Oslo

13 July 2016

First full day in Oslo- SA very happy as had 5 different types of raw fish for breakfast- 3 different types of mackerel, a herring and salmon. I had fruit, yoghurt, toast and will confess to a wafer thin pastry. Coffee of course as all watchers  of scandi crime noir shows know that you must drink lots of coffee.
Started at Opera House for a walk around the outside. It is designed to resemble a glacier emerging from the sea- it does. Then Walked to Akershus castle which is your typical European castle- originally medieval, then Renaissance and with parts built in the 1930s. Interesting bits of Nowegian history- how their kings were actually Danish for a long time and how rarely the King of Norway actually lived or in fact was born in Norway. Interesting parts about the fortress being occupied by the Nazis in WW2 and there is a resistance museum in there as well. Always interesting reading historical accounts written by another country. Sounds like the Brits were the only ones really trying to help the Norwegians during their occupation although there were some hints about a general layer of chaos with various warring resistance groups. Definitely an important part of their history though- not surprising given they were occupied for some 5 years.

Wandered to the Nobel Peace Centre next. Wasn't planning on visiting but was really interesting. Had an exhibition on the Arab Spring in Tunisia, a darkened room with individual plaques of the recipients and its special exhibit at the moment is on the 1935 winner who was a German journalist called Carl von Ossietzky- he wrote about Germany rearming and ended up imprisoned. Never heard of him . There was also some information about Alfred Nobel himself. Overall a very WW2 focused morning.

Walked back for lunch and ended up in some shopping streets- some lovely warm jumpers and shoes- so different from home. Very clean and organised city. Also noticed they have gigantic double revolving doors to get into buildings. Assume these are necessary to keep out the cold and wild  weather for most of the year. Also lots of street art- primarily largish statues and very few people smoking. There you are. Out after lunch after short pause for a rest- went to the City Hall which had some great wooden carvings of mythology- especially about Thor. Inside was also imposing- the main hall is where the ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize is held. Then to National Museum which was really interesting. Saw Munch's Scream but was crazy in there with the Chinese tourists madly snapping photos of each other. A German tourist lost her cool and berated one lot as it was impossible to view it and they did not seem to be actually looking at any of the art work. Was strange. Saw some really interesting Norwegian artists other than Munch which we enjoyed. They studied in Germany and Paris but was interesting seeing the Nordic twist. We walked up to the Royal Palace and then got caught in large summer storm! We're prepared with our coats but still absolutely drenched. Hotel bathroom has heated flooring so is currently festooned with wet clothing. Resting with Cointreau and ice- bought some duty free at Heathrow given the price generally of alcohol here.