The day began bright and early. It was a cool crisp Friday morning in Oslo when we set out on our adventure for the day. The day started out with a bus tour of the city of Oslo. We observed many interesting sights, such as the opera house (which was designed to look like an iceberg) and the building of the new library (where old Scandinavian ships were found which slowed construction progress for excavation). We then drove by the harbor, formerly used for building ships up until the 1980”s and is now used for leisure and is a popular hangout in the summer. Then we saw the state capital, a large concert stage in the middle of the city used often in summer for concerts, theater, and plays. We also saw the ministry of defense, some police horses, and Christian the fourth’s hand which is a notable attraction. His hand is pointing down because this was where he wanted to build the town of Oslo. We saw the first university buildings which now are used by law students. It was interesting to drive by the royal palace, where we were introduced to Norway’s monarchy couple: King Harald and Queen Sonja….both 79 years of age. Architecturally, we learned that sections of Oslo were heavily influenced by German design and style.
From our short exposure to Norwegian culture, it appears that care for the environment and sustainable living is highly prized within the society. In fact, within two short years a goal of the country is for Oslo city center to provide only public transportation or private electric cars. Currently, the cost of parking downtown severely limits the number of individuals driving their own cars into the city center.
Next we ventured to the Sculpture park, where we saw the works of Gustav Vinelands. His sculptures are left up to the interpretations of his viewers and have many meanings. The first sculpture we saw was made entirely of Norwegian granite and included 121 figures. This sculpture is thought to be about the circle of life. The second sculpture included depictions of people of all ages and is believed to show life in a realistic way.
The next sculpture we saw was the first sculpture built at the sculpture park and represents the fazes of life. The little angry boy sculpture was fascinating and it’s foretold that if you touch his gold hand you can make a wish. Gustav Vineland, the artist made his sculptures naked because he wanted them to be timeless.
Next we hit up the Viking ship museum. Vikings were Scandanavian from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. The Norway Vikings traveled all the way to Canada and now the current US. Sweden Vikings went to Russia and Danish Vikings went south to Ireland and Scotland. Vikings were a lot like pirates in the beginning. After some years they began to trade and build their own communities. Viking ships were used for burials after being used for sailing initially.
After the Viking ships we visited the Holmenkollen Ski jump and their intricate museum. We learned Norwegians were the first ones to reach the South Pole. They did it by skis for all 3000 kilometers. The name of the ski jump, Holmenkollen means small hill. It was first built in in 1892 and the record long jump back then was 25 meters. The tower to the top of the jump is 65 meters high and is a 4 minute round trip.
Olympiatoppen training center was the next stop where we heard from Erling Rineslatten, a former ski jumping coach for the US. We discovered the athletes range from 18-45 and some train there year round in hope of getting a shot at competing in the Olympic Games.
Cam and Jake