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Thursday, May 19, 2022
The Royal Palace, Karl Johan's Gate and back to Bygdøy
19 May 2022.
[Warning! Lots of photos on today's post. Viewer discretion advised.]
Another in a long line of leisurely breakfasts at home before setting out for a day of exploration. Once showered and dressed it was off to the nearby tram stop. We took the no. 13 to the National Theater stop and then walked up to the Royal Palace. Due to the huge crowds on Constitution Day we had missed this place when we were out with Berenice.
As we walked up to the palace square we passed an older gentleman and his accordion and I couldn't resist dropping 20kr into his cup. . .
Once we arrived at the palace we were surprised to learn no one was expecting us. As a result we strolled around the building and through some of the gardens that had once been the private reserve of the monarchy but now a very public garden.
view back down Karl Johan's Gate to the train station
Queen Maud - note the dancer-like pose of the gardener
rear of the building for all the comings and goings
Camilla Collett (1813-1895), Norwegian poet and writer
in a nearby children's play area
crown princess Marthe of Norway (1901-1954), mother of the present King Harald V
Leaving the royal gardens we strolled down Karl Johan's Gate past a lovely garden running beside the national theater. Here we met several fascinating individuals. . .
Johanna Dybwad (Norwegian stage actress1867-1950)
Eve Wenche Steenfeldt Stang (1927-1911), AKA Wenche Foss, Norwegian stage, screen and TV actress
Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754), Norwegian playwright, writer and essayist
Gunnar Sønsteby (1918-2012), member of the Norwegian resistance 1940-1945
Leaving the park and the national theater we continued walking down Karl Johan's Gate. In case you wondered Karl Johan (Charles John) was born Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte in Pau, France. He eventually joined the army and rose to the rank of Marshal of the French Empire under Napoléon I. Through events far too complicated and convoluted to be recounted here, Jean ended up being appointed King Charles XIV of Sweden and was instrumental in uniting Norway (against its will) with Sweden.
Large stretches of the street were pedestrianized and in fact this is the major street in Oslo. We passed the showroom of the Chinese-made Nio electric car where their latest models were on display. One of their major selling points is the ability for the owner to have the battery packs switched out depending upon the driving needs of the moment.
retail about $61,000 without battery
retail about $645,000
We did have one objective for going down this particular street; it houses the nearest Nespresso store. We popped in and picked up a couple of sleeves that should get us through our Bergen stay (the apartment there has a Nespresso machine, so we are informed).
the tiger in front of the central station
As we neared our apartment we stopped in for fika at BonBon Oslo, a small cafe right around the corner from our place. Susie had a ham and cheese crepe and I had Belgian waffles with marscapone creme and strawberries. Tasty indeed!
Leaving the apartment we hopped on the no. 13 tram to Dronningens Gate where we switched to the no. 12 that dropped us off at the ferry terminal behind the Oslo city hall (the Akers Brygge stop if you must know). We were just in time to hop aboard the ferry that would take us to Bygdøy and our next round of museums.
Just as we stepped off our ferry I caught a glimpse of a cruise ship leaving Oslo (quite possible the same one we saw in Stockholm) heading in the opposite direction of a ColorLine cargo ship coming into port.
Once back on land we could easily see our first museum, the Fram, which houses explorer Roald Amundsen's eponymous ship used in his discovery of the South Pole in 1911.
Just off the jetty where the ferry dropped us are a series of lovely markers memorializing various aspects of Norway's recent past.
one boat that has seen better times
memorial to World War II
statues of the five men on the 1911 South Pole expedition
The museum exhibitions of Amundsen and his explorations, especially of his successful discovery of the South Pole are indeed impressive. One can even go aboard the ship and walk through the various compartments, all of which is well-signed in Norwegian and English. They even recreate the feeling of being aboard a ship underway, such as to make one a bit seasick!
There is also a second building housing the Gjoa, which Amundsen used to sail through the Northwest Passage in Canada and the USA in 1905.
From the Fram we walked across the bus turnaround to our next objective - Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki museum housing the original balsa wood raft used to sail from South America to Polynesia and the Ra II reed raft he used to sail from North Africa to the Caribbean.
Fascinating exhibitions to be sure but we had another reason to enjoy the visit. As we were leaving we stopped at the ticket counter to ask what became of Liv Heyerdahl, Thor's wife. She and Thor spent some years in remote parts of Polynesia studying the cultures and various aspects of local life. It turned out one of the young woman at the desk was in fact Thor's great-granddaughter! She informed us that they were divorced early on in his obsession with the Kon-Tiki expedition and she eventually remarried to James Stillman Rockefeller, Jr. She died at her home in Camden, Maine, USA.
Also in the museum is a replica of the Ra II, which Heyerdahl used in his crossing of the North Atlantic.
the Ra II
Thor at his desk
Leaving the museums we walked to the ferry landing just in time to catch the one back to the city hall.
looking back at the museum landing
v
approaching the city hall landing one easily grasps the extent of the city's fortress
Frogman at the city hall pier
the backside of the Oslo city hall
tram and pedestrianized street between city hall and the pier
the front of the city hall
wooden reliefs recounting various stories from myths and fables adorn both sides of the city hall pavilions
From the city hall we walked to the nearest tram stop and took the no. 13 back to our neighborhood. Before returning home we strolled over the Munch Museum. There was a wait for tickets for Oslo Pass holders so we decided to skip it for the time being. As we walked home we passed the showroom for another Chinese electric car company, X-peng. Besides the traditional models they also had this drone for humans on display.
The future comin' at ya!
Tomorrow is our last day in Oslo. Can't wait to see what we decide to see!
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