In two days this was probably the most… visiting as a tourist fueled occasion. Leaving reasonably early in the morning I had the chance to see Vigeland’s Sculpture Park with Ingjerd. This place is really surreal. A guy had spent endless years creating these sculptures in the park. I think it was by the start of WWII that he pretty much finished the park and it had been kept in its current form since. The centrepiece was a pilar of 47 people (or more?) up to a height of over 10 metres. It wasn’t this that caught my attention, rather the 7 babies that were slightly separate from the rest of the sculptures… I think I managed to mimic all the babies and their respective poses.
With limited time together, we thought this would be the right time to also see the 3 viking ships that had been preserved in some type of bog. Heading to the port to catch the boat that would lead us to the museum of the Vikings, we had a small break due to the Autumn weather: Rain. We did consider going into the Noble Peace Prize Museum (proximity) but due to needing to pay extravagantly we thought we would keep our kroner for the original proposition. Post boat ride, I was pretty excited with the boats on show… be wary of entry price, it was a little exuberant considering the limited amount of time and excitement one would receive out of visiting it. In saying that, all materials were from original digs.
Walking from the vikings to the boat actually saw us trekking through ambassador residential territory. Ingjerd pointed one place out and let me know how she got to know the daughter of an ambassador, but due to 3 year tenure’s the friendship was limited at the time.
Boat back to Oslo central, then a quick visit to the uni and gym at the uni for a quick tour guide, back to her place and post dinner it was time to visit another blast from the past. Jasna grew up briefly in… Bosnia (?) and moved on to Norway, with English also being a learnt language. Due to her broken leg she could not travel far. Due to some early morning appointment, our visit was short. Luckily between her place and Ingjerd’s place was her brother’s place. Actually all these places were within a couple of hundred metres away from each other, making life simple.
Pretty late, it was time for sleep. Actualy, I’m amazed at how little sleep Ingjerd needed to survive.
With me not even hearing her getting up, I think I woke up mid morning and slowly got myself organised to get to the city. The castle that also protected the settlement of Oslo was a good visit, irrespective of he rain patches, with the same being said for a set of photos that were being exhibited around the world. OK, FYI these ones were very different from the Eindhoven pictures. These pictures were strictly animal orientated ones, unlike the Einhoven ones which showed the impact of humans both onto each other and also to the surrounding environment.
Next search: A whale meal. Actually, this speciality meal was either not good to get due to the affordability or way too expensive to even consider. No whale, I ended up just getting a simple meal down some alley way, once again: Cost was ridiculous.
I had to find some orchestral hall, so to be able to meet Ingjerd. After her training session, we stopped at a bar for a catch up with a couple of her friends. I was the only person to order an alcoholic drink. Not understanding, I paid the 70 Kroner… I think this translates into $15 AUD for a Kahlua and milk. OK, no more alcohol in Scandinavia. This short visit to the bar then had us take the train near her place, have something to eat and lighten our loads and then head back in to meet some of her friends. We ended up going to some funky little bar that seemed a little different to most places I have been to. Bands were playing downstairs in the basement, while we waited for her friends upstairs. After wondering where her friends were I found out the situation, she was waiting for a certain time to go to the basement and to listen to her friend’s band. I don’t think we actually had any other friends of Ingjerd’s there and we ended up leaving a little earlier than the band had finished… early start for her again.
