Places: August 2008 Archives

Norway has an interesting history.  For many years they were in a union with Denmark (not by choice), and then they were sort of given to Sweden in the early 19th century, which lasted until 1905.  It was during the union with Sweden that the Royal Palace was built.  It's a small palace compared to others in Europe, because it wasn't meant to be the primary residence of a royal family.

Today Norway's king and queen live and do their work in the palace.  The crown prince also has offices here as well.  If you are going to be in Oslo in July or early August, you should consider taking the tour.  They give tours in English about three times a day during this time.  Buy your tickets in advance at the post office, otherwise they might sell out before you can get a ticket.

One downer is that they don't let you take any pictures, and the palace's website has all their pictures in flash files.  The tour takes you through the vestibule, the bird room, the "family" dining room, the ballroom, another dining hall, and the royal chapel, plus some other rooms.  A lot of it is very ornate, much as you'd expect of a palace, although the chapel is actually fairly plain.  It doesn't necessarily show you how the king and queen live, but you get to see rooms that they use fairly often.

Picture by photojenni

One of the more interesting spaces in Oslo is the Vigeland Sculpture Park, part of the larger Frogner Park.  There are 212 granite sculptures, all designed by Gustav Vigeland in the first half of the 20th century.  The statues range from men, women and children fighting an playing to a huge column of bodies.

All of Frogner park is very popular in the summer.  Tourists come to see the sculptures, and Oslo residents stretch out on the grass to read, barbeque, play, and otherwise soak up the sun.  There are also concerts, a water park, and sports facilities that draw people in.

The image on the right is one of my favorites of the pictures I've taken at the park.  This sculpture is mounted on a bridge across a pond, and for me, this view makes me feel like I'm off by myself, away from people, even when others are right next to me.

If you ever visit Oslo, this is one of the sights you must see.

One of the future posts I'm planning is about Oslo's new Opera house.  I also have some general thoughts about living overseas that might interest some people.