Vigelandparken, Part One

If there is one thing Norwegians LOVE it is the outdoors on summer days. This past Sunday was bright, clear, warm, and possibly the last one of those for a long while (winter is coming). I decided it was possibly my last good chance to revisit Vigelandparken and take more pictures.

Since it was so nice out i decided to get off the bus early and walk down the street past Majorstuen, which is basically "Central Station" for Oslo. It connects the major transit lines. You can see it is a little busy, but that is mostly because of how nice it was. Sundays are usually much more quiet.

Oslo is a city surrounded by green hills, and it makes for some surprisingly pleasant and unexpected vistas. On the picture of the bus and the road, WAY in the background up on the mountain you can see the Holmenkollen ski jump from the 1952 Winter Olympics. You might have to click and view the larger image in order to spot it. Give it a shot, it is worth the 3 seconds.

Out back where the tracks run is this weird pigeon house thing. It is sitting in this little field cluttered with the dirty little things. Also, they put it next to a bronze statue bust of some guy that is probably important enough to have a bronze statue bust made of him. The joke is on him though, because he will now be covered with pigeon crap for eternity. If I ever get a statue made of me, please shoot all pigeons on sight.

After seeing a kid run and cry while being chased by pigeons I finally moseyed my way down to the park. The facade is this huge set of stone pillars with metal lattice work in between. I took a picture, but it unfortunately didn't come out, I will try to snap another one eventually.

As you step through the gate you look up and the entire park leads up towards a giant obelisk in the distance. The front contains a grassy courtyard the no one was on. I am not certain if it is some rule or custom, but everyone seemed to stick to the paths on either side. As you can tell the entire place is packed to the hilt with people. There are families all over, there is a playground off to the left and strollers are being pushed everywhere. This may seem like an odd point, but you will see in a minute why it probably wouldn't be this way in the States.

After the grassy courtyard there is a statue lined bridge. And here is where the family thing comes into play. The entire bridge is lined with statues of people doing various things that people do; dancing, tossing children, hugging, playing and in general just being people. However, everyone is nude. I think this is actually the thing that really gives the park its charm, the statues tap the deep humanness that we all know instinctively. The people are laughing and smiling, you can't help but smile along with them. It really is a place that brings you simple joy. I also couldn't help but chuckle and thing fondly of the memories that come cascading in when I saw the statues doing things that I fondly remember. Being tossed about by my arms as a child for instance.

I took tons of pictures of the bridge, here are some of my favorite ones:

There is still much more to post and tell about. Stay tuned for Part Two!

It was like that when I got here it really was!

I think the posten is magic, it turned my carboard box into a cardboard ball. When I opened the damn thing all my my stuff had miraculously become dust.

Not really, everything survived the trip MOSTLY intact, although my computer case is rather bent up. Just remember if you ever ship me anything to mark the box "Handle with Care".

Everyone always wants to know how your flight was. Could any question be less interesting? I suppose it is courtesy, but what do you say about sitting on your ass at 30,000 feet for 7 hours? So here is the short of it... I read, I ate, I slept, I watched Crystal Skull, I slept, I watched Prince Caspian, and then I talked to the cute girl next to me for 30 minutes while the flight landed.

Now you might ask yourself (Kris will), "Peter, why did you wait until the last 30 minutes to talk to the cute girl you were sitting next to?" And the answer is... I am an idiot. Nothing more to it than that really.

Then I was in Amsterdam. Everyone has GREAT stories about Amsterdam, I mean, that place is just WILD. Except I spent it all in the airport, so I have nothing. Well, the customs agent said hi, that was pretty exciting.

I did talk to the guy in front of me in the customs line when I heard him mention Rhode Island to someone else. Apparently he lives in Warwick and went to Tollgate High School. I run into people from Warwick wherever I go, including on the Via D.C. trip. I probably ride the bus with someone from Warwick every day and don't even know it.

I arrived in Oslo to great fanfare, there was a 21 gun salute and the Swedish Bikini Team placed a lei around my neck. Why the lei? I don't know, you'll have to ask them.

Erik and Lawrence met me in the terminal, sans bikini (although I've seen evidence that Lawrence may be able to comfortably wear one). I am glad they were there otherwise I might have ended up walking to Funcom.

We ate a strange looking pizza and then I was whisked off to my new home. When Erik gave me the key I naturally assumed we were living in a Medieval Castle.

But that isn't so. It is pretty nice, besides a castle is probably all damp and moldy anyway. The building used to be dorms for factory workers in the '20s that has been converted over into flats. The outside looks pretty nice and there is a grassy courtyard for what I assume are summertime activities (please let sunbathing be an activity). Right now there is work being done on the roof, so I have scaffolding out the window (it's in some of the pictures).

My room is way, WAY bigger than I thought it was going to be, right now it echoes. Hopefully, after I get a p-number and can actually open a bank account I will head over to IKEA and get some furniture. As for now... well what you see is what you get.

That's really it for now. Coming up next episode... Frogner Park!