John & Fayne in Northern Europe 2013: The Riddle of Oslo

View inside the Central Station from the Comfort Hotel

Visiting Oslo did not get off to the best start. We arrived just after 11 PM (around sunset) after a long and exhilarating trip through the fjords only to confront the mystery of how to check into our hotel. I selected the Comfort Hotel Grand Central because it is in the central train station. There were no signs anywhere, so we wandered through and outside when we spotted the hotel sign on the building we had just exited. We knew it was there, but had to circle around twice, and finally enlist the help of someone already checked in to open the door for us. The hotel has been confusingly but ingeniously been constructed from two older office buildings wrapping around the old station. We found other aspects of the hotel and of Oslo equally difficult to decipher, not due to language difficulties, as there were no signs in any language. Sometimes completing common travel activities (ie: checking in, finding the front door, turning lights on and off, etc.) were quite cryptic.The people were friendly and we came to appreciate the benefits of the hotel and the city as time progressed.

There were clues that the hotel may having been aiming for a younger, hipster clientele, such as the décor in the guest rooms,

Our room

the furnishings,

A side table possibly derived from some medieval torture device

and the fishbowl-like display of the exercise facility.

Lobby guests with a nice view of the gym above

Lobby decor

They were very proud to highlight the ironing room, but there was no evidence of a laundry (better to look good than smell good?).

But the location was great, the complimentary breakfast was delicious and plentiful enough to provide two meals, and the room rate reasonable for a very expensive country.

Oslo itself proved to be a great city for walking, with impressive old and new buildings, pedestrian streets, and parks.

Akershus Castle and Fortress

City Hall

The National Theater...

with a jolly Ibsen standing guard.

Plaza in front of the hotel (Jernbanetorget)

Looking down Karl Johansgate to the Royal Palace

The people enjoy their public statuary, much of it nude, as if ready to hop in the sauna. The mood was particularly festive at it was at the end of Pride Week.

"Håp"

A short ferry takes you across the harbor to the Bygdøy peninsula that has a fascinating collection of museums. The first stop was at the Norwegian Folk Museum, with both indoor and outdoor displays of life in Norway, past and present.

A demonstration of the traditional "Hallingdans"

Nearby is the Viking Ship Museum, an absolute must-see. In the late 18^th century, three Viking funeral mounds were unearthed near Oslo, revealing three 9^th century Viking ships and artifacts. They have been reassembled, and are stunning.

Intricately carved wooden sledge (sorry for the reflections from the glass).

A short walk away are three more recent Norse nautical museums: the Kon-Tiki Museum, the Maritime Museum, and the Fråm Museum. The first, of course, memorializes the voyages spear-headed by Norwegian adventurer and author Thor Heyerdahl. He worked on Easter Island (hence the moai outside),

and sailed the balsa-wood Kon-Tiki in the pacific

and the papyrus-reed Ra II in the Atlantic.

The Maritime museum was a master class in all that is sea-faring, but the Fråm was a complete surprise. This remarkable 137 foot sturdy wooden polar explorer made historic trips to both poles from 1892-1912, and is housed intact here.

Diorama of the ship stuck in ice

The real ship

You can walk the deck and go below board to have a look at the crew’s quarters, galley, and engine room.

The center-piece of our second day was visiting the definitive retrospective of Edvard Munch’s work on the occasion of his 150^th birth-year. Know widely for the iconic The Scream (Skrik) , he was no “one-hit wonder”. His series of self-portraits alone are amazing. The exhibition is split into two venues. Works from 1882–1903 are displayed at the National Gallery, while works from 1904–1944 can be experienced at the Munch Museum. We learned in Bergen that Munch had a serious breakdown and hospitalization around 1903, and after that his work was not as intensely angst-filled. I asked the lady at the Munch Museum (with works after 1903) “So these are paintings of the happy Munch?”, to which she responded “He was never happy.”

There was one painting in particular that moved us. His mother died at an early age, and this painting is called “Dead Mother and Child”. Notice his sister (who also died a few years later) is assuming the hand-to-cheeks, mouth-open pose of The Scream.

There is contemporary art in the new waterfront Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, as notable for the exterior as the contents.

Eulogy (1988)- Damien Hirst (Butterfly wings and household glass)

(Closeup)

Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988)- Jeff Koons

The most impressive new structure is the Opera House, on the harbor near the train station. We did not get inside, but the sloping roof is designed for strolling, concerts al fresco, and views of the city.