Thanks to one of the community workers in Lillestrom, I was able to arrange for a COVID test and be released from quarantine on Friday. Otherwise, I would have had to wait until today (Monday). So, I left Olavsgaard and spent the weekend in Oslo.
Oslo is a great, diverse city with a terrific mix of old and new - the amount of construction rivals what I saw in Nanning, China. There are sleek, modern apartment complexes, office towers, and new museums being built throughout the city. While I toured a variety of sights (including an entire museum devoted to polar exploration - more on that in a later post) and wandered through many neighborhoods, I kept focusing on the beautiful weather and how much different the scenery will be tomorrow when I arrive in Kirkenes and on Friday when we leave for the Arctic.
So with that in mind, and not wanting to bore people with traditional tourist pictures, I selected photos of "5 surprising sights in Oslo that I'm sure I won't see in the Arctic."
- A ski jump - The Holmenkollen Ski jump is on the outskirts of Oslo and has been the sight of world championship competitions.
- The Kon Tiki - Norwegian geographer and explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed this balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia.
- A student housing development in an old grain elevator - the award winning Grunerlokka Studenthus has studio and 1-bedroom apartments in a 1953 grain elevator, renovated and opened in 2001.
- A statue of a women urinating - in the Ekebergparken sculpture park, artist Ann-Sofi Siden makes a statement about the tradition of passing on estates only through sons.
- A Hundeparkering - a free place to "park your dog" if the restaurant you are going to does not allow them inside.
And a "bonus," more famous Oslo picture: An angry baby statue - this is a famous statute from Vigeland Park, home to many sculptures by renowned Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland.
Off to Kirkenes tomorrow. Happy Labor Day!
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