Post by Grubb In Albuquerque you’re getting about nine hours of darkness at night starting around 8:35 PM. Here, in Oslo, night shades its way to an unconvincing black around 10:30 PM giving us six hours of darkness. I find I’m falling asleep later and later. Then I wake up when it’s light outside and find that it is…
Month: May 2023
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.
First the crowds, then the quiet
Heavy Hammer
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,…
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…
Bundag fever
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…
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.