Travels with Hope

Tromso -- 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. As of May 19, the sun does not set in Tromso. It's unlikely I'll stay awake to see the midnight sun, but perhaps. (Tromso, a city on an island, as viewed from the top of the hill across the Tromsøysundet Strait.) (The Arctic Cathedral inside and out.)

It was such a beautiful spring day here in Oslo, our last day here. We spent it all outdoors at two different amazing parks: the Vigeland Sculpture Park and Ekeberg Park. As we walked in other parts of the city, there were many lilacs blooming, in numerous colors. The path to the palace was lined with them. Lilacs and their scent always make me happy.  Vigeland Park is home to 200 sculptures, all by Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943). He didn't change his style at all over the years, but his sculptures certainly weren't boring. His most famous piece is The Angry Boy. It is rumored that he gave a child candy, then took it away, and created his sculpture from the kid's reaction. I was intrigued by the way he captured the movement of people. After looking at these sculptures, the rest of the day we both found ourselves hyper-aware of the way children on the sidewalks around us moved -- pulling, reaching, jumping, running, turning somersaults, etc. ...

Yesterday was history, today was art. The National Museum had many artists, I focused on the Norwegian ones. I found several I liked, but never knew before. I'll just drop 2 here, one because it's so Norwegian in its subject, the other because it was reminiscent of one daily childhood ritual of my own. (September, by Erik Werenskiold, 1883) (Braiding Her Hair, by Christian Krohg, 1888) The Munch Museum was this afternoon. I didn't know much about Norway's Edvard Munch beyond his well-known "The Scream." I'm not sure I appreciate his styles (he had many) but navigating the collection with Doug gave me more context, a smidgen of understanding, and a small bit of appreciation for this artist. Doug remembers every odd detail about every artist and every painting he's ever encountered, which makes him a good companion in art museums. Our styles of viewing art are radically different but complementary. My own Munch favorites were his ...

A short ferry ride to Bygdoy today took us to several Norwegian history museums: the Norwegian Folk Museum and the Fram Museum. (The ferry/bus that got us to the museums in Bygdoy and back again.) Strolling the open-air folk museum felt like a stroll through the woods where we came upon old farm houses, churches, etc., along the way. There was another stave church here. This park/museum was begun in the 19th century by a king who wanted to preserve structures that depicted Norwegian history and culture. The buildings have all come from around the country. (The interpreter at one of the farmhouses at the open-air museum.) (The altar in the stave church.) (Many of the old buildings, even old storage sheds, had decorative touches.) The other museum was the Fram Museum, a fascinating history of Norwegian Arctic and Antarctic explorers. We could go through two of the actual ships used in exploration. Many people died trying to get ...

We had an all-day train ride today. Sadly, this is the last train ride of our vacation. The wow factor continues as we follow valleys and go over mountains. The Flam Train obviously caters to tourists -- they have a scheduled 5-minute stop by the Kjossfossen Waterfall, complete with a viewing platform. The train, which has been run on electric power since 1944, gets its energy from this waterfall. The train went over 7000 feet and when we changed trains in Myrdal, it was snowing and quite cold. Now we're back in Oslo for the next four days. Just chilling tonight and planning our adventures for the days ahead.

Train, bus, ferry. That was the progression of our day, getting from Bergen to Flam with three modes of transportation. Along fjords and rivers, past farms on mountainsides and through small towns, with views of waterfalls and mountains. These were our views, the quintessential Norwegian scenes of immense beauty. There are no words to describe the experience fully. Arriving in Flam, we already had purchased tickets to ride up the mountain to the Stegestein Viewpoint. The drive itself was interesting -- narrow roads, steep dropoffs, backing up when meeting cars. But the driver was careful and the view from above the fjord was worth it.