Oslo

I traveled to Oslo back in January of 1974 arriving on an overnight train from Copenhagen. Would it be much changed after 44 years?

Our very nice Airbnb is close to the Munch museum.

Unfortunately the museum is closed for the days we are here. Marianne almost did 'the scream'. You can read more about the paintings and pastels here. I did not know there were four of them.

We walked through a very pleasant park that was showing the arrival of Spring. I realized that just a couple of months before I had walked through another park in Madrid where tree leaves were appearing. I suspect it is rather hot there now.

Interesting tree.

A very pleasant interlude. A city without parks is not a city.

We walked along some quiet streets towards the center of town. Oslo is a relatively quiet city compared to most others. You rarely hear sirens or horns beeping.

I think it might be a minaret.

The Spektrum which is an indoor arena for sports and concerts.

It has this curious chimney.

Closeup of the walls. I wonder if they picked the Spektrum after the Spectrum sports arena in Philadelphia.

We came to the Oslo Cathedral.

Part of a curious curved Bazaar building that surrounds one end of the church. It has a covered walkway with columns and houses numerous small shops.

You never know what to expect when you enter a church for the first time and this one was quite different.

And it is the painted ceiling that makes this church so unusual. It was painted in the period 1937 though 1950 by a Norwegian artist, Hugo Mohr.

Good looking organ.

Zoom photos of the ceiling.

Click on this photo and enlarge it to see the tiny little stars. It is incredible.

Flower market.

After the snow and cold of the north of Norway, these flowers are so welcome.

More of the bazaar.

WE came down to the old train station. I suspect this is where my train arrived 44 years ago. There is a new station next to it.

The insides of the old station have been converted into shops and restaurants.

The Bourse or Stock Exchange.

The new Opera House which is spectacular. I actually went to the opera in Oslo back in 1974 and saw Falstaff. After it finished I took an overnight train back to Copenhagen.

Fun little boat.

What appears to be a large hotel. By now I realized that the Oslo of 44 years ago had disappeared. I could not recognize anything.

We walked though this large structure shaped like the fish drying racks we saw further north.

As you walked though, you heard sounds.

We came to the Fortress.

Off in the distance is an architecture museum which we might visit.

The same kind of cannon we saw at the top of Norway in Vardo on our first day on the ship.

High rise construction off in the distance.

There are some ceremonial guards.

It's a pleasant area to walk around.

This monstrosity is the City Hall. This is where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. 

By now we were getting tired so we took the T-bahn back to our apartment and had a cold beer.

By the way, I have turned off the ability to comment on the blog because I was getting so many spam comments which were a pain to deal with. I will turn the comments back on until we get home.