Sunday 20 May 2012
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| View from ferry |
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| Laara, Nicole and Charles |
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| Ingunn (right) showing us the book she wrote and illustrated about her son. |
We caught the 9:40 boat to Oslo and opted to sit outside on the ferry and drink in the beautiful weather. Sitting next to us was a children's author and illustrator, Ingunn Mossberg, who, after sheepishly denying her accomplishments, confessed she was actually sitting on one of her books at that moment and showed us her charming work.
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| City Hall exterior. Many locals distastefully call it the "brown cheese" building, but we appreciated its WPA-like artistry. |
Our next, and very important, stop was the Nobel Peace Center, where Dian finally had the glory of receiving her own "Nobel Peas Prize." We bought chocolate gold coins in the shape of the Nobel prize to give out to the grandparents' friends back home.
Close by was the famous City Hall, but when we got there there was clearly a closed event happening for droves of people in traditional garb flooded into the building with tickets. We found out from someone it was the Humanistic confirmation ceremony. A woman came up to us a few moments later with the one extra ticket there was, so we each took turns looking inside not only at the glorious and colorful murals, but the people whom they represented. At this time Laara left for a business meeting, and Nicole and Dian read about ancient Norse myths that were displayed in wooden carvings outside the City Hall while Charles stayed longer for the beginning of the ceremony. He got to see those being confirmed parade down the stairway and he heard the choir sing a song.
We took a trolley to the flea market we had planned to see and enjoyed looking around the various stalls of clothes, records, knick knacks and more. Charles surprised Dian with a fairly old Daisy Duck comic book, and he got some old coins from North Korea and 1930s Russia along with a tin to protect the Nobel Peace coins from melting.
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| Trying on a bit of antique armor |
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| Lots of good people watching at the flea market. |
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| That's almost as bad as some Welsh words! |
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| We weren't the only ones with the idea to try the helmet on. |
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| We're home! |
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| Laara and Eivind |
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| "I love Oslo" and other such street artworks sprang up after the tragedy that occurred on July 22nd 2011 |
Laara and her business partner Eivind met up with us at the flea market and we ate our sack lunches with ice cream as a surprise treat. Eivind took off and we boarded the EXPEN$IVE trolley ($25 for the three of us, good for only one hour) to Vigeland Sculpture park, home of the famous 212 bronze and granite statues created by Gustav Vigeland, representing different experiences and stages of human life. The statues were quite evocative and captured human nature very realistically.
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| Laara pointing out her office |
Leaving the park, we stopped by Laara's office at the magazine for which she works (D2), and got to look out on Oslo with a different view than we had gotten before. Feeling a little low on energy we took the ferry home, but only briefly rested before going out to a seaside restaurant. Laara treated us to a glass of wine at this favorite summer beach spot. Although it wasn't necessarily "summer water temperature" for some, Dian and Laara jumped in the water as a welcome to summer. We played Boggle afterwards and made a pit stop at home to make frittatas and pack firewood and blankets for a dinner-bonfire on the beach at another favorite spot of Laara's. Meanwhile Laara stopped by to see her son Milo.
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| The office |
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| One... |
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| Two... |
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| Three! |
It was a long, unassuming trail to the water past residential homes tucked away behind trees and hillsides, but it was so worth it when we got to the shore. Nicole and Dian went beach combing for glass shards (and did not come back empty handed, to say the least) while Laara and Charles started the fire. We ate and watched the sunset, then sang a few songs on guitar before going home for an early bedtime.
Laara and her business partner Eivind met up with us at the flea market and we ate our sack lunches with ice cream as a surprise treat. Eivind took off and we boarded the EXPEN$IVE trolley ($25 for the three of us, good for only one hour) to Vigeland Sculpture park, home of the famous 212 bronze and granite statues created by Gustav Vigeland, representing different experiences and stages of human life. The statues were quite evocative and captured human nature very realistically.
It was a long, unassuming trail to the water past residential homes tucked away behind trees and hillsides, but it was so worth it when we got to the shore. Nicole and Dian went beach combing for glass shards (and did not come back empty handed, to say the least) while Laara and Charles started the fire. We ate and watched the sunset, then sang a few songs on guitar before going home for an early bedtime.
Our next, and very important, stop was the Nobel Peace Center, where Dian finally had the glory of receiving her own "Nobel Peas Prize." We bought chocolate gold coins in the shape of the Nobel prize to give out to the grandparents' friends back home.
In a vast collection of excellent photos, these are among your best. Of course, the arrival of spring in a beautiful land lends itself to lovely photos, but more importantly, Nicole, you've captured the subtext of your selected moments with a practiced eye. I especially like the photo of the two boys kneeling at the foot of the statue as viewed through the backpack straps of their mother.
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