Norway
Home of Thor Heyerdahl, Leif Ericson (discoverer of North America), Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Munch, The Nobel Prizes, and roughly 4.9 million inhabitants dressed in somewhat dark colors. The capital is Oslo, and for much of the year the sun is quite low on the horizon. Further north, above the arctic circle, the sun never rises in the winter and never sets in the summer. However, unless one stops to think about it, it is hard to notice, as the activity level never ceases. If it gets cold, go skiing. Warm? Fishing, hiking, camping, biking. Norway is all about doing things.
The Nazi HQ bunker at Olso Handelsgymnasium
The history of Norway during WWII is well-documented. Yet one of the most important sites for the Nazi administration in Oslo was in the current school building called Oslo Handelsgymnasium. At least on the English websites, there is little information about the headquarters where people like Josef Terboven ran things. Below the building is the original bunker, and some of the original artifacts. However, many of the pieces were acquired later, as the place was stripped when the Nazis turned it over.
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Oslo Fjord
The water around Oslo is full of character. Boats of all kinds are in abundance, from sail boats to ships and ferries to kayaks. And the houses that are on the fjord are classic. Visiting this area is not to be missed.
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Helgerendammen
Helgerendammen is a lake just north of Oslo. There are persistent rumors that there are big trout in the lake, and we we hiked the 10km through the forest to have a test. No trout were caught, but a very nice hike and decent place to camp overnight. The weather was cold and rainy, but no point in letting that get in the way of a trip out of town.
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Korketrekkeren sled run
Back in the day, Oslo set up a sled run for the Olympics. Since then, this run has been managed as a free public sledding run, some 2000 meters long and dropping 255 meters of elevation. The tram line goes to both the top and bottom of the run, so easy to get to and easy to get back to the top for another trip down. Big fun and only mildly dangerous.
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Oslo Reptile Park
The Oslo Reptile Park is a great place to see some animals from points around the globe. While the focus is on reptiles and amphibians, there are some cool spiders, scorpions and other things as well. The photo gallery does not include everything, but shows a good variety of what is there. And if you show up at 5pm on a Tuesday, you can watch them feed the animals, which is quite interesting.
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Nordic World Ski Championship Ice Sculptures
At University Square in downtown Oslo, a bit of a festival was set up in conjunction with the 2011 Nordic World Ski Championship. While up at Holmenkollen they were skiing and ski jumping, in town people were enjoying booths selling food, drinks and souvenirs. Live bands provide music for the outdoor venue, and a series of famous artworks were reproduced in ice. As this is Oslo, they were Edvard Munch related.
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Some Birds of Norway
There are a lots of bird species in Norway, 473 by Wikipedia's account. This gallery is a place to find a random assortment of bird pictures, whatever was spotted along the way that offered up a photo opportunity. They are in no particular order.
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Gronland Festival
Gronland is an ethnic area in the heart of Oslo, and every year there is a festival there with much good food and a carnival with rides and suchlike. A few pictures from this bit. Probably should have spent some time and photographed more of the food, as it was looking good, but had very little time to do so. Enjoy the festival pics!
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Frognerbadet
Frogner Park has a water park open in the summer called Frognerbadet. There is a kiddie pool, a shallow pool of Olympic size, and a similarly huge pool of deep water where lanes are sometimes set up for lap swimming (but mostly just for playing around in). Along with this, there is a diving pool, where board diving and platform diving is available to anyone willing to leap off of something into the water from varying heights. And, as a kicker, there is a water slide with three runs, but while fun, they are quite slow and cost extra.
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Vega Island
Vega Island, or Islands, is a historic spot. A UNESCO site for eider stuff, a great place to hike and tool around, and fish. Some photos of the place and the fish that we caught. Pics up as soon as I figure out the glitch with my provider.
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World's End
The end of the world is apparently in Norway. But after visiting the site, that might be a bit of a stretch. This is the end of the Tjome Island known as the "World's End". Of interest, this is also the "magic island" from the Roald Dahl books. A quick trip, and a few photos.
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Akershus Fortress and the docks and ferries nearby
This is a gallery of this and that. Some pictures from the fortress, some from riding ferries around the Oslo Fjord, and some from just around that area. There is no particular theme, other than maybe what one might see on a day trip to that part of Oslo.
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Oslo air show
The first weekend in September 2012 there was an air show in Oslo. Pretty and spectacular. The planes roared about and amused the masses. Not much more to say about it, just have a look at the pictures.
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Freia Chocolate Factory
Freia chocolates have been around since about 1892, and continue to dominate the market in Norway. It was a pleasure to have a chance to see the factory and, some of the artwork that is on display in the cafeteria. Of note, no photos are allowed on the factory floor, so there is that. But there were ample opportunities to sample the various chocolates, and that made for a very tasty tour. I do recommend a visit if in the area.
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Gaustad Iron Mine
The Gaustad Iron Mine is a very old mine, in a hill above Sognsvann Lake near Oslo with a lot of history of mining.
The mine opened back in the 1500s, and was re-opened around 1798. This information is from the geocaching site about the mine, which is the best source of information I have. The mine's history, on that site, can be found at:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCJKA5
From what I understand, the mine was much more extensive than what can be explored today. However, we made a map of the currently available passage and I will post that once it is done. For now, a gallery of photos from the mine has been put up here.
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The mine opened back in the 1500s, and was re-opened around 1798. This information is from the geocaching site about the mine, which is the best source of information I have. The mine's history, on that site, can be found at:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCJKA5
From what I understand, the mine was much more extensive than what can be explored today. However, we made a map of the currently available passage and I will post that once it is done. For now, a gallery of photos from the mine has been put up here.
SHOW ME THE PICTURES