonderful building had  a dramatic tale of Norway’s history, Villa Grande plays a major role in the Nazi takeover during World War II. The former home of Vidkun Quisling, the Norwegian collaborator and Nazi leader during German occupancy, is now a Holocaust exhibition.

Now, Villa Cafe Grande  takes place at the back side of the building, to have a coffee, but its food options are so limited.

Trip Notes, Chapter#12, Oslo

So, we arrived back to beginning point of our Norway in a Nutshell. In another word, completed a round trip in Norway.  Experience the essence of Norwegian fjords, mountains and valleys, all summed up in this round trip that was  so nice, peaceful and all worked smoothly. 

Oslo welcomed us with a thunder storm and heavy rain shower.

Our room was at 24th floor of the Radison Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo   with panoramic view covering from harbor, fjords,  New Opera Building, train station and the city and mountains.  Its great location  and most probably, one of the best views in Oslo. 

The city center of Oslo is situated at the end of the Oslofjord, which is home to 40 islands from where the city sprawls out both to the north and to the south on both sides of the fjord, giving the city area more or less the shape of a U.  The other half of the city is covered by forests and parks, making Oslo a truly green city. Its history goes back 1000 years, to the time when the first settlements were built at the inlet of the Oslo fjord. 

The capital is the seat of the Norwegian Government and the Norwegian Parliament, and the home of Norway's King Harald V and Queen Sonja,The Royal Palace , is located at the end of Oslo's main street, Karl Johans gate.

In Norway to climbing mountains feels like the most natural thing to do, so, why you shouldn’t apply this to buildings, the Norwegian nature is free for everyone to walk in and The Oslo Opera House, which opened in 2008, was built as an extension to this idea. This new building, in the very epicenter of the capital of Norway and its a totally new structure with the other new buildings, 

 the area is still under the construction. Access to Sorenga is, at present, via the Opera footbridge, from the central train station. A planned new avenue, Dronning Eufemias gate, will link Sørenga directly with the Barcode buildings to create a large pedestrian landscape. The Sorenga peninsula is part of the harbor area, and falls within the larger Bjorvika development area. This is a new and central neighbourhood complex with parks and a pier that floats on the Oslo Fjord, designed to make full use of the fjord.

The sculpture which called "She Lies", created by Monica Bonvicini, who is an Italian artist. It seems to float on the waters of the Oslo Fjord, next to the Opera House  but actually stands on a concrete platform an can turn on its axis, moved by the winds and the tides. 

The whole concept of the new Opera House is so wonderful but I must admit that the costumes&accessories section was my favorite...I hope, nobody blame me for my admittance, LOL!!!!

Now, I want to share some info and photos related with Vigeland Park  as I've indicated before.

Gustav Vigeland was born in Mandal, Norway, 1869, the son of a master carpenter. As a boy he showed exceptional ability as a woodcarver and got an apprenticeship in Oslo when he is 15 years old  and he soon realized that he was destined to be a sculptor. Many of the works produced by Vigeland during these years reveal the deep despair which he experienced intensely. Conceptions of death recur in a number of his works, and his portrayals range from melancholy and desolation to deep affection and ecstasy of the embrace.

In 1902 Oslo municipal authorities lent Vigeland a run-down studio in which to work. When the building was torn down to make room for a library in 1921, Vigeland entered into an agreement with the Oslo City Council in which the city would furnish him with a new studio in return for Vigeland donating all his future sculptures, drawings and woodcuts to the city. One of the results of this agreement was the wealth of statuary in Vigeland Park. The studio was his home until his death in 1943; it is now the home of the Vigeland Museum.

The Vigeland Park is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist and is one of Norway’s most popular place. The unique scuplture park is Gustav Vigelan’s lifework with more than 200 scupltures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. He was also responsible for the design and architectural  layout of the park, the park was mainly completed 1939 thru 1949. Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850 meter long axis that they are the main gate, the bridge with the children’s playground, the fountain, the monolith plateau and the wheel of life. a monumental artistic creation with a human message that is well worth seeing. 

All the statues are centered on the Human Condition theme of the park, illustrating relationships between men and women, adults and children

The bronze statue of the little "Angry Boy" (Sinnataggen in Norwegian) is among the most famous sculptures, the popular "Angry Boy" sculpture shows a naked little boy crying and about to stamp his foot.

 the Wheel of Life (Livshjulet)

Fountain section

The Monolith (Monolitten), the most popular attraction sits at the highest point in the park. The 46ft high Monolith is made up of 121 human figures rising towards the sky.

The weather condition was so scary, but we never thought to quit our tour!

Finally, I catched a pose that nobody in it!

Everywhere is green, peaceful, clean, quiet!

After visiting several museums our last stop was Vigeland Park, I was so tired but I was so happy to able to visit this amazing once again. In our last trip due to weather conditions I've visited only a small part. But, this time we were so lucky all those dark clouds passed by quickly, we just heard their roars.

Travel Notes, Chapter#8, Stavanger

We left  Bergen with our rented car and arrived Stavanger in a few hours. It is estimated 210 km but due to speed limit it takes longer time.

It is , located on the Stavanger Peninsula on the southwest coast of Norway . The municipality is the fourth most populous in Norway with 120,000. After our megapol city Istanbul, everywhere looks me so quiet. The climate is maritime mild temperate, with all monthly temperature averages above freezing. Summers are pleasant however, summer temperatures are much cooler than those found further inland on the Scandinavian peninsula, even in more northerly areas. I’ve learned that, in contrast, winter temperatures are much milder than those in Oslo and Stockholm.

In 1969, when oil was first discovered in the North Sea, Stavanger was chosen to be the on-shore center for the oil industry on the  Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and the city is widely referred to as the Oil Capital of Norway. 

Domestic and international military installations are located in Stavanger, the NATO’s Joint Warfare Center is one of them. It is also an university city. 

Stavanger is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer. The hotels in the city have good occupancy year round due to a lot of commuters who travel to work and meetings in Stavanger. In recent years, Stavanger has also become one of the most popular ports of call for cruise ships, with the number of cruise ships increasing steadily, making Stavanger one of Europe's fastest growing ports of call for cruise ships north of the Mediterranean. I searched some records, in 2009, 99 ships and 146,000 passengers passed through the town, and in 2010, a total of 111 cruise ships with about 175,000 passengers visited the city. I believe that  it is much more now!

 cruise ships dock in the very city center near the oldest part of the town, Old Stavanger.  It is just a short stroll away is the nice, well protected Stavanger Cathedral, and the city center with its cobbled pedestrian streets. 

U-shape pier area have lots of restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, just a few hundred meters walking distance from the dock!

If you're sea-food lover, Stavanger is a perfect address to taste delicious seafoods. I'll share them as another topic, too.

Old Stavanger  that cruises boards it offers Europe's best preserved wooden house settlement, 

consisting of more than 170 white wooden houses.  

This  adorable cat looks so happy, living in that preserved wooden house settlement in old town, he posed us.

I shared my opinions related with cruise trip before. I just want to repeat that, we would like to have more independent tours...Maybe, one day, we do realize a cruise trip for a specific destination.

I was always wondering the daily life in a petroleum platform. I think, several movies that I’ve watched and some tragic accidents occurred at the platforms caused my  this curiosity. We passed through platforms by ferry on the way of Bergen. 

Glad that we managed to visit Norwegian Petroleum Museum, of course, I focused on the petroleum platform, drilling and its logistic support activities. Its exhibits explain how oil and gas are created, discovered and produced, and what they are used for. All museum looks informative and it covers the Norwegian oil history and its development and economical influences of oil incomes for the Norwegian people.  Original objects, models, films and interactive exhibits illustrate everything from everyday life offshore to technology and dramatic accidents. 

On 27 March 1980, due to fatigue crack, and some other weld and material disorders one of the bracing failed and afterward the platform, Alexander Lange Kielland  Platform collapsed. I still remember that tragedy!

Failed bracing part of the drilling platform is on display in the museum. Details related with accidents were so touchy, especially that steel debris of a tragic accident is an awesome evidence!!!  

As I said before,  I was wondering petroleum platforms, I learned a lot, now.

More details about Lauvvik - Oanes later!

Travel Notes, Chapter#7, Back to Bergen

We completed the round trip Sognefjord in a nutshell and came back to Bergen.  Now, let me give some brief information about Bergen as I promised in my previous post, before we left for Flam.

The city center of Bergen is located west in the municipality, facing the fjord of Byfjorden. It is situated among a group of mountains known as the Seven Mountains, although the number is a matter of definition. My beautiful city Istanbul is known with its seven hills, too.

Bergen experiences plentiful rainfall in all seasons, this is because the city is surrounded by mountains that cause moist North Atlantic air to undergo orographic lift, yielding abundant rainfall. 

This photo taken in July! The weather conditions change so fast, but it was mostly cloudy and heavy rainy when we were there.

I hope this photo is so meaningful with the general weather conditions in Bergen! A boat with the name of  "Sunseeker"!

However,, Bergen is well known for having the mildest winter climate, though with a lot of precipitation, of all cities in the Nordic countries.  The Gulf Stream keeps the sea relatively warm, considering the latitude, and the mountains protect the city from cold winds from the north, north-east and east.

Due to weather conditions we've had to postpone our Mount Floyen tour next day.
We went to Floibanen funicular queue next day, early in the morning, however it was crowded, waited for a while. It was a breathtaking view from top. 

Glad it was sunny when we reached there, afterwords rain started but we took good photos in that short period of time.   

In that heavy rain, we enjoyed to follow-up the synchronized model funicular wagons on the roof of the old station building. We also liked those lovely  goats, they were in nature and looking happy with the high attention of the visitors. They 

The funicular was too crowded, especially in our return, it  was completely full, the door closed hardly, it was impossible to move. Maybe it could be better to have a limitation for each chamber during high season periods. Anyway, it was so nice experience, worth to visit to see that wonderful panoramic view.

I would like to share one interesting place which is Gamle Bergen Museum, it is worth to visit, especially if you are a history, antique, vintage staff lover like me, this is perfect address for you. 

But, visit before 14:00 to complete tour and join actors performances.

It was really an enjoyable tour wandering around the historic buildings which have been restored and filled with original items from past eras.

This photo shows the decorations style of little girl room from past era! I really enjoyed this museum, I wish we could go there earlier to visit more places like this one. They close at 16:00 p.m.

Its garden is so nice too. We went there by bus from Fish Market, an easy transportation, indeed.

By the way, Fish Market is one of the famous place in Bergen. I'll write details about it later in foods chapter.

There are so many statues, monuments in Bergen, one of the is Seamen’s Monument,  located at Torgallmenningen.

created by the sculptor Dyre Vaa, was unveiled on 1950 in honor of Norwegian seamen’s achievements through the ages, their contribution at the ocean since the Vikings.

It is so obvious that, sea, seamen and ships are a part of their life in Norway.  

They precisely protect their past, this an old vessel still works in good conditions as a sight-seeing tour boat.

This photo is from our hotel room!

As I've explained  before, after completing a round fjord tour we arrived back to Bergen by ferry from Balestrand and reached to hotel in a few minutes from ferry dock, Hotel  Augustin  was a good choice, indeed.  It is just a short walk from the harbor and the old town. Our room's panoramic harbor view was so nice, I wish we could stay longer, I could watch daily routine of the harbor life!  I come from a naval family, sea&ships have a special place in my life. 

Lille Lungegardsvannet is a small artificial lake in Bergen.

A view against to Mount Floyen at dusk during white nights in July 2016.
So, I hope these are enough to tell Bergen shortly. I still have lots of details, the next chapter will be Stavanger!

Travel Notes, Norway, Chapter#5, Sognefjord-Balestrand, crazy things

Now, let me tell you some another key point from our Balestrand visit. After a long and busy day, we were hanging around the pier area to wait our dinner time but I must admit that all of us starving  and fantastic smells indicated us one point, Pilgrim Restaurant.
Glad that they had a table for four of us. We immediately canceled our previous reservation and started to review their menu. 

When we entered to I couldn’t control myself where to look, what to see among all those wonderful vintage pieces.Right  after ordering things I started to take photos of all those amazing pieces. 

They have two storey building but their new  top floor crystal dome amazing, it  gives a fantastic view of the mountain and fjord. 

We also welcomed by the owner Bjorg Bjoberg, she is a retired school teacher but she is a multi skilled artist. 

It was her birthday, she made our dinner so special at her special day, we’ll never forget. As we agreed with her, there is no coincidences!

She is a real keeper like me but her collection  amazing items, another most important thing is she  remembers the story of each item and it belongs to whom.

When we were  starving her friendly staff, young Ladies started service. We were two couples, we really enjoyed our time there.

Thousands  miles away from home, while experiencing white nights to meet with a special person was so nice, sharing almost same interests, same hobbies get people together. I would like to repeat once again “All you need is love” as John Lennon said so.

If you go to Balestrand,  Pilgrim Restaurant must be visited to meet with her&family and to see their colorful world. I believe that those kind of people makes our world peaceful with their lovely colors, whenever they touch they turn it a different beauty. Thank you Bjorg, we had so special time at your place during your birthday. Hope one day we get a chance to see each other again!

Thousands  miles away from home, while experiencing white nights to meet with a special person was so nice, sharing almost same interests, same hobbies get people together. I would like to repeat once again “All you need is love” as John Lennon said so.

When we were leaving Balestrand, I  thought all those beautiful people that we've met there, I waved them quietly and wished them lots of happiness.

If you go to Balestrand,  Pilgrim Restaurant must be visited to meet with her&family and to see their colorful world. I believe that those kind of people makes our world peaceful with their lovely colors, whenever they touch they turn it a different beauty. Thank you Bjorg, we had so special time at your place during your birthday. Hope one day we get a chance to see each other again!

I would like to share another nice memory, I noticed a shop with Handcraft sign at night when we were going back to hotel after dinner. I went to see display window with a hope if it is open . I must admit that to get adopted white night is not so easy you may confuse your time easily, it was from one of  that moments for me! Of course it was closed, but next morning after breakfast, what I did? Directly, I went there...It is a lovely shop, sells craft materials, they make lovely patchwork quilts in their studio. Also they do knitting branch, too. They knit lovely things with those good yarns. 

By the way, there were several big tables that they were selling second hand items, some of them were antiques, some of them vintage and brand new things, too. I love bronze candles, several  pairs of  poinsettia form bronze candles were waiting me there.  Now, I have one a wonderful candle set.  I’m so sad that I couldn’t chat with all those ladies who run the store and studio, non of them knows English. I’m sure that they all know full information about those second hand items. Anyway, I couldn’t learn who was the owner, how old those candles, etc. But, I’m so happy with them and they found a good home, I think;-))

Another key point from our travel, longest fjord and glacier tour later....