RockingChairCorner: Scandinavia Trip Part 3

On day 5, we left for Oslo and stayed at the Scandic Victoria Hotel. The hotel is right in the middle of the city. We could walk to Karl Johans Gate where huge flower pots lined the sides of the road. One direction leads to the Royal Palace, and the other direction leads to Central Station. We took a peek in the Grand Hotel lobby for we heard it is very pretty and that is true. We thought about splurging for dinner or maybe just a cup of coffee there, but decided that the staff was not friendly enough. We bought sandwiches for lunch and ate on a bench near the water fountain on Karl Johans Gate. Afterwards, we were given a city tour which includes the Vigeland Sculpture Park, the world’s largest sculpture park designed by a single artist. It features Gustav Vigeland’s lifework, depicting human relationships with each other. The highlight of the park is the Monolith Column which is 46 feet high and has 121 human reliefs carved from a single block of granite. The tour also includes the Holmenkollen Ski museum, but not the ski jump simulator or the tram to the observation deck on top of the jump tower.

Dinner was included on the first evening in Oslo. There were more choices for desserts than at Hotel G. Here I tried the baccala cooked in red tomato sauce. After dinner, I talked Kathy into going with me and a small group to the Magic Ice Bar. Kathy didn’t much care for it, but I thought it was a worthwhile experience.

On the second day in Oslo, we took the optional tour to the Viking Ship Museum where there are the best preserved Viking ships in existence, and the Kon-Tiki Museum where we saw the vessels Ra and Kon-Tiki, the reed boats that early men had mastered sailing. Outside the Kon-Tiki Museum, I snapped pictures of a colorful lighthouse statue made by marine plastic waste, the Roald Amundsen monument, and a “sea flower” (sjoblomst) statue designed by Thor Sandborg, erected by the Vietnamese community thanking Norway for granting them the freedom from Vietnam Communism. When we got back to the hotel after the tour, we learned that Kopi had had his backpack stolen from the hotel lobby. Scary thoughts. I’d put down my backpacks on a chair in this same hotel and walked a few feet away to look at the posted tour schedule the day before.

In the afternoon we explored on our own. We walked to the Opera House and walked onto its roof. Afterwards we had lunch in the Soranga area. We sat outside looking out on the water. The weather was beautiful. I had my second fish soup here. After lunch, we walked by Salt, an Oslo art project, towards the Akershus Fortress. We visited its museum which has information on WWII. When the museum was closed, Ngoan left us to go back to the hotel. Kathy and I stopped for coffee. Afterwards, Kathy went back to the hotel. Left by myself, I walked along the water and found both recommended seafood restaurants: Louise and Lofoten. I also found myself at a sculpture park. I texted Kathy and Ngoan, telling them about the seafood restaurants, and asked them if they’d like to join me for dinner. Ngoan gave a negative response. I never got a response from Kathy in time. I explored the city on foot some more before heading back to the city center. When I got to the Grand Hotel, I ran into Ngoan. The two of us had dinner at Olivia, a chain restaurant in Central Station. We shared a pizza and a tiramisu. I had a glass of wine while Ngoan ordered a double expresso. Then since the night was still young, I led Ngoan back to the water to show him around, including the seafood restaurants and the fancy ice cream stand I thought would have delicious ice cream. He was like a little boy who got so excited about the harbor area. He said I should have told him how wonderful it was and regretted he’d said no to dinner on the water.