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Oslo
VIGELAND, VIKING LAND
Other travelers recommend I skip Oslo and
head immediately for Norway's more famous fjords. But I find some good things, including Viking
history, a ski jump and artist Vigeland's sculptures.
Relaxing at the port on a rare warm May day.
Vigeland. Vigeland and Oslo go to gether
like Gaudi and Barcelona. The sculptor Gustav Vigeland's chunky naked sculptures
are spread thruout Vigeland Park and in the Vigeland Musuem. Vigeland often sculpted
writhing chunky humans, a sharp contrast to the physique-perfect noble Greek and Roman
sculptures I just saw in Rome a few weeks ago. Vigeland's theme include
love and the life cycle.
I hang out with some of Vigeland's free statues in the Vigeland Park.
Can tell I'm into interactive photography - getting
involved with the subject cause just standing there's pretty boring by now.
Ship Museums
Oslo has three ship museums. And I thought Stockholm's Vasa Museum was unique.
I really get into these musuems because they all feature world explorers who travel
around the world to debunk popular mis-beliefs.
I buy the Oslo card and take the morning ferry to the Bygdøy Museum island to check the museums
out.
- Viking Museum
This museum displays the best preserved viking ships, all found in burial mounds to
carry their owners to the "other side." Kinda like Boromir in the Fellowship. The Vikings
belived their owners needed weapons and tools in the after life so these were found in the
boats and are on display. Unfortunately, like the mummies tombs, grave robbers looted the
burial mounds of any real royal paydirt. There's also a feature on this
Norweigan archaelogist who traced Erik the Red's son Leif Ericcson's
explorations to Newfoundland. There, he found some Norse settlements, proving
that the Vikings were the first Europeans to find America, a few hundred
years before our buddy Chris. I guess the civilization's gotta stick
to get the credit in the textbooks.
I'm especially interested in the Viking artifacts
and culture because I'm working on a Eric the Red Viking Flash animation. In fact,
part of thre reason for including Norway on the tour is to do some on-site location research
for my video. Well, at the museum I find an Eirik the Red saga book which has a lot more
detail on the story of Erik the Red than I had found, so it looks like I'm gonna have to
change a few names of my characters, and props they use after I see the real thing in the Viking
Museum. Note to anyone working on a historically based project: do your on-site location
research FIRST!
- Kon-Tiki Museum
So this is where Kontiki Tours comes from. The Kon-Tiki museum contains the two
boats Norweigan explorer Thor Heyerdahl used in his major world-traveling expoditions.
Both are good stories.
Kon-Tiki: Thor had a theory that the ancient South American Incas could have
sailed to the Polynesian Islands.
Clues: He interviewed Polynesian cheif Tei Tetan who
told him about the legend of the the Tiki god who guided his ancestors from South America
to the Polynesian Islands. But no one belived Thor's theory that the Incas had boats
sturdy enough to sail across the Atlantic. So Thor built the Kon-Tiki boat out of balsa wood which
the Incas would have used, got an international crew, and set sail from
Peru. Three months later, he landed in Polynesia, not too far from Survivor 4's Marquesas Islands.
I'm thinking this would make a great movie, and then find out that it did: a documentary
of Thor's Kon-Tiki tour won the Oscars 1951 Best Documentary, only time a film from Norway
has won an Oscar. Thor also did some archaeological work on nearby Easter Island, where he publicized the moai, the enourmous
stone statue heads which supposedly contained ancient spirits.
Ra: A few decades later, Thor
wanted to prove another theory: that the Egyptians could have sailed to South America.
Clues: Both Egyptians and South American tribes have
step pyramids, and blocky stone god-sculptures. So he used hieroglyphics as an instruction
guide to building a ship made only out of papayrus reed bundles. He out from Morocco in the Ra 1, which sank when he
was almost there. He tried again the next year in the Ra 2, which made it to Barbados. Now
just because Thor made his trips doesn't prove his theories, and I'm not sure what the archaeological
jury thinks nowadays, but still, gotta give the dude props.
- Fram Museum
Norweigan Fridtojof Nansen had some theories about arctic ocean currents, so he build
the sturdy Fram ship to prove it. He sailed up to the arctic ice cap, but the ship
got stuck in some ice flows, so he skied away and returned a few months later to rescue it, and
continue exploring his theories. His Fram ship was so sturdy, other explorers used it for
Antaractic exploration, making the Fram one of the only ships to sail the farthest north and south.
Maritime Museum. Skip it unless you're really into models of
old ships and nautical theme stuff.
Norweigan Museum of Cultural History. Like
Stockholm's Skansen Museum, this museum features traditional houses from all over
Norway. And a 12th century Catholic stave church:
The Akershus Castle area has some interesting museums:
- The Noway Resistance Museum shows how Norway resisted Nazi
occupation for five long years. Hitler suprise-attacked Norway on
April 9, 1940 to control its ice-free ocean-access fjords and ports.
The Norweigan Vidkun Quisling, head of the Norweigan Nazi group, suddenly
declared himself the new head of government and suggested Norway surrender
power to him - and that's how "quisling" means "traitor"
in your Webster's. Norway's underground press, sports leagues, and
universities resisted Nazi control and imprisonment for five long years
unitl the War ended. The museum has good displays and is pretty
in-depth.
- The Armed Forces Museum is a must is only if you're a big weapons
fan, as it has everything from Viking swords and halberds, to WWII tanks
and torpedos.
Holmenkolln Ski Jump and Ski Museum. It's definitely
different
to have a huge ski jump in a city's backyard, but maybe not when you're this far north.
Used in the 1962 Olympics, the Holmenkollen ski jump provides great views of Stockholm.
It includes a ski museum, where I learn that skiing has been around for a few thousand years,
and that there was even a Norse god and goddess of skiing. Imagine that: Viking ski bunny
couple.
Premiere deja vu: Episode II: Klonene Angriper
The day I arrive in Oslo, I notice Episode II posters saying the midnight premiere is the same night!
I swear, I did not time this in planning my trip. I figure the Force is trying to tell me something,
so of course, I head down to the biggest movie theater to check out if the Norweigans have
more Star Wars hype than the Swedes. Surprise: Turns out that the Norweigans throw a better premiere
show than I've seen in Hollywood! I get to the sold-out theater a half hour before show time to find the ticket
holders waiting around outside a red carpet into the front doors. I only see one jedi with a light saber. Everyone else
is in civies, so I'm thinking, man, these Norweigans have no spirit.
Then suddenly, the Vader theme
music blares on speakers, and Darth Maul walks out onto the roof of the theater to thundrous applause.
He paces around and sneaks back inside. Then more Empire music plays, and the front doors of the theater burst open and
a stream of 20 Stormtroopers with blasters marches 2 by 2 down the red carpet, followed by the
red-caped Imperial guards. The crowd goes nuts, and then walks between the two rows of Stormtroopers into the movie theater.
I don't have a ticket but I walk down the Stormtrooper gauntlet anyway. I have to admit, it's
kinda intimidating having Stromtroopers with blasters out towering on either side of you. I
even hold back a "Must be hot in there." joke.
I get to the ticket window, and yes, there are a few cancellations. But then this guy just gives
me a ticket saying "Free ticket, have fun." The Force is definitely wants me in da house.
I walk into
the theater, and there's the Mos Eisley cantina band playing their saxophones, with two cantina
aliens dancing around. I'm thinking, man, didn't know the tix included the movie and a
show!
After the band plays their famous songs, the lights go dark and the Stormtroopers march down the aisles,
positioning themselves throughout the theater. Then the Emporer and Darth Maul enter at the
front of the theater accompanied by Imperial Guards and the Vader march song. The two scan the crowd
and sit down to watch the screen. The movie starts, the crowd goes wild. Througout the movie,
the Norweigans cheer whenver a major character appears, when R2 flies, and Yoda kicks butt. So yeah,
they got the spirit, and a better premier than I've seen in the U.S. By the way, I can't read Swedish or Norweigan
so I still don't know what those slanted yellow words say at the beginning of the
movie! FOOD
Other travelers warned me that Oslo food prices are expensive, and man, they weren't kiddin.
I eat a medium 2-topping pizza at a CPK/Uno's equivalent chain, and get a $17
bill. Sticker shock after paying about $5 for a pizza in Italy. So I resort
to fast food. But McD and BK combo meals are 55-70 NOK ($6-$7)t! You can save a quarter or so by ordering to-go, but
still... I finally do find some healthier fast food. McDonald's serves up McToast, a toasted ham and cheese on a bun, and
the McFarmer, a pork-burger (which I've noticed thruout Europe McD's, probably due to cow disease
scare). If you're thirsty, you can get an "is kald melk"
or "varm sjokalade" at one of the several 7-11s. Why
is Norway so Pricey? I ask a few locals why food and other things are
so expensive. I gather it's a combo of reasons, including: 1) Norway's a
rich oil country with its off-coast wells. 2) Since it's not part of the EU, it
has to pay higher import/export taxes which are passed on to people. Wages
are higher to compensate. In fact, many people from neighboring
countries try to work in Norway for a few years to make the bucks and return
home. Nightlife. Bars along the main streets are packed, even on
the weeknights. I'd always heard that like the Finns, Norweigans can
drink a lot, and if bars packed at midnight Monday is any indicator... After a few days in Oslo, I decide I better go see those fjords. I sing up for the famous Norway
in a Nutshell package tour which takes me to Flåm and
then Bergen.
Then, like the Vikings did several hundred centuries ago, I do the
Viking trail by traveling next to Dublin, Ireland.
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Relaxing in the park.
Vigeland's famous life cycle statue
features writhing chunky people, all made from a solid piece of
granite.
Vigeland's crying baby statue is on all
the Oslo postcards. Not the best city logo if you ask me...
The Viking boat.
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In my Erik the Red viking animation,
Erik's family is exiled from Norway, so I do some location
research here check out the Norway countryside. |
This copy at the Kon-Tiki Museum is the
closest I get on this trip to the Easter Island statues, a Forgotten
Wonder of the World.
Thor sailed in this Ra 2 raft, made
out of papyrus reeds, from Morocco to Barbados. Don't ask me about the
Japanese flag sail.
Manning the Fram, which is the only ship in a ship museum I visit that
you can actually walk on, so of course I do...
This boat in the Maritime Museum looks
awfully like Queen's Amidala starship to me.
Villager in the Folkemusuem. NO,
NORWEIGANS DON'T NORMALLY DRESS LIKE THIS, JUST LIKE WE DON'T DRESS
LIKE DISNEYLAND EMPLOYEES IN THE U.S.
I meet up with some trolls. Ancient Norse myths say that trolls live in the
forest, and can be good luck, or so the not-so-ancient souvenir shops remind
you. So I ask these good luck trolls to remove this Egyptian
digital photography curse (see below) I think was put on me in Cairo.
Obligatory cathedral. Wouldn't be a
European city without it.
Marit and Roune work at the military
hotel I stay at, which rents out extra rooms.
Sven also works at the military hotel- it's his birthday the next
day, so he definitely wants a photo to
be on the site.
At the hotel's free included breakfast, I meet
Ulf from Germany who gives me Oslo advice
Experiencing Technical Difficulties
I'm pretty sure there's no Egyptian god of digital photography, but it sure feels like one put
a curse on my ability to keep my digital photos. First, I loose my first month's of 70 photos
(Egypt, Jordan, Prague, Madrid) by dropping my SmartMedia card somewhere in Gibraltar. And now
this story: In Oslo, my camera just stops taking pictures. I figure it must be broken,
having served me well after four years of photographs (I bought it to do my first Web
travelogue: cross country road trip).
So I go to an Oslo camera store to buy a $250-equivalent European camera. I tell the salesman I want to make
sure that I can use my old SmartMedia card with the new camera, so he takes my
card, puts
it in the new camera, presses some buttons, and says, I'm all set. Except when I take my
camera back, I realize that he's reformatted my card, erasing 350 photos from my second month of
travel (Spain, Italy, Greece, Helsinki) in just 15 seconds. OUCH!!! I put my card back
into my original camera, and surprise, it works. Great. I figure that even though I bought
a 128M Smart Media card with a capacity of almost 600 high quality photos, my camera had
trouble writing on the card at about 350 photos. I try to console myself,
saying well, at least it's a good thing I've been uploading photos to this web site weekly
(redundancy rules!),
and what would I do with all those other photos anyway, and yes, I have about 15 rolls of regular film, but still it's pretty annoying...still getting
over that one...so words of wisdom: be wary of electronics salesguys! If you're not
a first-time buyer, you probably know more than they do!
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