Port 73 Oslo, Norway

by Ed · May 22, 2022

Hei, god morgen again!

We have another lovely arrival, gliding in to Oslo on May 16th, 2022!

Just like yesterday, we see cute little villages on the hillsides!

Then we slide by this beautiful islet! Is it a lighthouse? a church? or what? Ah, it’s a restaurant! Dyna fyr. It’s cute!

We finally arrive at our pier, and the ship swings around to give us a great view from our veranda!

The Oslo Opera house is gorgeous! It is intended to look like a ski slope, and it does! The glass sculpture in the water appears to be an iceberg, but the sun isn’t cooperating this morning! Not an iceberg, but a scuplture called “She Lies” and it turns with the wind and tide!

Once again we decided to not book an excursion so we can spend our time getting to know the port city. We take a walk to the actual cruise terminal which is around the point – the Viking Star grabbed that spot today – and we see a few interesting things along the way! This is part of an old military complex on the point that is now a series of entertainment halls, museums, and military association offices. Beautiful, stately brick buildings!

Adjacent to the military complex is the Fortress! The door through the wall is open, but this isn’t on our radar for today. We move on.

A grassy area under the fortress wall is a memorial to Jews who were deported to Auschwitz concentration camp from this and other Norwegian ports. All in all, 772 Jews were deported from Norway, and only 34 survived. 250 families were wiped out. The Norwegians commemorate those who were killed “in this dark chapter in Norwegian history.”

At the cruise terminal we are greeted by a group of trolls! Joy makes first contact!

Ed made second contact!

The gatemaster allowed us to enter the duty-free store.

Then this friendly fella offered us his sword! We didn’t accept because it wasn’t available duty-free. We would have to do duty in the troll army for six months.

His brothers, Yik and Yak, weren’t happy with my decision, and tried to hatch a plan to get me anyway.

Outside we see this memorial. The plaque on it reads “Over five centuries – In memory of all who have served in the Joint Fleet 1810-1814 – The Royal Navy”. Amen. And I’ll add: in memory of all those who have served in all forces since then!

Our plan for the morning is to check out the local cathedral, then head up to the Royal Palace, wind back to the Nobel Peace Prize Academy and City Hall, then head back to the ship. Ancillary sights along the way are welcome!

So here is our most distant target – the Royal Palace at the end of this road! It’s about one kilometer away at this point!

On our way to the Oslo Cathedral we first encounter the Oslo bazaars – a series of shops and stalls that wrap around the south and east sides of the Cathedral’s square!

Then the Oslo Cathedral comes into view! This imposing structure looks like it was a multi-phase project. Only the window style is consistent across all of the parts!

But the interior is OMG lovely! The Cathedral is almost an “X” with a transepts, nave and apse that are all similar in length! A large chandelier hangs in the center. This is the view from the entrance, looking toward the altar.

The apse has the altar and a set of the organ pipes. Look at the ceiling! The paintings look like they’re intended to lean forward at us, suspended on those gold chainlike supports!

This is the transept to the left, fully populated with pews. The ceiling paintings also seem to hang down!

Then the transept to the right is 3/4 full of pews. Same treatement of the ceiling!

Then looking back toward the organ pipes – Wow! The ceiling painting is a little different, similar bars, but different panels. All in all, this cathedral is lovely, but having seating on three sides seems a bit strange. It’s a good reason to keep the pulpit, though!

As we continue our trek toward the Royal Palace we encounter King Christian IV! Beautiful! I love the cape and boots!

There are a few buildings that catch my eye as we walk!

This is Christian Krohg. He was a Norwegian realism painter, writer, and journalist. He was the director of the Norwegian Academy of Arts. (I love seeing a great statue, then having to do some research to learn who it is before including the photo in my post! I learn a lot!)

This is the Norwegian Parliament building!

And standing in front of the Parliament building is a very different style of sculpture – this one is of King Christian Frederik!

And then another lovely building!

Several streets have words embedded in them. I snapped this just for an example, but didn’t know where the sentences started and stopped, or if they were even sentences at all! Now I know these words do make the start of a sentence: “Neither moralists nor art forms have…”

We found a busker with his floating on air getup! I love the unicorn! It took a while to figure out the thing wrapping over the unicorn’s back is a snake! He periodically waved his very crooked wand. He earned some of our money!

This is the Faculty of Law building, and appears to be part of the university here. The center of this has a very Parthenon-ish feel I love!

Then we make it to the Royal Palace! Ta da! The last ten minutes is a pretty steady uphill walk, and there are barricades along both sides of the street and all in front of the Palace. But reaching the Palace was worth the climb!

Here stands the statue of Karl Johan, King of Sweden and Norway! The inscription on this side of the monument literally says,”People cherished my reward.” I have to believe there is a more colloquial translation that makes more sense. Remembering our lesson in equestrian statues, this horse tells us King Johan suffered an injury in battle, but recovered and died later of natural causes.

The guards at the palace were interesting to watch. Unlike the guards at Buckingham Palace, these constantly turn their heads to survey the grounds around them. I was pleasantly surprised to realize this is a female guard! And I’ll bet she knows how to use that rifle and bayonet!

While we watched, the guard squad marched by on their way to the barracks.

There were also camera crews and sound engineers setting up their equipment. It appears they were preparing for a significant event! Joy asked a pair of camera men, and at first they were reluctant to say anything, but finally divulged that tomorrow this place will be packed with people – parents will line the streets while the children will march in a parade in costumes for a national celebration! I asked “like an independence day celebration?” They stammered and said, “well, it’s a national holiday.” OK, I researched it and May 17th is their Constitution Day, celebrating the signing back in 1814. May 8th is their Liberation Day.

Similar to the statue of King Frederik, we find a statue of King Haakon VII! This reminds me of the Slender Man from the horror stories.

We wind our way over to City Hall. On the way we find ourselves in front of the Oslo Concert Hall!

On the patio of the Vika building adjacent to the Concert Hall is this great statue called “Heptakord”! This is done in a style similar to the two previous king statues.

Spoiler alert! Look what we found!

That is on the ground in front of this auspicious building! Welcome to the Nobel Peace Center!

Turning around 180 degrees, I see the Oslo City Hall. We were told this is where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies are held. Unfortunately, neither facility has visiting hours today.