Oslo, Day 2

We walked all over Oslo--at least it feels like it.  We got an earlier start this morning and walked several blocks up to Vigesland Park.  It's a beautiful city park area and contains many sculpture displays of the artist Vigesland.  Here are some of my favs from today.

Most all of the figures are nude and anatomically correct.  The facial expressions on these children just fascinated me--these are larger than life and gray granite stone.

Then we got up to the Majorstuen and caught the electric train out to Holmenkollen--a famous ski jump/ski area on a hill above Oslo. (Later, when we were back down town in Oslo, we could look back and see the metal structure above town.)  There is also a wonderful ski museum there also.

Wooden skiis from the 1800s

Model of the ski jump in the museum

Looking down from the top!

Up on the tower with a view of Oslo below us.

Legg til bildetekst

Legg til bildetekst

They use the lower seating area of the ski jump as a concert venue as well.

Then we headed back downtown Oslo and visited the Opera House--very cool architecture--and the Akerhus Fortress/Castle from 1200.  We had coffee and lefse in the park this afternoon and salad and pizza back at the hotel.  Tomorrow we get up early and catch the train to Bergen.  Hilsen!

First day Photos

Our hotel in Oslo

Storage barn from Telemark 

Norsk coffee grinder!

on the plane to Frankfurt

Bullet train from airport into Oslo

Warren and Fridjof Nansen in front of the Fram

Firste dag i Oslo

Oh my! Our first day in Oslo!  Our biggest challenge was figuring out public transportation.  Once we do, it will be wonderful; but you can tell we don't live in a big city!  We bought an "Oslo Pass" and it pays for all bus/tram/train fares and museum admissions for one price--very handy.

We had a wonderful breakfast here at the Hotel Rica Bygdoy Alle; a buffet with an array of fresh fruits, breads, eggs and bacon, cereals, cooked potatoes and sausages!  We took an apple and an orange out of the fruit bowl to eat later and never needed to buy lunch.  Then we took a bus out to the Bygdoy (pronounced like "big doo-ey") Peninsula to see several museums: the Fram (polar exploration ship), Kon Tiki, Viking Ships, and a Norwegian historical village. We had both sunshine and clouds/sprinkles.  We took a ferry boat back to downtown Oslo and ate near the Aker Brygge (wharf) and listened to some band singing Johnny Cash!  There was some little summer festival going on and we had freshly grilled salmon and shrimp with salad and potatoes.  We got on the wrong bus to get back to the hotel, but just took the long way around and finally figured it out.  I actually asked someone for help in Norwegian!  "Kan du hjelpe meg?  Hvor er vi?" which means, "can you help me? Where are we?"  He showed me we were off the map (!) and where to get off and how to get back to where we wanted to go!  He was able to use enough English that I didn't get confused.

Here are some photos from our traveling and from today.  Vi sees!  (see you later)

We have arrived

Hello from Oslo!!  I wasn't able to connect to the internet in Frankfurt, so I had to wait until we got to the hotel in Oslo.  But it's also midnight, so I have to keep it short and get some sleep.  Our flights have all gone well, just long and tiring and with not much sleep in route.  I'll wait to post photos until tomorrow after we've done some sightseeing.  Our hotel is old and quaint and right downtown.  More tomorrow.

On Our Way!!

We are at the Seattle airport waiting for our connection to Frankfurt.  We had beautiful weather in Kalispell this morning; it rained hard all day yesterday and the mountains have a new coating of snow.  They were spectacular as we flew out.  Then we got into clouds pretty quickly and it's raining buckets here in Seattle.  We'll fly out of Seattle around 6, Pacific time and be in the air all night--don't wait up for us. :-)  Will try to post another quick note from Germany tomorrow.  We will be 8 hours ahead of Mountain time.  


The last leg of our journey changed a little.  We fly out of Frankfurt at 8 p.m., so it puts us into Oslo late.  Hopefully we can sleep at the hotel and then put in a big day on Saturday.  Not sure what we'll do during our long lay over at the Frankfurt airport, but we'll figure out something--maybe post pictures to the blog!!  

Itinerary

Here is our itinerary in a nutshell: We leave Kalispell on Thursday, (Seattle, Frankfurt, Oslo) and arrive in Oslo on Friday afternoon--they are 8 hours ahead of us.  We'll stay in a nice hotel and tour around Oslo on Sat/Sun.  On Monday the 11th we take a train across central Norway to Bergen on the west coast.  We'll spend about a week there with my cousin Tonnes Gundersen.

Around the 20th we'll go down to Egersund, further south around the coast.  This is the small town where my ancestors came from , and where Tonnes's mother, Ellen, and his brother Rasmus live.  We'll be staying with family members there and base the rest of our time from there.  Tonnes will drive us back to Oslo on July 1st and we fly back July 2nd.

Our weather in Kalispell right now is cool and rainy--all three days in Oslo will most likely be rainy also!  But the sun should be shining as we head to Bergen.

Today is my last day of school for the year!!

We leave in 4 days!!

It's almost here! I can't believe it!  Two more days of school (Monday, Tuesday), then a day and a morning to turn around and be ready...  Wahoo!

I had to get some exercise and check on the wildflowers at Lone Pine today--hadn't been up there for a couple weeks.  Was well rewarded with color, even in the drizzly rain.  (Lone Pine is a little state park, just on the edge of Kalispell, with a 2 mile loop trail)  We are so lucky to live where we do!  Summer, here we come!

Larkspur

Larkspur

Blue Penstemon

Blue Flax

Spotted Coralroot--a little orchid!

Spotted Coralroot

Indian Paintbrush

Indian Paintbrush