Discovering Oslo

We are wrapped in sweaters while everyone around us is in shorts, sleeveless dresses, drinking iced coffees. An ice cappuccino in a martini glass!

Wandering the streets, discovering interesting urban art, funky little neighborhoods, taking random photos of things that interest us.

Enroute to the Statue Park, we stumble upon a pilgrimage trail coursing through Oslo city. A guide at the pilgrimage center instructs us how to follow the path to the park by watching for these little, tiny symbols on poles and building sides directing the passage. We only go off track a couple of times. It was great fun trying to locate which direction to head.

Vigeland Park, is another amazing, expansive park within the city, open year-round, and free of charge. Over 200 sculptures in granite, bronze, and iron. Like the botanical gardens, the park is filled with ponds, waterfalls, birds, beautiful flowering gardens, it welcomes dogs on leash, and is dotted with numerous playground areas for kids.

What struck me most was the whimsical feeling of the works. Most of the poses are either in a pensive stance or depicting family, poses of affection, or playfulness with kids. The sculptures portray a sense of lightheartedness leaving one with a feeling of pleasure, unlike so many sculptures of war, brutality, poverty, and death.

The people of Oslo are called Oslonions, not Oslovians as I stated in my previous post. So much for internet research. My apologies for the error. Anyway, everyone here, the Oslonions, are so very friendly. We have had informative conversations with srtangers at restaurants, coffee shops, grocery shops, bus queues. People are happy to answer our questions about local customs, ingredients on labels in the grocery store, what they are eating or drinking.

We had dinner at a local’s restaurant, the menu only in Norwegian. Sometimes we can guess what the dish is, but when it comes to food this can be risky. The sympathetic waiter took the time to kindly explain the dishes to us. After which I chose not to have the pork salad, hum, it was not what I thought it was, see what I mean! Once in Salzburg I attempted to order a shredded beet salad, (that is what it looked like in the picture) turned out to be a red raw beef mixture, not at what I wanted.

As the sun warms, we remove our sweaters and picnic in the park just like the locals.