Several Days In Oslo

Although there are no photos to prove it, Oslo is a melting pot. The first thing I noticed were people of all colors and women in hijabs together with the iconic Nordic tall blonds. We hear from everyone that they take in many immigrants, but are careful in their vetting process. I am now looking at three soldiers, one Black and the other two Middle-Eastern-ish. I wonder if children of immigrants stick together? On one of our walks through the city we passed several kebab and Middle-Eastern sweets shops in a non-Nordic neighborhood. Everyone seems happy, and I wonder how the melding is going. I can’t believe it is ever easy, but then people have everything they need here, perhaps that is enough to entice people to get along with one another?

Part of the country’s wealth is due to oil. Aside from jobs, all proceeds from oil sales (btw, Norway itself operates on 90% renewables) go into a bank to finance social welfare programs such as free education for all. Our guide said there is money now for three generations and there are oil reserves to last 30 more years. 

What a concept!

We are taking Oslo slow, like natives I think. we walked to the pilgrim center where we purchased a Norwegian guidebook and our pilgrim credentials. 

In front of the Oslo Pilgrim Center

Community Garden on the pilgrim path. This lovely woman invited us in. She tells us that the garden began before WWI and was used to grow potatoes for a starving population. She said the nazis did not mess with it during the occupation, so more potatoes for the people. Today, only folks without yards are allowed to get a plot. Many plots have decks with lawn furniture, barbecues, and so on. It is a back yard away from home! 

Arriving at the Bishop’s House.

Getting our pilgrim credentials stamped.

The Bishop’s House is amongst the ruins of several ancient churches. There were warrens of structures in the grounds representing both monasteries and churches. 

Swimming and Saunas

The harbor is filled with swimming holes! At the end of piers with expensive apartments are swimming areas. You can identify them by the decks and the ladders coming up from the water. We are told they are packed in the summer months with people sunbathing and cooling off in the fjord. The water is not as cold as Puget Sound, though. 

Sauna in harbor

We ran across a group of kids jumping off the high dive. Although it was 60 degrees and around 50 in the water, they were not as goose-pimped or shivering as I would expect.

Swimming in Oslo

We ran across a public sauna out in the harbor...a tiny pier connecting two small houses with wood fired saunas. There were public walk-in hours and you could rent the whole thing. The idea is that you go in the sauna and then jump in the harbor to cool off. I really wanted to try it, but there were thunderstorms during the public hours. Next visit.

Food

We are taking all of our meals at our military hotel. I wanted Scandinavian food and here is where to get it. Dinners are classic fare like fish balls and cod. Breakfast includes rye crisp and gjetost (they call it brown cheese).  The bread is all brown. I realize now this is why my mother always bought brown bread. It wasn’t necessarily a health food thing as I thought. It was partly because it was familiar. Today I buy mostly Ezekiel bread — and can thank my heritage for that.

Scandinavian Meals at our hotel, oops, got started already. Pork and sauerkraut with gravy.

Fish Balls Norwegian Style - my mother served these - these and the ones she made were canned, just like gefilte fish. These are served with fish gravy and tiny white potatoes.

Vikings and Scandinavian Culture

So I took public transit to three places, knowing that there wasn’t time to walk. The bus stops have electronic signs telling you when each bus arrives and they come frequently. The busses have USB ports at every seat. They are not air conditioned, which matters a bit with global warming. 

At any rate, I hit the Viking Ship museum first. I am pretty certain one of them was unearthed from a place near my grandmother’s hometown. The size of the ships surprised me, because I understand that they often had to carry their ships when invading inland when river passages became too narrow. Perhaps they had smaller boats? At any rate, these were probably equivalent to Columbus’s Nina and Pinta, etc. 

Cat or dragonhead?

Viking ship unearthed from burial site.

Lovely curves.

It is unbelievable that a few pairs of leather shoes survived. They are quite lovely.

Next door is the Norwegian Folklife Museum, a Stave church from 1100. It would have originally been Catholic with no windows. Inside are pillars with strange decorations. I asked about these and was told they were an attempt to do trompe-l'oeil  to reproduce marble. Too funny.

Fake marble column

There were several farmhouses open and furnished. Loved this crib, although I was a bit worried the baby might fall out.

Lots of folks eating at these looooong tables.

From a house interior, some of the homes have murals.

I was quite taken with this fencing. It is delightfully simple and keeps the livestock in. 

A celebration of Norwegian sweaters.

The Munch Museum

It was a quick bus and subway ride across town to the Munch Museum. I knew I couldn’t make it walking because we had walked by the previous day. The museum is tiny. Tiny. Maybe 50 paintings, although I had not seen many of them in print, so got a kick of of them. They are opening a new museum soon and will feature more paintings.

Entitled death and childhood? 

Opera House

The Opera House is another attraction on the harbor. You can walk on all parts of it, including the roof. It was designed to look like an iceberg! Carolyn and I went to an Opera — Rossini’s Cinderella. It was so fun. Cinderella was a real ham, and the staging was terrific. The chorus were several pot-bellied, page-boyed men in waistcoats. During some scenes they wore little wings. I have never seen this opera before, but I can say the production was fantastic.