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.

Trip Notes, Chapter#11, Kristiansand& surroundings

On our way to Kristiansand, we had a short coffee break at Grimstad it was a typical summer holiday village. 

All cafes, pubs were full, people were dealing with their vessels, the others were sitting on the stairs in the pier area to get sun tan. Unfortunately they have so limited time to have sun shine, whenever they find it, they try to enjoy.

We walked all the way down to pier, all those white painted wooden houses, nicely decorated balconies were so pretty. 

Boat tours or boat-hiring to organize your own tours are so nice options here. 

According to my another observation, I think there traditionally  Norwegians likes balcony and terrace living. Most of the balconies have lovely seating groups and most of the chairs are in transverse positions. As I indicated before, most probably they have maximum one month to enjoy summer at their balconies, they decorate them for this special time.

Grimstad is where Knut Hamsun lived the final years of his life. He was a major Norwegian writer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to the subject, perspective and environment.

Also, Grimstad is the town of Henrik Ibsen, and there are many traces of these famous writers to be found. Henrik Ibsen's story is told in the building where he worked as an apothecary's assistant in his youth – the pharmacy in which he wrote what was to become Catilina, his first play. The Ibsen Museum in Grimstad is the oldest of its kind in the country. 
I'm so glad that we got a chance to tour this nice place, it is really worth to pay a visit.
After visiting many different places and with quickly change able weather conditions we arrived Kristiansand, which is a lovely city in Southern Norway, tourism is important  and the summer season is the most popular for tourists like us from all over the world and their local people.

What do you expect after a long day and heavily loaded program? A comfortable, quiet and depending the weather conditions a warm or cool hotel room. We mostly chose Radison Blue hotels at our trips. It was proved once again that our selection was perfect here, too. Radison Blue Caledonian had picturesque scenery in the Norwegian fjord landscape. Our room at the 11th floor had a fantastic panoramic view of the Skagerrak Sea. 

Same view at midnight...After heavy raining the weather cloudy. I wish we could have clear sky to see mid night sun here in that panoramic view.
  

I tried to take photos when it was raining but, after heavy shower in the early morning hours the light was incredible.  

Another photo shows serenity of the same area after rain shower!

Kristiansand Havn, Port Administration Building! I always find something with nautical theme, here is a anchor!

Kristiansand port's commercial part looks so busy! It is also a great base ferry alternatives for their domestic ports or several ports of Denmark. 

Kristiansand is strategically located on the Skagerrak, and until the opening of the Kiel Canal between the North Sea and the Baltic was very important militarily and geopolitically. This meant that for centuries it served as a military stronghold, first as Harald Fairhair's royal residence, then as a Danish-Norwegian fortress, and later as a garrison town. It looks so familiar for me, because I come from a naval family, as mentioned before as well. 

I always like to know general weather condition wherever I go, the Skagerrak coast, which includes Kristiansand, have a temperate climate with warm summers and cool winters. Snow generally occurs in late December and in January and February; it may be heavy but rarely stays long on the coast. The gulf stream local warming through surface currents along the Norwegian trench.

We started our tour from Fiskebrygga, fish market is one of the well organized and clean one I've ever seen. But, if we compare to population, daily visiting ratio it is so normal to keep it so clean.

There are so many options to have delicious fish and sea-food options here, many nice restaurants and cafe offers super menus. I got so many mails and comments related with my Trip Advisor reviews. I'll share some selective places and  what I've tasted there soon.

 

I didn't use it but public WC were looking so decorative:))

After heavy raining, toured the area and went to Markens Street which  is the main pedestrian street in downtown Kristiansand. 

Frankly, I must admit that I've thrilled when I saw this an old  building  with a known logo. Isn't it strange that it gets positioned in this fish and seafood paradise town at a strategic place? I remembered the book "The McDonaldization of Society" and left there with a grin on my face.

All those old buildings are well protected, town is so clean and quiet.

 Both of these photos show how Norwegians value their history. This is a perfect evidence how they protect an old building! Here is the architectural and engineering skills to protect its front side in presses, they complete new building inside of the existing building.

 I've seen same application at Glasgow, Scotland long time ago. It is so impressive how they protect their city structures....

Trip Notes, Chapter#11, Kristiansand& surroundings

On our way to Kristiansand, w e had a a short coffee break at Grimstad it was a typical summer holiday village. 

All cafes, pubs were full, people were dealing with their vessels, the others were sitting on the stairs in the pier area to get sun tan. Unfortunately they have so limited time to have sun shine, whenever they find it, they try to enjoy.

We walked all the way down to pier, all those white painted wooden houses, nicely decorated balconies were so pretty. 

Boat tours or boathiring to organize your own tours are so nice options here. 

According to my another observation, I think there is a traditional Norwegians, likes balcony and terrace living. Most of the balconies have lovely seating groups and most of the chairs are in transverse positions. As I indicated before, most probably they have maximum one month to enjoy summer at their balconies, they decorate them for this special time.

Grimstad is where Knut Hamsun lived the final years of his life. He was a major Norwegian writer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to the subject, perspective and environment.
Also, Grimstad is the town of Henrik Ibsen, and there are many traces of these famous writers to be found. Henrik Ibsen's story is told in the building where he worked as an apothecary's assistant in his youth – the pharmacy in which he wrote what was to become Catilina, his first play. The Ibsen Museum in Grimstad is the oldest of its kind in the country. 
I'm so glad that we got a chance to tour this nice place, it is really worth to pay a visit.
After visiting many different places and with quickly change able weather conditions we arrived Kristiansand. 
 

What do you expect after a long day and heavily loaded program? A comfortable, quiet depending weather conditions a warm or cool hotel room. 

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!