Month: May 2023

Post by Grubb. Yesterday, after we plowed our way through the parading throng, we tooled around some picturesque neighborhoods. Then we ended up at a cemetery.  Followed a crushed gravel path that skirted a slope where Ibsen is buried.  Figured the truncated obelisk marked the spot. So, yes, above his grave, inscribed on the leaning stone monument,…

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…

Post by Grubb. May 17th is Constitution Day in Norway.  It goes back to 1814.  After being defeated in the Napoleonic wars, there was a student movement in Norway protesting being in part of a union with Sweden.  This grew into a tradition of celebrating Norway’s independence, although that wasn’t finally achieved until 1905.   19th century romantic movements…

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…

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.

Post by Grubb. When I was a kid I remember my dad had a copy of “The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By raft across the South Seas.”  He also had copies of “Omoo” and “Typee”, but they didn’t interest me because they didn’t have the dramatic photographs that Thor Heyerdahl put in his book describing his raft trip…

Post by Grubb. Yesterday, in the morning, it was umbrellas in the rain.  Nothing lashing, just a steady patter.  We googled our way through busy inner city streets in search of the Intercultural Museum.  At one point, as we were cutting through a plaza next to a tiny amusement park (carousel and kiddy rides), I noticed this woman…

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,…

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…

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…

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

Post by Grubb. The Akershus Fortress Castle is a few blocks up from where we’re staying on a promontory overlooking Oslo Viken (bay).  It dates back to the late thirteenth century.  Used as a royal residence, it was designed to protect the city from uninvited Swedes and has successfully survived all sieges since then.  Since the July 22,…

Post by Grubb. Alert to Karl Ové knockoffs, yesterday morning Knut kept an eye out for signs of Norwegian toil.  No luck.  Knut Sēoot cannot see it.  Instead, there were people relaxing outside a sauna across the bay from the Munch Museum. However, on further inspection of the sauna guidelines, there was a nice  Norwegian touch promising medieval masochistic…

Post by Grubb. What’s a statue in Oslo without struggle?  This overburdened fellow is on the path to the Akershus Fortress.  Whether those bags are filled with grain or a multitude of sins, he’s grinding his way up the slope with what I imagine is a Protestant sense of purpose. Commemorating my first overpacked trip to Rome.

Post by Grubb. Waiting for the next version of “The Scream” to appear, I re-examined some of my favorite Munch’s.  There was “The Dance of Life”. And the “Vampire”. And finally, as the seconds ticked away, the idlers in “The Scream” room slowly moved in towards two closed panels. Then, as time was up, panels shut…