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!