Well, we’ve made it a week in quarantine. Today we got COVID tested, and hopefully by tomorrow we’ll get our results. That would give us Monday to be regular tourists who can go into shops, museums, restaurants etc. Then Tuesday morning we will head off to the airport to fly to Svalbard.

    The research team at Oslo waterfront
    The research team posing in front of the waterfront in Oslo, taken from Akershus Fortress.

    Sculpture at Akershus Fortress
    A poignant sculpture reflecting on the horrors of war, titled “Glory, Glory with Crutches”, at the Akershus Fortress.

    Akershus Fortress
    A scene at Akershus Fortress in Oslo.
    On Thursday I took a run over to Vigeland Park, an amazing park full of sculptures using only human forms, carved by the sculptor Gustav Vigeland. It’s really impressive to see what Vigeland was able to create using the human form.

    Sculptures in Vigeland Park
    Sculptures along the entrance to Vigeland Park.

    Sculptures in Vigeland Park
    Sculptures in Vigeland Park

    Vigeland Park obelisk
    The “Obelisk” in Vigeland Park

    The weather continues to be excellent. A bit hot by Oslo standards, but I can’t complain given how hot it has been in the United States. All week it’s been in the high 70’s, and yesterday and today it got into the mid 80’s. That’s really warm for this city. (I'm really looking forward to the high 30's in Ny Ålesund!)

    With the weather so warm, it fells like all of Oslo is out today. Any park in the city the grounds is chock full of people. At the waterfront today there were literally thousands of people sunbathing and swimming.

    Sunbathers along Oslo waterfront
    This scene with thousands of Sun-starved sunbathing Norwegians, along the Oslo waterfront stretched for probably a mile or so.

    Xander and Mark diving into the water
    Xander and I take the plunge into the North Sea!

    Xander and Mark in the water
    The water was particularly refreshing on this hot day!

    Author
    Date
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Weather Summary
    Hot and Sunny
    Temperature
    30°C (86°F)

    Comments

    Frankie

    Those Statues are really cool! When were they built? Are they old or new?

    Mark Goldner

    Hey Frankie! The statues are in an amazing park called Vigeland Park. The sculptures were created in the 1920's and 1930's by sculptor Gustav Vigeland. Every sculpture uses the human form doing a variety of activities. Some of the activities the sculptures depict are ordinary activities, like playing, running (and even a small child throwing a tantrum!). Some of them are more intense and emotional, and some are very abstract. But they all use mostly just the human body as the main part of the sculpture. Plus it's in a beautiful city park, so it was a really great place to visit while we were in quarantine!