Oslo Day 8

A jam packed day of sightseeing in Oslo. It was a bit drizzly at times today but not the rain all day that was predicted so I’m calling that a win. And it didn’t make me alter any plans I had so that’s even better. On the bright side the flowers are super vibrant and the grass a bright green.

First stop was at the Fram Museum. This museum holds the 128-foot steam and sail-powered ship that took Ronald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen deep into the Arctic and Antarctic further north and south than any vessel had gone before. It’s quite an epic story and I’m pretty sure my mouth was hanging open hearing about it from this guide. You actually get to walk onto the ship and there are video screens all around you simulating what the conditions were for the ship - even seeing polar bears on the ice around the ship. It’s really well done and comparing it to the Vasa which I saw in Stockholm I liked this much better. But this ship sailed in 1903-1906 and the Vasa in 1628 so not really an apples to oranges comparison. My pictures don’t do it justice because it’s huge!

Next a visit to Vigeland Park. This is really the pride and joy of the people of Oslo. The park contains a lifetime of work by Norway’s greatest sculptor Gustav Vigeland. He designed 192 bronze and granite statue groupings - 600 figures in all that are all about the cycle of life. It’s spectacular and set in a pristine park and the figures almost brought me to tears. Totally free and open to everyone so don’t miss it.

Next stop City Hall. In Scandinavian capitals City Halls are very important because democracy and the running of the town to make the city good for all the citizens is extremely important. This beautiful building was started in 1931 but not finished until 1950 due to WWII. It’s very detailed both on the inside and the outside telling the story of the history of Norway through statues and murals.

The Nobel Peace Center is in Oslo as well. The ceremony takes place in the main central hall of City Hall (the other Nobel prizes are given out in Stockholm) but this is a museum totally dedicated to the works of the Peace Prize winners. I didn’t go in but I know that the curved bench in front of it is designed in that way so that when people sit on it they have to sit next to each other. There is an inscription below the bench from Nelson Mandela that says “The best weapon is to sit down and talk.”

I spent a couple of hours at the beautiful new National Museum. A brand new very modern building that just opened in the past 2 years. Much larger I was told than the old museum and really wonderful. As I mentioned yesterday Edvard Munch is from Norway and has a separate museum recently opened here - but I knew the National Museum had a fairly large collection of his work including his most famous painting done in 1895 “The Scream”. So since I only had time for one decided to go with the National Museum and I’m so glad I did. So many great artists featured and also a big section of Scandinavian furniture and design. Also a fantastic fashion exhibit of gorgeous dresses dating back to the 1930’s to current years with gowns from the two most recent Queens of Norway and various celebrities gowns they wore to the Met Gala and the Cannes Film festival. Also the very first Monet painting that was ever purchased. Who knew it went to Norway!

I happened across this familiar face while walking. Hello Mr President! A statute to Franklin D. Roosevelt to thank him for the help the US gave to Norway during WWII.

My dinner tonight was at a place I’ve walked by a few times close to the water. Café Skansen got good reviews so I had a lovely dinner of cod, potatoes, asparagus and radishes in a cream sauce. It seems everything comes in a cream sauce but it’s delicious. I ate every bite😋

So many pretty boats in the harbor. Actually it’s the Oslo fjord but tomorrow I’m heading into the mountains for hopefully great views of the fjords. I’m super excited and can’t wait to see in person what I’ve seen in pictures so often. Fingers crossed the weather holds up. On to the fjords!

Oslo Day 7

Country number 3 - Norway! Most of today was getting from Stockholm to Oslo. Hotel to airport - wait for two hours - then fly to Oslo - then to hotel. The airport in Stockholm was awesome. A very modern or ultra modern security checkin where you don’t need to take anything out of your luggage or take your shoes off - and they don’t have TSA pre-check so it’s for everyone. All in all a very pleasant experience. And the flight was only a little more than an hour.

Oslo is the largest city in Norway, but it’s quite a bit smaller than Stockholm. The central part of the city is very walkable, and a wonderful mix of old and very modern and new. Norway is a very wealthy country - one reason being they have lots of desirable natural resources - like oil. They are not a member of the EU by choice. They have more to lose than gain by joining the EU, but they do participate in some ways. Considered to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world due to their mountains and fjords - which I am planning to see! Praying the weather cooperates.

After checking into my hotel I took my usual get my bearings walk around, with a few specific destinations in mind. First up the Oslo Opera House. It was built in 2008 and is right on the water angling up to a roof that you can walk right up onto from the outside.

Of course I had to walk up to the top and see the wonderful views of the water and the downtown area. These are pictures taken from the top. The bottom right is the Munch Museum - the only Norwegian painter to have a serious impact on European art . You know him because he did The Scream - something I think at some point we can all relate to. It’s a brand new very modern building that just opened in I believe 2020. If it rains tomorrow I may find myself going there.

I walked by their Parliament building built in 1866. Norway has a King but he is really just a figurehead. The country is run by Parliament and a Prime Minister.

Speaking of the King I headed to the Royal Palace next. Completed in 1849 it is very impressive and while you can’t enter except certain times of the year when tours are available, you can walk right up to the front door. It is surrounded by gorgeous gardens which are open to everyone to enjoy and because it was a beautiful day lots of people doing just that. Including me.

I exited out the back of the palace grounds and walked through a gorgeous neighborhood behind the palace. I think that’s where the people that own the oil live. It reminded me a little of Vienna which is also so beautiful.

I needed to eat so had some delicious fish at a very quaint local restaurant called Gamle Raadhus. I think it was cod with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Not for sure but for sure it was delicious. That’s it for today. I have a good plan for tomorrow but hoping the predicted rain either doesn’t happen or is light. No matter what it will be a great day🤗

Stockholm Day 6

I feel like I have barely scratched the surface of Stockholm, and I’m already heading to Norway tomorrow. Just a good reason to come back I guess. I’ve been so fortunate with the weather and today was really nice also. I walked 7.5 miles so definitely covered some ground. Here are some fun facts. Stockholm is made up of 14 islands, and you can walk between many of them easily. There is a lot of rock and that is because of the ice age. It compressed the ground and formed rock. Consequently most homes and buildings don’t have basements. Too expensive to have to blast through all that rock to build, and much of the city is built on pilings similar to Amsterdam. The pilings are driven into the rock bed to secure the buildings. The city is surrounded by the Baltic Sea and a fresh water lake. Swedes love music and 10% of the population sings with some kind of choir. Some choirs have as many as 1000 members - which would be perfect for me so my voice could meld with 999 people that can actually hopefully carry a tune.

I spent time walking around the old town called Gamla Stan which was all of Stockholm prior to the 1600’s. It has very narrow roads so there is hardly any cars allowed because they just wouldn’t fit. The Royal Palace and Parliament are on Gamla Stan also. Top left - a rune stone dating back to the Viking-age held in place by a cannon barrel. Top right - one of the very narrow cobblestone streets. Bottom left -a town well dating back prior to 1520 and the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath where 80 of Stockholm’s top officials were killed during a Danish takeover. Bottom right - statue of King Gustav III considered to have turned Stockholm from a dowdy port into a sophisticated European capital.

Here’s a picture of Parliament.

This was the first bank in Stockholm dating back to 1680. It’s on a very cool square with restaurants that looked good.

Next I visited the Nobel Museum which opened in 2001 in the old stock exchange building. Alfred Nobel was born and lived in Stockholm and was a great inventor. He had over 300 patents the most successful being dynamite. He intended it for good purposes to help with construction and blast into the modern age, and was unhappy when it was used for destruction and war. He wanted his legacy to celebrate and support people with great ideas and that’s why he started the Nobel prizes. It was interesting and has lots of interactive exhibits, films and kiosks to find and read about every prize winner. One of my favorite exhibits was one where many of the winners donated something of great importance to themselves to the exhibit. Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 and the top right photo shows the shawl she donated that was the shawl she wore when she made a great speech at the United Nations in 2013. I was fortunate to hear her speak in person in Kansas City and she was so impressive. And this all happened when she was just about 16 years old! So inspirational.

They do a big changing of the guard every day at the Royal Palace at 12:15. It takes about 45 minutes and was fun to see. The palace is the largest in Europe - even larger than Buckingham Palace in London. The Royal family has no power to govern but they seem to be much loved by the majority of Swedes.

I went to the Vasa Museum in the afternoon which is actually one of Europe’s great sight seeing attractions but sadly my pictures didn’t turn out at all. Definitely operator error. It’s fairly dark inside to protect the ship I think so maybe that had something to do with it. Anyway it’s a huge ship that was built in 1628 as a warship and was supposed to be the greatest one of the time, but it only sailed for 40 minutes before it blew over and sank to the muddy bottom of the Baltic Sea. It stayed there for over 300 years until they finally got it out of the mud in 1959. There is a movie that showed how they got the boat out and to me that was a bigger accomplishment than building the boat!

I headed to another part of the city called Östermalm that I had read was a wonderful residential area with cool restaurants and shops. This is a picture as I’m crossing the bridge to get from one island to the other. So many beautiful boats and cute little cafes that are all over the banks of the water.

I happened across a wonderful old-time market called Saluhall that dates back to 1888, but now has wonderful restaurants around the inside perimeter with the whole inside all specialty food stalls. It all looked so amazing - fresh and beautiful.

I was pretty hungry as it was late afternoon and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I had been considering trying the national dish of Sweden - meatballs, mashed potatoes, pickled cucumbers and lingonberries and when I saw a restaurant inside the market that looked really good decided to go for it. Happy to report it was delicious! I couldn’t quite finish the large portion they gave me but I came close.

There is still so much to do and see here in Stockholm - but I feel fortunate I got at least a sample of what a beautiful city it is. On to Norway! 🇳🇴

Copenhagen to Stockholm Days 4 & 5

I joined a tour in Copenhagen to go through Sweden and Norway and so far it’s going well. Nice people and a good way to see more of the countryside than flying from big city to big city. We left Copenhagen yesterday during the Monday morning rush and I have never seen so many people getting to work on bikes. 10 to 1 bikes versus cars - so cool. Denmark is a fairly flat country which is why it’s such a great place to bike, and maybe a good reason why the last two years the Tour de France winner is from Denmark. Even along the highways there are bike roads. It’s a pretty small country - about the size of Vermont, but has lots of islands so all totaled a huge coastline. Also it consistently ranks very high as one of the happiest countries in the world so they are doing a lot of things right.

The first place we stopped was at Mangholm Farm which is one of the top organic farms and has a lovely restaurant they supply all food for from their farm in addition to 7 of the top restaurants in Copenhagen. They have their own cattle and sheep that are from old Danish breeds and we got a tour of the farm that was so interesting. I have never been a gardener of any sort so my knowledge is minimal at best, but I learned a ton and it made me more willing to pay for organic food now seeing everything that goes into it. Plus we had a delicious mid morning snack that was the best coffee cake I think I’ve ever had. And I’ve had plenty!

Kronborg Castle in Helsinør is right across the channel from Sweden so we stopped there for a quick lunch before taking the ferry across to Sweden. Most famous because Shakespeare set Hamlet at this castle. We didn’t have time to go in but I read that it’s most impressive from the outside anyway. Then we hopped on the ferry named Hamlet and took the 13 minute ride into Sweden. Hello Sweden!

We spent the night at a wonderful manor home called Toftaholm. This place was magical. Set in the countryside on a beautiful little lake with an island that has the ruins of a castle dating back to the 1400’s. You can easily walk over to the island and climb up into the ruins and have an Outlander moment. At least that’s what it felt like to me. If you haven’t watched the series on Netflix you have no idea what I’m talking about but if you have then when I say I was afraid to touch the rocks you know what I mean! And there are the friendliest cutest sheep on the island that come right up to you when they aren’t eating the trees and beg you to pet them. Adorable!

And here’s the main house where all the meals are held. Two annexes on either side with cozy sweet comfortable rooms. I slept the best night of the trip so far as it was so quiet and peaceful.

Right before dinner they have a story teller come and it sounds kind of hokie but it was actually good. She is dressed as Queen Cristina and she tells the story of the ruins of Toftaholm including a ghost. Queen Cristina actually stayed there in the 1600’s so lots of history there. I did not see the ghost because as I said I had a great nights sleep.

The dinner was fantastic. I was expecting more of a country meal but it was 100% gourmet. Nettle soup with egg, trout with beetroot and horseradish foam, and for dessert poached rhubarb with strawberry sorbet, cake roll and white chocolate. Yumm!

Today was mostly driving through the countryside to get to Stockholm, but it was beautiful. I didn’t really know what to expect and one word comes to mind - pine trees. Is that two words? Anyway that’s what it is. The highways are so great, clean and well maintained. And lots of farms when it’s not pine trees with beautiful red barns and manicured land.

We made a rest stop and I got to enjoy my first taste of Fika. No that’s not a food. It’s what they call Sweden’s coffee break. It’s a morning or afternoon break for coffee and some type of pastry or cinnamon roll. I went with the cinnamon cardamom and it was delicious. I’ll do it again tomorrow and continue the tradition in the states.

Right across the road from our Fika stop was more ruins dating back to the mid 17th century. Brahehus was built as a country retreat for the Lord High Chancellor and you could just walk over and see it from the inside and out. Fabulous view of the lake and more beautiful farms. Another Outlander moment.

Made it to Stockholm and had time to walk around and get my bearings. I took Rick Steves Modern City Walk tour which started at the beautiful city garden called Kungsträdgården which originally was the King’s Garden. Now the central gathering place for the Stockholm people and they do concerts there and food festivals etc. It was a pretty day so lots of people out enjoying the weather.

Here is a picture of the city concert hall which hosts the annual Nobel Prize award ceremony. Built in 1926 in Swedish art deco design.

I walked by lots of cool stores - many showcasing Swedish design in not just clothing but furniture and home goods. I may need to check that out a bit closer tomorrow, in addition to seeing lots more of the history of such an important city. So check back again - I will have hopefully lots more to share. Maybe even a picture of some Swedish meatballs!

Copenhagen Day 3

It’s my last day in Copenhagen, and it started out a little cloudy but then cleared up and was beautiful. Good thing for all the people doing the Copenhagen Ironman today. The run went right past my hotel and it was fun to see some of the athletes, but it took all day so what a grueling challenge. The finish line was right in front of the Christiansborg Palace, and if you watched Bergen on Netflix that’s where most of it takes place.

I also got to see the Little Mermaid statue from the front. It’s actually fairly small. Kind of like seeing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. She has been vandalized a couple of times - once losing her head and once her arm. Really? What kind of person hates on the Little Mermaid? But now she has lights and more security so she’s doing pretty well. A huge crowd of people so she’s very popular. A cool seaplane in the background.

Next stop Amalienborg Palace. This is where the current queen actually lives. The top picture is her residence, but there are 4 basically identical houses that look like that around a central courtyard. One for the reigning Queen or King, then one for the next in line, one a guest house, and one a museum. They have royal guards that stand just like at Buckingham Palace and have the changing of the guards - but if the queen is gone then it’s far less of a production. That was the case today since she is in France. Bottom right picture is of their church. It’s called the Marble Church and is right between two of the houses. Quite stunning. Also the statue of the man on the horse is Frederick V.

Then I headed over to an area called Christianshavn. It’s across the bridge from the central part of town and very residential and beautiful. I read that it used to be a merchant’s district and fell into bad condition until a couple of decades ago when it had a resurgence and is now considered very desirable with wonderful renovated apartments and condos, cool restaurants and great canal walks. I researched a good restaurant to have a staple here in Denmark - the open face sandwich for lunch. It did not disappoint. They recommend 3 per person but I couldn’t even finish two. They are served on amazing rye bread. Top right was potato, red onion and a crab cake. Bottom right was beetroot with fried goat cheese on top. They have at least 20 different combinations - some with sea food, beef and chicken in addition to vegetarian. Delicious!

I just wandered around and sat on a few benches and enjoyed all the boat traffic through the canals. So many beautiful boats including some that looked like people might actually live on them.

They have a church in Christianshavn called Our Savior’s Church that you can pay a few dollars and climb the 400 stairs to get to the top of the tower. I thought about doing it but it wasn’t the 400 stairs that made me say no - it was the fact that the top part is totally open and there is no way I wouldn’t have been gripping the wall and totally freaking out with my fear of open height. I could actually see people climbing those spirals and it made my head spin. But looks amazing even from the outside. So if you’re there ever check it out and it might be right up your alley. They say you have a great view of the whole city and I totally believe it.

Here is a good picture of the new Copenhagen library. It’s enormous and called the Black Diamond. It angles up so larger at the top than the bottom. It picks up the reflection off the water and shimmers on a sunny day. It’s connected to the old library right behind it so a perfect example of the old and new working together. A fantastic wonderful resource for all the people of Copenhagen.

Something I’ve never seen before - rent an umbrella. I’ve seen rent a bike and rent a scooter, but I guess since it rains quite a bit up here you can just rent a nice big umbrella. I haven’t seen this in the states yet but I think it’s a great idea for big cities where people walk a lot like NYC and Chicago. Thoughts?

I’ve mentioned how people really enjoy the water here and it’s been a bit of a surprise how much swimming I’ve seen. There are some areas cordoned off that appear to be where you’re supposed to swim, but people put down towels just about anywhere that is close in height to the water and just jump in. And you see structures like this one along the boardwalk too. Pretty creative. Who needs a waterfront summer house in Copenhagen when you can jump in anywhere.

Copenhagen has really exceeded my expectations. Such a beautiful city with so much history, but also really embracing the future with new designs and energy efficiency. The people are friendly and helpful and appear to really enjoy life. I highly recommend putting it on your list and I may add it back on mine for a return visit. Next stop Sweden! Check back and thanks for coming along! 🇩🇰