Looking out from our 7th floor apartment last night in Oslo. What’s happened here?
Author: Ella
Odds ‘n Ends
Post by Ella A few photos from our wandering this morning.
Dinner at Rorbua
Post by Ella. All thumbs up on this one. Warning. More food photos. Contains crawfish. Don’t look if squeamish. We tried the skagentost (called Skgenrore here) again despite the horrible experience at Louise a few nights ago. This was outstanding. Yes, that’s a crawfish on top. The shrimp tasted like shrimp and not macaroni. There…
It’s a sculpture park…or something
Post by Ella. Late in the afternoon, we strolled to the Tjuvholmen Sculpture Park. Call it a minimalist sculpture park. Or is it a post-apocalyptic Disneyland?
Our route, Friday, May 19
Grass Roots Square (the little bronze people) The Devil of Oslo at Oslo Cathedral National Museum Tjuvholmen Sculpture Park Rorbua restaurant
Islands in the sun
Post by Ella We’d been wondering about the islands in the Oslo Fjord (which is 100 km long and runs into the North Sea), so today was the day to explore. There are ferries, run by Ruter, which is the same company that runs the busses and trams and for which we had a 7…
Dinner reindeer
Post by Ella. Before leaving for this trip, I found a short kindle book, “How to have an Adventure in Scandinavia”, by a 30 year old guy named Rafael Coronelli. It is not a guide, exactly, but seemed to be a compendium of his journals or blog posts. I wondered how useful it would be…
Our route, Thursday, May 18
Post by Ella Island hopping in the Oslofjord. Ferry, Ferry and more Ferries.
No Man’s Street
Post by Ella Grünerløkka, one of the areas we wandered yesterday, is known for its tons of design boutiques, small art galleries and vintage shops. Of course, everything was closed because it was Constitution Day, except for the sidewalk pubs. They were crowded with young people, all in bundag (traditional dress), drinking beer. Many didn’t…
We were trapped
Post by Ella. By a parade of epic proportions. In celebration of Constitution Day. Sort of like July 4 for us Americans but the history is a little more muddled. The Constitution signed in 1814 establish Norway as an independent kingdom but shared a monarch with Sweden. It wasn’t until 1905 that Norway became completely…
Our route, Wednesday May 17
Today is Constitution Day and the place was mobbed. We headed up the street and ran straight into the parade, which went on forever. Then we hoofed it up to the Telthusbakken and Damstredet historical areas, stopping in at Ibsen’s and Munch’s graves.
The underside and the far side
Post by Ella. We did ramble well off the tourist-beaten path as we made our way to the Intercultural Museum yesterday, a rainy day. But a soft, mellow rain. Rain jackets would suffice but I borrowed the apartment’s umbrella and Grubb, of course, had brought his own. We’re walking along, the streets start getting narrower,…
Practical matters: where’s da wine?
Post by Ella. Yesterday we decided to have our dinner at home. At the end of the day, we stopped at a large Co-op market for supplies. I haven’t been drinking much this trip and Grubb gave it up a few years ago but I was in the mood for some wine. Norway isn’t known…
Utopia Retro Modern
Post by Ella Is the name of a furniture store. Who doesn’t love retro modern utopian furniture? A small shop, two floors packed with furniture stuff. In a building undergoing construction, we had to navigate scaffolding to enter. We paused in front of this beauty (below) thinking it would be the most uncomfortable ever. The…
Our route, Tuesday May 16
From Home to the Intercultural Museum on foot to Utopia Retro Modern by bus to Kon-Tiki Museum by bus to City Hall by Ferry to the Co-op (grocery store) by foot To home by foot