Vigeland Sculpture Park inside Frogner Park lived up to the hype and recommendations (and then some). Everything about the place is amazing. The clouds put on a show while we there as well. The only thing that detracted from the magic of Frognerparken and Vigelandsparken within it were the number of tourists. If you are spending the night in Oslo I recommend visiting this place before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. when all the cruise ship tourists are gone.

To best enjoy these photographs, click on the image until you get a new page with a larger version of it. Then click on it again to get the full size picture. Maximize your browser first. Enjoy!

Posted on July 27th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: clouds, frogner park, Holmenkollbakken, norway, oslo, pictures. Comments Off on Frognerparken / Vigeland Sculpture Park (Oslo part 3 of 4)

We didn’t have much of a plan for Oslo. It looked like it would start pouring rain any second and we only had 6 or 7 hours. Since it hadn’t started raining yet, museums were expensive (at $15+ per person), and public transportation was also pricey, we decided to start walking through the city center with the eventual goal of reaching Oslo’s famous park, Frogner Park (in tomorrow’s blog entry).

The city center was nice. It was a Saturday morning before 10 a.m. so there were few people to be seen. Although I enjoy the architecture of Copenhagen, it was nice to see something different. Oslo’s buildings aren’t radically different (having been under Danish rule for large parts of their history), but they are unique nonetheless.

We went by the parliament (Storting), down Karl Johans gate, by the royal palace, and through the Slottsparken. Along the way we saw the National Theater, above, and many other sights including the King’s Ceremonial Guards. Later we went through the Akershus Slott grounds (although the views were mostly blocked by cruise ships), Aker-Brygge, and by Oslo City Hall.

Once back in more residential neighborhoods I noticed more similarities in the housing to San Francisco, California than to Copenhagen. Some streets had what looked like Victorians that you’d see in The City. Some places looked similar to Copenhagen but were made out of materials other than brick.

The kids were getting tired of walking so we stopped at a park with a play area near a flea market. The above kids aren’t mine, just some Norwegian kids that were happily playing. Everything was very green in Norway. If I were to become a billionaire the first thing I would do is go on an extended vacation in Norway, exploring every bit of it. 

I went to check out the flea market. The prices weren’t what you normally find at a flea market. Of course, this is Oslo, Norway, the most expensive city in the most expensive country on the planet.

Plates, trinkets, and other items you might find in grandma’s attic that you find at garage sales or flea markets in America usually go for 50 cents or a dollar each. Here in Oslo the prices seemed to start at about $5 and quickly go up from there. I’d pick something up and think, “I would possibly buy this for a dollar at a garage sale in the U.S.” Then I’d flip it over to see that they were asking $50 or $100 for it.

We actually didn’t spend a dime in Oslo or convert any of our money to Norwegian Kroners. We had a big breakfast and dinner on the ship and took snacks to eat. We did go into a McDonalds to use the restroom. A McDonalds salad will set you back US$16 in Norway. A hamburger, fries, and drink discount deal? US$19. You can’t pay me to eat at McDonalds anywhere so there was no temptation to eat at McDonalds in Oslo.

Our friend from Australia ate lunch in Oslo. She had a salad, a beer, and a coffee. The bill for lunch? AUS$50.

We went in one clothing store. T-shirts were “on sale” for only US$100. I saw a baby’s bib going for US$35 and a nice onesie that may fetch up to $15 in the U.S. available for just US$60. The wages in Oslo must be incredible.

While we did see some nice, Nordic-style buildings, I wanted to see a Stave church. Unfortunately, there aren’t any in Oslo except one at the Norse Folk Museum. The Norsk Folkemuseum was too far of a walk and the high admission cost was another reason we didn’t venture there.

The library had a most unusual fountain in front of it. I’ve never seen one like it. The fountain disappears when trams come down the street and cross over it.

We didn’t get hit by a drop of rain so we were feeling most fortunate by the end of our Oslo adventures. As we headed back to the cruise ship there was even some blue sky. The temperature was also much higher than the promised 62. I’m guessing it may have hit 72 or more. The views of the bay and fjords were spectacular as you can see from the above picture.

Posted on July 26th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: clouds, norway, oslo, pictures. Comments Off on Oslo, Norway (part 2 of 4)

We were so looking forward to our trip to Oslo, Norway. But as the time for departure approached I almost wished we hadn’t booked it. First, the weather forecast was horrible. We were only going to be in Oslo for one day and the prediction was for a high of only 62 degrees. Worse was that it was supposed to be raining all day long.

Then my daughter got a migraine headache the morning of the day we were going to leave. This was her first of the trip. She has had migraines in the past but not in the last few months. They tend to come in bunches for her which meant that she’d probably be getting them on the ship and in Norway. The thought of these potential migraines meant that she wouldn’t have any fun and we probably wouldn’t either. Plus, she tends to vomit with her migraines and we were going to be packed like sardines in a little cruise ship cabin.

My daughter took a nap as we weren’t going to be leaving until afternoon. After she woke up we road our bikes to the dock on the north end of Copenhagen; by the time we got to the ship her migraine was gone. Luckily, for all of us, she didn’t have any more.

The views from the top of the cruise ship were spectacular. We had some interesting vantage points of Sweden, Denmark and everything in between including the wind turbines. The cruise begins in the late afternoon from Copenhagen. It arrives in Oslo, Norway at about 9:30 the following morning. The first and last couple hours are the most interesting in terms of views as you can see Denmark and Sweden at the outset. You can see Norway and the fjords for the last few hours.

The passengers were an interesting mix. There were about 140 students from all over the world from Copenhagen Business School. I’m guessing that the rest of the 1,000+ people on board were about 55% Danish, 30% Japanese tourists, 10% Norwegian, and 5% from other places.

We had a nice dinner and then the kids went to the cinema to see Indiana Jones (in between checking out all of the other activities like foosball, Legos, disco dancing, etc.). My wife and I socialized with the two other faculty members who were on board. One is from Maine and his wife is Danish. The other is from Australia.

As far as I could tell the sky never completely darkened, although I suppose it did for a few hours after midnight. When I turned in at 11:30 there was a beautiful reddish, orange glow (not really a sunset) in the north. I didn’t have my camera with me at the time.

I woke up early, after not having slept much with all of the college students “sleeping” in nearby cabins, and went up top to see the Norwegian Fjords. It wasn’t raining, like the forecast said it would be, but there were only occasional breaks in the total cloud cover. The views were amazing.

You could spot scenes like the above of fishermen in the fjords. There were loads of little islands, some with cute houses or other buildings on them. In the distance you could also see a couple of cruise ships trailing us.

The next two days I’ll post some pictures and discussion of Oslo; the fourth entry on Oslo will be our journey back to Copenhagen.

Posted on July 25th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: clouds, norway, pictures, Travel. Comments Off on Cruise to Norway (part 1 of 4)

Every day in Copenhagen there is a changing of the Royal Guard at noon. We headed out on our bikes at about 11:15 to see the guard change. Within 30 seconds it started to rain. By the time we were at Rosenborg it was pouring. As we headed around Rosenborg we could see the new crew of guards getting ready to depart. They march from there to the royal palaces.

The time was now about 11:40 and the rain stopped just as quickly as it had begun. In fact, sections of blue sky appeared which made for some good pictures. Even though we were drenched just 15 minutes before, by 11:55 we were pretty much dry. I don’t understand how this Danish rain works, but for some reason it is quick drying. This wasn’t the first time we got caught in a downpour only to be dry soon after it was over.

Police officers moved all of us to locations out of the way of the incoming guards. Luckily we were moved right into the front row. I thought it was rather ironic that police were doing security for guards. Not only that, the royal family spends the summer elsewhere (Grasten Slot?) so the guards aren’t really guarding them. When you think about it, what we have here are police guarding guards who aren’t guarding anything!

I followed the outgoing guards down the street back towards Rosenborg. It was amusing to see them go down the middle of streets, stop at red lights, and then begin marching again as soon as the signal turned green like a giant toy soldier car rather than a group of pedestrians (who obviously use sidewalks and not the center of a street for autos).

Posted on July 24th, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: changing of the guard, copenhagen, living in copenhagen, pictures. Comments Off on Changing of the Danish Royal Guard

The train ride from Gilleleje to Hillerod was great. We were the only people on the train or at least our section of it. The views were spectacular as we headed through Danish forest with occasional glimpses of lakes and farms.

My son took advantage of our empty train carriage to stretch out. The windows in the train were larger than any I’ve previously encountered.

We took a bus from the train station to the castle (as buses which normally cost at least US$4 for even short rides were free with our 24-hour, unlimited pass). We missed the stop to get off which turned out to be a good thing as we ended up entering the grounds from the extensive wooded area in the rear. My only regret now is that we didn’t explore the park-type areas more.

Once you see the castle, though, you are drawn to it, and it becomes difficult to stay in the beautifully landscaped outer grounds. They weren’t just trees. There were lakes, lily pads, canals, bridges, sculptured gardens, wildlife, flowers, and more.

Frederiksborg Castle is not to be confused with Frederiksberg Castle which is near our residence many dozens of miles to the south.

This is the setting in Music & Silence. There is even a carving of the king’s orchestra on the castle wall. I wonder if the lute player in the carving was the inspiration for the book (as the main character in the book, Peter Claire, was a lute player for King Christian IV).

When you click on the above image you’ll see lots of black flying things. I’m not sure if they are birds or bats, but let’s say they are bats to make the photograph be even cooler. 😉

These statues appear to be fairly newly restored. Some of the other ones didn’t look like they had been touched in hundreds of years.

We were there after 7 p.m. on a weeknight and the interior of the castle had closed at 5 so all of the tourists were long gone. This made for some great photo opportunities as I’m guessing this shot could never happen with tons of tourists in the way normally. If you like uncrowded self-tours then I highly recommend you plan your visit for the evening or early morning hours. I would have liked to have stayed until the sun set, but that would have been another 3+ hours. The sun never seems to set in these Danish summers.

This last picture was taken back in the center of town. The statue is the only thing near the camera, on a plaza where you can enjoy a meal or drink. Nearly everything was closed and very few people were around. With a view like this and so few people to enjoy it, the sensation was strange.

We then headed back to Copenhagen on a 40-minute train ride, pretty much ending a very eventful and wonderful day. It wasn’t that expensive either. With food, train tickets (kids were free), etc. we ended up spending less than US$100 which is very hard to do for four people in Denmark even when you aren’t going to three amazing locations around much of an entire island (Zealand).

Posted on July 23rd, 2008 under Denmark. Tags: castle, Christian IV, pictures, trains. Comments Off on Frederiksborg Castle