Oslo city tour

We had a 7:00 wakeup call, a quick shower, and a nice breakfast buffet before we left for a 4 hour tour of Oslo. Our first stop was the Hollmenkollen Ski Jump built for the 1952 Winter Olympics. We were able to get off the bus for some quick photos.

 
Holmenkollen Ski Jump, Oslo. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

Right nearby was a troll which Junel couldn't resist snapping a picture of. See it peeking? I think this one was a little shy.

 
Norwegian troll peeking out behind a tree. (© 2006, Junel Bacigalupo.)  

Our next stop was Vigeland Sculpture Park. It features the sculptures of famous Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). One of his works that you may have seen and is probably the most famous, is the Monolith composed of human figures.

Monolith by Gustav Vigeland. (Photo © 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

In fact, most of Vigeland's work was with human figures. The monolith is surrounded by iron gates with figures. Of course, Junel's picture was of the male figures, not the female ones on the other side.

Wrought iron gate with the Monolith in the background. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

Not too far from the Monolith is a beautiful fountain and also a famous ring sculpture composed of winding human figures.

A Vigeland fountain. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

The Wheel of Life by Gustav Vigeland. (Photo © 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

The park is quite large and has lots of beautiful flower beds. All in all we enjoyed our little excursion which included a leisurely walk through the park. We were almost late in getting back to the bus. Our next stop was the Viking Ship Museum. The ships date from around 800 A.D. Quite amazing. I picked up a booklet about them and will read it when we get back.

Inside the Viking Ship Museum. (© 2006, M. Williams.)

Our last stop was the Norsk Folkemuseum where they have a medieval stave church built in Gol in the 1200s which has lots of ornate wood carvings.

Gol Stave Church. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo) Dawn, Kathy, and Steve are at bottom center listening to the tour guide. 

Rear view, Gol Stave Church. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo) Bob and I are in the background left.

According to their website, "[i]n 2004, Bygdø Royal Farm merged with the museum. The farmyard as well as the cultivated fields and grazing lands are now part of the museum grounds." They also had examples of old farm houses with sod roofs.

Sod roof farmhouses. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

Junel also took some pictures of a couple of the workers dressed in native costumes, or bunads. It was all quite interesting to see.

Folkemuseum worker in native bunad. (© 2006, J. Bacigalupo.)

We had the rest of the afternoon and evening off, or to ourselves, I should say. We all went to lunch across from the hotel at the Studenterlunden where there is an open air café that Henrik Ibsen used to frequent. (It wasn't his favorite, however. That would be the Grand Café which is inside the hotel in which we are staying.) We visited for several hours over some beers and pizza. We then agreed to meet later for dinner. Junel and I decided to take a quick tour of the National Gallery. They obviously have many works by Norway's most famous artist, Edvard Munch. But unfortunately, "The Scream" had been stolen in 2004 and we weren't able to see it. Their collection isn't quite as extensive as Edinburgh's, but still nice. Since they were closing in about a half an hour when we got there, we had to hurry a bit.

"The Scream" by Edvard Munch (1893). Courtesy of Wikipedia.

UPDATE (31 Aug 2006): "The Scream" was found. 

After we finished at the Gallery, Junel and I went back up to our room at the Grand. She decided to read for a while, so I hooked up with Steve and we went to an internet café we had seen earlier. I deleted several hundred emails and typed in a couple of days entries into this blog. At 6:30 we met up with everyone else in the lobby and then spent part of the next hour walking around trying to find a restaurant. We finally settled on the Christiania. 

It was very nice and they had excellent food. I tried some of Junel's reindeer and it was actually quite good. Junel said she was eating Prancer. I had stuffed chicken breast. We spent several hours there and Steve very generously picked up the bill. Junel and I headed back to the hotel to see if we could fit in a swim, but unfortunately we were too late. It closed at 10:00. What has been unusual is how long that it stays light here. It really is the land of the midnight sun. We got back at 10:00, it was still light and looked like it was only about 7:00. Junel took a bath and I read for a little while and we went to bed.

Oslo--First day

MariAnne Roppe, our tour guide, herded the group onto a bus to take to us to the Grand Hotel, but not before we grabbed some kroner from an ATM machine. 1 US dollar = about 6.15 Norwegian kroner.

The Grand Hotel. Courtesy Grand Hotel Oslo.

We got to the hotel, but our rooms weren't quite ready yet so we went across the street with Steve and Kathy to Ett Glass, a pub across the street, to have a couple of beers and some lunch while we waited. There we got our first taste of Norwegian beer and Norwegian prices ($10 a pint). Also the tax rate is 25%. Velkommen til Norge. We went back to the hotel and crashed for about three hours.

The Williams clan in the lobby of the Grand Hotel before dinner. Courtesy of a kind stranger. (© 2006, Bacigalupo/Williams.)

Dinner was provided at the hotel. They had a great buffet which included fish and chicken (Junel had coppacola). It was delicious. Afterwards we decided to go for a little walk. We walked up KarlJohansgate to the Royal Palace where King Harald V and Queen Sonja live. It's about five blocks from the hotel.

Royal Palace, Oslo. (© 2006, M. Williams.)

There is a park across from the hotel and we walked along the street beside it. It had some beautiful fountains. We also saw the National Theater which was honoring the 100th anniversary of the death of Henrik Ibsen, the famous Norwegian playwright. Ibsen wrote A Doll's House, Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabler, The Wild Duck, et al. We walked down to the waterfront to see the Oslo fjord. Along the way we passed the building where they have the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

Nobel Peace Center. (© 2006, M. Williams.)

When we got there, off to the left you could see Akershus Fortress. The castle inside the fortress was built around 1300 by King Håkon V.

Akershus Fortress in the background. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

From VisitOSLO.com:

After a disastrous fire in 1624, King Christian IV decided to rebuild the town within the walls of Akerhus Castle, enabling the modernised fortress to provide fortifications for the town. Brick-built buildings were also made compulsory to prevent the recurrence of a devastating urban fire. The king named the town after himself: Christiania.

It was not renamed Oslo until 1925. Junel also took a couple of nice shots of a "pirate ship" sailing out in the harbor.

"Pirate ship" sailing in the Oslofjord. (©2006, J. Bacigalupo.) 

The scenery is quite beautiful, though I expect it will even get better. It was getting late and Dawn and Bob were expecting Heather, so we headed back to the hotel. They stayed down below and we went up to our rooms to go to bed. Unfortunately since it was Friday night and we were right downtown where the bars and clubs were, it was a little noisy to say the least and we had a little trouble getting to sleep. I think the jetlag was to blame as well.

List of Norwegian Monarchs

The Norwegian Kingdom (c. 890-1319)

Kings of the Fairhair dynasty:

Harald Fairhair Harald Hårfagre : c. 890-c. 930
Eirik Bloodaxe Eirik Blodøks : c. 930-934, son of Harald Fairhair
Håkon the Good Håkon den Gode : 934-961, son of Harald Fairhair
Harald Gråfell : 961-976, son of Eirik Bloodaxe
Haakon Jarl Håkon Jarl : 976-995, son of Sigurd Haakonsson, Earl of Lade
Olaf Tryggvason : 995-1000, son of Tryggve Olafsson, and great-grandson of Harald Fairhair
Svein Forkbeard Svein Tjugeskjegg : 999-1015, son of Harald Bluetooth, K. of Denmark
Olaf Haraldsson, Saint Olav Sankt Olav / Olav den Hellige : 1015-1028, son of Harald Grenske, and great-great grandson of Harald Fairhair
Knut the Great Knut den Mektige : 1028-1035, son of Svein Forkbeard
Magnus the Good Magnus den Gode : 1035-1047, son of St. Olav
Harald Hardråde : 1046-1066, half-brother of St. Olav
Magnus Haraldsson : 1066-1069, son of Harald Hardråde
Olaf Kyrre : 1066-1093, son of Harald Hardråde
Håkon Magnusson : 1093-1094, son of Magnus Haraldsson
Magnus Barefoot Magnus Berføtt: 1093-1103, son of Olaf Kyrre
Olaf Magnusson : 1103-1115, son of Magnus Barefoot
Øystein Magnusson : 1103-1123, son of Magnus Barefoot
Sigurd Jorsalfar : 1103-1130, son of Magnus Barefoot
Magnus the Blind Magnus Blinde: 1130-1135, son of Sigurd Jorsalfar
Harald Gille : 1130-1136, half-brother of Sigurd Jorsalfar
Sigurd Slembe : 1135-1139, rival king
Sigurd Munn : 1136-1155, son of Harald Gille
Øystein Haraldsson : 1142(/1136)-1157, son of Harald Gille
Inge Krokrygg : 1136-1161, son of Harald Gille
Håkon Herdebrei : 1157-1162, son of Sigurd Munn
Magnus Erlingsson : 1161-1184, son of Erling Skakke and the daughter of Sigurd Jorsalfar
Sigurd Markusfostre : 1162-1163, rival king
Eystein Meyla : 1174-1177, rival king
Sverre Sigurdsson : 1177-1202, son of Unås, claimed to be a son of Sigurd Munn
Jon Kuvlung : 1185-1188, rival king
Sigurd Magnusson : 1193-1194, rival king
Inge Magnusson : 1196-1202, rival king
Håkon Sverreson : 1202-1204, son of Sverre Sigurdsson
Guttorm Sigurdsson : 1204, grandson of Sverre Sigurdsson
Inge Bårdsson : 1204-1217, grandson of Sigurd Munn
Erling Steinvegg : 1204-1207, rival king
Filippus Simonsson : 1207-1217, rival king
Håkon IV Håkonsson : 1217-1263, son of Håkon Sverreson
Skule Bårdsson : 1239-1240, rival king
Magnus Lagabøte : 1263-1280, son of Håkon IV Håkonsson
Eirik Magnusson : 1280-1299, son of Magnus Lagabøte
Håkon V Magnusson : 1299-1319, son of Magnus Lagabøte

The Union of Sweden and Norway (1319-1380)

Magnus Eriksson : 1319-1343, son of Eric Magnusson of Sweden and a daughter of Håkon V of Norway
Håkon VI Magnusson : 1343-1380, son of Magnus Eriksson

The Union of Denmark and Norway (1380-1396)

Olav IV Håkonsson : 1380-1387, son of Håkon VI Magnusson

The Kalmar Union (1397-1523)

Margaret I (Margrete I) : 1387-1389, wife of Håkon VI Magnusson
Eric VII of Pomerania : 1389-1442, adopted son of Margaret
Christopher III of Bavaria : 1442-1448, nephew of Eric VII of Pomerania
Carl I of Norway (Karl Knutsson Bonde) : 1449-1450, son of Knut Tordsson Bonde
Christian I : 1450-1481, son of Count Dietrich of Oldenburg
Hans : 1481-1513, son of Christian I
Christian II : 1513-1523, son of Hans

The union with Denmark and Norway (1523-1814)

Frederick I : 1523-1533, son of Christian I
Christian III : 1534-1559, son of Frederick I
Frederick II : 1559-1588, son of Christian III
Christian IV : 1588-1648, son of Frederick II
Frederick III : 1648-1670, son of Christian IV
Christian V : 1670-1699, son of Frederick III
Frederick IV : 1699-1730, son of Christian V
Christian VI : 1730-1746, son of Frederick IV
Frederick V : 1746-1766, son of Christian VI
Christian VII : 1766-1808, son of Frederick V
Frederick VI : 1808-1814, son of Christian VII

The Constitutional Assembly at Eidsvoll (1814)

Christian Frederik: 1814, grandson of Frederick V

The Union of Sweden and Norway (1814-1905)

Charles II : 1814-1818, son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden
Charles III : 1818-1844, son of Henri Bernadotte
Oscar I : 1844-1859, son of Charles III
Charles IV : 1859-1872, son of Oscar I
Oscar II: 1872-1905, son of Oscar I

The Kingdom of Norway (1905 to present)

Haakon VII : 1905-1957, son of Frederick VIII of Denmark
Olav V : 1957-1991, son of Haakon VII
Harald V : 1991-present, son of Olav V

[SOURCE: "List of Norwegian Monarchs," Wikipedia.]

Flight to Stockholm

We got up early and June took us to Denny's for breakfast. She seemed a little sad to see us go. I don't think Junel has had very many extended opportunities to see her grandma and with her being 80 years old who knows how many more times we'll have.

We got to the airport after Junel missed the turn and then we had to guess whether it was the Lindbergh or Humphrey terminal. It was the Lindbergh. We returned the rental car and got checked in. We'll have to fly on Thursdays more often. There weren't very many lines at all.

The flight to Chicago was relatively quick. After negotiating O'Hare's international terminal we ran into my cousin, Steve, and his wife, Kathy, at the gate getting their boarding passes stamped. It turned out we needed to do that as well. Mom and Dad had already arrived, so we all chatted for a short time until we had to board the jet for Stockholm.

The flight took about 8 hours. We watched a bunch of movies. I watched The New World which we hadn't seen. It was pretty good. It had Colin Firth playing Captain John Smith. He kind of looked like another friend of mine who's also named Mark Williams. Ice Age 2 had bad audio for some reason, but I watched it anyway. It was kind of cute. Then I watched Toy Story 2. I guess some day I'll have to watch Toy Story 1.

We got to Stockholm, went through security, found the gate for Oslo, and waited about an hour or so. The Stockholm airport had internet, but it didn't work. I chatted with Steve and Dad for a while and soon the plane arrived.

It was a fairly quick flight to Oslo. We arrived around 9:40 a.m. Oslo time on Friday.

Heading back to Minneapolis

We got up early today, cleaned the cabin, packed up, and got on the road around 9:20. We went back down 169 which took us by Mille Lacs Lake. I had forgotten what a huge lake! I had to pull into the McDonald's driveway to stop and snap a quick pic.

Mille Lacs Lake. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. We stopped at Perkins in Elk River for some brunch and then got back to Grandma June's house in Apple Valley around 2:30. We unpacked and then did some laundry. June watered her lawn and garden. It had been pretty dry. We had talked about going to the Savoy to have pizza with Greg and Julie, but ended up going to Superman Returns instead. Pretty cool. Some great fx. We got back and Junel called her mom while simultaneously giving me a haircut. Multitasking is definitely not a problem for her. We then chatted a while and went to bed. Junel is getting real excited about the trip to Norway and I'm looking forward to it as well.

Happy 230th Birthday, USA!

Today was my day to wake up a little sore in the back. Junel got up with me and we read a while. Grandma June got up soon after and Junel cooked us all some scrambled eggs and hash. After breakfast I did the dishes and then decided to take a little walk. I walked down the gravel road to the highway and back--a total of about 2 miles. It was good to get a little exercise. 

Then I mowed the grass around the area where the dock was sitting before we pushed it out. The weather has been really nice--cooler than I expected-- though I worked up a little sweat mowing. I came in and took a quick shower and June turned on the TV to watch the shuttle launch. I read a little more. I'm currently working on Richard Barber's The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief. We watched the Steven Tyler and Joe Perry with the Boston Pops on TV along with their fireworks celebration.

The Boston Pops. Courtesy of Boston's Fourth of July Celebration. 

Very exciting....

Thunderstorm

We had a thunderstorm during the night and a little rain. Junel didn't sleep real well; she was up and read a little and then slept in until around 11:00. I got up around 8:30 and finished another book. Then Grandma June got up so we visited until Junel awoke. Breakfast was more or less on our own.

Me cooking breakfast. Or not. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

In general, today has been another lazy day. (What are vacations for?) Junel and I went into Grand Rapids for a toilet paper and eggs run. Greg apparently had polished off quite a few. When we got back Grandma June had started up some ribs and as I write this they are smelling pretty good. After dinner we played some more Yahtzee, read a little, and then it was time for bed.

Lazy days

I got up earlier than everyone else and went outside to read and write a little. I let out Greg and Julie's dog, Ellie, so she could do her business and threw some tennis balls for her to chase.

Greg and Julie's boat and Ellie fishing? (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

Soon Charlie, the next door neighbor, brought down his ATV to push Grandma June's dock out, but then his chicken burned so had to leave to go deal with that. Junel cooked us all a tasty brunch and after Julie did dishes, we finished getting the dock out. Greg, Julie, Junel, and I went out on their boat again to soak up some sun. Nobody felt like wakeboarding and I was still kind of sore from yesterday, so we were satisfied to swim, have a few beers, and chat some more.

Sis and Bro. And Julie in the mirror. (© 2006, Julie Bacigalupo.) 

We got back to the cabin and visited some more as Greg and Julie got packed to go back to the Cities. We were still full from brunch, so we decided to wait to eat until later. After they left, we kicked back and read for a while. Grandma June is working on covering 5 dozen hangers with yarn. I dozed off for a while.

 
Grandma June covering hangars. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

Around 7:00 Junel made some brats, beans, and chicken salad leftovers. We had a little Lambrusco with that which I hadn't had in years. I did the dishes and then Junel and I played some double Solitaire and Triple Yahtzee. She won both. It's been very relaxing here and it was cool that Greg and Julie were able to visit and that I got to know them a little better. I forgot to mention that I had taken some pictures earlier of the cabin and the lake.

Across the lake from the point. (© 2006, M. Williams.) 

It's quite pretty here as you can see. That's about all for now.