OSLO, NORWAY

                                     Norway's Largest City

         We arrived in Oslo from Denmark by ferry in the early morning. The center of town is small and the architecture more modern than we’d seen previously. The streets are narrow. Oslo has city bikes like Copenhagen, but many fewer bike riders.

    Oslo, founded in 1048, is located at the end of the 60 mile long Oslofjord and is framed by water and forested hills. The capital city has a population of a little over 500,000. The Akers River, running east and west through the city, is only five miles long, but drove flour mills in the 1300s, saw mills in 1500s, and the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s. Nature is at your doorstep with fields, forests, fjords, farms, mountains and meadows all within the city limits. Oslo is Norway’s only big city.

      A combination of Scandinavian-style socialism and a reverence for antiquity define the city. The city has great architecture, sweeping boulevards and imposing buildings. Well preserved buildings and the polished royal palace are alongside innovative facilities---recycling refuse and sonic traffic signals are a couple of examples. The low key casual city has a pleasant city center that is a jumble of old and new architecture. The small capital has a busy port, many parks, lots of statues and good museums. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo each December. Buses, trams and a subway make getting around the city easy.

      Most city sites are clustered around the main boulevard, Karl Johans Gate which runs from the train station to the Royal Palace. The city relocated after a 1624 fire. Stones from church facades were taken to build the fortress. The city has 30 miles of tunnels. Norway knows how to build tunnels and there are many in the country!

      Several glass high-rise buildings blend in with the older architecture. The stock exchange dates to 1856 and the American Embassy is a black modern building with lots of tall narrow windows that almost look like gun placements. We haven’t seen a good looking American Embassy yet.

      There are statues of both FDR and Churchill in the city. Norway is most grateful for the American and British help during WW II. Chestnut trees in the park date to 1898.  The first skating rink was built in 1904 and is where Sonja Heine practiced before winning her three Olympic gold medals.

     There are 60,000 boats registered in Oslo, and harbors seem to be full of them for the summer. In winter the boats are taken out in the water because of ice.

     Parliament is an 1866 odd shaped yellow brick building. It flies the flag when parliament is in session. The granite lions at the entrance were made by prisoners at the fort. In 1940 the Nazis used the building as a prison.

    

    The  Grand Hotel is across the street from the Parliament building. The stately 1870 building was constructed a decade after Stortinget and is where Nobel recipients stay.

    

     In 1299 King Haakon V constructed the fortress, Akekshaus Festning, to counter the Swede threat from the east. In 1824 fire destroyed the city and it was rebuilt in brick and stone. The park-like grounds provide good views of the harbor and fjord.  During WW II the Germans used Akerhus as a prison and execution grounds. Today it is the site of the Resistance Museum.  The museum tells the story of WW II experience, appeasement, Nazi invasion, resistance, liberation and finally return of the king. It is told in a one way chronological order. Since I missed the Resistance Museum in Copenhagen I wanted to visit this one. The museum is well done and everything is explained in English.

      Akerhus Slott castle, also dating to 1299 overlooks the harbor and is one of Oslo’s oldest buildings.  In the 15^th century King Christian IV renovated the castle into a Renaissance Palace. We did not have time or much desire to tour the castle, but we did a quick look-see since it is located at the fort.

      Norwegian trolls live in the mountains. Stories of them abound and children grow up on the stories, many of which are teaching tools. Trolls are much like fairies and leprechauns and are popular items in shops.

Stave Church

      Beside many tunnels the country also has many speed cameras on their roads. After three hours of driving and viewing gorgeous scenery including snow on the mountains we stopped at the spectacular Kjosfossen waterfall with its 590-foot drop. Then on to an original stave church in Borgund. Built in 1129, there was an admission to enter the church and the young people guarding the church wouldn’t even let you get close enough to get a good picture. Stave churches were a blend and bridge of Viking paganism and Christianity. Overnight in 1066 it was declared that everyone would be Lutheran. At one time there were over 1000 stave churches, but today only 25 remain.

See posts:  Frogner’s PK 6-16-10      Viking Museum 2-27-11           

                   Bergan4-7-13 & 4-10-13   Flam Train 8-5-12     

                       Nobel Peace Center  9-26-10    Norway 9-14-14

HELSINKI SITES

                                               A Charming City

Senate Square was once a town square with a church and city hall, but its buildings were burned in 1808 during the Swedish-Russian war. Senate Square surrounded by pale yellow buildings form a unique and cohesive example of Neo-Classical architecture.  The church was rebuilt using St. Petersburg as a model.  The statue in the center of the square is of Czar Alexander II. Many university buildings are in the immediate area. The University accommodates 36,000 students, 60 percent of whom are female.  Diagonally across the square, the small blue stone building, 1757, with the slanted roof is one of only two pre-Russian-conquest buildings remaining in Helsinki,

Café Kapelli  built in 1860 has a glass tower on each end.   In the 19^th century the old fashion gazebo-like oasis was a popular hangout for intellectuals and artists. We had a fantastic lunch here and were able to sit in one of the glass towers to people-watch while we ate. Our meal was topped of with a scrumptious cloudberry dessert. I first ran into cloudberries in Newfoundland. They look like a raspberry and are about the same size, but are yellow-orange in color.

Market Square, Kauppatori, at the harbor end of the Esplanade, also is known as the Fish Market. It is a lively place and the heart of the city.  It mostly contains produce with a few souvenir and crafts kiosks intermingled. The fish stalls are on the outside facing the water. The fountain, dating to 1908, showcases a mermaid surrounded by water-spewing dolphins, and is a symbol of the city. The obelisk in the center of the market is called Czarina Stone. The double headed eagle, a remnant of imperial Russian rule, is the city’s first public monument and dates to 1835.

Esplanade Park, stretching west to the main thoroughfare Mannerheimintie, was established in the 1830s.  Running from Market Square to the Swedish Theater the boulevard has a broad expanse of trees and gardens in the middle. Small shops, department stores, and cafés abound. In the center of the wide center path of the esplanade was a series of bronze sculptures called Las Meninas.

     The sculptures looked like Spanish women dressed for a ball. Graduated in size, they held out their skirts like they were ready to enter a room or climb a flight of stairs. I understood they were part of a rotating exhibit, but I don’t know how long they were in the park.

The four people on the façade of Train Station, 1916, represent peasant farmers with their lanterns entering the capital. The building is an easily recognized landmark. The granite monument represents a transition between National Romanticism and the new Functional style. Besides domestic train travel there are three daily trips to Russia.

Helsinki’s blue and white City Hall, was designed in 1833 as a hotel. The building, located on the southern side of Senate Square, dates back to the 1700s. Until the early 1900s the City Hall Quarter was the center of commerce and social life in Helsinki. This building has housed City Hall since 1930. The mayor’s office is above the large balcony overlooking the harbor.

See posts: Rock Church 4-4-12   Sebelius monument 9-16-12   

                  Churches 7-27-11      Finnish Trivia 5-11-11