Norway Visit

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Norway Visit June 5-14,1990
My cousin Steve accompanied me and Dad this time.
The trip planning and the spontaneous
experiences in Norway, are funny and ones well
remember.
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A visit to see my old school, Majorstua, and its
immense playground. I ventured inside, but it was
eerily quiet.
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The first day ritual, a return to the familiar
site of Vigeland Park. Vigeland even sculpted the
gates, although he didnt sculpt the statue of
legendary figure skater, Sonja Henie outside.
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Quite a different view in June 1990 than in
January 1986. It was different being here in the
spring. In 1986, it was winter, the day was
overcast. The snow that capped the statues
provided a unique artistic impression -- into
that cycle of the year.
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At right, left side of bridge walkway of statues
overview of pond and circle of baby
statues. Now, it was a bright, sunny, spring
day. You could see more, with the statues
unveiled. The frozen waterfall underneath the
bridge now flowed with water.
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A view looking toward the right of the walkway
before reaching the bridge.
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There was sereneness about The ParkWe watched a
group practice A Midsummer Nights Dream for the
summer theatre (left). The cross-country skiing
trails of the winter had become the walking and
bicycling trails of the spring and summer, and
the ice hockey and figure skating rinks had
become tennis courts. The ducks and geese who had
scavenged for food in the winter of 1986 were
still scavenging in the spring of 1990.
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Statues begin along the bridge. Live pigeons
find perches on this statue.
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Twins? The statues depict the various cycles of
life from infancy to adulthood to old age. Though
some people have criticized the sculptures
because of their nudity, they capture peoples
attention because of their realism, detail
activity, shapesand emotional relationship
between the characters.
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Boys gazing toward the sky.
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The walkway leads first to a huge fountain
sculpture. In the middle is a statue of men
holding the Tree of Life, from where the water
pours into the fountain. Around the sides of the
fountain are small tree sculptures with sculpted
people inside, while around the base are
individual plaques showing stages of life and
astrological signs.
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Now you head up the steps to the Monolith statue.
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The Monolith is a 60-foot sculpture tower of
bodies on top of each other, each one sculpted
with great detail. The Monolith is supposed to
depict the struggles of life. I lay on my back
and photographed the Monolith looking up to grasp
the height of the sculpture.
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Around the Monolith are statues some odd
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-- many dealing with old age such as joyful
children with parents or grandparents.
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View from the Monolith looking the other way.
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View to the left of the Monolith, where
Holmekollen Ski Jump (red circle) can be seen in
the distance.
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You walk up the steps behind the Monolith and
find the above statue. In all there are 192
sculptures with 600 figures and 15 cast-iron
gates in The Park.
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View from the Monolith toward the entrance and
Oslo.
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Even though I had taken a number of pictures
four years before, I couldnt stop taking
pictures now and neither could Steve. Was there a
statue or pose I missed? I had gone through
changes in four years. The statues are supposed
to be about the cycles of life? Had the statues
changed, even an inch, and not just because they
had shed the snow of four years ago for the
bright sun of this June spring dayI realized the
statues imitated life because people of all ages
were using the park -- and its free...
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Eivind, who is studying to be a doctor, is doing
his internship at the hospital in Skien Angela,
now Eivinds wife, invited Steve and me to go
with her to Skien, two hours from OsloIt didnt
seem to matter that our presence might infringe
on her own limited time with Eivind. View on way
to Skien.
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The next day Eivind had to work a 24-hour shift,
so he left early in the morning. Angela was our
hostess for the day. She drove us to Kragerø, a
small resort, shopping town of 11,000 people on
the Southeast coast
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The ride to and from was captivating and scenic
with plenty of photo opportunities. We crossed
bridges over blue water, with mountains and
fjords all around.
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We were captivated by the greenery, red houses
and tunnels that were constructed through
mountains. Angela, with her ever-present smile
and good humor, helped make it a delightful day.
The sign on the barn reads Newly laid eggs for
sale. (in Norwegian)
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The town was very quaint with narrow streets,
interesting alleyways and views of the blue water
and mountainsWe were here prior to the heavy
summer season, so we enjoyed the peacefulness as
we walked around. Steve was intrigued by the
parking signs. He set up his tripod and the
self-timer on his camera, so he could get a
picture of the three of us in front of the sign.
We all looked stylish, wearing sunglasses
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A beautiful 17th century church with a tall
steeple was the centerpiece of the town.
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Eivind and Angela had sold Steve on the two of
us taking one of two cruises. For most of the
day, Angela and Steve worked to convince me.
After all the prodding and twisting of my arm, I
agreed to the trip. Of course, it took 12 hours
of coaxing, laughs Steve. We would take an
overnight boat ride to Frederikshavn in Denmark,
spend a few hours there, and take a
three-and-a-half hour boat ride to Gøteborg in
Sweden, spend the night there, and return to Oslo
Friday morning via train. We could then say we
had set foot on Danish, Swedish and Norwegian
soil on this trip. More pictures of this trip
to come.
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Our time was limited in Frederikshavn, so we
decided to go to the Bangbo Museum and Park.
While waiting for the bus, we noticed the
preponderance of bike riders of all ages --
riding on simple bikes. At one point, three
riders going in different directions converged at
the intersection.
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At Bangbo, we took a quick, but relaxing nature
walk. Besides having old buildings dating to the
19th century, the Bangbo grounds are very pretty
with a pond with various ducks inhabiting them,
walking areas
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and flower gardens. It was another example of a
calm environment within a city.
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We enter Gothenburg/Gøteborg, Sweden, the heart
of Scandinavia as it says on the boat.
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Upon returning to Oslo, we were immediately
traveling again as Torbjørn took us for the
weekend to Rauland, the village in Telemark,
where he and Debbie lived with two-year old
Ingrid three hours from Oslo. His sons from his
first marriage, Are, 14, and Audun, 9, were with
him.
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Dad takes some time to read a story to Ingrid and
Audun outside Torbjørn and Debbies house.
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They took us for a ride in the Rauland area,
where their neighbors are the mountains. This is
a favorite photo, shot from the side of the road.
Snow in June reflecting on the water.
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Picnic outside Rauland. We couldnt go further
because of too much snow. Are, me, Ingrid,
Debbie, Torbjørn, Debbie, Steve, Dad, Audun.
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Back in Oslo, we trained up to Holmenkollen,
which looks much different in the spring.
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After all we had done together, we needed a
picture of us together to close it out. There we
were by the Mt. Airy train station, arms around
each others shoulderswearing Lillehammer
Olympic T-shirtsThis perhaps was one of the most
important things to come out of this trip. Steve
and I became closer as cousins and friends We
are forever linked by Norway.
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